GG for my Cambo Legend?

[Jason_1622]

I need to get a new ground glass for my Cambo 8x10, and I noticed this guy seems to have the market cornered for replacements...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8x10-Ground-Glass-for-CAMBO-8x10-8-1-4-x9-15-16-corners-clipped-/231082610956?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35cd98d10c

Has anyone used this one, and is it safe to have shipped?

[Ari]

I bought one from him, it was decent quality out of the box, but I had a friend re-grind the screen for finer grain; it is now an excellent screen, though not as bright as some of the new acrylic 2-in-1 screens out there.
Shipping was fast and he packs the glass well; good person to deal with.

[Richard Wasserman]

I've been very happy with the ground glass Steve Hopf makes. They are finely ground and he can do a grid if you like. He ships quickly and is a very nice guy to buy from. I highly recommend him.

http://www.hopfglass.com/

[David Karp]

I agree with Richard. I really like his borosilicate screens with the faint grid.

[Jim Noel]

Why not just grind your own, 2 at a time? It may take you as long as 10 minutes since it will be your first attempts.

[koh303]

I bought 2 of these, each custom made for the size i needed, and they were excelent.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8x10-ACRYLIC-Bright-Focusing-Screen-Ground-Glass-NEW-Custom-made-/151647891758?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234eeb312e

I think you can buy them direct from the sellers website now
http://www.bohemastudio.pl/oferta/matowki-do-aparatow/

[AtlantaTerry]

A True Story: back in January 1963 when I was a high school student, I was using a 4x5 Speed Graphic to cover stories for the school newspaper and our city news paper as well. (The Lorain Journal / Lorain, Ohio USA). Yoots today have no idea what it is like to photograph football action from the sidelines with a 4x5, pack film and Press 25 flash bulbs!

Well, I slipped on some ice near my home and when I dropped the camera, the ground glass broke. My father drove me down to the local glass store and they cut a sheet of some sort of frosted or ground glass to fit for just a couple dollars. I continued to use the camera for many news photos until I graduated and joined the Air Force.

[John Layton]

RE: the above reference to "two in one" acrylic ground/fresnel screens - these are fine for 4x5, but for anything larger they are subject to bending/warpage. Now, a really nice acrylic fresnel (like from Bill Maxwell) is great - positioned in front of the ground glass (you will need to reset the depth for a camera not originally designed for this screen configuration) or behind the ground glass - preferably with an additional piece of plain glass behind the fresnel to protect it.

If you tend to stick close to normal to long focal length lenses with relatively bright maximum apertures, a plain ground glass is generally fine...but with wides to ultrawides and/or lenses with small max. apertures, you might want to try adding a fresnel to the mix.

My recommendation is to either grind your own - which is very easy and extremely cost effective, or contact someone like Bill Maxwell for more info on ground glass/acrylic fresnel combos. Not all acrylics are made the same...nor are they designed the same, and a bit of knowledge acquired from someone like Maxwell can be priceless.

[axs810]

I've been very happy with the ground glass Steve Hopf makes. They are finely ground and he can do a grid if you like. He ships quickly and is a very nice guy to buy from. I highly recommend him.

http://www.hopfglass.com/

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