Holding a Speed Graphic steady

[jnantz]

it might be more "inexpensive" to practice shooting with
paper negatives instead of sheets of film. paper costs pennies
instead of dimes or dollars.

you could set up a "still life" or photograph near your darkroom / home / studio
and process your paper soon after you expose it, to see what is going on ..

my uneducated guesses are --- maybe your ground glass is the wrong thickness,
or fresnel isn't positioned correctly or when you lock your focus rail,
your front standard moves a tiny bit, or there is something funny with your
lens cells not being seated in the barrel right ...

stopped down to f16 most things should be sharp

[John Koehrer]

#3 has obvious camera movement, If you look carefully at the vertical branches on the left side there are double images. From the parallel characteristic of the doubles it's horizontal movement.

[Jim Jones]

John, it indeed has the appearance of camera movement. However, if there were horizontal branches with similar illumination, they would show the same suggestion of movement. The blur from dim point sources have the donut blur of poor bokeh, but not any blur from movement. This bokeh does lead to the appearance of movement, but movement in all directions. The donut apearance isn't obvious in the blur from brighter point sources because those highlights are blocked up.

[jp]

I think most of what's been spoken is off topic, except for talk of the camera moving while the film holder is inserted. I wiggle the camera a little to make sure it's snug on the tripod as I finish composing. Sometimes just a little tighter on the tripod is all that's needed. As far as inserting the film holder, I just slowly insert the film holder after pulling back a little on the spring back. Sometimes I grip onto the top left front of the camera, since I can grab hold of the body and make sure it's not going to move, and push open the back with the film holder. After the film holder starts to go in, straighten it out and insert it straight in. Other times, I use the left hand to pull back the springback a half inch while still touching the camera body, and gently insert the film holder in. Once it's in, I gently slide it into position.

You may need to remove the spring back, clean up the surfaces and re-assemble it too if it's a camera that hasn't been used for a long time.

[Herb Cunningham]

You can shoot speed/crown graphics hand held all day long if the rf is synched properly.

I have shot weddings back in the day and never had any issues with out of focus.

The movement of the tripod mounted camera when inserting the camera is quite often a problem, but using two hands, one to hold the camera steady and pry the back open while carefully inserting the holder should take care of the.

That said, I like bails on view cameras, Zone VI has one on its 4x5's.

[psychoanalyst]

I think most of what's been spoken is off topic, except for talk of the camera moving while the film holder is inserted. I wiggle the camera a little to make sure it's snug on the tripod as I finish composing. Sometimes just a little tighter on the tripod is all that's needed. As far as inserting the film holder, I just slowly insert the film holder after pulling back a little on the spring back. Sometimes I grip onto the top left front of the camera, since I can grab hold of the body and make sure it's not going to move, and push open the back with the film holder. After the film holder starts to go in, straighten it out and insert it straight in. Other times, I use the left hand to pull back the springback a half inch while still touching the camera body, and gently insert the film holder in. Once it's in, I gently slide it into position.

You may need to remove the spring back, clean up the surfaces and re-assemble it too if it's a camera that hasn't been used for a long time.

JP....bingo....this is exactly what I was referring to. I went out and shot again today...have not developed the pictures yet, but I can still see no solution to the problem.

The spring is so tight that I find it near impossible to insert the holder in without actually shifting the camera slightly...

Avi

[Dan Fromm]

JP....bingo....this is exactly what I was referring to. I went out and shot again today...have not developed the pictures yet, but I can still see no solution to the problem.

The spring is so tight that I find it near impossible to insert the holder in without actually shifting the camera slightly...

Avi

Interesting. With distant subjects, small movements of the camera -- no more than several meters -- don't shift the plane of best focus noticeably. Yet here you are obsessed with the possibility that a slight shift of the camera's position on a tripod head will ruin the shot.

Your analysis of the problem you have -- the problem is real -- is wrong. Let go of it and start over from as close as you can get to first principles.

[Frank Petronio]

When I would shoot handheld I'd sometimes drop the camera down to load and rely on muscle memory and a firm, planted stance to return the camera to same position. I am sure it was "off" by an inch or two. But considering as long as I wasn't shooting something close, I never saw the point in worrying about what mathematically works out to a 0.01% error on a middle distance shot. I know the rangefinder wasn't accurate to that degree, or even the gearing of the focusing track....

[psychoanalyst]

Interesting. With distant subjects, small movements of the camera -- no more than several meters -- don't shift the plane of best focus noticeably. Yet here you are obsessed with the possibility that a slight shift of the camera's position on a tripod head will ruin the shot.

Your analysis of the problem you have -- the problem is real -- is wrong. Let go of it and start over from as close as you can get to first principles.

Dan,

I think you are right. I need to shoot some more and learn from the exposures and stop fretting about equipment as you mentioned earlier.

But the spring back is a PITA in my opinion. Do other cameras have the same kind of film loading system?

Thanks.

Avi

[Dan Fromm]

View cameras have, broadly, three kinds of backs.

Spring back, also called Graphic back, like your Speed's back. The focusing panel is held against the camera body by leaf springs, is pushed away from the body (against spring tension) to insert a film holder.

Graflok back, also called international back. The Graflok back's focusing panel is held against the body by a pair of spring-loaded arms, the springs are coils. The focusing panel can be removed completely to let a Graflok accessory -- roll holder, Grafmatic sheet film holder, binocular viewer with integral ground glass, ... -- be attached. Film holders insert between the focusing panel and body as with Graphic backs.

Proprietary slotted backs. With these the focusing panel has grooves on the edges, slides into matching "ridges" (sorry, coffee hasn't kicked in yet, can't think of the right word). To attach a film holder, slide the focusing panel out, slide the film holder in its place. The Graflex back (named after Graflex Inc. and predecessors' Graflex SLR cameras) is a variant.

Short answer, you're stuck. What kind of film holders do you have? Have you tried waxing their edges or the surfaces they slide over?

Earlier in this thread I suggested some exercises to check how well you focus your camera. I didn't make the suggestion idly. I have focusing problems from time to time, swear at my gear every time, and then start testing. Every time I go through them I've found that my gear is OK and I'm not.

So, what focusing aid are you using? Naked eye won't do.