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mdarnton
22-Aug-2014, 07:32
Cruising Ebay a couple of weeks ago I discovered cheap reading Fresnels, and bought a 5x7 one for $2. It worked pretty well, though it's too flexy and doesn't lay flat, so I went back and looked for something better and larger, finding one described as 8x10, 2mm thick. It arrived the other day and it's pretty interesting. I snapped it into my 8x10 Agfa-Ansco, and the improvement was noticeable. It made W/A doable, as well, brightening the corners considerably with both that and my 300mm. Being thicker than the 5x7s, it lays perfectly flat, and the most interesting thing to me was that the Fresnel pattern is quite a bit coarser than my Cambo Fresnel.

Just looking at it, off the camera, I thought that this would be a problem, since I don't like Fresnels anyway, because the pattern gets in the way, but I use them for the brightening. But I was pleasantly surprised that with this one the pattern is so coarse that I'm focusing between the lines, in quite a large (relatively) clear area. I like it MUCH better than the Cambo. The only downside is that it's very slightly narrower than the gg in my camera, but it still fits snugly under the clips.

I think I will get a couple more, cutting them down for 5x7 and 4x5.

Here's the item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/191277294698

djdister
22-Aug-2014, 07:39
Thanks for the tip, it's certainly worth trying out at that price!

ic-racer
22-Aug-2014, 08:16
I did something similar back in 2010 and still have it on the camera today. It works pretty well.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?64256-10-Fresnel-for-8x10&p=631839&viewfull=1#post631839

cowanw
22-Aug-2014, 09:21
I did the same thing but had to route out the area under the clips a bit to have enough screw to hold the whole thing in.

Tin Can
22-Aug-2014, 10:22
That's a nicer and slightly more expensive one than I have been using. I ordered one, thanks for the link!

They are great for focus and really brightens the whole GG. It's actually amazing the first time one tries it.

Now where can I find a 11x14 or bigger one...

LF_rookie_to_be
22-Aug-2014, 10:31
Now where can I find a 11x14 or bigger one...

15x15" acrylic fresnel (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-RIGID-Acrylic-Fresnel-Lens-SOLAR-Magnifier-Oven-cooker-15-x15-395x395mm-/201143382946?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item2ed51473a2)

Tin Can
22-Aug-2014, 10:42
Thanks! Then I took your search and found giant fresnel here. Big enough for Mammoth format. (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?&_from=R40&_trksid=p2054900.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0&_nkw=Acrylic%20Fresnel%20Lens%20SOLAR)


15x15" acrylic fresnel (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-RIGID-Acrylic-Fresnel-Lens-SOLAR-Magnifier-Oven-cooker-15-x15-395x395mm-/201143382946?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item2ed51473a2)

LF_rookie_to_be
22-Aug-2014, 10:47
You're welcome.

blindpig
22-Aug-2014, 16:53
When looking for large, cheap, fresnel lenses, don't forget projection TV's as they have really big ones. I bought a 50" one that had already been removed from the TV for $10.00.