I'm going to stop using a 4x5 BTZS focusing "tube" and get a dark cloth. Suggestions?

[Richard Wasserman]

I had a Harrison cloth briefly that came with a camera I bought. I thought it was bloody awful. Huge, sweaty, bulky to pack and less effective than tube/tshirt type cloths.

Sounds like you had the wrong size...... Or, maybe your camera was too small. The large Harrison's are very big and would be suitable for 8x10 or maybe even 11x14 cameras or for studio use perhaps. The smaller sizes, I think are great with 4x5. I don't care for tube type darkcloths. I work primarily in urban settings, often not great ones, and I feel too cut-off from the world under them. I feel much more comfortable if I can easily take a quick peek from under the cloth to check my surroundings.

[dave_whatever]

Sounds like you had the wrong size...... Or, maybe your camera was too small. The large Harrison's are very big and would be suitable for 8x10 or maybe even 11x14 cameras or for studio use perhaps. The smaller sizes, I think are great with 4x5. I don't care for tube type darkcloths. I work primarily in urban settings, often not great ones, and I feel too cut-off from the world under them. I feel much more comfortable if I can easily take a quick peek from under the cloth to check my surroundings.

The one I had was the standard one for 5x4. As big blanket type affairs go it was probably one of the better ones, but that whole style of darkcloth doesn't suit me, I don't photograph by the car in guaranteed windless conditions.

As for the camera being too small, that's a different matter! Worryingly I do now own two lenses that will cover 10x8......

I know what you mean about working in urban areas. In these conditions I've sometimes just draped my tshirt type cloth over the top of the camera as a mini-horseblanket type thing and relied on the brightness of the maxwell screen, and in some situations been able to dispense with the cloth altogether. What would be best for urban use might be a graflex type short folding hood. I've got one spare here and I really should work out how to fashion an adapter to use it on the back of the Chamonix on those four round pegs that hold the screen protector.

[ROL]

Just ONE word.....Harrison Classic Darkcloth.

Lightweight, but heavy enough for a breezy day, compact, COOL, rainproof, velcroed (if you want to stick it on the back of your camera), quality through and through, including the heavy duty nylon storage bag. Use the Harrison one time and you'll kick yourself for using horseblankets and t-shirts all those years!

Prolly best not take advice from someone who can't count.


While not directly addressing your application and removal issues, which it seems to me to be ultimately better handled by a basic secure lockdown, I just love these "Which dark cloth is better?" jousts: The Ideal View Camera Darkcloth.

[Drew Wiley]

I've said it before, but logically, unequivocally, absolutely the finest darkcloth material you can find is black Goretex (though it can be hard to find). Breathable, lint-free, waterproof, opaque, tough. How you sew it together is Topic B. You can keep your T shirt with all its lint and BO, unless of course, you're Savanarola.

[AtlantaTerry]

It was quite easy to find Goretex by the yard:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gore-Tex-Per...-/251272586651

[Mark Sawyer]

After several decades of most imaginable options...

Out in the field: A black sweatshirt (t-shirts are too lightweight) with the neck-hole wrapped around the rear of the 4x5 camera to keep out the light. Cut the arms off short to stick your hand in with a loupe, and stick your head in through the waist. Turn it around with your head through the neck and it works for 8x10 and 11x14. And you can put it on to stay warm on the walk back after the light fades. (Saved me more than once...)

In the studio: Any dark bath towel. Functional and comfortable.

Anything more expensive and complicated was just more expensive and complicated...