Home made 11X14 camera

[campy]

Picked this up along with an 8x10 Deardorf yesterday. It looks like it took a long time to make but seems fiddly to me to operate, but I have never used an 11x14 so I don't know how much you guys put up with when using a camera this large. Any opinion on the design and build?
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[Tin Can]

Valuations are not allowed




Picked this up along with an 8x10 Deardorf yesterday. It looks like it took a long time to make but seems fiddly to me to operate, but I have never used an 11x14 so I don't know how much you guys put up with when using a camera this large. I probably will never use it so what would be your estimated value be?
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[campy]

Change to opinion on build.

[Mark Sampson]

It looks like a pretty standard field-camera design. The real question is about the precision of the film/groundglass back.
Maybe Jim Fitzgerald (who has made a number of uLF cameras) will comment.

[Lachlan 717]

I can’t work out how it focuses from these images.

Also, I wouldn’t put much faith in the timber upright angled supports; they look brittle to my eye.

[Jim Jones]

If those upright angled supports are hardwood plywood, they may be fine. If the ground glass spacing from the face of its frame is determined by a flat strip of wood milled to the "T" thickness (0.332 inches) as given in spec sheets for film holders, maintaining the correct spacing is easy. The design appears to be unnecessarily heavy in some places and perhaps flimsy in others. However, more depends on the care and materials used in the construction than on the design. The camera may perfectly satisfy the maker. That's the most important consideration.

[AuditorOne]

No film holders? I don't believe standardized film holders exist even for factory built units. I tried several e...y holders before I found ones that would work on my Century.

Using it once or twice would go a long ways toward answering any questions about use and build quality.