brighter groundglass question

[Jan_6568]

I have Darkroom Innovations groundglass on my 5x7 Century Grand. It is pretty dim and I am looking for a replacement one but I do not want to spend too much money. So my question is quite simple: do you think Satin Snow would be brighter then Darkroom Innovations (OK - Darkroom in the name suggests it woould

regards,

Jan

[Capocheny]

Jan,

I've got SatinSnow gg on all my cameras... so you might say I think they're a pretty decent gg for the dollar value.

Of course, if you have the dollars... there are always the Maxwell Screens and others. Sorry, I can't speak to the Darkroom Innovations screen though.

Cheers

[matthew blais]

I have SS glass on my three 4x5's...Made an improvement, so then
got one (SS) for the 8x10 Master View, which actually was not as clear or bright as the original Master view glass, which was 50 years old or so.... I say "was" 'cause I broke it in a moment of superior stupidity. Arrgh!

My 4x5's are brighter then the 8x10, and I can't reason that!
So I will be getting a fresnel for the Master view soon.

[dyuhas]

No compaints about my Maxwell.

Dave Yuhas
Pacifica, CA

[Jan_6568]

Thank you for advices. May be one of you could compare Satin Snow to Tachihara GG, I have a 4x5 Tachihara and it is a way brighter then Darkroom Innovation. What do you think?
I am not sure but I think Maxwell is much more expensive then SS so this is noy an option for me, at least now.

Jan

[Brian Ellis]

I perhaps shouldn't say anything since I've never used a Satin Snow glass but I have used a Tachihara. I'd be very surprised if the Satin Snow is as bright, or even close to being as bright, as the Tachihara. That isn't intended to knock the Satin Snow glass, it's just that the Tachihara uses a Fresnel lens to achieve its brightness and the Satin Snow is a plain ground glass, no Fresnel. There are advantages and disadvantages to a Fresnel and many people don't like them but they do add a lot of brightness. However, I don't think you'll find any third-party Fresnel screens that are in the Satin Snow price range. The third party Fresnels such as Beattie and Maxwell sell in the $150 - $250 range, I think the Satin Snow is about $10.

FWIW, the person who runs Satin Snow recently posted a message in APUG to the effect that delivery times are now running 8 - 10 weeks IIRC.

[Ron Marshall]

I have a Bosscreen that is wonderful, but for the price you can't beat Satin Snow, and I'm very happy with that as well, noticably brighter than my stock Sinar GG.

[Dan V]

I can't speak to the DI screen, but I found the Satin Snow screen brighter than the stock screen on my 4x5 Tachihara. And for the money, there's no better buy in LF equipment.

[Jan_6568]

I can't speak to the DI screen, but I found the Satin Snow screen brighter than the stock screen on my 4x5 Tachihara. And for the money, there's no better buy in LF equipment.

Dan, thank you very much - comparison you make between SS and Tachihara stock screen gives me an impression what to expect. Very helpful.

Brian - I have no experience myself, but I was told that Fresnel lens would only brighten the corners of the screen when using wide angle lenses. Otherwise it would be useless. On the other hand I also heard that it is all the way around and Fresnel lens would just make the screen brighter regardless of the lens. I was always using the screens I got with my cameras so I have never experimented with adding or removing Fresnel. Would someone, who has own experience, clarify that to me?

Jan

[Ron Marshall]

There is an article on the front page of this site which discusses fresnel lenses:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/gg.html