Squared corners 8x10" Maxwell Screens. Interested?

[wiggywag]

Hi!

I have been in touch with Bill Maxwell. He makes probably the best groundglass on the market today, and you find a lot of comments about this glass on the forum if you search. I would love to order his glass as a squared corners variant for my 8x10", but we need some more folks to join to get the prices down, since this is a special order. I feel the squared corners gives me more control than the cut out variant, and I know there are more people like me.

Here 's the prices I got from Bill Maxwell:
"If I special order just one fresnel from the people who do molding for me to my specifications (which results in the very high quality of my HI-LUX 10.5 Fresnel), I have to pay a set-up fee which would make the first fresnel about $620.00 (I typically order as many as 100 pieces to get a reasonable price per piece). If I order two or more of these fresnels with square corners, then the price per fresnel goes down as the set-up fee is diluted. Two HI-LUX 10.5 Fresnels with square corners would be $430.00 each. Three would be $368.50 each. Four would be $347.50 each."

Please comment if your interested!

[wiggywag]

This is the information I got from Bill Maxwell about his GG:

"More than half of my business is international. Read below for descriptions of screens, current prices, payment and shipping options. My HI-LUX screens will look really beautiful in your 4x5 (as well as being much, much brighter and easier to focus). I also provide my line of HI-LUX focus screens for an incredible variety of both modern and classic cameras of all different formats (35mm, Medium Format, Large Format, DSLRs, Medium Format Digital & Large Format Digital). Feel free to share this information with your friends. You may contact me if you wish at 1+770-939-6644 (EST USA) with questions or to order:

My HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen is the finest general purpose focus screen available for 4x5 cameras. It has a very bright, very fine grain, high optical contrast, high clarity focusing surface that provides superior illumination across the screen with all of your lenses (especially your wide angles) compared to all the other screens on the market. It also performs well with long lenses and long bellows draws. This screen is intended for those who are looking for the broadest performance characteristics under a wide range of situations. This screen is available (a) without lines, (b) with grid lines. My screen would provide truly superior performance for your 4x5. The price is $355.00.

My HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 Plus focus screen is halfway between the brightness of our standard HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen and our HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen. It has an very, very bright, very fine grain, very high optical contrast, very high clarity focusing surface that allows composing and focusing in dim light or with slow viewing apertures. It may also be used in bright light conditions equally well. This screen is a good compromise for those wanting higher performance in terms of brightness, but who still want to maintain some degree of the broad performance characteristics of our standard HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen. This screen is intended for those who work in a mixture of different light levels which include low light levels. This screen is available (a) without lines, (b) with grid lines. My screen would provide truly superior performance for your 4x5. The price is $435.00.

My HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 focus screen is the brightest focus screen available for 4x5 cameras. It has an extremely bright, very fine grain, very high optical contrast, very high clarity focusing surface that allows composing and focusing in very dim light or with very slow viewing apertures. This screen is intended for those who work frequently in very low light levels. Under those conditions, it gives the highest brightness viewing that is possible. It may also be used in bright light conditions as well. This screen is available (a) without lines, (b) with grid lines. My screen would provide truly superior performance for your 4x5. The price is $435.00.

My screens are modern "one piece" screens, which are made of high quality, optical grade plastic, with the brilliant focus surface on the lens side of the screen and the ultra fine groove pitch, high clarity fresnel on the back side (so focus is not affected). There is a clear cover glass on the back side to protect the screen and insure optical flatness. My HI-LUX Extreme Wide Angle screen is also available as a special purpose screen (requires a dedicated installation into a second specially modified focusing frame). This screen can image even the edge rays of a 47mm XL (works with lenses from about 47mm to about 110mm). Contact me if you are interested in this screen.

If you are using a simple ground glass (without a fresnel), then my standard HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen is more than 5 times brighter, with a much better distribution of light across the screen, with much better optical contrast and much higher clarity. My HI-LUX Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen is more than 30 times brighter than a simple ground glass, with much better optical contrast and much higher clarity. My HI-LUX Brilliant Matte 4.7 Plus screen is about halfway between these two screens in terms of all performance characteristics.

My screens should perform well with all of your lenses. The main question is what kind of light conditions you are photographing in. If you need a little more light to compose and focus, choose my standard Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen (which has the widest performance envelope). This screen is the finest general purpose screen on the market. If on the other hand you are frequently struggling for light to compose and focus, choose my Ultra Brilliant Matte 4.7 screen (which is the brightest screen available for 4x5 cameras). This screen would allow composing and focusing in light conditions where you would have difficulty reading (before dawn, after dusk, under the forest canopy, night shots, macro, ambient lit interiors, ambient lit interior portraits, very slow viewing apertures, etc). My Brilliant Matte 4.7 Plus screen is intended for those who shoot in a mixture of light conditions and gives more illumination than my standard screen while retaining some of the general features of my standard screen. My Plus screen is becoming a very popular option for many people (accounting for about half of all large format screen sales). All of my screens are very easy to focus, especially my Plus and Ultra versions."

[Steven Tribe]

Sorry, but this has become a commercial announcement when you quote so much from Maxwell.

[Leigh]

That's his standard boiler-plate email. I received the same.

The quotes are only for the fresnel. How much for the whole kit, including the GG and the cover glass?

I'd be interested in the cut-corner version, but not the square corner.

- Leigh

[wiggywag]

Sorry, but this has become a commercial announcement when you quote so much from Maxwell.

Im just a simple photographer trying to get prices lower and wanted to share enough information about the item. Sorry if I have broken some rules.

[wiggywag]

That's his standard boiler-plate email. I received the same.

The quotes are only for the fresnel. How much for the whole kit, including the GG and the cover glass?

I'd be interested in the cut-corner version, but not the square corner.

- Leigh

Im awaiting answer from Bill Maxwell on this.

[jeroldharter]

Are these sized differently for each brand of camera? I suppose the bulk discount would apply only to dentical 8x10 screens such as Ritter or Wehman.

In any case, I would be interested in a clipped corner version 8x10 screen for Wehman.

[Leigh]

Are these sized differently for each brand of camera?

They are for 4x5 cameras, so I expect the same is true for 8x10.

On the one for my Zone VI 4x5 the 5" dimension had to be reduced by 0.04" to clear the retaining clips.

- Leigh

[Sal Santamaura]

...Bill Maxwell. He makes probably the best groundglass on the market today..."If I special order just one fresnel from the people who do molding for me to my specifications (which results in the very high quality of my HI-LUX 10.5 Fresnel), I have to pay a set-up fee which would make the first fresnel about $620.00 (I typically order as many as 100 pieces to get a reasonable price per piece). If I order two or more of these fresnels with square corners, then the price per fresnel goes down as the set-up fee is diluted. Two HI-LUX 10.5 Fresnels with square corners would be $430.00 each. Three would be $368.50 each. Four would be $347.50 each."...

This is the information I got from Bill Maxwell about his GG:...

Bill doesn't make a focus screen for 8x10, only the fresnel. His Hi-Lux 4.7 integrated acrylic focus screen / fresnel is only offered up to 5x7. Bill explains that an acrylic screen would not remain flat with the large unsupported span of an 8x10, so he insists on pairing his 8x10 Hi-Lux 10.5 fresnel with a real ground glass. I'd already purchased a Satin Snow ground glass for my 8x10 and added the Maxwell fresnel over that. I think you'll find the fresnel beneficial. Although not quite as bright as the Hi-Lux 4.7, this combination certainly evens out illumination across the field and has proven worthwhile to me.

I had exactly the same preference for a square-cornered fresnel that you do when working with Bill. He answered with an identical explanation and almost the same prices. I privately contacted some other 8x10 users, but could drum up no interest, so decided to go with clipped corners. Some months later, Bill wrote to say that the people who do molding to his specifications had ignored one parameter when "proofing" a new mold, namely they forgot to clip the corners. So, I was able to obtain his "proof" fresnel at the regular price! Needless to say, the mold was then corrected and all regular production since has included corner clips. Good luck with your search for other like-minded 8x10 photographers.

Are these sized differently for each brand of camera?...

Yes, many cameras provide mounting wells that differ slightly from the nominal dimensions. My Phillips Compact II accepted Bill's exactly 8" by 10" fresnel directly.

...I would be interested in a clipped corner version 8x10 screen for Wehman.

That's a standard (fresnel, not integrated screen/fresnel) product, subject only to trimming if the Wehman requires it.