What do you all recommending for the Dark cloth to focus with on 4x5?
Also, cleaning the holders. Some say air, others, just a nice brush. I'm reading Ansel Adams book the camera, and he says vacuum. thanks!
What do you all recommending for the Dark cloth to focus with on 4x5?
Also, cleaning the holders. Some say air, others, just a nice brush. I'm reading Ansel Adams book the camera, and he says vacuum. thanks!
Home made is my preference. Simmons' Using The View Camera has instructions.
Ansel is right---vacume. I have a small dedicated shop vac for photo stuff. They go on sale at the big box places every so often.
Blowing or brushing dosen't get rid of dust, it only stirs it up to someday return and spoil your outing, so suck it up!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
John, thanks. The Simmons book is ordered and should come soon.
One friend here uses a 2" camel hair brush, no good?
I have a Belkin mini vak (for I think computer keyboards), that's optimal?
A brush will work, but I think your mini vac will work better. A brush only stirs up the stuff IMHO.Originally Posted by kevs-2323668
A black sweatshirt or doubled black t-shirt can be used for a dark cloth if you don't want to wait.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
For a hood I used the BTZS hood for decades. http://www.viewcamerastore.com/servl...cts/Categories. They're light, compact, easy to carry and use.
To clean holders I use an anti-static brush. But more important than the cleaning system IMHO is how they're stored and used. I keep holders in a plastic zip-lock bag at all times except when they're actually in the camera or being loaded and unloaded and I think that's why I have very minimal dust issues.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
FWIW I used a mini-vac for several years until it finally gave up the ghost, then I replaced it with the shop-vac & micro attachments. Whats really nice about vacumes is that you can suck up stuff out of the loading and dark slide grooves as well as suck out anything thats loose in the light traps. Being velvet, the light traps are magnets for dust.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
My favorite focus cloths are double, white side out and black side in. In my Texas summers, i sure don't want my head under a black cloth.
Lo these 55 years ago, when I started at Brooks, I was taught to rap the film holder sharply on the edges and then brush the trash away. Either rap sharply with the edge of the dark slide or the unpainted handle of the brush. Also, never use a brush with synthetic bristles, only natural bristles to prevent static electricity charges. You can tell if the film holder has been cleaned regularly by the dents on the edges.
Lynn
thanks Brian,
John/ Lynn if you have links for the mini vac or cloths, please list. thanks!
This was my first vac. It lasted a few years but eventually died.
http://www.scientificsonline.com/min...9-001b2166c2c0
The one I used these days is a 1 gallon 1.5 HP Shop Vac Hang Up(which I haven't) and the optional mini attachments. The filters work well and the dust is well contained.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
As the guy who recommended the 2" camel-hair brush, let me say this about vacuums.
I love central vacuum systems, and never realized until we moved into our current house equipped such. I discovered its greatest value: The exhaust air exits outside the house. If I had a darkroom and a central vac attachment, I'd be happy.
But vacuums don't often come with the fittings needed to avoid scratches, or picking up things you don't want picked up (sheets of film come to mind). It wouldn't take much of a vacuum to suck a sheet right out of a holder. I'm sure those of you who use them have learned to avoid such mishaps.
For removing dust from a negative when going into the scanner, I use a foot-blower, which is a foot-operated bellows with a hose and nozzle. Works fine. Yes, the dust gets moved elsewhere, but usually the blower has the energy to move it far enough elsewhere not to bother me. And it doesn't accidentally latch onto things.
But here's my issue with depending on vacuums: It takes a really, really small vacuum to sit happily inside a changing tent. I prefer approaches that I can take with me, as part of my religious routine for loading holders. The camel-hair brush is reasonable effective and works anywhere.
But I don't slap the brush around, either. There is technique involved. I brush down slowly, so that the dust is pulled along, not launched. I brush down the holder, then I slide in the film, and then I brush down the film and the slide, and close it up. I routinely vacuum my holder loading area, which includes the inside of my changing room thingie.
If I used a vacuum in an enclosed darkroom, it would have to be the external exhausting sort. Dust that pass right through a filter is still big enough to cause problems on film.
Rick "brushing in controlled strokes" Denney
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