DIY LF film holder

[gardnep]

Try http://www.f265.org/main/showthread....lder-need.idea
Dead simple design using mdf and velcro for the light trap. I'm going this way.

[jbenedict]

There is an article called "Construction of an 8 x 10 Field View Camera" by James Vail on the net. While he does not go into detail on constructing dark slides, there is a comprehensive diagram at the end of the article called "8 x 10 Film Holder" showing the components that I assume can be modified for other sizes.

http://www.noahhuber.com/wp-content/...iew-camera.pdf

Seeing his results might be a little intimidating- he's quite the cabinet/furniture maker- but the article is interesting.

[Brian C. Miller]

Try http://www.f265.org/main/showthread....lder-need.idea
Dead simple design using mdf and velcro for the light trap. I'm going this way.

Try this link instead:
making film holder..need idea...

[stawastawa]

There is a book titled Primitive Photography that shows how to make film holders (and simple sliding box and folding cameras)
http://www.focalpress.com/books/details/9780240804613/

[grzybu]

Inspired by this thread and by my old wooden holder breaking apart I've decided to try to make my own 18x24cm holder for my diy camera.
I've made it using MDF board from broken photo frames and of course velcro as light trap.
Dark slide is made of quite thick plastic document cover.
The only tools needed are: scissors, crafting knife, pencil and ruler.
I still see some small light leaks at the bottom, but film loading and unloading is really easy.
There are no scratches on very delicate x-ray film too.
There are two velcro layers: one under dark slide and one on top and there are no light leaks on top of the holder.
I still have to make small changes to fix light leaks at the bottom, but I already have some ideas.
This is how it looks so far:

[Leigh]

Surely the larger you go the greater the depth of focus and the less critical things become?

Unfortunately, just the opposite, for the same reason DoF in LF is much less than DoF in 35mm.

DoF decreases as lens focal length increases. LF cameras use much longer lenses than 35mm.

- Leigh

[jb7]

Surely the larger you go the greater the depth of focus and the less critical things become?

Exactly- Depth of focus has nothing to do with film format and everything to do with the length of the lens you're using- the longer the lens, the more depth of focus. Depth of focus is less for short lenses, greater for long lenses. Depth of field is greater for short lenses and less for long lenses.

Focusing accuracy (meaning registration of the image on the ground glass compared to the image made on film) becomes less critical as the image size gets larger, particularly if that image is to be used for contact printing, which is a real world option when using larger film.

Those film holders look nicely cut, I had thought of making holders the same way, at one time- Hope they work ok.
Looks like they could use some shellac...

[Jim Jones]

Depth of focus is a function of f/number, not necessarily focal length. Critical dimensions in LF film holders are looser than for smaller formats.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Making your own film holder is futile. I am sure there are many who would be happy to send you the real thing. write me jac@stafford.net

[Joe Smigiel]

I think the critical problem is attempting to make a film holder that adheres to some specification for modern holders. If you were to make your own groundglass frame and film holder at the same time and don't care about maintaining someone else's standard or maintaining a very thin profile, building becomes a lot easier. Layering veneer strips of different width lets channels for darkslides and recessed areas for light baffles form easily. Also, do you need the holder to be double-sided? That's convenient in the field and again relates to cutting down bulk, but it complicates any build.