Best way to test Antique 8x10 camera & film carriers?

[dlschultze]

I am new to the large format scene & am about to take my 1st photos with a 1905 Century. I have kodak film, I believe it's around 300speed. What is the best way to test the camera & film carriers? I figure I should shoot the same settings in each carrier to see the variations after processing. I plan on taking the camera to my local park on a bright day and sitting my husband in a chair as a focal point. Any tips on where to begin with this experiment? What settings will work well in that light? How far away should I sit my husband? How long should I expose? What aperture? The film is very expensive so I want my experiments to be as effective as possible. Thank you so much for your help.

[John Koehrer]

Less expensive to test for light leaks and such by testing with paper.
ISO will be around 3-6 to make exposures. Load them & wave them around in the sun. Number them so you can id which one is leaking if any are.
If you're looking for leaks in the bellows should only take one sheet to see if that's light tight.
Once you have the bellows and holders tested you can see how photogenic your husband is with large format.

[dlschultze]

Wow! I never would have thought of that. Thank you so much! I'll give that a try. After I sort out the bellows & the film holders, I'm not sure if the shutter is accurate (we had to repair it and it fits over the lens, separate from the lens) so I think I need to test that next? but how? It's a scrolling shutter (thornton pickard). Or do I just roll with it & take a picture & adjust my settings after seeing what shows up when I print a test? I feel like a mad scientist with all of these experiments! I love it.

[Jeremy Moore]

The best way to test is to know how to use and operate a working large format camera. If you don't know the right way to do it how can you judge whether you screwed up the process or the camera is not working correctly?

You may end up with pictures you like, but that's not the same thing as being a professional fully in control of his equipment -- if you can't explain how or why and replicate what you were able to do with your camera then you're letting the process control you and not the other way around.

My suggestion: buy a camera guaranteed to be working from a reputable source - that will take some of the headaches out of the process of learning large format. It would be like trying to learn the guitar on a guitar you could never actually tune, but your ear wasn't attuned enough yet to be able to hear how off it was.

[John Koehrer]

It's a good thing to love it.
Something else to keep costs down whilst experimenting would be a reducing back to 4X5. Initially though, the Paper negs would work fine, it's slow enough that you can use a lens cap for a shutter.

Although you can establish exposures by taking and processing film/paper, it's going to be pretty time consuming.
But. once you do, note exposures for particular conditions just like the "sunny 16" rule of thumb.

When you go to a fast film like you have the exposures will be much faster and you'll need a shutter. I've actually not seen a TP shutter but the pictures I've seen, it doesn't look that sophisticated. Check here for an overhaul or service of the TP
Take a look at the "Galli shutter" on this site.