Adding Levels to the Shen-Hao 4x5

[Michael E. Gordon]

I do lots of bed tilting in my landscape work, and was tired of eye-balling and/or guessing at which point my standards were vertically nuetral. The bullet level on the Shen-Hao back is not very accurate, as bullet levels tend to 'snap-to' when you get just close enough.

I have a retired friend who can make nearly anything, so he was more than willing to take on the task of building levels for both standards on my Shen-Hao. We agreed upon the appearance and measurements. The front standard on the Shen-Hao 4x5 is pretty thin, so it would be interesting getting a level mounted on the standard while still being able to close the camera without difficulty.

Dale bought some teak, added two level vials (very accurate; one for horizontal, one for vertical), and finally we affixed them with some thin but serious two-sided tape. I've been using these for a couple of months now, and I can say that they work fantastically! I've also added some markings on the back of the front standard (facing me as I'm composing) so that I can quickly set the front rise/fall to neutral without having to look at the front of the camera. Adding these levels and markings have really helped me compose much more quickly.

I thought I would share this information here so that others might be inspired to do the same with their Shen-Hao's or other similarly inadequate cameras.

Three images of these details are here:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.rockclimbing.org/images/MEG/front_back.jpg">
Complete View</a>



<a target="_blank" href="http://www.rockclimbing.org/images/MEG/front.jpg">
Front Standard</a>



<a target="_blank" href="http://www.rockclimbing.org/images/MEG/back.jpg">
Back Standard</a>



Michael
www.mgordonphotography.com

[S Ratzlaff]

Michael,

I noticed you also have a circular level in the rear standard. Did you install this or did it come with the Shen-Hao?

I ask, becasue I have the black Shen-Hao and it doesn't have levels at all. The circular bullseye type level would be nice to have and seems it would only require drilling a hole of the correct size. Am I off base here?

BR SR

[Ed Candland]

That's pretty cool. I use a Toyo AX without levels and have been using a level that is meant to hang on a line. It's all a bit inconvenient, having to remove it from my bag and set it on different places on my camera.

[Michael E. Gordon]

I noticed you also have a circular level in the rear standard. Did you install this or did it come with the Shen-Hao?

Mine came with it. I think enough people complained about the lack of levels in the early models that Shen-Hao wisened up and began adding them. At least that's what I think I read online somewhere.

[Ken Cravillion]

Thanks Michael, I agree the level on the Shen-Hao sucks. Where did you find the bubble level vials?

[Michael E. Gordon]

Ken: I think my friend got them from Bender Photographic http://www.benderphoto.com but I'm not totally certain. I don't find them listed on their site.

[Angelo Micheletti]

Very cool. Can you find out where the bubble levels were obtained. This looks like a great solution.

[Michael E. Gordon]

Angelo: Dale confirmed that the vials are from Bender Photographic, and that he paid less than $5 for each vial. Give them a call.

[Ken Cravillion]

Doing a bit of earching I found this palce:

http://www.jbhphoto.com/level.htm

The individual level vials for $4

[evan clarke]

Mc Master Carr industrial supply has a number of miniature super acurate mountable vials. See www.mcmaster.com. They are mounted in metal flanges which can be screwed on..Evan