Macro Photography Setup Calculator

[marcookie]

During these days in lockdown I attempted to take close-up images with my large format camera. But some questions arose:

- what lens can I use?
- does my camera have enough bellows draw to focus this close-up?
- how far from the subject should I position the camera? (8x10 viewcameras are always cumbersome to move around when fully deployed)
- how much light-loss should I compensate for?

So, I made a Google sheet that can answer all these questions.

Link to spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zgphxfSnAA0nxGaSiXAOI40-qte9oJ6oq6HOxO6h49c/edit?usp=sharing) (you will have to make a copy of this file to edit it. Once opened, click on File -> Download)

https://i.ibb.co/M8ksWTV/sheet.png

How to use the spreadsheet

You need to input these three pieces of information in the yellow boxes:

1. Select your camera format in the drop-down menu.
2. Measure the length of the subject you want to photograph (long side).
3. Input the focal length.

The spreadsheet with tell you:

1. how much bellows draw you need,
2. how far to place the camera (film plane) from the subject.
3. how far the subject will be from the lens
4. how much light is lost due to magnification (both the stops lost and the multiplication factor for the exposure time).

Additionally, by entering the f-stop used (for example f/32), the spreadsheet will estimate the depth of field.

For convenience, there is one column with imperial units, and one with metric units. Let me know any comment or question you may have.

I tested the spreadsheet several times and it works great, really improving the workflow. Here is one of the results, which was taken close to 1:1 magnification:
https://i.ibb.co/jw6VLpF/Untitled.jpg

[Bob Salomon]

15 feet is not 5 millimeters!

[Dan Fromm]

Making the circle of confusion a user input would improve the spreadsheet. And Bob is right, there's something wrong with your hyperfocal distance calculation.

[Kiwi7475]

The calculation for the hyperlocal in feet is correct, just delete the /1000 in the equation that calculates it in mm (or change the units to m instead of mm)
You can change the circle of confusion and will recompute.

But the focal length in the "Column for the US units" is still in mm, what's up with that? /s

[Kiwi7475]

Jokes aside, this is very helpful and nice to have, so thank you for generating it !!

[Jerry Bodine]

Lots of rounding off here. 15 ft = 4.572 meters.
Not a big deal, but I've always used the conversion 1" = 25.4 mm

[marcookie]

Thanks for catching the mm vs m... just a 1000X error!!!
For the rounding, I needed to add two significant digits to the cell, the correct formula was there.

[marcookie]

Making the circle of confusion a user input would improve the spreadsheet. And Bob is right, there's something wrong with your hyperfocal distance calculation.

Yes, you can change the circle of confusion and it will recompute. However, this will overwrite the current formula, which reads the circle of confusion for the different film formats based on the following table:

format mm
35mm 0.029
medium format 0.05
4x5 0.11
5x7 0.15
8x10 0.22
11x14 0.3

Of course this is one of the possible interpretations... I had to make a choice to keep the file usable/simple enough.

[Kiwi7475]

Yes, you can change the circle of confusion and it will recompute. However, this will overwrite the current formula, which reads the circle of confusion for the different film formats based on the following table:

format mm
35mm 0.029
medium format0.05
4x5 0.11
5x7 0.15
8x10 0.22
11x14 0.3

Of course this is one of the possible interpretations... I had to make a choice to keep the file usable/simple enough.

Easy enough for anyone that wants it to add an additional entry with desired values in the table (like “My 8x10”) or just modify the CC values to their preferred value in the existing entries. I think it’s good as is, users can tinker as they see fit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ic-racer]

I have the F-stop aperture as the independent variable and focal spread as the dependent variable. That is, my spreadsheet calculates the aperture based on focal spread.

[Drew Bedo]

The intellectual involvement,pre-planning iand seting up is part of the attraction of LF photography for me, but I don't dwell on it to the point that the shot is never taken.

In the end, you have got to see the shot on the ground glass. Work the composition there a while. Sometimes what your inner eye sees just cannot be captured with the gear you have or by anyone at ll.

Take the shot you CAN set up for and make the best of that.

[deldridg]

Well, it's now 2022 and here in Sydney I am very grateful to you for putting this together. I'm rekindling my old passion for LF and will be launching myself at portraits, some local scenes, macro etc., and will be far more effective with your spreadsheet. I made a similar calc years ago and you've saved me the hassle of recreating it.

Many thanks and now I'm off to enjoy your YT channel for more inspiration!

Cheers,
Dave

[r.e.]

Many thanks and now I'm off to enjoy your YT channel for more inspiration!

@marcookie is a citizen of Italy who was working in the US but returned to Italy several months ago. Before the move, he sold most, if not all, of his large format gear through the "For Sale" subforum here. He made some good videos, but it's unclear whether he's still making large format photographs. His most recent video was posted 18 months ago.

The forum has an up-to-date thread on current, active YouTube channels about large format photography, with a list of channels in post #1, at https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?165219-Large-Format-Channels-on-YouTube

[John Layton]

A sad thing about some of these older threads as they sometimes resurface...that the OP's have in the interim sometimes (often?) ceased doing LF and are no longer forum members, or maybe have even passed on.

[bimargulies]

Where, exactly, do we measure to for the position of the lens. The lens board surface?

[Tin Can]

Very interesting

Since I have a large copy camera with rear hand crank, I just 'screw it' until my usual 2-1 or 3-1

But I also today found a gem from Dan Fromm where he postulates Plasmats work well with 1/2 lens

This gives me a lot of experimentation

I also see the nodes!

[acrobatic_citron]

The long edge for 4x5 in the sheet is incorrect. Its default is 6 when it should be 5 if its following the other formats