Shooting HABS/HAER Without Instant Polaroid/Fuji

[greenetee]

Hi everyone,

First time posting here, so bear with me. If this isn't the right forum to post this question let me know.

I haven't used 4x5 in about 5 years, and I "grew up" using Polaroid. Then I used Fuji when Polaroid bit the dust.

I have an opportunity to shoot a HABS/HAER job in the next couple of months. It's an old manufacturing plant without electricity, and I'm very comfortable shooting the exteriors without Polaroid, but for the interiors where we're going to have to bring in lighting I'm not quite as sure of myself. I haven't shot large format with just a meter in a looooonnnnnggg time. Does anyone have a source for 4x5 Fuji, or is it possible to convert a medium format Fuji back to fit a 4x5? That would be great, since mf Fuji is still available. And cheap. I know I wouldn't get the full view, but just as a way to check exposure would be great.

If there is no source for 4x5, and modifying a mf back isn't possible what are my options? I know, get out the old meter, and practice before the the job starts. I plan on doing that, but is anyone out there doing anything different? A friend suggested using my digital (Nikon D3) as my "Polaroid", and practice using the D3 as the meter/Polaroid in different lighting situations. Shoot some film and see if the exposures between digital and film match up.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.


Thanks!

[EdSawyer]

Get a Fuji PA-145 back or polaroid 405 back (Graflok 4x5) and use it with the 3.25" x 4.25" FP100C film. Both still easily available, should work fine.

[vinny]

Rumors that fuji axed fp-100c which won't show tou the whole frame=useless.

Use a DSLR.

[Oren Grad]

3.25" x 4.25" FP-100C has just been discontinued by Fuji, and at least for now pricing and availability are volatile as current users are placing panic orders and sorting out how much they want to try to hoard.

I'd brush up on metering, and supplement with a digital camera as needed to help in visualizing lighting.

Note - I've moved and retitled the thread to better reflect its focus.

[Leszek Vogt]

D3 might get you part of the way, but you'd have to compensate for bellows or for film's reciprocity.

Les

[greenetee]

Get a Fuji PA-145 back or polaroid 405 back (Graflok 4x5) and use it with the 3.25" x 4.25" FP100C film. Both still easily available, should work fine.


So, I can use the a PA-145 back on my Horseman or Sinar?

[Oren Grad]

So, I can use the a PA-145 back on my Horseman or Sinar?

PA-145 won't work on a Sinar. You can mount it, but the darkslide will be obstructed because of the shape of the back. Don't know about Horseman monorails.

[Roger Cole]

Rumors that fuji axed fp-100c which won't show tou the whole frame=useless.

Use a DSLR.

Why is that useless? It's still readily available, albeit with some delay while stores replenish, and you don't need the full frame to verify exposure. He needs it for one job, not ongoing work, so if he can get enough for that job the discontinuation doesn't matter.

[Jim Galli]

Years ago when I was shooting far more demanding Velvia 50 which we had nailed to a 6th of a stop in the Nikon FE2 I used one of these (http://www.berezin.com/3d/slik.htm) for the Mamiya Universal 6X9 cm. Same film in both cameras, and like i said, the Nikon was like an old pair of shoes. Whatever it said to do, we copied to the Mamiya. Should work as well with a small-ish light field 4X5 like a Chamonix. Not the same as Polaroid which was instant see, but OTOH to get the dripping saturated colors we were after then, the Velvia was very demanding.

When digital matured (and before) I lost interest in reds that drip off the print onto the floor.

[Tin Can]

PA-145 won't work on a Sinar. You can mount it, but the darkslide will be obstructed because of the shape of the back. Don't know about Horseman monorails.

Horseman monorails also block, but it is just possible to bend the DS in and out. I didn't like doing it.

[jnantz]

Hi everyone,

First time posting here, so bear with me. If this isn't the right forum to post this question let me know.

I haven't used 4x5 in about 5 years, and I "grew up" using Polaroid. Then I used Fuji when Polaroid bit the dust.

I have an opportunity to shoot a HABS/HAER job in the next couple of months. It's an old manufacturing plant without electricity, and I'm very comfortable shooting the exteriors without Polaroid, but for the interiors where we're going to have to bring in lighting I'm not quite as sure of myself. I haven't shot large format with just a meter in a looooonnnnnggg time. Does anyone have a source for 4x5 Fuji, or is it possible to convert a medium format Fuji back to fit a 4x5? That would be great, since mf Fuji is still available. And cheap. I know I wouldn't get the full view, but just as a way to check exposure would be great.

If there is no source for 4x5, and modifying a mf back isn't possible what are my options? I know, get out the old meter, and practice before the the job starts. I plan on doing that, but is anyone out there doing anything different? A friend suggested using my digital (Nikon D3) as my "Polaroid", and practice using the D3 as the meter/Polaroid in different lighting situations. Shoot some film and see if the exposures between digital and film match up.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.


Thanks!

greenetee

have you used your digital camera in similar situations
and rephotographed the scene using 4x5 & film was there an "adjustment"
in exposure needed or did it work out ? i would take these things into consideration
before using your Dslr as a meter, i know when i have used mine as a "modern polaroid"
the exposures were a little off. if you can, i'd bracket a little bit too with your film exposures.
habs jobs are fun, but once the job is done ... often times the building is too !
which means you can't go back and re-photograph what didn't work out.
good luck !

[vinny]

Why is that useless? It's still readily available, albeit with some delay while stores replenish, and you don't need the full frame to verify exposure. He needs it for one job, not ongoing work, so if he can get enough for that job the discontinuation doesn't matter.

Habs/haer work is b+w from what I've seen. Using instant as a meter is one thing, not seeing the whole frame when lighting the whole frame is silly. He already has a dslr and that can replicate the entire frame (close enough) for this type of work. B+w films have enough leeway if his exposure isn't dead on but having the whole frame is crucial.

[Kirk Gittings]

Habs/haer work is b+w from what I've seen. Using instant as a meter is one thing, not seeing the whole frame when lighting the whole frame is silly. He already has a dslr and that can replicate the entire frame (close enough) for this type of work. B+w films have enough leeway if his exposure isn't dead on but having the whole frame is crucial.

Yes I agree and test the setup before hand comparing the DSLR exposures against film and bracket exposures.

[schafphoto]

Hi I just saw this.
I have been using expired Fuji 100B in a custom-made polaroid pack-film back, but as my stash runs out I have been using my digital camera (Nikon D800e) to test exposures more often. While you are not getting “through the lens” proofing I have found that setting my Nikon at ISO 200 and using Tmax 400 film is giving me good results. Your results may vary. My lenses are all used often and have accurate speeds. I’m usually using 1/4 second to 10 second interior exposures at f22. The results from the digital are similar, but I always do a bit of bracketing because as Jnanian said: "often times the building is (gone) too! which means you can't go back and re-photograph what didn't work out.”
Better to spend a few extra sheets of film, you can always toss them out unprocessed if it saves money and you got it in two sheets.
The key will be to test your “digiroiding" scheme in similar lighting beforehand to see how film reciprocity or the digital camera’s sensor might alter the exposure. I’d want to have a solid idea of what exposures were needed on the 4x5 if my Nikon exposure was 1/4 second, 1 second, 4 seconds, and ten seconds. Then the only challenge is focusing in the dark.

[greenetee]

Who made your custom back, and how much did it cost? I have a Horseman; what camera(s) can you use with the back? I have medium format fuji, so I would like to use what I have and test that against the D3 until I run out, and have to go strictly digiroid.

[schafphoto]

I made my custom back myself with an extra 4x5 “peel-apart” polaroid back from Ebay, an extra Cambo back, and some aluminum, machine screens and epoxy. Since the Polaroid wasn’t the final work product it was OK if it was a half a millimeter off of the GG, but it’s pretty close.