Film is slowly consuming me.

[Proteus617]

Taking the top off and cleaning was the first thing I did. Would a different ground glass show a brighter picture?

Yes, amd a fresnel screen would help even more. Sometimes old cameras have something to teach you. You just need patience before you jump to the next one. On these TLRs you need to get your face right down on the hood, especially in bright light. I think your problem my be not managing outside flare rather than a dim screen. Tripods and TLRs get along well together. Make a hood with your hands. I've also used a t-shirt draped over my head. Do all this with your magnifier flipped out. Once you have you are done with critical focus, you can back off a bit for composition.

 

[Ed Bray]

I bought a Hasselblad outfit last year as I missed MF photography, I now have 2x bodies (500CM and 503CX), 6x lenses (40mm, 50mm, 80mm, 150mm, 180mm and 250mm), 4x finders (2x WLF, Mag Hood and 45 degree prism) and 6 backs (3x A12 and 2x A16 {6x4.5 Horizontal} & Phase One H10 Digital) as said be warned, it can become extremely addictive. And this doesn't include ancillary extras such as filters, hoods, screens and the likes.

 

[eric-holmes]

Taking the top off and cleaning was the first thing I did. Would a different ground glass show a brighter picture?

Yes, amd a fresnel screen would help even more. .

So are there different transparencies of ground glass? And what is a fresnel screen?

 

[KVRNut]

There can be different tranparencies of ground glass. If you have a LF camera, you can make your own ground glass and grind it to suit your needs. I had to do that with a 1901 Century 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 wet plate camera. It took a few looong evenings of hand grinding to get the results I wanted and unfortunately, more than one piece of glass.

A fresnel screen is a focusing screen often overlaid by a pattern of concentric lens sections. It directs the light from the screen corners towards your eye and makes the image you see evenly bright. They ain't cheap...

 

[eric-holmes]

Ok. I took it all apart again and took out the ground glass. There were actually two things layered together. Is this hurting me?

 

[eric-holmes]

Ok, one is ground glass and the other is a fresnel scree. But now that they are clean, I forgot how they were stacked when they fell out.

 

[KVRNut]

Fresnel goes in first with the rough side down followed by the ground glass rough side down.

 

[eric-holmes]

Stupid internet! I found conflicting info when searching and already assembled it. I put the fresnel in first, ribbed side up and etched glass in second.

 

[AUG19]

LOL. I can relate

Ok, one is ground glass and the other is a fresnel scree. But now that they are clean, I forgot how they were stacked when they fell out.

Best kind of learning.