Large Format photography group - From "zero to hero!"

Woodsy said:
Mine arrived today. It seems pretty sturdy. Not tried it on anything yet though. Yours turned up?
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Not yet, I didn't order it until Sunday and it was despatched on Monday, should be here today hopefully (y)
 
stevelmx5 said:
How many lens boards are you planning on making Dean? I've been buying A4 sized sheets of acrylic (3/5mm) for less than a fiver via eBay. Obviously if you're going to make more then it's more economical to buy a larger sheet.
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The prices were grabbed as I really was in a rush; a piece of 3mm ally sheet roughly the size of a Sinar lens board is about a pound. :)

I like Ed Bray's suggestion (via @steveo_mcg above) of using an adapter board instead. Seems that the Linhof boards are the most common on the bay and it'd be easier to transport the lenses on a smaller board, leaving the adapter in place on the front standard of my F2.
 
Sounds like a good plan Dean. Reducing the amount of boards you need to carry for different lenses is definitely a bonus.
 
So I've very briefly looked into black arcylic and it appears that some are designed specifically to transmit IR - for the purpose of security camera concealment etc. Granted this is only one type of acrylic thus far, but it's definitely worth checking the IR transmission properties of any plastic material used. Further, clear acrylic which is used as glass replacement in windows is sometimes also designed to transmit IR, so it would appear that it's perhaps a dye that's added to make it black; the transmission properties of this are unknown.

In the first instance, to check this, the visible range of the human eye extends to approximately 700-750 nm. Hold the acrylic up to the brightest white light you have. If it appears even slightly red, I'd be sceptical about using it. This proves nothing of course, as only a broad spectrum transmission measurement will show what you need to know, but it's at least an indication.
 
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^^^ Yo da man. :clap:
 
I should make clear that this is by no means an exhaustive look into it, and there may indeed be plastics etc out that that do block IR as well. This is merely a heads up :)
 
Strappy said:
The prices were grabbed as I really was in a rush; a piece of 3mm ally sheet roughly the size of a Sinar lens board is about a pound. :)

I like Ed Bray's suggestion (via @steveo_mcg above) of using an adapter board instead. Seems that the Linhof boards are the most common on the bay and it'd be easier to transport the lenses on a smaller board, leaving the adapter in place on the front standard of my F2.
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I don't see the one I bought for sale but you've got a more modern camera than me so you might not need to do any hacking you might be able to buy a working lens board.
 
Strappy said:
I've found a couple on the bay, from £30 for something a little rough around the edges to £50 for this one which looks a bit less home-made. Coming from China I'd probably have to pay extra in duties and fees but that seems to be around the current going rate for genuine Sinar boards.
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I don't think the first is any good, I'd say that is more for permanently fixing a linhof board into Sinar camera. The second has the same mounting gear as a linhof camera meaning the boards are secured to the adapter and can be fitted and removed as needed thats what I have but obviously I had to adapt it to fit my arca.

Having said that I notice there are two further pictures on the first that I can't see at work, so maybe its the same after all....

should have checked on my phone first. Yeah either will do, I'd be inclined to go for the cheapest but I'm am a skinflint...
 
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Andysnap said:
Oh my, wouldn't this be nice.

http://vintageclassiccamera.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=5916
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this is what i dont get about the value of LF gear, thats the mirror image of my wista, wood/brass/tilty bits, but for some reason its 2k more! is the ground glass made from diamond? I just dont see the worth there.

Actually i would go futher and say my wista is better as it doesnt look like you can pivot the front or back of that thing, unless im missing a pivot point on the photos.
 
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It does seem that Gandolfi go for ridiculous money, even Wista are bit rich for my tastes. :D
 
AshleyC said:
this is what i dont get about the value of LF gear, thats the mirror image of my wista, wood/brass/tilty bits, but for some reason its 2k more! is the ground glass made from diamond? I just dont see the worth there.

Actually i would go futher and say my wista is better as it doesnt look like you can pivot the front or back of that thing, unless im missing a pivot point on the photos.
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It looks like a Precision aka Traditional, and there's a bit about movements here http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/camera movements.html

Andysnap said:
It does seem that Gandolfi go for ridiculous money, even Wista are bit rich for my tastes. :D
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I think you have to accept the word of a specialist when he says that "I`ve never seen such Beautiful Quality and Craftsmanship in a Wooden Camera Before.", which means he is putting it beyond Ebony cameras which cost the same and more. Like all these things, only the buyer can decide whether a camera such as this is worth the money or not, but if you knock off the cost of the lenses it brings the camera down to below £2k. Look after it and you'll have a family heirloom to pass on! (y)
 
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Looks ok to me, just bought a 150mm off the same seller and it was fine, delivered nice and quickly and in great nick
 
is there still a place to buy fp-100c peel apart film for 4x5?

thinking of shooting large format with film and polaroid.
 
I bought a box of FP100C last week from Fotosense for just under £12 delivered which was the cheapest I could find at the time. Otherwise, Amazon and a lot of other sellers still offer it.
 
FWIW I made black ABS plastic lens boards for my crown graphic, they seemed pretty light tight. If you want Acrylic cut accurately I have access to a laser for such purpose! if your worried about light tightness I'd just try a heavy coat of matt black acrylic paint over the back of it.
 
stevelmx5 said:
I bought a box of FP100C last week from Fotosense for just under £12 delivered which was the cheapest I could find at the time. Otherwise, Amazon and a lot of other sellers still offer it.
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thanks for that link - although I was looking for 4x5 size.
 
There isn't any 4x5 peel apart film as far as I know? New55 is 5x4 sheet film that's being released but that's $50 per shot.

http://shop.new55.net/

The only realistic option is to use a Polaroid back with FP100c and result in a smaller image.
 
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puggie said:
FWIW I made black ABS plastic lens boards for my crown graphic, they seemed pretty light tight. If you want Acrylic cut accurately I have access to a laser for such purpose! if your worried about light tightness I'd just try a heavy coat of matt black acrylic paint over the back of it.
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I found some designs for 3D printing MPP lens boards last week too so that may be an option for more complex mounts.
 
stevelmx5 said:
There isn't any 4x5 peel apart film as far as I know? New55 is 5x4 sheet film that's being released but that's $50 per shot.

http://shop.new55.net/

The only realistic option is to use a Polaroid back with FP100c and result in a smaller image.
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wow thats expensive.

I was thinking of getting a contax preview - but don't know how to use the whole of the film (as it only uses the centre and 35mm size).
 
stevelmx5 said:
There isn't any 4x5 peel apart film as far as I know? New55 is 5x4 sheet film that's being released but that's $50 per shot.

http://shop.new55.net/

The only realistic option is to use a Polaroid back with FP100c and result in a smaller image.
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It looks like $50 for a pack of 5 to me, not that it's cheap either way...
 
Sorry, you're right Rob. I read "1 shot" as being a single sheet. Then again, it's also not instant now I've read the whole information!
 
stevelmx5 said:
Sorry, you're right Rob. I read "1 shot" as being a single sheet. Then again, it's also not instant now I've read the whole information!
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Are they still struggling with the developer? That's been a while.
 
Looks like the $85 film is 5 sheets of instant plus colour reversal whereas the $50 film is a pack of 5 sheets that can be developed with one shot.
 
Has anyone used Catlabs of JP? They seem to have a nice selection of large format gear and the prices seem pretty good as well. They have a nice looking Nagaoka with 2 good lenses (Rodenstock 150mm and 210mm) and 3 darkslides for just over £800 plus usual postage and taxes. Looks like a nice set-up.
 
Well, maybe. As much as I like the MPP it is a bit of a beast and I would like something a bit lighter for out and about.
Thing is I also want to get a long lens for my Fuji although the 100-400mms won't be out until next year so I do have time and the money seems to be warming my pocket somewhat. :thinking:
 
Woodsy said:
Unless I'm missing something, it appears that everything is sold out of the catlabs website? :/
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Not sure about that mate, a few of the items have sold out by them but quite a few haven't. I put the Nagaoka into my basket and it worked ok... I did take it out again though. :(
 
I must be having browser issues then, it says sold out next to every price and I couldn't see a buy this item button anywhere. Nvm, can't afford anything now anyway after that 65mm purchase!
 
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