anyone know of a portable camera obscura manufacturer ?

Question

my wife paints and can only focus on nearby objects so a ground glass screen showing the view would be helpful

Answer 1

Here are a very few methods for making a camera obscura.
http://licm.org.uk/livingImage/CameraObscura.html
http://www.friendsofphotography.org/hoh/co.html
http://www.cs-photo.com/obscura/about.php
http://brightbytes.com/guestbook/faq.html

Have you considered getting an inexpensive image projector? That might help you copy photo images and other illustrated items onto a canvas, too. Just a thought. Good luck and best wishes.

Answer 2

I suppose the only place you could find a camera obscura would be at an antiques shop. However, have you ever considered perhaps purchasing a used 8x10 view camera, they have a really nice ground glass, and perhaps you can get one that is in bad condition, what I mean is that one that needs the bellows repaired, and cannot be used for photography, but would be good for what your wife needs. You could try KEH.com they usually have good deals on used cameras, both vintage and new.