a low budget view camera

[Gordon Coale]

I would like to introduce myself. I'm just getting back into large format after a 25 year hiatus. This is my Burke & James Commercial View. I traded $17.50 worth of film for it. It came with a 10" Elgeet in an Alphax shutter, a 5x7 back, and a loose Graflok back. A graphic artist who reads my blog sent me the lens out of an Agfa Repromaster that they were throwing away. It's a 210mm Schneider G-Claron. Had to pay $10 for postage. I've collected some more barrel lenses and fixed up an old Packard shutter I've had for some time. I started out with a 4x5 back on it but I've wanted to go bigger with 5x7. I had the 5x7 back for it but it was glassless and need a lot of cleaning. My Satin Snow 5x7 ground glass finally arrived and it was worth the wait. He even ground the edges and put a cute little radius on each corner. I cleaned up my 5x7 back and installed the ground glass. I took it outside and focused on my neighborhood. Oh, my! It sure is big. The glass is quite wonderful to focus on.

[Gordon Coale]

One problem I've been having is with the back attachment system. It uses a spring with a slot in it that receives pins in the back. Trying to get the pins in the new back to line up has been a pain. And to remove the back you have to pull the back away from the spring before you can lift it out of the clips on the bottom of the camera. It's been real hard to get it off. This has caused some of the joints in the back to start coming apart. One of the great things about the Burke & James is that it's not a high end camera with all sorts of highly finished expensive wood. It's not a fine Cabernet. It's a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. I can drill all the holes I want without remorse. I removed the spring and drilled a hole just a little smaller that a 10-24 pan head machine screw. I screwd the machine screw in and then cut it off with my Dremel tool. I bought a pair of Ace Hardware angles, 1/2 inch wide by 3/4 inch. I hacksawed one end off leaving just a short piece. I used the Dremel tool to elongate the hole to make give it some movement. Push the angle in with your thumb and tighten the wing nut. Much easier.

[Gordon Coale]

The next part was not planned for but I will take credit for it. I had envisioned removing the wing nuts and angles to remove the back for rotating. It turns out that I can just loosen the wing nut and rotate the angle. No loose pieces! I wasn't all that smart. When I rotated the back it turned out that the angle needs to be located a little more towards the edge. It still works but it doesn't look good. I located the other side nearer the edge and it works fine. I will probably leave it as is for now but I will have to come back and fill the mislocated hole and redrill it. Then, if I want to keep it this way, I will make some threaded posts a little longer, install them with a little epoxy, and use lock washers. Then fill the unused holes with a little bondo and put on a fresh coat of grey paint. (A Burke & James just isn't a Burke & James unless it's gray with red bellows.) For now, I need to clean up my 5x7 film holders and order some film.

[Capocheny]

Gord,

Looks like a nice repair job... and welcome back to the world of LF photography!

You can find 5x7 film at most of the better camera stores... MidWest Photo, Badger Graphics, etc, etc.

FYI... look at the viewcamera.com site and you'll find an article discussing the films available for 5x7!

Cheers

[medform-norm]

Hi Gordon,
it sounds like you got a good deal there. And I thought our view cameras were cheap...all under 200 euros, even the newly arrived 8x10.
What I am not seeing is where you've attached one of your designer camera straps to this baby. ;-)
BTW I like your blog. When will we see the first images taken with the B&J on that?

Regards,
Norm

[MJSfoto1956]

I had that same camera back in the 1970s!

It was "primarily" packaged as a copy camera by Burke & James. But notwithstanding, I too on occasion took it out in the field. I even did some portrait work with 8x10 Polaroid. Good luck with it!!!

J Michael Sullivan
MAGNAchrom...

[Brian Ellis]

Hmmm. $17.50 for the camera and $10 postage for a 210 Schneider G Claron lens. I think you've redefined the term "low budget." : - )

[Donald Qualls]

Help! I've fallen (off my chair) and I can't get up!!

I paid more than that for my last box of 4x5 film...

[Bob Gentile]

"... I paid more than that for my last box of 4x5 film..."

You've got that right! Amazing!

[Gordon Coale]

I checked back and it was actually $17.15 worth of film but I had shipping on top of that which probably doubled it. It was more than a stroke of good luck. It was more like a severe blow of good luck. One of the members of the Rangefinder Forum was looking for a good home for it. It needed a little work. And the 210 G-Claron was another severe blow of good luck. What a sweet lens! I acquired a Packard shutter 30 years ago as a curiosity not realizing what a useful thing it might be. I front mounted it. I have three other process lenses which I need to make lens boards for. I was looking for a 4x5 when this fell into my lap. I had an old Calumet 4x5 which I sold for a sweet little Nagaoka 4x5 in the mid 1970s. I think my Eastman No.2 5x7 came with the Packard shutter in the mid 1970s, too. When the kids came around 1980, the large format gear went. I did shoot some 5x7s and I've been scanning some of those old negatives. I'm looking forward to scanning some new 5x7 negatives! I'm still looking for an inexpensive wide angle 120mm barrel lens that will cover 5x7. They appear infrequently. I just hope one appears when I have the money!