DIY Polaroid back...well sort of.

**BKP** · 3-Aug-2018, 23:45

I had this idea years ago, by the time I actually finished it I found out that others had the same idea. Model 2 which is in the works will be made out of a 545 back. I want to get the DSLR closer to the 4x5. It uses the "Graphloc back". A friend did the machining work and a telescope supply store supplied the Celestron T adapter. It shows a small portion of the 4x5 image area and is quite easy to remove to replace http://www.largeformatphotography.in...umb=1&stc=1the ground glass. Comments welcomed...bkp

**jim10219** · 8-Aug-2018, 08:42

I made one for my Sinar F2. I drilled a hole in an old lens board and screwed an M42 to Nikon F adapter to the back and an M42 Female ring ripped out of an old M42 extension tube on the front side (the side inside the bellows). So the two rings sandwich the lens board and are held together with the M42 screw threads. Since the Sinar lens board is so thin, it actually holds really well. Then I attach either a macro tube or a 2x teleconverter to allow enough space to give the camera body clearance from the lens board. I generally just use the teleconverter when doing solar photography. Outside of that, I rarely use this setup. It kind of defeats the point of either camera in my opinion. You don't get the super large negatives of large format, and you don't have the easy to use and light weight setup, nor the super fast and sharp lenses you'd except from a digital camera. But for the price (two hours of my time and finding a use for a bunch of spare parts I no longer needed), it was worth it.

Have you found any good uses for it? A 545 digital back might be more useful than my APS-C camera.

**Tin Can** · 8-Aug-2018, 08:58

Why not buy or make a slider back and stitch?

Search this

Moveable Camera Adapter 4x5 Cameras

**choiliefan** · 8-Aug-2018, 11:00

A movable adapter coupled to a mirrorless compact digital body would give you more bellows draw to play with.

**BKP** · 8-Aug-2018, 22:57

Thanks for the info. I heard about this sometime ago but did not know what it was called. It is definitely a refined version of my contraption and the price seems reasonable. What about the overlapping edges? bk

**BKP** · 8-Aug-2018, 23:33

Hello Jim: Those are all good questions. Originally when we ( my machinist friend and I) first made this, it was used like a polaroid back but it was used to compare sharpness on various lenses and it is a Kick-ass macro setup. It is shown with a D50, the stitching back wasn't around and I didn't know about it, otherwise I would have one. But you're right, as a camera you don't have the sharpness that a digital camera mated to a proper lens. In my 4x5 arsenal I have but three lenses a 75mm/5.6, 135/5.6 and a 180/5.6. I have used my back to capture the center small area projected whilst using a bag bellows and the 75. It's fun to "marry" Digital and analog....bk