Keeping the focusing hood whilst making an exposure

[sanking]

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

If there is a major light leak it will probably be evident even with the camera back, holder and bellows covered and one should take steps to correct it. The difference is that if you keep everything covered the damage might not be so great that the negative is ruined.

On balance I find there are several good reasons to keep the back, holder and bellows as covered as possible when making the exposure, and doing so is is not an inconvenience in any way to my own work flow.

Sandy King

[Michael Kadillak]

I can tell you from direct experience that you should always get in the habit of maintaining a dark cloth over all view cameras as it does not have to be using a ULF or a wooden camera that can mess with you and your light sensitive materials.

I have a Toyo metal 810M camera (perfectly straight metal film back) and use Toyo 8x10 precision film holders and a couple of weeks ago I felt that I was immune from using the dark cloth over my camera and during a rush to capture an image I made a couple of exposures mid day with the sun peaking out from the clouds and on those negatives I could distinctly see the effects of very modest light seepage across the majority of the image area. I made me mad as hell but it was my own damn fault for not making the minimum effort with the dark cloth cover that would have prevented this occurance. On the negatives that I used the dark cloth throughout the exposure I was home free.

With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results. Tried it and have the edge density negatives from perfect film holders to prove my point. But let's be honest - at $7+ per exposure why take chances unnecessarily?

As a result, I find that it is very reasonable to make using the dark cloth over the camera back a normal part of the exposure routine in all my LF and ULF work.

Murphy's Law will eventually prove to you that at the worst time possible, a risk factor ignored will find a way to bite you directly in the ass.

Cheers!

[BrianShaw]

Gee whiz... until you folks mentioned it, I never even thought of covering the camera with a dark cloth. I've never been bit in the butt, but I suppose there is always a first time. something new to think about!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I guess the question is which you consider the greater risk factor--the possibility of a light leak that could be prevented by draping the darkcloth over the camera or the possibility of wind blowing the darkcloth and causing camera movement. Obviously, I'm more concerned about the latter. Why take chances unnecessarily?

The only light leaks I've ever had in camera are with my 11x14" camera outdoors. I'm working on diagnosing the source, but I don't shoot 11x14" outside that often at this point. Light leaks that I have had have tended to be things like darkslides coming unlocked and slipping loose in the bag.

[Keith S. Walklet]

Personally, I don't usually leave it on when I make an exposure unless the sun would be shining directly into the film holder. This situation is rare, as I typically rotate the camera back away from the light source so that nothing shines directly into the film holder. It is only when I have lots of back tilt with a vertical image and the sun is high in the sky that I run into a problem, because I can't pull the dark slide if it points down. In that situation, the tripod head gets in the way. So, I have no choice but to orient the film holder upward toward the sun. In that case, I'll leave the cloth on or drape it over the film holder.

IMO, if it is windy, I agree that all the additional fabric will just act as a sail. Better to reduce surface area and remove it. To do so without disturbing the composition, loosen the toggle so the shock cord goes slack before taking it off.

But that is me. I can see by all the quick responses to the original comment, that this is something where people have strong opinions.

So why do the instructions suggest leaving it in place?

Uh, strong opinions. ;-)

It seemed I was in the minority because many users wrote to chastise me and suggest I change my instructions to encourage people to leave it on the camera as a safeguard against light leaks.

So the instructions now suggest leaving it in place, with the caveat that the user should make sure that no fabric is caught between the film holder and camera back, because that could potentially introduce a light leak.

I know THAT from experience with my old darkcloth, (not a BLACKJACKET(TM)). It had a simple gathered elastic neck that liked to slip in between the camera and film holder if I wasn't careful. So even before I devised the BLACKJACKET(TM), I got in the habit of checking to make sure there was no fabric stuck between the camera and film holder. To do so, pull the cloth forward, in essence turning it inside out over the camera, then return it to the proper position before making the exposure. Or, take it off, like I do. :-)

BTW, your latter method for attaching it to the camera is how I do it, though each has their preferred method.

[GPS]

"With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results." (Kadillak)

Interesting! A curious question comes to my mind - how do you take your film holders from your bag and put them to the camera in direct sunlight? Covered with a dark cloth?
Just curious.

[Frank Petronio]

Nah, he starts before dawn and waits for the sun to get in to position. You don't want to waste film

[N Dhananjay]

It used to be fairly standard practise in earlier days to cover the entire bellows with the darkcloth as added insurance against light leaks - inserting the film holder and removing/reinserting the darkslide would be done under the darkcloth (one reason good darkcloths should be generous in size). OK, materials have changed and are possibly more reliable these days, but...

1) If you are on a long trip, you can check your system before you leave but you might pick up a pinhle along the way (let's say a stray bramble as you drag yourself through some thicket to a good spot, or just gremlins in the air). The darkcloth just adds some additional protection between system checks.

2) The system may be fine but there is always operator error. As one gets better, these reduce but are posibly not eliminated (there is always fatigue and poor mental states). Slightly improper seating, being a little rough in removing the darkslide etc... again, just aded insurance.

I wonder if anybody does perform routine system checks. I think the reality is that most of the time, it is an occasional lost photograph that alerts us to possible issues. We may like to think that our system runs with all the failsafe-ness of a nuclear reactor but we're talking about systems with a certain amount of slop in them. If they are not there when you set out, they certainly develop over time because our equipment typically goes through some fairly unforgiving environments and times. Finally, we have no idea about the conditions each of us work under. Some of us may be using fairly archaic cameras, working in particularly harsh sun, and finally some of us may have just been burnt by an issue and found a solution that has now just become habit - although a habit that might be of some help to someone else in similar situations.

Cheers, DJ

[Michael Kadillak]

"With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results." (Kadillak)

Interesting! A curious question comes to my mind - how do you take your film holders from your bag and put them to the camera in direct sunlight? Covered with a dark cloth?
Just curious.

The whole concept of shooting ULF or even for that matter 8x10 in wind is a bit of an oxymoron because it is all "relative" to the specific conditions and there is no way anyone can (or should) provide a standard response. But I have two operating modes to consider when shooting that work for me.

If I have my 35# Wisner 12x20 on an A100 tripod, I have to say that even with a 24" lens on the wind unless it is really gusting is really not a factor. If it is (and with experience you know almost immediately if you are a no go), I may just shoot either 6x9 hand held or 4x5. However, when it is acceptable to shoot ULF I hang my Saitta dark cloth with bulldog clips over the rear standard and use another clamp to secure the bottom to get to the ground glass. When I am ready to expose. I loosed the bottom clamp to give me a bit more room under the dark cloth and I bring the film holder in the Strebor closed holder septum with me under the cloth and take it out and make my exposure. I have plenty of room laterally and it keeps the holder from direct light conditions and it goes back into the light tight septum after the exposure. I am not overly concerned about some light reflecting from the ground up during this process because it is nowhere as intense as direct light. I pointed my incident meter in the direction of the ground and it was fairly innocuous.

When I am a bit further from the truck and I have the 8x20 Canham I usually use the BTZS 12x20 lightweight cloth draped over the rear standard to focus however, when I want to expose I reverse the dark cloth pull back the velcro as much as possible and put the non-elastic portion over the back of the camera so that the elastic segment is over the film holder insert on the back of the camera and I clip a couple of bulldog clips over the top of the rear standard to hold it in place. I bring the holder septum under the slit in the hanging dark cloth and take the holder out of the septum leaving the film holder flap section under the cover to the degree possible. I rotate the film holder horizontal under the dark material allowing the handle section to go outside of the elastic opening of the BTZS dark cloth for a very short period while I insert the holder in the camera and similarly pull the dark slides out of this opening and fold this opening closed when I expose. I have found that particularly with ULF holders the flap section is the weak link so I consider it my first priority in guarding it from light when making photographs.

The Strebor film holder septums work well for me in the field as they are light tight and also have a bit of padding to protect the investment I have made in the holders but there are other solutions to this challenge that work equally well. I feel that it is simply not a good idea to allow light to be in contact with any loaded film holder for any unnecessary period of time considering how easy it is to take this variable out of the risk equation. However, it is not something one needs to get overly obscessive with. My comment is to just keep the time that your holders see daylight to a reasonable minimum to and from the back of your camera but keep a dark cloth over your camera back when you make your exposure. If it is windy, then tuck the excess dark cloth that is hanging down under the bellows to minimize the surface area and make sure that you shoot 400 speed film. Sometimes wind comes in patterns and with the dark cloth over the back of the camera you have the inherent ability to wait for the potential short lull and trip your shutter then.

Just my $0.02

Cheers!

[jimbobuk]

Thanks for all the pointers guys.. you're all so far ahead of me that its great to read your discussions on the subject..

I've wrestled through and scanned the film that I was talking about.. scanning colour in 2 passes (my epson 4490 only goes up to medium format!!) proves to be frustrating.. photoshop's photomerge appears to be rubbish so i've started having to join by hand which is fine but just takes too long. Anyways I thought i'd link the shots online so you could take a look, here they are

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245383588/

I believe the line down the centre is the join of my 2 images that weren't scanned to exactly the same exposure and colour.. the green "leak" is slightly cropped but still clearly visible at the bottom of the frame.. This and its twin image were all sadly underexposed due to the poor metering of a friends camera we used and then had to guestimate the exposure for the equivelant ISO, and aperture of the field camera. Crucially it was so underexposed at the area of the leak that i think the leak was allowed to be significant.. if it had been more fully exposed from the lens perhaps the leak wouldn't have even have been noticable, as is the case with the next shot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245387943/

just a garden shot, the most photographed thing so far till i get confident that i'm even vaguely doing it right.. again sharp focus seems to have escaped me throughout the frame, hopefully now i have a proper black jacket I'll be able to see more clearly.. getting an improved ground glass screen seems to perhaps appeal, along with a decent loupe... crucially this is one of the shots that doesn't seem to have leaked... the light was quite low, and as i mentioned before the film has all received a reasonable amount of exposure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245391840/

a hillside near my house, my first excursion out trying to focus at infinity.. bit of a failure really.. but again, no light leak.. the sun was setting over a hedge in the left side of the frame.. not that much light would have been striking the film holder..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245392236/

a shot i took after reaching the sunset... its not come out great anyways, the exposure escaped me, the lens was wrong and i wasn't exactly happy with taking the shot, but wanted to finish this film so i could get them sent away. The mess that is all over the film really escapes me a little... I sometimes have trouble getting the film out of the darkslide in my changing bag.. with longer finger nails its easier to grab the film from inside the indented circle.. but then sometimes as you try to pull cleanly you inadvertently pull up as the film has seemed to stick slightly.. doing this you flex it and it gets really stuck, forcing you to almost pull the film out away from the slide rather than along it.. causing it to bend till it gives way and comes out.. thats certainly happened a few times, but i'm trying to avoid it in the future, though right now with no finger nails to speak of, i have no idea how i'll grab the film easily. Do you think something like that could cause this kind of mess.. its certainly not a light leak is it? or is it a major leak different to the others.. coming from the front perhaps? Again no idea how the film was treated on loading, or if it had expired either.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245415474/

another castle shot.. same as before really, underexposed with the leak.

I am going to try and keep the hood on the camera for subsequent exposures.. the only problem i'll have is having the space to pull out the dark slide, and reinsert it.. don't know how much space there will be inside the 40" dark jacket.. perhaps not having the jacket THAT tight will be enough to reduce light on the film holder by so much that its not a problem.

I had a quick look on the site for light leak suggestions and tried testing some of the holders.. in daylight with a torch nothing was that obvious.. in the past i thought to help i'd leave the dark slide in the holder slightly blocking the hole up i guess.. whether in doing this i managed to leave the slide in the felt jaws of the holder and stop them closing properly I don't know.. I'll check them with torches again when its dark so it'll be easiler to see, and i'll go with trying to keep the hood on for the next exposures.. I think its less the holders and more a problem with the slide fitting in the camera back.. and obviously my inexperience with all things large format, and especially with this camera.

Any more help you guys have to offer will be received very gladly, cheers.

Jim