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I use a 4.5 inch (114mm)Newtonian relfector. A refractor works fine too. For this, a small camera (35mm or digital) is best. I mount the camera right at the focuser, where the eyepiece goes. This...

Take a look first at the Mr. Eclipse website. It has all the information you will need. Assuming you want a "close-up" shot with a long lens. The first thing to consider is, you are going to focus...

Let me get this right.... If we photograph buildings or landmarks, the "Men in Black" will check our pictures by developing and maybe printing then for us??? COOL!!!!! That means we can all use a...

If Iraq was so dangerous, the where the $#%@ are the WMD? Why are the Bushies now trying so hard to convince us that the total lack of any evidence whatsoever doesn't matter? If we are now...

The "anti Bush crowd"??? Excuse me, but that sounds like the old "Either yer with us or agin us" mindset. I suppose whoever does not blindly follow all "royal edicts" is a traitor too.

Download the PDF file that was mentioned, and then set up the camera and play with it. Look at the groundglass to see what the different movements do. Then, get a pack of Polaroid film and Polaroid...

The Commercial Ektar is a very nice lens and I use a 12 incher for 8x10. It is a bit large, in a #4 Acme shutter, and may be too large for a 4x5. It depends on how big your lens boards are. They...

I like the slower films. I usually photograph things that do not move (not much anyway), in fairly bright sunlight. So, I can still stop down a reasonable amount. Also, like some of the other...

I just want to qualify my statements above, as being from the narrow perspective of an end-user, who acts only as a private individual, not as someone who is a "gray market" or re-seller. If this is...

Since I usually am a buyer on EBay and not a seller, I want to know what I am buying.... Say I am looking for Canon F1 or a Linhof Technika. I want to know that they are just that. If the seller...

For my 8x10 Improved, I just make my own. Any material that keeps the light out and supports the lens will work. That includes wood, black heavy plastic, aluminum etc. I use wood and cut mine...

It should be pronounced "shime flook"

Ummmm why not? It's just idle curiosity, and maybe something novel to try. By the way, it is not for making the picture less sharp as the name would suggest, it is a way of fiddling selectively...

Dumb question time. It's probably already been said, but I can't remember. If mounting a fresnel behind the ground glass (on the outside) toward the rear of the camera (and not between the glass...

You are on the right track with choosing a monorail. Field or flatbed cameras are not meant for these sort of movements and might not have enough bellows extension. I can't help with the lenses, ...

I wonder how good a digitially made mask would be for alternative processes and contact printing. I'm thinking I could print masks onto transparencies (we have excellent printers at work). Or...

I use a flatbed to scan the final prints, but the real thing looks better to me. It is nice for playing with different cropping efforts, and for sharing with more people though. As always, the ...

Birds. Definitely birds. They are small, you need mid to extreme telephoto lenses so as to not scare them away by being too close, fast film, and after you get all set up you find out they are too...

I am with Jonathan, in that my Raptars and Ysarons have worked out very well, in the original Rapax and Prontor shutters. So far, I've been very fortunate in my purchases. For testing the...

The "standard" lens for 4x5 is a 150mm lems. I use a 105mm, 135mm and 190mm instead. If you want inexpensive lenses, keep an eye on EBay. The closed auctions will give you an idea what various...

I am 49. I started with a Brownie back in the late 50s/early 60s. Now I use whatever I have handy or fits the situation best, 35mm, medium format, 4x5 and 8x10.

I waited a while before replying to those who replied to me. It seems that anyone who has no use for postmodernism (me) is obviously ignorant or stupid. I still think most if not all of it is...

The problem I've always had was that po mo seemed (to me) as just a game to see who is more clever or more strange. I've seen some "stuff" that to me was just junk, and had several paragraphs of ...

I tried a cheap 8X slide loupe for a while and didn't like it. There was too much magnification and too much image distortion. Now I use a Toyo 4X magnifier and am much more satisfied. It gives...

I would like to add two to the ones Per mentioned, even though they are not officially considered to be parks. They would be the Lake Arrowhead / Big Bear Lake area and Point Mugu. Oh, and ANY...

Densitometers may be useful when you first try a new film that you have never used before, but I have to wonder if (except for labs and professionals) if it is worth the expense. It is, after all,...

I haven't tried the new TMax yet, but will be interested in what other people in the forum think of it. If the new version has different development times, that is OK as long as we know what they ...

Yahoo should only be considered as a last resort. I run some groups there and am also a member of the large format group there, and there is nothing I or they can do to get rid of those annoying...

There are plenty of older 8x10 cameras out there. Mine is a Seneca Improved (almost identical to the Kodak 2D mentioned earlier), and i'ts fairly light too. Get a good older lens for it. My cost...

If he can't tilt the front standard, he can do the following.... Using the tripod head, tilt the entire camera forward. Then use front rise or fall to re-center. Finally, use rear tilt to get the ...

OK, I stand corrected. It is about light and shadow. Still, some of it "pleases me" and some doesn't. Please don't ask why because I don't know why, it just does or doesn't.

I don't know that it is "pictorialism", since that was an attempt to mimic impressionstic paintings. I think of it as just a way to give people a feeling of something. Is it the fuzzy wuzzies, or...

I have the larger version of your camera, the 8x10 Improved. If it is like mine and there is no reason to think it isn't, you can use any modern 5x7 film holders... Lisco, Fidelity, Kodak, etc. ...

You are better off using front or rear tilt. But if you insist, the easiest way is to get an optical rangefinder like they used back in the 1950s. Use the rangefinder to find something at the...

I also read the Merklinger articles, and they are a nice explanation of why things work, but I still just eyeball the glass. It's faster and easier. I don't care how big angle J is. My bigger...

If the image looks sharp on the film and print or at a *reasonable* magnification, isn't that good enough? I've read plenty about digital backs, and seen some results, and I still don't believe...

Mr. Picker will be sorely missed. Any time a craftsman/artist of his stature passes, we all lose something and the world becomes a little sadder.

I believe it would be more economical to get a separate 8x10 camera. Otherwise you are changing standards, lensboards, bellows, back, etc. Better to get a camera that was originally designed for...

Kerry Thalman had a nice write-up on slide films in View Camera last issue. Velvia and E100VS look different to me, but both are good.

I agree with Jorge. So long as your equipment is not badly smashed, it will work fine. You introduce more "slop" just in focusing/moving/tilting etc than any 1/1000 or even 1/10 of an inch ...