Exposure Compensation in a monorail view camera

[rgonzaleza]

Hi friends: I have a Field 4X5 camera in which it is easy to measure the bellows extension. So, it is easy to calculate the exposure compensation. But in my monorail camera it is not so easy because it does not have a rule beside the bellows.
How can I measure that extension beyond the infinity focus to compensate for closer focus? Some ideas?
Thanks.

[StoneNYC]

Hi friends: I have a Field 4X5 camera in which it is easy to measure the bellows extension. So, it is easy to calculate the exposure compensation. But in my monorail camera it is not so easy because it does not have a rule beside the bellows.
How can I measure that extension beyond the infinity focus to compensate for closer focus? Some ideas?
Thanks.

A ruler....

[rgonzaleza]

Yes. I think I will get one. Thanks.

[StoneNYC]

Yes. I think I will get one. Thanks.

Sorry if that was crass haha, it just struck me as a silly question lol, but may I suggest a tape measure that's small so it won't take up much space? I personally use a Taylors measure take because it's soft and won't hurt anything in my bag (and I already had it and I'm too cheap to buy something else) but a small tape measure from Home Depot will do just fine.

[rgonzaleza]

Ha, Ha. That's ok. I will test one. Thanks again.

[BradS]

yeah...a tape measure from the fabric store. Costs all of $0.69, weighs next to nothing and rolls up all nice and compact. Mine's even marked in metric units on one side and inches on the other.

[Jim Jones]

Measuring bellows extension for exposure compensation isn't critical. One's hand can be calibrated for adequately accurate measuring: the width of a palm, the span from extended thumb tip to extended little finger tip, the length of the thumb, etc. These, and other systems used by tailors and the length of a person's strides, have been used for centuries. They can be accurate to a few percent or even less.

[Jody_S]

yeah...a tape measure from the fabric store. Costs all of $0.69, weighs next to nothing and rolls up all nice and compact. Mine's even marked in metric units on one side and inches on the other.

+1

I got 3 of them in a package from the dollar store for, well, $1.

[lenser]

And then there are the very accurate exposure compensation kits such as the one Calumet made and sold which often shows up on the auction site and ones that have appeared on this site in the past in a print out form. Just put the target chip in the scene and measure the increase in exposure with the rule or dial on the ground glass. I've used one of the calumet kits for decades with absolute precision.

[Bruce Osgood]

yeah...a tape measure from the fabric store. Costs all of $0.69, weighs next to nothing and rolls up all nice and compact. Mine's even marked in metric units on one side and inches on the other.

I got a handful of metric/inch tape measures from Ikea for free.

[rgonzaleza]

Thank you all for your ideas. I will try them to see which one of them fits better for me.

[BrianShaw]

A ruler....

I can't believe this response from you. After all of the time "we" spent with you explaining this you can't pass along what you learned? BTW, did you get an envelope in the mail?

[StoneNYC]

I can't believe this response from you. After all of the time "we" spent with you explaining this you can't pass along what you learned? BTW, did you get an envelope in the mail?

He asked how to measure, not where to measure from, in that scale doesn't work any different than a ruler, it doesn't compensate for where the lens position is there any of that it's just a general ruler on the camera.

Plus as much as you've explained to me it doesn't apply to any of my lenses so it's not exactly in the forefront of my mind. And I still knew that I needed a ruler, I just didn't know where to measure from he didn't ask that question so I didn't want to assume he didn't know.

[BrianShaw]

...Some ideas?
Thanks.

Check this thread out also: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?108134-Bellows-Exposure-calculation

[rgonzaleza]

Thank you very much Brian. I will check it.