In Praise of the Black T-Shirt

[Bruce Barlow]

I've been using a black T-shirt as a 4x5 dark cloth for some time. Stretch the neck over the back of the camera and voila! Small, light, relatively cool in hot weather, easy to carry in the camera bag. $3 from Wally World.

The other day I was messing around with my 8x10 and 5x7. The big cloth was far away, so I tried reversing the t-shirt, stretching the neck around my face and draping it over the back of the camera. It worked great on both! I had enough distance to see the whole 8x10 frame (5x7 was a breeze), and could get close enough for these tired old eyes to focus finely.

I'll probably bring the big cloth along from now on, but I'll use the t-shirt. If I get fancy I can sew a loop at the bottom of the shirt, string a string and put on a clasp that I can tighten around the back of the camera. Or not. I could probably achieve the same result with a binder clip with less work Except I'll lose the binder clip.

[Tony Evans]

Bruce,
Thanks for a really practical tip. The weight and size of my dark cloth makes it awkward for a newbie to use. Will definitely try this.

[Noah A]

I did this for a while before getting a proper darkcloth. And still, sometimes I prefer the t-shirt.

[Gem Singer]

Light weight black T-shirts did not seem to reduce enough light. At least the ones that I tried.

They required an additional layer of material to cut down the amount of sunlight shining through the cloth in order to make it dark enough to compose on the ground glass.

I found a smaller size Harrison Silver Classic dark cloth, with Velcro, that fits my Canham 4x5/5x7 like a glove.

It's light weight, light proof, and folds small.

Used a larger Harrison dark cloth for my former Canham 8x0 Traditional.

[Mark Sawyer]

In the field, I use a black sweatshirt on my 8x10; it's more opaque than a t-shirt. The thickness also makes for a nice pad when carrying the tripod and camera over my shoulder And if it gets cold walking back to the truck at the end of the day, I can put it on.

In the studio, I prefer a bath towel.

[vinny]

I had my mom sew a black one inside a white one with elastic band at the neck. I've been using that for about 10 years.

[ROL]

Huzza, Huzzaa...

Used an XXXL for a while in both orientations, and still keep one in the "alternate" gear for emergencies (like being phat in hollyweird ). The Blackjacket style of darkcloth is in fact, based on nothing more than the t-shirt design – having the additional advantage of being able to be worn as an emergency poncho. In fact, I've taken the concept one downmarket stage further.

I picked up a black XL lightweight waterproof/breathable REI Elements shell at one of their "garage sales" for $5 a few years ago. It has elastic drawcords on all apertures, allowing it to be snugged effortlessly around the camera back, at the waist. I used it exclusively during impromptu shooting last summer within the Sawtooth NRA in Idaho. Of course, it doubles as the really nice lightweight technical shell that it is designed to be. It worked every bit as well as the Blackjacket for the purposes of a darkcloth – and I think may be preferable on several counts.

[Bruce Barlow]

Gem - You just don't go to the right cheap places to shop for T-shirts.

Mark - I like the sweatshirt idea a lot. Doesn't even need to be black, I suspect. I have non-black, will have to try ASAP.

ROL - may I be as blessed as to find what you did. Sounds wonderful.

[Brian C. Miller]

Every time I cover my camera with my tshirt, everybody tells me to put it back on. (I've been described as having the reflective qualities of an emergency road triangle.)

"Olde Frothingslosh -- a whale of an ale for the pale stale male."

I usually just envelope the camera with my jacket.

[Gem Singer]

Composing and focusing under a black heavy weight dark cloth in the Texas sun can be compared to sticking your head into a hot oven.

A reflective white or silver outer covering on the dark cloth helps but does not completely eliminate the problem.

When shooting on those hot summer days here in Texas, it's more comfortable to use a Cambo reflex viewer or a folding focusing hood, instead of a dark cloth, whenever possible.