Panorama insert for film holders

[Graham Patterson]

Since it is a reversible mod. you lose nothing by trying.

[Drew Bedo]

'Nother quick thought: Tape down a piece of 220 film with masking tape and expose in a standard film holder. Make up some kind of jig to ensure that the film is placed the saqme way each time.

If done on an 8x10 film holder, they will all think you used an expensive WA camera and expensive WA lens.

I mean, at 6cm x 25cm, (2 1/4x10 inches) its a wide enough negative to still be "Large Format" right?

[OeT]

A first test
Maybe not the best picture



An old castle ruin taken with a Rittreck View loaded with Kodak Plus X 125 and shot wiht a polaroid MP-4 lens

[Dan Fromm]

Um, as 135/4.5 tessar types go the MP-4 Tominon is pretty poor both closeup and at distance. Save your small monetary units and buy a better lens when you've accumulated enough.

[Randy]

Looks like it worked fine. I have used the cut 8X10 dark slide only once - like Kirk said - can be confusing because you have to flip the camera back over so you can insert from the other side. What I finally decided was - since the only 8X10 film I can afford to shoot is X-ray film, at about $.40 a sheet, I just expose the whole sheet and crop as 3X10, 4X10, 5X10, what ever I like.

[Tim Meisburger]

I have used a cut darkslide, but there is a much easier way that works with most cameras. Take the back off your camera, like you are changing orientation, and look at the inside frame of the back. Then cut a piece of black paper covered foam board one half the size of the opening, and jamb it in there. Should stay by friction. Then reattach the back and compose as normal. You will only be able to see an image on the area that is not covered, and that is the part of the film that will be exposed.

After the shot, open the back and shift the foam core to the other side, and you are ready for another shot (just remember you have to compose again). You can cut two pieces, one that yields two panoramic (2x5), and one that yields two portrait size (2.5x4) Make them a little more than half so you have separation in the middle of the sheet. These work perfectly and weigh nothing, so I always have a couple in the camera bag. The only time I have used them a lot was when I was on a trip and running out of film.

You can also cut a piece that covers three-quarters, and by flipping and turning you can get four 2x2.5 images from one sheet, although I have only ever used this technique for film testing.

[Keith Pitman]

Chamonix sells ready made panorama darkslides:

http://www.chamonixviewcamera.com/halfframe.html

[Vaughn]

I use a modified darkslide. Like anything, use it enough and it becomes automatic.

I have one for 8x10, need to make one for 11x14, but may skip the 5x7. I would like to make one for 8x8, also!

[barnacle]

It strikes me, looking at all these top half/bottom half panorama darkslides, that by default you're using the sharpest bit of the lens on one edge.

Is it normal practice to shift the lens by an inch in the appropriate direction before starting to make an image?

Neil

[Vaughn]

When I set up the camera, I center the lens on the film half that is to be exposed. One is actually using more (by percentage, I suppose) of the lens' sweet spot than one does full-frame. My Zone VI has a nice amount of front rise (and plenty of front shift for vertical 4x10s).

For horizontal 4x10s this is easy. After the first exposure, one removes the modified slide, puts in the full darkslide and flips the camera back 180 degrees; it is all set-up for the next image. After shifting the lens and composing the first vertical 4x10, one needs to re-compose for the other half, including front shift to get the lens centered.

Unless I am in a serious film-saving mode, I usually put two of the same 4x10 image on each sheet of film. Maybe with slight changes (in exposure, but perhaps composition), and it is nice to get two good copies of the same image -- especially using the negs in alt processes where I might damage one. It also helps me to keep the confusion down on what half has been exposed!