I have a little loop of lightweight bungee cord tied around the bottom of one of the legs of my Ries tripod. A quick wrap-around the other legs, and I can hike with the legs held together rather than flopping around separately.
Oh, and if you travel the back-country and have a little flash camera along, remember the flash makes a great little emergency beakon at night. (Old cross-country hang-gliding tip.)
I keep an assortment of small sized pieces of foam-core in my case to prop up the bellows when using long extensions. I also keep a 1" wide roll of white waterproof first-aid tape to hold them together in sometimes odd shapes. :-)
Great thread, and lots of great ideas!! Keep 'em coming!
My contribution is a shortcut for determining bellows compensation quickly. I took a small 3 foot key chain tape measure, and on the back marked it off in 5mm increments. I then marked the bellows comp. numbers for each of the three lenses I need it for (135mm, 80mmm, 210mm) in different colors. Now, it's as easy as putting it up to the camera and immediately seeing the correct compensation.
Here are a couple pics:
Tape
Comp. numbers
Carry a spare battery for your light meter, and/or pack an inexpensive, small old-fashioned self-powered light meter.
OK I got another one. I've heard a few people complain of problems with their Gitzo CF tripods after getting them wet. I have photographed with mine in water many times ... two joints under water ... and not had a problem yet. Never taken it apart for cleaning or drying yet either. What I HAVE done is drill a 1/8" hole through the bottom of each foot. ( I don't have spikes ... just the hard rubber caps ) After using it in water I make sure and use a toothpick or something to remove any mud from the holes and just let the water drain out. I always just let it dry out in the house at normal room temperature. No problems so far. YMMV
A lot of us use a #90 Wratten filter to preview our shots in black and white. --Eric Mac
I find a cheap pair of welding goggles are good for seeing in B+W. Some of the cheep asian junk ones seem to practically obliterate all colour sans the green they come in. It's just me but the dark green filtering effect also helps determine where the shadows are going to lay.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure... Life is either daring adventure or nothing: Helen Keller.
I've got a couple.
I found that some 5/8" or 3/4" by about 3.5" removable labels fit just right in the space at the top of 4x5 negative carriers. (e.g Lisco, Fidelity, etc.) It doesn't interfere with taking photos. I ran my labels through a laserjet to put lines and an abbreviated id for each line to fill in negative related info like focal length, subject, location, development (+1, +2, N, etc.), aperture, shutter speed, f-stop, type of film, etc. I put these labels on the holder when I load film and write the type of film on the label.
This seems like a lot of info, but it all fits fine. If you get the right Avery labels, you can print a page of labels at a time. It's easier just writing this info on the negative carrier versus carrying a separate notebook and then numbering the negative carrier to maintain traceability. Being removable labels, when you remove the negative, the label can follow, so that you don't lose track of the information. One could even paste these in a notebook that one keeps at home.
Second Tip:
It pained me when we moved and I had to tear out all the pipe that I had carefully installed when I built my first darkroom. So for darkroom number 2, I purchased about a 4'x6' sheet of 3/4" plywood and mounted all the copper piping on the back and all the water fixtures, water temperature mixer and electrical timers, thermometer, power center, etc. on the front. I drilled holes in this board for the copper tubing to come through and connect to valves in the correct locations. I mounted two 4' 2x2's vertically on the wall that have bolts coming out so that it's easy to mount this board onto these 4' vertical frails. I connects to the plumbing through two short screw on hoses.
It took a long time to sweat the copper and build this thing. But, the next time I move, my darkroom room moves with me.
"Office supply stores sell a device that has two spring clamps on it. One grabs on to a part (that the manufacturer supplies) that is stuck to a computer monitor, the other holds a piece of paper. It is used by touch typists to re-type a document, or type corrections, etc. I threw away the piece that sticks to the monitor and use it to shade my lenses. I clip one side to the front standard of the camera, and use the other side to grab a small gray card that I cut down and carry in my backpack. Put the gray side down and position the arm to block the sun."
I looked in Staples for something like this, but couldn't find it. Do you have a name for this item ?
Perhaps the greatest and most important tip of all: Never bribe a cop with counterfeit money! ;-)
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
When do you get out, John K.?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks