Show off your Large Format camera!

[IanG]

Hi Phil, that looks great and rigid. A few years back I built a 11x14 horizontal only back based on a Fidelity holder for my 8x10 Agfa Commercial View. The Agfa has beefy components which I thought could handle the enlarged back. I did away with the original back tilt for extra rigidity. The 7.5" square lens panel is big enough to allow offset mounting so at zero position the lens could be on axis and for my wide angle settings I could mount both my Protar V and Dagor together and rotate them around. At long end, it can handle the 23" cell of my Protar VII with the built in extension track. This was fairly manageable in the field, but has been on a hiatus unfortunately due to lack of darkroom space since my move to the UK. But hopefully not for much longer!

Is it actually a Commercial View? I appreciate you've added new bellows/back but the Commercial View has 36" extension. The Universal View looks the same but doesn't have the extra extension, and later ones had the front tilt. I have both, excellent cameras and you're right they are very solid.

Ian

[Henry Suryo]

It might in fact be the Universal View, Ian. It has a built in extension track but the max extension is only 28 inches or so. I guess on the Commercial View you have an additional detachable extension track that you mount on the rear? Mine doesn't have that facility to do this.

[IanG]

It might in fact be the Universal View, Ian. It has a built in extension track but the max extension is only 28 inches or so. I guess on the Commercial View you have an additional detachable extension track that you mount on the rear? Mine doesn't have that facility to do this.

It's a Universal View then. The original bellows are better made on the Commercial View, different material, and it does have the additional extension rail which fits on the front. You've mounted the standards the other way around. The Idea is when the rear track is folded up it protects the GG screen. We both have the nicer standard rather than Deluxe version, personally I can't see why anyone would want one painted Grey I've never seen a photo of one.

The only Grey Ansco cameras I've seen were made after production moved from Bingham in 1941 when the US Government seized the company and the cameras changed, build quality isn't as good, parts differ.

Ian

[Henry Suryo]

Yes, I do prefer the standards and brass knobs on these than the later Ansco ones. I seem to recall the original bellows being quite nice, I had the replacement bellows made by Custom/Camera Bellows here in England and of course their bellows are first rate. I mounted the standards this way because I didn't like the "tailboard" configuration when using short lenses and the enlarged back has a bigger bearing on the tracks when fully extended and feels more rigid.

[StoneNYC]

Breaking the rules

65mm SA on my 8x10 Chamonix. Believe it or not there's actually wiggle room, probably could have gotten away with using the 12mm recessed instead of the 20mm recessed but better safe than sorry.

[Corran]

I would not trust that case to remain waterproof. I'd put it in 1-2 pelican cases or clones of pelican cases. If you can't change to another case at least put everything in a ziplock bag. If a canoe tips, the case is going to be in the water for a while. (Been there done that, on purpose)

Thanks jp for your thoughts. I did add some ziplocks for the film holders. I might have to test that case sometime carefully out of curiosity. Luckily most of the water I've been paddling in here is 2-3ft deep, maybe a bit more, in most places. There are big drop-offs though and sinkholes depending.

As my friend told me, the #1 rule is to not flip the canoe! Today I did not flip it, as planned...

[vinny]

Stone,
Aren't you seeing the bed of the camera?

[StoneNYC]

Stone,
Aren't you seeing the bed of the camera?

Nope, its an 8x10 camera but I'm shooting with the 4x5 reducing back. So the front standard is so high (high for 4x5 framing) it doesn't come into view.

The only annoying thing is centering it, because no one seems to have a center cut hole recessed technika board... That has a #00 shutter hole or a #0 hole (with a special O-ring reducing ring that reduces a #0 to a #00)

But I have bag bellows, this was just for checking out coverage.

[mathieu Bauwens]

Kodak 2D in action

[mdarnton]

There's a transitional-style A-A Deluxe Universal view that I think was made for only about one year that is definitely higher quality than the brass/bare model. I have a 5x7 one, and there's one for perpetual over-priced sale on Ebay. It didn't take them long after that to switch to plastic knobs and the slit-rear-strut back support, and I think there are many more of those. I like the look of my grey/chrome one, but perhaps it's because I grew up working in a studio that had one.