Episode 105: John Minnicks and the Aero-Liberator

Episode 105: John Minnicks and the Aero-Liberator

From Camerosity by Mike Eckman

March 10, 2026 · 1h 40m · Episode 108

About this episode

The episode features an in-depth discussion on large format cameras with guest John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator.

For Episode 105, it finally happened! As eluded to on a great number of previous episodes and on our official Facebook page and Discord server, the Camerosity Podcast finally dedicated an entire show to large format cameras! And not just any large format cameras, as a special guest for this show, we welcomed John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator, a home built custom version of a Graflex SLR using aerial Kodak lenses! Joining the gang and John for this episode were a huge number of other guests, several of which own or have shot their own Aero-Liberators. In alphabetical order by first name, we were joined by some guy named Erie, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Cornelison, Mark Widhalm, Mat Marrash (from FPP), Parker Pfister, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham. In addition to hearing John Minnicks origin story, he shares many stories about people who he has sold cameras to and what has been done with them, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and at impeachment hearings in front of Congress. Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project joins us and gives us his insight into large format and how well it does from the retail…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Eckman

Guest: John Minnicks

Topics covered

  • large format cameras
  • photography
  • camera technology
  • film development
  • guest interviews

Keywords

  • large format
  • Aero-Liberator
  • Graflex SLR
  • film photography
  • camera technology
  • Mat Marrash
  • Parker Pfister

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Film Photography Project

Products: Aero-Liberator, Graflex SLR

Places: Barack Obama, Chicago

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