ULF Camera Advice

[Colin Graham]

My camera and 8 holders took around seven weeks, but I had a trip coming up and was scrambling to get done. I was working my regular job full time, then in the shop until midnight every night of the week and all day on weekends. I finished the holders the day before the trip and was just able to test two exposures...Man was I tired when it was done. I slept the first two days of the trip in the car... But I did loose around 20 lbs! :-)

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I found that taking your time yields the best results, at least it did for me. Now remember I've only got hand tools, passion and some power tools to use in the apartment when I can work from home when most people are gone. When the passion was there I worked on my camera. The 8x20 1 1/2 years including the Walnut tripod I built. The 11x14 10 months and 14 days. The additional cameras are always faster to build.
Colin, I know what you mean about getting it done. I finished attaching my bellows on the 8x20 the morning of my trip to the Eastern Sierra for a photo workshop.

Jim

[Murray]

I saw a process bellows & lens on eBay. The seller couldn't be bothered to respond with any more info than the name & f-stops. No f.l. info so I lost interest. Then I realized it didn't need to be a very long lens for process because of the image circle at 1:1.

So, I too am wondering things about ULF. Is there a consensus on what is the most rigid/stable style of construction to deal with wind & vibration? I imagine the bellows is the biggest wind load, but is a monorail vs whatever the other types are called better in this regard?

I have only Crown/Speed Graphics, so mimicking those would teach me alot about hiding the guts, rigidity, and little movements. I have seen a friend's Zone VI 4x5 once, and recall a relatively heavy wooden 'base' when it's open.

I can envision a box structure to fold everything up into, but a good bit of that is more about storage than wind-resistance.

The other thing I've never really gotten much of a response on is whether there is a rule of thumb for how much rise & fall to allow for, relative to say the format dimensions of lens f.l. Obviously +/-6" would be rediculous on a 2x3 but I have no idea how to compare that to a 20x24 camera...maybe not enough...

does the angle of view of the lens play a role in how much movement is needed?


Thank you

Murray Leshner
Holland, MI

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I found that taking your time yields the best results, at least it did for me. Now remember I've only got hand tools, passion and some power tools to use in the apartment when I can work from home when most people are gone. When the passion was there I worked on my camera. The 8x20 1 1/2 years including the Walnut tripod I built. The 11x14 10 months and 14 days. The additional cameras are always faster to build.
Colin, I know what you mean about getting it done. I finished attaching my bellows on the 8x20 the morning of my trip to the Eastern Sierra for a photo workshop.

Jim

Of ocurse, you gotta realize that Jim spent half of the times cited rubbing wood with wax... You need a gf Jim.....

[John Kasaian]

Just rent a U-Haul van and when nobody's looking jab a pinhole in one side of the box!

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jorge, trust me when I tell you I'm on the hunt for a pretty young thing I can use as a model. Hand rubbing with hot wax or oil is right up my alley! Polishing some skin instead of wood will be a nice change of pace!!

Jim

[jongrep]

Enjoy makig your camera. here is a link to a bellows making page by Edward Hoover, which I use
http://home.earthlink.net/~eahoo/page2/page2.html

also have a look at Jon Grepsteds site http://home.online.no/~gjon/index.htm
trust these help

bob

Please note that my website is moving. New URL: http://jongrepstad.com/

Jon Grepstad