Keith twin lens 4X5 with modified Calumet finder

[Joseph Dickerson]

Parallax was/is corrected for by a cam that raises/lowers the upper lens to compensate. I don't remember if it had infinity focus as we only used them for portraiture. John can probably answer the infinity question.

If I remember correctly, the Keith "factory" was in Riverside, California. As we were in Ontario, CA it made repairs etc. very convenient.

The lenses were matched pretty closely as the focus always seemed accurate. Although we always shot stopped down pretty far.

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

JD

[Oren Grad]

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

Now there's a camera that says "DON'T MESS WITH ME!":

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97974762@N00/3128737973/

[Frank Petronio]

I was fortunate to avoid the traveling school pictures gig that so many people started out with. I can only equate that with something like boot camp in Texas during the Summer or spending the Winter in the Mt Washington weather observatory, etc.

I take they sent you out with only one camera, no back-ups necessary since they were built like tanks?

[Joseph Dickerson]

I was fortunate to avoid the traveling school pictures gig that so many people started out with. I can only equate that with something like boot camp in Texas during the Summer or spending the Winter in the Mt Washington weather observatory, etc.

I take they sent you out with only one camera, no back-ups necessary since they were built like tanks?

My boss was one of the rare ones who actually trained us first. We had to know (well, kinda) what we were doing before he turned us loose on the unsuspecting public. He also sent us out with two complete kits, we had back ups for the cameras and lighting. Same with weddings, we had at least two of everything. A concept I still follow today, although I'm no longer shooting portraits and weddings for my daily sustenance. Actually, I'm supposedly retired but sometimes I just feel like I'm just out of work.

Lakland AFB is the only place I have ever seen where I could stand in mud up to my knees and have sand blow in my face.

Oren, thanks for the memory jog, that was one heavy dude. It had a dedicated monostand that weighed about the same as my first MG.

JD

[John Conway]

Parallax was/is corrected for by a cam that raises/lowers the upper lens to compensate. I don't remember if it had infinity focus as we only used them for portraiture. John can probably answer the infinity question.

If I remember correctly, the Keith "factory" was in Riverside, California. As we were in Ontario, CA it made repairs etc. very convenient.

The lenses were matched pretty closely as the focus always seemed accurate. Although we always shot stopped down pretty far.

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

JD

Yes, the parallax is corrected with a cam on one side of the camera.I will post another pic of the camera , showing the cam. This camera, like any twin lens, is not for extreme close up work. However, you can use the lower lens and work off the ground glass to get pretty close.When I first got the camera I compared the two ground glass images with a lupe, focusing with each and then checking the other, she is dead on.I'm certainly not at the level of many of you guys here on the forum when it comes to technical issues, but I will tell you this, the old Kieth is one heck of an image maker.