Ebony 8x10 fresnel users?

[austin granger]

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying the Ebony fresnel for my RW8x10. Before I shell out the $275, I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this particular fresnel, good or bad.

I'm guessing it's basically the same screen as the version they put on their 4x5 s (?), so any comments from users of that would be appreciated as well.

Basically, I've had really mixed experiences with fresnels; I liked the one that came on my Toyo 45ax, but didn't care much for a Beattie screen I tried on my old Calumet c-1. Any comparisons regarding the ebony with these screens would be very helpful.

[Brian Ellis]

I had two of the 4x5 Ebony cameras and I thought the Fresnels were about as good as Fresnels get, which is to say they had the usual good and bad characteristics of all Fresnels I've used (basically the image was nice and bright but it wasn't easy to focus, things didn't "pop" into focus as they do with a good ground glass or with the BosScreen). I've read that the Maxwell bright screen, which is a Fresnel, is much easier to focus than other Fresnels. You might investigate the possibility of a Maxwell Fresnel though even if available I suspect it would be a good bit more expensive than the Ebony. The 4x5 Maxwell screen I ordered is about the same price you mention here for the Ebony 8x10 Fresne.

[Gem Singer]

Hi Austin,

I have used the Ebony 4X5 Fresnel, as well as the Toyo, and several other brands. I find the Fresnel screen on my 8X10 Tachihara to be equal to the Ebony fresnel screen. Midwest sells the Tachihara 8X10 Fresnel for $89. Since Fresnels are made of plastic, a cover glass is necessary to protect them from scratching . The gridded cover glass sells for an additional $49.

[Huw Evans]

I put an Ebony Fresnel on my Technika IV to replace the original, which was broken, and it's good enough, as Fresnels go. Certainly it's much brighter than the original plain ground glass. It seems to give best viewing effect on my 120mm and 150mm lenses. But I confess I do prefer a plain gg for accurate focussing across the whole film plane.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

In a recent post, I remarked that the Ebony 4x5 GG/fresnel was very difficult to use. It still is. There is no position under the dark cloth where I can see the entire image on the glass. I must move my head around to see some areas of the image on the glass while the rest of the image is blacked out. This is a real pain. I believe it is caused by the long focal length fresnel they have chosen to use. I am having a Maxwell glass made for me at this time, and am replacing my Ebony glass with a single piece of ground glass w/grid from Canham. Am I the only one to find the Ebony glass hard to use? Other than that, I just love the RW45.