LF Camera Movements

[Terence McDonagh]

I meant to say my camera is a tailboard, rather than a flatbed in the style of Koronas (Koronae?), etc

[Ralph Barker]

Eugene - you're correct, of course. The DE Tachi does have some rear swing, but it's so minimal that it's not very useful, IMHO. That's why I said "really" only rear tilt.

[Struan Gray]

I have a 1880's 12x15" camera with only front rise, backwards front tilt and a small amount of forwards rear tilt which seems fairly typical of larger cameras from that time. I also have a roughly contemporary tailboard 4x5 which has both rise and shift on the front standard, achieved using two stacked sliding dovetailed panels. All these movement would be easy to implement on a home-built model.

Take a look at the arms of an anglepoise lamp if you want a way to get indirect rise and fall without having to re-focus too much. You need to add a top brace linking the front and rear standards and a side plate to set the angle, but both of those are good for stability anyway. You can do something similar for shift, but for a lightweight field camera you can probably live without shift altogether.

I've posted this link before, but it bears repeating here: www.1911encyclopedia.com. This is an online version of the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The article on Photography has lots of useful info on early cameras, lenses and shutters. You'll need to find a paper copy for the pictures, but because it's such a classic text lots of university and other libraries have a copy so it's not too hard to track down.

[Calamity Jane]

Good point - consider the type of photography.....

Since it will be mainly portraiture (with some background), and since I will still have the Cherry wood monorail for full movement, I think I'll go with a more primative design.

I have been watching for wooden cameras on e-bay - I can steal the hardware and replace the wood and bellows - but I haven't seen anything inexpensive yet.

It is amazing how some old cameras go for BIG bucks and others go for $200 - must be collectors fishing for the rare models....

Thanks fer all the input folks!

[Jim Rice]

What were the designers of, say, the Pacemaker Graphics thinking with front rearward tilt? I realise the bed-drop work around exists, but does anyone use front rearward tilt?

[Ralph Barker]

Jim - I frequently tilt rearward when I'm taken aback by one of my mistakes. ;-)

Seriously, when I drop the bed on my Toyo 45AX for wide lenses, I use rearward tilt to bring the front back into plumb. I've also used rearward tilt when I want the plane of focus to rise toward the camera position, so the Scheimpflug intersection point is above the camera.