When we met I didn't ask what kind of photography you plan to do with this camera. At three feet long and with two tripods it's certainly going to be a rather special piece of kit. What do you have planned for it?
Alan
Jonathan, the new bellows look very good, and fit in nicely with the size of the lens. In fact I have the feeling that viewers won't realise from the photograph just how big and heavy the lens is. I got quite a shock on Sunday when I picked it up. And I've been scratching my head trying to...
I develop films at the kitchen sink. I put a large bowl in the sink and fill it with water mixed to 20 degrees C. from the sink mixer tap. The air temp. in the kitchen is usually 20 degrees C. so the water temperature in the bowl stays the same over processing time. I dilute the developer...
Jonathan, good luck with your project. Large format cameras are great fun to build. I have made quite a few over the years. If I can offer you some advice, I would start with the back, not the front. Get a film holder, if you haven't already got one, and make the back so the film holder fits...
The reference to HDR reminds me of a friend who is heavily into digital photography and used to subscribe to a magazine called "How to Ruin your Photographs - monthly" well, it wasn't called that exactly, but that was its effect. Through a series of steps in a tutorial you could start off with...
Kevin I really like the first one here. I looked up your camera on your website, and it looks very much like my Kodak Specialist. In other words "very heavy"....So congratulations on being able to lift it.
Alan
When I grew up in the 1950s making things using imperial measurements was the norm. But when I started making musical instruments in the 1960s it didn't take me long to switch to metric measurements. Millimetres are far easier to work with than thirty seconds of an inch....
And we also have some strange measurements for area, David. If something is quite big we say it's the size of an Olympic swimming pool - whether it actually is or not. And if something is absolutely huge we say it's as big as Wales...
And you may not believe me but I once caught a pike that...
It's a superb tree Francis. It would be good to photograph it in different seasons.
If it was in Sheffield you'd even be able to photograph City Council workers chopping it down....
Alan
Andy, there is a simple way of keeping tabs on your film fixer.
Mix a fresh batch of fixer - 1 part fixer+4 parts water.
Take a spare piece of undeveloped film and swish it round in the fresh fixer, and time how long it takes to completely go clear. Make a note of this time.
When you process...
If you change from 1+1+100 to 2+2+100, then you get more grain. Not obvious in large format, but noticable in 35mm. I deliberately used to use it that way when I liked a bit of grain in 35mm.
Shortens the development time too.
Sounds like a nice idea.
Do you plan on using the camera when you have made it? If so, the type of photography you plan on doing will determine the focal length of the lens/lenses you will need, and in turn lens focal length will have a bearing on the design, dimensions and layout of the camera.
Hello Konrad. Welcome to the forum.
5 x 4 film holders are widely available - just do a google search. Alternatively, Ian Grant, of this forum, will probably sell you one.
That's interesting Ian. The aluminium tripods that I have tested had more vibration than my carbon Manfrotto tripod. And when you rap the leg of an aluminium tripod with your knuckle, it does vibrate more than a carbon fibre tripod leg. .... But as long as you are happy, that's the main thing.
I like coloured bellows too. But not all colours, and I think the colour of the bellows should be in harmony with the colour of the wood. Not that it really matters....The important bit is how the pictures come out.
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