New to View Cameras

[pip_dog]

Hello! I have been shooting lots of 4x5 pinhole shots for about a year now and wanted to see what else I could do with the format so I went and bought a Calumet CC-401 I found at a good price. It didn't have a lens so I've made one out of a pair of old binoculars. The focal length is about 230mm and at least for now its still wide open though I have a piece of metal from some sort of door handle that could act as an aperture and give me around f18. I still need to make sure that the aperture would let the lens' image circle cover the film though.

Here are some pics







This is the potential aperture


I ran out of paper but I've ordered more and a film holder; they should both be arriving this afternoon so I can post some tests today! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (I might be a little excited )
One question though. How can I be sure that the front standard is right in line with the back in terms of rise and fall? I cant find any sort of indicator.

Thanks,
pip

 

[480sparky]

It's easy to check for image coverage. Especially if your ground glass has cut-off corners. Just look through the corner and check to see if you can see through the entire diameter of the lens. If so, you're covered.

100mm+ lenses usually cover 4x5 quite well, but since you're using a make-shift lens, all bets are off.

 

[pip_dog]

Makes sense, will try after finding a way to easily attach/detach aperture.

Thanks

 

[480sparky]

Conversely, if you can see the entire ground glass by looking through the lens & camera.......

 

[compur]

I love your ingenuity!

 

[SoulfulRecover]

please post photo results. I love home made cameras

 

[pip_dog]

Okay, well...my safelight decided to stop working just as I went to cut the paper to size. I tried to make another one with a normal lightbulb and some red plastic bowls but it ended up fogging the paper. Off to the hardware store tomorrow morning to find another bulb. I saw the first image briefly before the paper went to black in the developer and it looked focused where I wanted it to be so that's a good thing at least!

 

[zombiesniper]

Here's a design to make your own aperture ring.
Lomography - Making a DIY Cardboard Aperture

 

[pip_dog]

That aperture ring looks awesome. Will have to try when I get the chance.

 

[480sparky]

Okay, well...my safelight decided to stop working just as I went to cut the paper to size. I tried to make another one with a normal lightbulb and some red plastic bowls but it ended up fogging the paper. Off to the hardware store tomorrow morning to find another bulb. I saw the first image briefly before the paper went to black in the developer and it looked focused where I wanted it to be so that's a good thing at least!

Your local hardware store stocks darkroom supplies?

 

[pip_dog]

No, but they do have red lightbulbs

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

 

[photoguy67]

red light bulbs and photo safe red light bulbs are not always the same thing, use caution.

 

[480sparky]

No, but they do have red lightbulbs

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

Don't bet a full box of paper on it.

 

[pip_dog]

I got the lightbulb I used for my pinhole stuff from here so as long as they still carry the same bulb I should be fine. Thanks for the heads up though.

Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk

 

[vintagesnaps]

Now that's a camera! I haven't tried LF (yet anyway) but I find it interesting.

You could look up Mat (yes, with one t) on Film Photography Project | An Internet Radio Show & On-Line Resource for Film Shooters Worldwide, he does large format and is sometimes on their podcast or in their Flickr discussion group, etc. Have fun!