Keeping the focusing hood whilst making an exposure

[jimbobuk]

I just received my black jacket today.. reading its instructions it encourages you to keep it on the camera when making an exposure..

I took out the camera and had a practice fitting with it.. I have the older Shen Hao field camera, i got the 40" hybrid jacket.. I tried fitting the jacket as far to the back of the camera as possible but at first attempts was not able to get it tight enough to have no visible and obvious leaks whilst looking at the glass..

Putting the jacket much further down the camera, beyond the carry strap resulted in a much better seal.. it obviously precludes doing anything with the camera back with it fitted like this.

Its just the recommendation was that it stops any light leaks by having the focusing cloth on whilst making the exposure.. how much is this a worry?

I just got my first transparencies back, will be scanning them shortly.. but i had problems on a few of them where there is a green strip on one side of the shot... being green it seems unlikely to be a light leak as surely this would be white? it was transparencies loaded by the seller of the camera, so i have no idea whether they're expired film or whether the darkslides have leaked over a long time of being loaded.

I'll be developing more film soon, just wanted to know what the deal was with this keeping the cloth on all the time, any tips on whether and how this is possible?

[David A. Goldfarb]

If everything is working properly, you shouldn't have to leave the darkcloth on the camera to avoid light leaks. If you have an old camera or filmholders with worn light traps or if you haven't inserted the filmholder properly, then you might have light leaks.

A reason not to leave the darkcloth attached to the camera is that it becomes another thing that can catch the wind and cause vibration or movement during the exposure.

I use a traditional darkcloth and leave it folded in half over my shoulders, and I flip it over my head and the camera when I need to see the glass.

[sanking]

I just received my black jacket today.. reading its instructions it encourages you to keep it on the camera when making an exposure..

I took out the camera and had a practice fitting with it.. I have the older Shen Hao field camera, i got the 40" hybrid jacket.. I tried fitting the jacket as far to the back of the camera as possible but at first attempts was not able to get it tight enough to have no visible and obvious leaks whilst looking at the glass..

Putting the jacket much further down the camera, beyond the carry strap resulted in a much better seal.. it obviously precludes doing anything with the camera back with it fitted like this.

Its just the recommendation was that it stops any light leaks by having the focusing cloth on whilst making the exposure.. how much is this a worry?

I just got my first transparencies back, will be scanning them shortly.. but i had problems on a few of them where there is a green strip on one side of the shot... being green it seems unlikely to be a light leak as surely this would be white? it was transparencies loaded by the seller of the camera, so i have no idea whether they're expired film or whether the darkslides have leaked over a long time of being loaded.

I'll be developing more film soon, just wanted to know what the deal was with this keeping the cloth on all the time, any tips on whether and how this is possible?

I suspect that the green streak you describe is in fact a light leak. It may be a processing error but a light leak is a greater probability in my opinion.

The advice to always keep the focusing hood wrapped around the camera when making the exposure is very sound in my opinion. This will minimize any light leaks that might result from a wide range of camera/holder issues and just makes sense as a practical precauation. I would personally never make an exposure with the back of the camera and the holder fully open to ambient light.

Sandy King

[GPS]

I would personally never make an exposure with the back of the camera and the holder fully open to ambient light.

Sandy King

Oh! What a difference in persons! I would personally never make an exposure with the black cloth attached to the camera. Fiddling with it while a film holder is open is just one reason, beside those mentioned above. I laughed. Oh well, people are different - and it's good so!

[scott_6029]

For me, it depends...4x5 no problem, 8 x 10 no problem. 7 x 17....need to block the direct sun while pulling the dark slide and I lay the cloth over the back when taking the pic. It's more a holder thing, I think. It's like the sun will reflect off of the slide and down the trap through the holder....

[Ron Marshall]

I find I usually shoot in low light so I often don't bother; but in bright sun I always keep the cloth over the filmholder.

[Jim Rice]

I've been on both sides of this issue. The bellows on the old (did i mention old?) Kodak Master View were more like a sieve. The Wisner never leaked a drop. But I still draped the dark cloth over the bellows. With Margret (the magnesium C-1) I'm certain I'll take that precaution as well, though if the wind picks up I will probably stash it. Let practicality be your guide.

[Frank Petronio]

I wouldn't drape the darkcloth over the camera unless I were paranoid. If you actually do have a light leak, it is better to know it right away than to have it intermitantly semi-appear from time to time when you sometimes cover the camera with it or not. Understand? I just want one accident - not a whole string of them.

[sanking]

I wouldn't drape the darkcloth over the camera unless I were paranoid. If you actually do have a light leak, it is better to know it right away than to have it intermitantly semi-appear from time to time when you sometimes cover the camera with it or not. Understand? I just want one accident - not a whole string of them.

OK, I am paranoid. But one definition of paranoid is a heightened sense of awareness.

When one makes negatives with ULF film, with all of the costs of time and money, and loss of portability, there is no reason to take a chance, IMO. If possible, I would put the camera inside a light tight tent with just the lens sticking out.

In any event, I have never had a light leak on film with the back and holder fully covered, and several when the camera and holder were left uncovered.

Sandy

[Frank Petronio]

I understand. But if you get occassional light leaks, wouldn't it be better to trace and fix the lightleak once and for all?