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Barry, I agree it would be most practical to have an actual film holder when making the camera back, but understand your current problems. Good luck building the camera. I've made a few myself over...

I don't know anything about the LED sheet which you describe, but I changed my home-made 5x4 enlarger head from fluorescent light to LED by fitting four LED bulbs above the diffuser. These were...

Superb!

Alan

Barry, the measurements I have just given you above are the dimensions of the opening in the film holder. For some reason the image size on the negative is smaller - 120mm by 169mm. Can't check...

Barry,
image height is 123mm. Image width is 170mm. Image area starts 17.5mm in from the outer edge of the hinged end.

Alan

Hello Barry, here are the measurements of one of my newish Fidelity Elite 5x7 holders.

Thickness 12.6mm
Width 149.5mm
Overall length 225mm
Length from hinged end to start of sealing rib...

Reading through this thread makes me realise how lucky I am using wood not metal to make my lens boards. With wood you can cut a hole out in minutes using nothing more than a sharp knife.

Alan

Thanks Dan but as I said earlier I'm not really interested in a workshop.
Regarding the 6x12 back, I had thought of this for my 5x4, but using Foma sheet film works out cheaper than Foma roll film...

Dan, thanks for recommending the North Dakota workshop. Unfortunately it's a long way from where I live, in North Yorkshire in the UK!
I too have a 5x7 camera and was wondering about a 6x17 back....

Andrew, thank you for the link. I confess that I hadn't heard of Brian Kosoff, but his photographs are very interesting. Slightly "cold" maybe, and lacking in emotion, but very impressive.

Alan

Thank you Peter, but I wasn't thinking about a workshop. Tillman was a name from the past who I remembered produced some interesting letterbox format photographs. I thought they were 4x10 but it...

Thanks. Well worth a look.

Alan

That's him! Many thanks. ( And thanks too to lab black)

Alan

I have recently had the shutter of my Kodak 203mm Ektar repaired by Hi Tech Camera Repairs of Newcastle under Lyme. They were very nice to deal with and did an excellent job.

Alan

I am trying to recall the name of an American photographer who used a 10x8 camera in 4x10 format. He has done photography in Scotland where I think he has also ran workshops.
I am aware that this...

James Ravilious.

Alan

Jim, it sounds like that Black Walnut is giving you exactly what you want.

Just looked at your website. I do like your tree pictures.

Alan

Thanks Jim. I'm guessing your wood is Black Walnut. (I have only used English Walnut, here in the UK) I looked it upon the Wood Database and see there's not much difference between radial and...

Nice work, but I wonder why you haven't used quarter-sawn wood.

Alan

It is difficult to give advice without actually seeing the job. But I suspect that removing the bolt, re-drilling the hole to take a wooden dowel, then gluing everything back together may not be...

Thanks Drew, yes I see what you mean.

Alan

I note that the title of this thread is best finish for a DIY wood camera. Just curious, but I wonder why people keep mentioning spruce and pine, which are just about the worst woods you could...

I have a simple method of using tilt to bring everything on a horizontal surface into focus .Let's say I am photographing a level path and want everything from the foreground to the distant part of...

Hi Tony,
I really like this. The treatment suits the subject perfectly.

Alan

I have a tapered bellows made by a UK company that used to be called the Camera Bellows Company. And the stiffeners have square ends

Alan

If I make another bellows, and I probably will, I would use api's Crafter's Pick Fabric Glue for the job you describe. I recently used some of this to glue paper to fabric on a little project I did...

?????
Really?

Alan

That's an excellent idea. I am using some mahogany from an old table, for the neck of a Classical guitar that I am building at the moment. It is wonderful stuff, genuine Central American mahogany...

Hello Willie,
You are right about it being the image not the size, with Kenna's prints. I think this is because his compositions are spare and minimal. You can "read" them from a distance. But for...

It may be a bit pedantic to point this out, but "7 x 5" contact prints don't actually measure 7 inch by 5 inch. They are only 6.7 inch by 4.7 inch. Michael Kenna's prints, at 7.75 inches square,are...

I don't have a 5 x 7 enlarger either so the only options for me are to make contact prints, or scan and print digitally.
I find 5 x 7 contact prints too small. And they don't do justice to the...

I like simple practical solutions too - especially when they work! (Mine don't always....)

Alan

Pere, it is interesting how we independently thought of the same idea - to separate each sheet with a series of "fence posts". I did it because when I started doing 5x4 I was using 5x7 film that...

Pere, yes, I see the advantage of your method of working. I didn't know you could subject the film to light before fixing...

Alan

I used a tray with dividers like this for a number of years. My dividers were plastic rawlplugs. I didn't find it necessary to transfer the film to a different tray for stop bath and fixing. The...

Ryan, as well as thinking about the weight of a 5x4 camera and lenses, you should also consider the weight of the film holders. This is easily overlooked. Six film holders weigh about 2.5 lb. My...

Thanks Kevin. Those tins certainly look rusty!

Alan

I like this Kevin. How did you get the rich warm colour? Is it a sepia toned wet print?

Alan

Sweep, I am not sure why you are scanning your 10x8 negative at 4000ppi. A file this big will allow you to make a print about five feet wide with over 300ppi going to the printer. Do you really want...

A few years ago I built a fixed-focus 5x4 box camera using a 90mm Schneider Super Angulon lens. Lens to film-plane distance was worked out to give D.O.F. from infinity to just a few feet away when...