I'm trying to ready a 4x5 budget LF camera system for a camping / road trip in a couple weeks (to Canyon de Chelly and the Grand Canyon). In addition to the obvious landscapes, I'd also like to shoot some natural light portraits.
I have a Calumet 45N and some cheap old lenses - a Wollensak Raptar 127/4.5, a Graflex Optar 135/4.7, and a beautiful Zeiss 250/4.5 in a barrel. This last lens is, of course, the difficulty - I suspect it'd be great for portraits, if only I can shutter it. I could try to mount it in a Packard shutter for ~$260 new (ouch), or I can get a large shutter off e-bay for a bit more $$$ and try to adapt it to the rear of the lens. I don't have a metal lathe (yet), but maybe I could rig something temporary with fiberboard and duct tape until I can make a metal adapter ring.
My girlfriend will accompany me on the trip, and she wants to learn to use the camera also. (I'm so lucky!) She's even making a dark cloth for me. I'm making my own lensboards from 1/16" fiberboard. I cut the first one last night - it was much easier than I expected, and from my visual inspection it appears to be light-tight. I'll add some flat black paint and maybe some felt around the edges later. It is a bit flexible, but I'll glue on some reinforcing plywood or fiberboard to help make it more stiff.
I'm about to order a box of 50 sheets of Kodak T-MAX 100, and 10 sheets each of Kodak E100VS and Porta-160NC. I also have a Nikon D2h for use when hiking or when I otherwise want a quick photo. I will use the Nikon as a meter for the LF camera, though perhaps that will introduce up to ~ 1 stop of error, due to different lens throughput and possible differences in metering between film and digital. I will try to take a bracketed test shot before the trip so I can try to estimate the exposure compensation.
My questions are:
- What do people suggest for shuttering the Zeiss lens?
- Can anyone suggest strategies for metering accurately, using the D2h? Should I use spot, center-weighted, or matrix metering?
- Should I hang my head in shame if I want to have the film processed at a lab?
- Any other advice or suggestions?
Assuming I can get any decent photos, I intend to scan them for digital processing and prints.
Thanks for any replies,
-- David
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