35 mm back for 4x5? For Ektachrome EIR

[Daniel Geiger]

Are there "rollfilm" backs that take 35 mm film for 4x5, specifically ArcaSwiss F-line?

Strange question, I know. I liked doing color infrared with Ektachrome EIR, and that is only available in 35 mm. I've been thinking about doing panoramic-type shots with LF instead of buying a panoramic camera. An other problem is focus, of course. I trust there is information on that problem out there. Does anybody know where?

Thanks for your help, again.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

If you do not insist on using a short focal length, you can adapt an 35 mm camera bayonet on an Arca Swiss lensboard that you can easily fit on rear. Or modifiy a dedicated digital back adaptor to take the bayonet of a 35 mm camera bu theprice qill not be the same ;-)

The only problem is that a 35 mm reflex camera body cannot easily enter inside the view camera standards, so the limitations are severe, but I am pretty sure that with an Arca Swiss 4x5 you can use a 150 mm view camera lens without trouble.
In the good old days, Sinar offered an adaptor plate to fit a 500C/M body at rear of a Sinar monorail camera.

Other idea : there exist a 35 mm cassette made by Meopta for their line of enlargers. This cassette is exactly similar to a rollfilm back and features a rudimentary focal plane shutter. This cassette is designed for repro work on 35 mm film with an enlarger but can be used for all do-it-yoursel projects where 35 mm film is used. No idea however hwo to easily fit the device to the back of a view camera, but doing so you can shorten the light path by one inch or so with respect to a 35m reflex camera body.

www.meopta.co.uk/pricelist.html
CB35 35mm FILM BACK (FOR AXOMAT 5/OPEMUS 6)

[jnantz]

daniel:

i used a "kodachrome back" for a recomar camera for a long time with my 4x5 kit.
i had to make a wooden board that mated with the back of my camera ( graflok back )
but it worked great. the body slide up-down on a rail and allowed you to focus on a tiny groundglass.

pacif rim camera has one and there is a photo in their catalog.

http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/catalog/ay11.htm

[gfen]

I believe there was one by Graflex, as well.

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof made a Rollex back for 4x5 that fit International backs (Graflok). Catalog 001568. It took 30 shots on a roll of 36 exp film due to the length of film that had to be exposed when loading the back.

Linhof also makes an adapter for any International back 4x5 for Hasselblad backs.

[Vick Vickery]

I made one using a spare lens board which also fits on the back of my 4x5 Cambo and the mount taken off of an old pre-set lens no longer used to mount a Practica 35mm that hadn't been used for years but that still worked fine. It works well with lenses 135mm and above on standard lens boards and will work with my 100mm WF Ektar or my 90mm EX WA Wollensak that are on recessed boards. The built in meter has proved to be handy a few times.

[Daniel Geiger]

Thank you for your answers. I think all replies so far talk about a back that produce 35 x 24 mm images. What I want is to take a 24 mm x 5" = 24 x 125 mm long skinny shot; a 24 mm x 4" = 24 mm = 100 mm would also be a good start. The best lenses for that would be fairly wide angle types, and I am willing to get a recessed board even for a moderate WA to compensate for any added distance at the end.

My first thoughts were to take a normal LF filmholder, cut some sheet-film and glue it down as guides, and then load strips of 35 mm film in the space in between. The only problem is development of these pieces. I don't think any commercial place will do it, and I do not have a thermostat development environment. In the past I've used the big bucket method (5 gal of warm water will not change temperature too quickly) with the Beseler E6 kit. Not ideal and some color shifts are noticeable (that's why I pay a larger lab to develop my film). On the other hand, EIR is a false color film, so who sais what is the "correct" false color? So I may get off the hook this way. I'd still prefer some sort of back that allows for long skinny shots taken on a roll (that will be something like 11-14 shots per roll).

The other issue is LF focus for IR images. SLR lenses have the red IR line that works pretty well. The focal shift is wavelength dependent, so it may not be perfect, but it is a good first approximation. Stopping down sufficiently to cover it all is not a good option because diffraction is a powerfunction of wave length (I think it is to the fourth power); I think max advantageous f-stop for 35 mm is 8-11, not 32 (for standard condition).

And why do I want to do that? I think it will look neat. I really like the look of EI, and stiching together a panorama in photoshop is just not the same.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[John Berry ( Roadkill )]

I don't know if this is what you are looking for ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15247&item=7502132822&rd=1

John Berry

[Graham Patterson]

The focus adjustment should be simple, since you have a linear focus camera (not a helical mount). You extend the lens by a small percentage of the focal length. True IR film like the Maco 820c uses something like 1% of the focal length. If you are mixing visible light and IR, which I expect you would with the Ektachrome film, you will have to split the difference somehow.

[John Bolgiano]

This is admittedly a little crazy but I wanted to use some of Kodak's HIE 35mm film in one of my medium format pinhole cameras. I loosely followed some of the advice at the Holga Modification Page. It actually worked quite well. Could using the 35mm EIR in a medium format roll film adapter solve part of your problem?