$10 Fresnel for 8x10

[ic-racer]

On the way home from work the other day I stopped at Staples and picked up that fresnel lens for about $10. http://www.staples.com/Staples-Full-...31974-10644-CC

It is made of that brittle plastic that is a little difficult to cut cleanly. I got a few cracks, but I just wanted to saw it up quickly to see if it made much of a difference with my 210mm and 125mm lenses.

Wow, I'm sold on a fresnel now, I can't believe I have been struggling to see the edges all this time.

I'm not sure at this point if I'll just keep this one (the cracks don't bother me) or get another one just like it and do a good job trimming it, or cough up some cash for a fresnel made for 8x10 photography. The lens pattern on the Staples lens is coarser than the pattern on my Horseman brand 4x5 and 6x9cm fresnels.

[Caivman]

Walmart sells these too in the toy department. They're mounted in a sort of handle/frame deal and can be cut reasonably with scissors.

Anybody looking for a cheap Fresnel might be in luck with one of these.
Think it was 8$ if my memory serves me correctly.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Wide...ifier/13441585

found the link, looks like i might have found mine on clearance for 40-50% off.

[Robert Hughes]

I picked up an 8x10 fresnel from Office Max last November for my homemade box camera, it works just fine, and my focus point is dead-on.

[Caivman]

only thing i hate is how flimzy these things are. I thought about marine-epoxy attachment to a 1/8" sheet of glazing to keep it rigid, but can't see a great way of pulling this off without screwing up the fact that it's freznel.

[Marek Warunkiewicz]

Hi all!

How did you attach it to the ground glass? Can you post some pix?

Thanks!

Marek

[ic-racer]

Hi all!

How did you attach it to the ground glass? Can you post some pix?

Thanks!

Marek

Actually the "Staples" one is about one eight of an inch thick and actually acts like a ground glass protector.

My Shen-Hao has two finger-like metal pieces that bend down to hold the recessed ground glass. I ground out notches in the fresnel, so the metal fingers still touch the ground glass, but now two areas of the fresnel now slip under the metal finger piece wich holds the fresnel in place without any modification to the camera.

I guess I need a picture to show that.

[Caivman]

Didn't think about the fact that there's a little flange holding my GG in place... Might work if i just slide it behind that.

The one from walmart is only about 1/16th (plus a bit) thick, so it might just slide between the glass and the holder. Good call.

Marek, i was planning on using a Ultraviolet Curing epoxy (glass clear) to seal my thin sheet of freznel onto my glass, but seeing the above post, i'm going to try something a little less permanant first.

[ic-racer]

Just some pictures of how the fresnel is held to the back of the camera with absolutely no modification to the camera. I ground out a tab on the fresnel that slips under the finger ground glass holder.

[Wally]

I tried this with one I found at Staples about 3 years ago, on an old Calumet C400.

Here's what I remember:

It was easy to cut with a _good_ pair of sharp scissors.

The correct side to locate the fresnel is between the GG and the lensboard, with it's grooves facing the GG.

The problem with just putting it in first before the GG is that the focus plane is not in the same place as without it, so your images will not be as sharp as you saw on the GG.

The right thing to do is to mill out a space the depth of the fresnel so the GG is where it was. Or something very close to it. Search the forum on this topic and you'll find some good technical info.

I bought a fresnel for my Shen Hao and found that they had a little recessed area for it to nestle into so that the GG was where it had been, not moved back toward me by the thickness of the fresnel.

[Drew Bedo]

The fresnel is mounted on what side of the GG . . .I assume on the side away from the lens?