yeah, he made me curl a Gitzo 410 a thousand times, just warming up, one-handed. he used to wear a T-shirt that said 'real men don't curl Bogens'.
yeah, he made me curl a Gitzo 410 a thousand times, just warming up, one-handed. he used to wear a T-shirt that said 'real men don't curl Bogens'.
now i see why you like that s.a.
truth be known, I am 5'10", 160 pounds, and couldn't lift 250 pounds with a fork lift. can barely curl a Bogen 3001 with both hands.
I have/had similar problems with a sinar and nikkor 75 f4.5. A fresnel helps, but it needs to be removed (at least mine does)for fine focusing. Polaroids help, but don't cover the full 4x5 image area and (may) suffer from different reciprocity characteristics than the film i may be using. What I have found:This last item can an issue for me. I often prefer the subject to be in focus and the rest to fall out of focus and or I cannot afford to wait the extra 30, 60 or 120 minutes that stopping down will cost.The opacity of the focusing cloth is very important. For composition/framing polaroids and fresnels are great. Polaroids are also good for lighting and spotting detail issues. Polaroids are also excellent for checking DOF. Moving the camera along an axis (h or v) and checking focus (assuming that the distance of the object does not change much) Flash lights put into the scene (for large areas) or shown on the object (for smaller areas) Adding a stop or two when not sure.
The idea of focusing whilst there is light and waiting for the darkness to fall or the correct opportunity seems like a wise move.
I should mention that I have only been shooting L/F for about 6 months, so my advice is founded in limited experience.
Suggestion: zone focus! Schneider's d-o-f tables say that at f/16 and focused at 15', everything to 6.22' is in focus and at f/22 and focused at 10' everything to 4.36' is in focus. Even if you're real paranoid about sharpness, you can mark 15' focus on the camera, close down to f/22 and get everything to 6' in focus. If you need really close and far sharp, close it to f/32 focused at 10': 3.5'. See: http://www.schneideroptics.com/large/depth/72depth.htm
Hi Daniel, I am new to large format and have only been using a 210mm lens with my TK45s. I just bought the Linhof super screen. It is a fresnel with a glass over it. I think that it is brighter than the Bosscreen, and if the fresnel lines don't bother you, i may be a good choice. I've tried the tilting 6x Silvestri lupe, but I can't get the tilting technique down. The Rodenstock 4x lupe appears brighter and may be a good match for the Super Screen. Good Luck.
bill,
you don't need to tilt the loupe with a 210. the tilting feature is for wide angle lenses. re. the superscreen: although a good general purpose combined screen/fresnel, i no longer use it with my linhof as the long sides are unsupported and tend to sag. this will happen with any plastic screen. some put matchsticks in for support but this wasn't a good solution for me. a real glass screen with fresnel has proved more accurate and reliable. watch for bowing in your screen.
as for dof tables, they are more suggestions than anything else.
In addition to what has been said, I wonder if anyone is using the Linhof baloon focussing hood and loupe. This could be a good accessory for wide angles.
The Linhof Focus/Meter Bellows works for wide angles just fine. But you do need to use the fresnel lens with either it or the Reflex Hood.
If possible, such as when shooting interior spaces, have an assistant hold a small flashlight at your desired focus distance shining directly into the lens. Under a 7x loupe, you should be able to get accurate focus. Or place the light carefully if there's no assistant.
I use this technique without any special groundglass, and it's quick and reliable. The darker the room, the easier it is to do.
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