How to protect a groundglass in transit?

[Jimi]

Possibly a stupid question, perhaps ...

... but how does one protect a groundglass for a camera when sending it as a package? Remove it from the camera and pack it on its own?

From experience, it seems to be hit and miss trying to keep it on the camera.

[LabRat]

Might be safer on the camera, if the frame does not put too much pressure on the GG...

A thick cover on the outside, and nothing in the box that can make contact with it, and a well padded, shock resistant camera should be OK...

Steve K

[Jac@stafford.net]

Steve K nailed it. Another possibility is to find a cardboard cover that goes over the GG while its edges lay on the edge of the back. Office supply paper boxes are a source. Or spend money to get a GG protector. (http://www.digoliardi.net/groundglass-protector-main.jpg) Or make one. :)

[neil poulsen]

I shipped a Kodak Master 8x10 with an original g.g. made for the camera. I removed it from the camera and housed it between two, separated pieces of 1/8 inch composite material. Ditto with an 8x20 camera that I sold.

Some cameras have g.g. protectors that mount right on the camera. Toyo 8x10, Arca Swiss 4x5, and Calumet 8x10
are three examples.

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof puts a thin piece of Masonite type material against the gg in new shipments of all cameras except the Master. That is because the Technikas come standard with the folding focusing hood which functions as a protector. We never had a report of a gg broken in transport from 1986 till 2015 when we closed our business.
Wista placed cardboard over their gg and we again, never had a report of a broken one.

In shipping demo Linhof and Wista cameras to and from shows and demos we never had a gg broken in shipment.

[Jimi]

From your answers, I can see I did a mistake when packing the camera. It was well packed but the groundglass lacked the actual protection (foamboard, masonite etc) inside the bubble wrap. Bummer.

I have started the search for another 5x7 gg.

[Vaughn]

GGs are less likely to break if the edges of the GG have been sanded/ground smooth. While usually the case, the GG should be in tight with no movement (same with glass in frames). Bummer -- good luck in finding a new GG...some folks make their own.

[Jimi]

The chase for a new groundglass has been ongoing for a bit now. I thought, perhaps naively, that a groundglass for a 5x7/13x18 camera is the same across brands. Apparently not. I tried to avoid having to fork out 125-140 euros for an original, but used, Sinar one - so I hunted something down. Bought it, got it and hey, too small in both directions. More research and it turns out that what I ended up with is a Plaubel groundglass, 124 x 175 mm.

Shopped for another one, custom made, specified the dimensions of the original piece of glass. Well, too small again! Someone messed up with the ruler. 126x177 mm. Works okayish in the long dimension, but too narrow, and since there are only top and bottom ledges on the 5x7 gg frame compared to the 4x5, millimeters matter.

May have to do things myself, dang it.

[Alan Gales]

I bought my Wehman 8x10 camera used. It originally came with 2 ground glasses. One glass and one plastic. The original owner scratched up the original glass a bit so he replaced it with a real nice gridded ground glass. When my camera came in the mail it had the gridded ground glass attached to the camera but covered with a piece of cardboard. The original ground glass and plastic ground glass were separately placed between two pieces of cardboard which was taped together. He did a fine job of packing everything and nothing was broken.

I've sold quite a few 4x5 cameras on Ebay. I always kept the ground glass on the camera covered with a piece of cardboard. None ever arrived broken.

[Bob Salomon]

The chase for a new groundglass has been ongoing for a bit now. I thought, perhaps naively, that a groundglass for a 5x7/13x18 camera is the same across brands. Apparently not. I tried to avoid having to fork out 125-140 euros for an original, but used, Sinar one - so I hunted something down. Bought it, got it and hey, too small in both directions. More research and it turns out that what I ended up with is a Plaubel groundglass, 124 x 175 mm.

Shopped for another one, custom made, specified the dimensions of the original piece of glass. Well, too small again! Someone messed up with the ruler. 126x177 mm. Works okayish in the long dimension, but too narrow, and since there are only top and bottom ledges on the 5x7 gg frame compared to the 4x5, millimeters matter.

May have to do things myself, dang it.

Bad news, but here might be some more bad news for you that may or may not apply in your case.
A very famous photographer, George Tice, bought a new Linhof TK 69 camera and took it to Maine for some shooting. While up there he broke the GG for his camera. So he went looking in Maine for a replacement GG. He found an old camera repairman who said that he could do it. And he did. Looked like a nice job, George was happy and completed his shooting.
Upon processing he discovered that all of the shots taken with the new GG were out of focus. He was going to have to go back to Maine and reshoot all of the ruined shots.
Before he did he brought me his camera and while the repairman did an adequate job he used a gg of the wrong thickness. He then adjusted the pressure screws on the back to accomodate the new glass. And he reset the focus plane by doing so.
George then had to buy a new Linhof gg from us and take it to our service center to have the gg position reset to factory specs! He then bought an entire replacement film back so in the unlikely event that he broke another gg he could just replace the entire back, including the gg!
As you have discovered the dimensions of different camera gg screens can, and do vary by length and width but can also vary in thickness and this can be very important!
Rather then worrying about dimensions you should specify what camera you need the gg for!

[Dan Fromm]

Bob, since we focus on the ground side of the glass, not the shiny, and since the ground side is supposed to fit snugly against the back why should thickness matter?

[Jimi]

Thanks, Bob - the thought about the thickness of the groundglass also crossed my mind ...

I don't have my micrometer here, so I can't measure the thickness at the moment of the three specimens I have here. It could well be that the groundglass that broke was not an original one, although it looks like it. It is for a Sinar Norma 13x18 (1961). Apart from the thickness of the GG itself, in this particular case I can't see any way to adjust anything, apart from seating it correctly in the upper/lower grooves.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Bob, since we focus on the ground side of the glass, not the shiny, and since the ground side is supposed to fit snugly against the back why should thickness matter?

I'm surprised you don't do aerial focusing, Dan. :)

[Bob Salomon]

Bob, since we focus on the ground side of the glass, not the shiny, and since the ground side is supposed to fit snugly against the back why should thickness matter?

Because on his camera the new gg was so thick the repairman turned the screws that repositioned the film plane position to make them fit on that camera.

[Dan Fromm]

I'm surprised you don't do aerial focusing, Dan. :)
I can't do it consistently enough.

[Dan Fromm]

Bob, thanks for the explanation that I don't understand. It must be a Linhof thing. With my Graphics, Cambos and former Calumet CC401 the GG lives in the focusing panel. The film holder slides between the focusing panel and the camera's back. I've swapped GGs, never had to adjust anything or do anything to the back.

As I said, it must be a Linhof thing that I just can't grasp.

[Bob Salomon]

Bob, thanks for the explanation that I don't understand. It must be a Linhof thing. With my Graphics, Cambos and former Calumet CC401 the GG lives in the focusing panel. The film holder slides between the focusing panel and the camera's back. I've swapped GGs, never had to adjust anything or do anything to the back.

As I said, it must be a Linhof thing that I just can't grasp.
Linhof 69 thing.