Page 1 of 6 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 51

Thread: How accurately can you level your camera?

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    1,219

    How accurately can you level your camera?

    I've been thinking about different sources of error when using a view camera.

    The first question that came to mind is how accurately one can level the camera and make sure the standards are as close to parallel as possible. Presumably, one can never get it perfectly right, but it seems reasonable that small errors won't make any significant difference in the angle the subject plane makes with the vertical. But some rough calculations seem to indicate that is not quite true.

    I use levels for checking parallelism, so I did some measurement with my carpenter's level., which is about 600 mm long. The amount one end can rise above the other with the bubble still between the two lines seems to be about 2-4 mm. That would mean an angle between 1/5 to 1/3 degree. Say the angle between the two standards is 1/4 degree. With a 150 mm lens, that would mean the hinge distance would be about 34 meters. That seems so large it might be considered to effectively infinite. But suppose you focused at 10 meters, which is pretty close to the hyperfocal distance for such a lens at f/22. The angle by which the subject plane would depart from the vertical would be about 16 degrees, which seems pretty far from its being perfectly vertical.

    I'm not sure just what that means. Presumably, in terms of what would be caught in the frame in focus, you couldn't really distinguish a 16 degree departure from the vertical from a zero degree departure. But it still seems paradoxical.

    Any comments?

    Also, how accurately do you think you can level your camera and how close to parallel can you make the standards?

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Here, there, and everywhere
    Posts
    124

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    As Einstein said, "It's all realtive." In other words, if the image looks right on the ground glass, does it really matter? Of course, I primarily photograph landscape. If I were working on images that require precision, the response might be different. In addition, I'm interested in images, not mechanics.

  3. #3
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Coquitlam, BC, Canada, eh!
    Posts
    5,134

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    In other words, if the image looks right on the ground glass, does it really matter?
    Precisely!

  4. #4
    Vaughn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Humboldt County, CA
    Posts
    9,206

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    I will agree with Jay...what is important is how everything looks on the ground glass.

    I worked with a Gowland PocketView for many years -- no indents at all. And I did not miss them. I just set the camera up close to "perfect" and swung and tilt depending on the needs of the image. Even my Zone VI 8x10 has little in the way of indents. Since I rarely photograph a vertical plane perfectly perpendicular to the camera, I usually do a bit of tilt and swing anyway.

    I even base my levelness to the horizon on the scene...not "reality" (especially since most my photographs don'e even have a visibale horizon line, let alone sky.)

    So I do not see parallelism of the standards as a possible source of error, but as a means of image management.

    Vaughn

  5. #5
    Downstairs
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Italy
    Posts
    1,449

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    Getting level and square is a headache (a frequent cause of re-shoots).
    The system I worked out for table-top is this.
    To get square with the set: Glue a pocket mirror to a carpenters set-square, and center it on the front edge of the set. Tack a tiny flashlight below the lens, get the flashlight reflection smack in the middle of the groundglass.
    To get level: place two tiny flashlights (torches to in GB english) at the ends of the horizon edge and square the ground glass on the points of light.

    The system for interiors is this:
    Use push-pins and taught string across the front edge of the set. Use the string to drop a perpendicular centered fore and aft. Align the center vertical ground-glass line on this perpendicular (if you can't see the string, use two flashlights).
    These are just variations on the age-old art-reproduction technique of hanging a pocket mirror in the center of the art-work and making sure you can see the lens in the reflection.

    As to squaring the front and rear of the camera: The only cameras I trust are the non-folding Ebony and the the Linhof Technica 5x7, which is 100% square. Sinars were always somehow skewed, despite all the micrometrics. The Toyo View was best for 8x10. But there's no way to square-off a Gandolfi (maybe there's no need in a field camera - the brothers knew best).

  6. #6
    Whatever David A. Goldfarb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    Honolulu, Hawai'i
    Posts
    4,658

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    For floppy cameras like the Gowland PocketView or my old wooden cameras, I use a Suunto Tandem clinometer-compass to check that the camera is level and the standards are parallel along both axes. It claims accuracy to 1/4 degree, and is commonly used for installing satellite dishes (you can often find them second-hand on eBay from satellite dish installers).

    If I'm photographing something flat that isn't too far away, I can also use the Suunto Tandem to make sure the camera is square to the subject. If it is something far away, I make sure it's square using the grid lines on the groundglass.

    It can also be used to find the angle of the plane of focus for use with a device like the Rodenstock calculator, but I don't usually do that.

    Another handy thing, is that it can measure the tilt and swing angles of either standard, so it can be used like the scales on a Sinar or other modern monorail camera. For instance, if I have too much bellows extension to reach the front standard easily, I can find the tilt angle on the rear standard, and then transfer the tilt to the front standard by reading the angle from the rear standard, setting the corresponding angle on the front standard, and then setting the rear standard back to plumb.

    The one thing to be careful about, is that if you have a metal camera or camera with metal parts that are magnetic, the compass won't be accurate for reading swing angles.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    New Berlin, Wi
    Posts
    1,354

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    You can use precise equipment. I use an Arca mounted on a C1 Cube and leveling is virtually automatic.....EC

  8. #8
    Robert A. Zeichner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 1999
    Location
    Southfield, Michigan
    Posts
    1,129

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    Quote Originally Posted by Leonard Evens View Post
    Also, how accurately do you think you can level your camera and how close to parallel can you make the standards?
    One thing I do is to eyeball the front and rear standards from an angle that permits me to visually abut one to the other. It's not a perfect system for measurement certainly, but it does allow me to make them pretty parallel without spending a tremendous amount of time doing so. I also have made my own GG and scribed same with a grid that helps in leveling. Adjusting yaw, I think is hopeless beyond a certain point because the film holder and the film inside it are rarely perfectly parallel with the camera.

  9. #9
    Downstairs
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Italy
    Posts
    1,449

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    Evan, my Cube just tells me the camera base is level, whis is a good start, but it won't tell me about the back and the front and whether it's pointing square to the room/table/building. You can fix verticals in Photoshop but it's a lot harder to straighten the floor boards.
    Though I will admit that Arca joints are more precise than Sinar's.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Westminster, MD
    Posts
    1,653

    Re: How accurately can you level your camera?

    "sources of error"

    There are no errors, simply sources of opportunity. Grin.

    Most buildings and rooms aren't square, so why do we expect our photography to be 'perfect?'

    What's more important is that the resulting image is what you envision before setting up the camera.

    Use a simple carpenter's angle finder.
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

Similar Threads

  1. Need 4x10 film holders for Wisner TF
    By Brian Vuillemenot in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 27-Apr-2009, 06:09
  2. What Kind of Camera? (Finding Camera Manufacturers)
    By cblurton in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 32
    Last Post: 26-Nov-2006, 22:56
  3. Wehman 8x10--lookin for a camera? Look no further!
    By Bobby Sandstrom in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 3-Mar-2005, 07:46
  4. Carrying a Large Format Camera?
    By Todd Frederick in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 18-Sep-2003, 10:53

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •