Keeping the focusing hood whilst making an exposure

[jimbobuk]

I just received my black jacket today.. reading its instructions it encourages you to keep it on the camera when making an exposure..

I took out the camera and had a practice fitting with it.. I have the older Shen Hao field camera, i got the 40" hybrid jacket.. I tried fitting the jacket as far to the back of the camera as possible but at first attempts was not able to get it tight enough to have no visible and obvious leaks whilst looking at the glass..

Putting the jacket much further down the camera, beyond the carry strap resulted in a much better seal.. it obviously precludes doing anything with the camera back with it fitted like this.

Its just the recommendation was that it stops any light leaks by having the focusing cloth on whilst making the exposure.. how much is this a worry?

I just got my first transparencies back, will be scanning them shortly.. but i had problems on a few of them where there is a green strip on one side of the shot... being green it seems unlikely to be a light leak as surely this would be white? it was transparencies loaded by the seller of the camera, so i have no idea whether they're expired film or whether the darkslides have leaked over a long time of being loaded.

I'll be developing more film soon, just wanted to know what the deal was with this keeping the cloth on all the time, any tips on whether and how this is possible?

[David A. Goldfarb]

If everything is working properly, you shouldn't have to leave the darkcloth on the camera to avoid light leaks. If you have an old camera or filmholders with worn light traps or if you haven't inserted the filmholder properly, then you might have light leaks.

A reason not to leave the darkcloth attached to the camera is that it becomes another thing that can catch the wind and cause vibration or movement during the exposure.

I use a traditional darkcloth and leave it folded in half over my shoulders, and I flip it over my head and the camera when I need to see the glass.

[sanking]

I just received my black jacket today.. reading its instructions it encourages you to keep it on the camera when making an exposure..

I took out the camera and had a practice fitting with it.. I have the older Shen Hao field camera, i got the 40" hybrid jacket.. I tried fitting the jacket as far to the back of the camera as possible but at first attempts was not able to get it tight enough to have no visible and obvious leaks whilst looking at the glass..

Putting the jacket much further down the camera, beyond the carry strap resulted in a much better seal.. it obviously precludes doing anything with the camera back with it fitted like this.

Its just the recommendation was that it stops any light leaks by having the focusing cloth on whilst making the exposure.. how much is this a worry?

I just got my first transparencies back, will be scanning them shortly.. but i had problems on a few of them where there is a green strip on one side of the shot... being green it seems unlikely to be a light leak as surely this would be white? it was transparencies loaded by the seller of the camera, so i have no idea whether they're expired film or whether the darkslides have leaked over a long time of being loaded.

I'll be developing more film soon, just wanted to know what the deal was with this keeping the cloth on all the time, any tips on whether and how this is possible?

I suspect that the green streak you describe is in fact a light leak. It may be a processing error but a light leak is a greater probability in my opinion.

The advice to always keep the focusing hood wrapped around the camera when making the exposure is very sound in my opinion. This will minimize any light leaks that might result from a wide range of camera/holder issues and just makes sense as a practical precauation. I would personally never make an exposure with the back of the camera and the holder fully open to ambient light.

Sandy King

[GPS]

I would personally never make an exposure with the back of the camera and the holder fully open to ambient light.

Sandy King

Oh! What a difference in persons! I would personally never make an exposure with the black cloth attached to the camera. Fiddling with it while a film holder is open is just one reason, beside those mentioned above. I laughed. Oh well, people are different - and it's good so!

[scott_6029]

For me, it depends...4x5 no problem, 8 x 10 no problem. 7 x 17....need to block the direct sun while pulling the dark slide and I lay the cloth over the back when taking the pic. It's more a holder thing, I think. It's like the sun will reflect off of the slide and down the trap through the holder....

[Ron Marshall]

I find I usually shoot in low light so I often don't bother; but in bright sun I always keep the cloth over the filmholder.

[Jim Rice]

I've been on both sides of this issue. The bellows on the old (did i mention old?) Kodak Master View were more like a sieve. The Wisner never leaked a drop. But I still draped the dark cloth over the bellows. With Margret (the magnesium C-1) I'm certain I'll take that precaution as well, though if the wind picks up I will probably stash it. Let practicality be your guide.

[Frank Petronio]

I wouldn't drape the darkcloth over the camera unless I were paranoid. If you actually do have a light leak, it is better to know it right away than to have it intermitantly semi-appear from time to time when you sometimes cover the camera with it or not. Understand? I just want one accident - not a whole string of them.

[sanking]

I wouldn't drape the darkcloth over the camera unless I were paranoid. If you actually do have a light leak, it is better to know it right away than to have it intermitantly semi-appear from time to time when you sometimes cover the camera with it or not. Understand? I just want one accident - not a whole string of them.

OK, I am paranoid. But one definition of paranoid is a heightened sense of awareness.

When one makes negatives with ULF film, with all of the costs of time and money, and loss of portability, there is no reason to take a chance, IMO. If possible, I would put the camera inside a light tight tent with just the lens sticking out.

In any event, I have never had a light leak on film with the back and holder fully covered, and several when the camera and holder were left uncovered.

Sandy

[Frank Petronio]

I understand. But if you get occassional light leaks, wouldn't it be better to trace and fix the lightleak once and for all?

[sanking]

I understand. But if you get occassional light leaks, wouldn't it be better to trace and fix the lightleak once and for all?

If there is a major light leak it will probably be evident even with the camera back, holder and bellows covered and one should take steps to correct it. The difference is that if you keep everything covered the damage might not be so great that the negative is ruined.

On balance I find there are several good reasons to keep the back, holder and bellows as covered as possible when making the exposure, and doing so is is not an inconvenience in any way to my own work flow.

Sandy King

[Michael Kadillak]

I can tell you from direct experience that you should always get in the habit of maintaining a dark cloth over all view cameras as it does not have to be using a ULF or a wooden camera that can mess with you and your light sensitive materials.

I have a Toyo metal 810M camera (perfectly straight metal film back) and use Toyo 8x10 precision film holders and a couple of weeks ago I felt that I was immune from using the dark cloth over my camera and during a rush to capture an image I made a couple of exposures mid day with the sun peaking out from the clouds and on those negatives I could distinctly see the effects of very modest light seepage across the majority of the image area. I made me mad as hell but it was my own damn fault for not making the minimum effort with the dark cloth cover that would have prevented this occurance. On the negatives that I used the dark cloth throughout the exposure I was home free.

With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results. Tried it and have the edge density negatives from perfect film holders to prove my point. But let's be honest - at $7+ per exposure why take chances unnecessarily?

As a result, I find that it is very reasonable to make using the dark cloth over the camera back a normal part of the exposure routine in all my LF and ULF work.

Murphy's Law will eventually prove to you that at the worst time possible, a risk factor ignored will find a way to bite you directly in the ass.

Cheers!

[BrianShaw]

Gee whiz... until you folks mentioned it, I never even thought of covering the camera with a dark cloth. I've never been bit in the butt, but I suppose there is always a first time. something new to think about!

[David A. Goldfarb]

I guess the question is which you consider the greater risk factor--the possibility of a light leak that could be prevented by draping the darkcloth over the camera or the possibility of wind blowing the darkcloth and causing camera movement. Obviously, I'm more concerned about the latter. Why take chances unnecessarily?

The only light leaks I've ever had in camera are with my 11x14" camera outdoors. I'm working on diagnosing the source, but I don't shoot 11x14" outside that often at this point. Light leaks that I have had have tended to be things like darkslides coming unlocked and slipping loose in the bag.

[Keith S. Walklet]

Personally, I don't usually leave it on when I make an exposure unless the sun would be shining directly into the film holder. This situation is rare, as I typically rotate the camera back away from the light source so that nothing shines directly into the film holder. It is only when I have lots of back tilt with a vertical image and the sun is high in the sky that I run into a problem, because I can't pull the dark slide if it points down. In that situation, the tripod head gets in the way. So, I have no choice but to orient the film holder upward toward the sun. In that case, I'll leave the cloth on or drape it over the film holder.

IMO, if it is windy, I agree that all the additional fabric will just act as a sail. Better to reduce surface area and remove it. To do so without disturbing the composition, loosen the toggle so the shock cord goes slack before taking it off.

But that is me. I can see by all the quick responses to the original comment, that this is something where people have strong opinions.

So why do the instructions suggest leaving it in place?

Uh, strong opinions. ;-)

It seemed I was in the minority because many users wrote to chastise me and suggest I change my instructions to encourage people to leave it on the camera as a safeguard against light leaks.

So the instructions now suggest leaving it in place, with the caveat that the user should make sure that no fabric is caught between the film holder and camera back, because that could potentially introduce a light leak.

I know THAT from experience with my old darkcloth, (not a BLACKJACKET(TM)). It had a simple gathered elastic neck that liked to slip in between the camera and film holder if I wasn't careful. So even before I devised the BLACKJACKET(TM), I got in the habit of checking to make sure there was no fabric stuck between the camera and film holder. To do so, pull the cloth forward, in essence turning it inside out over the camera, then return it to the proper position before making the exposure. Or, take it off, like I do. :-)

BTW, your latter method for attaching it to the camera is how I do it, though each has their preferred method.

[GPS]

"With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results." (Kadillak)

Interesting! A curious question comes to my mind - how do you take your film holders from your bag and put them to the camera in direct sunlight? Covered with a dark cloth?
Just curious.

[Frank Petronio]

Nah, he starts before dawn and waits for the sun to get in to position. You don't want to waste film ;)

[N Dhananjay]

It used to be fairly standard practise in earlier days to cover the entire bellows with the darkcloth as added insurance against light leaks - inserting the film holder and removing/reinserting the darkslide would be done under the darkcloth (one reason good darkcloths should be generous in size). OK, materials have changed and are possibly more reliable these days, but...

1) If you are on a long trip, you can check your system before you leave but you might pick up a pinhle along the way (let's say a stray bramble as you drag yourself through some thicket to a good spot, or just gremlins in the air). The darkcloth just adds some additional protection between system checks.

2) The system may be fine but there is always operator error. As one gets better, these reduce but are posibly not eliminated (there is always fatigue and poor mental states). Slightly improper seating, being a little rough in removing the darkslide etc... again, just aded insurance.

I wonder if anybody does perform routine system checks. I think the reality is that most of the time, it is an occasional lost photograph that alerts us to possible issues. We may like to think that our system runs with all the failsafe-ness of a nuclear reactor but we're talking about systems with a certain amount of slop in them. If they are not there when you set out, they certainly develop over time because our equipment typically goes through some fairly unforgiving environments and times. Finally, we have no idea about the conditions each of us work under. Some of us may be using fairly archaic cameras, working in particularly harsh sun, and finally some of us may have just been burnt by an issue and found a solution that has now just become habit - although a habit that might be of some help to someone else in similar situations.

Cheers, DJ

[Michael Kadillak]

"With ULF there is simply no way in hell that you can not cover your entire camera back and protect your film holders from direct sunlight throughout the exposure process and realize foolproof results." (Kadillak)

Interesting! A curious question comes to my mind - how do you take your film holders from your bag and put them to the camera in direct sunlight? Covered with a dark cloth?
Just curious.

The whole concept of shooting ULF or even for that matter 8x10 in wind is a bit of an oxymoron because it is all "relative" to the specific conditions and there is no way anyone can (or should) provide a standard response. But I have two operating modes to consider when shooting that work for me.

If I have my 35# Wisner 12x20 on an A100 tripod, I have to say that even with a 24" lens on the wind unless it is really gusting is really not a factor. If it is (and with experience you know almost immediately if you are a no go), I may just shoot either 6x9 hand held or 4x5. However, when it is acceptable to shoot ULF I hang my Saitta dark cloth with bulldog clips over the rear standard and use another clamp to secure the bottom to get to the ground glass. When I am ready to expose. I loosed the bottom clamp to give me a bit more room under the dark cloth and I bring the film holder in the Strebor closed holder septum with me under the cloth and take it out and make my exposure. I have plenty of room laterally and it keeps the holder from direct light conditions and it goes back into the light tight septum after the exposure. I am not overly concerned about some light reflecting from the ground up during this process because it is nowhere as intense as direct light. I pointed my incident meter in the direction of the ground and it was fairly innocuous.

When I am a bit further from the truck and I have the 8x20 Canham I usually use the BTZS 12x20 lightweight cloth draped over the rear standard to focus however, when I want to expose I reverse the dark cloth pull back the velcro as much as possible and put the non-elastic portion over the back of the camera so that the elastic segment is over the film holder insert on the back of the camera and I clip a couple of bulldog clips over the top of the rear standard to hold it in place. I bring the holder septum under the slit in the hanging dark cloth and take the holder out of the septum leaving the film holder flap section under the cover to the degree possible. I rotate the film holder horizontal under the dark material allowing the handle section to go outside of the elastic opening of the BTZS dark cloth for a very short period while I insert the holder in the camera and similarly pull the dark slides out of this opening and fold this opening closed when I expose. I have found that particularly with ULF holders the flap section is the weak link so I consider it my first priority in guarding it from light when making photographs.

The Strebor film holder septums work well for me in the field as they are light tight and also have a bit of padding to protect the investment I have made in the holders but there are other solutions to this challenge that work equally well. I feel that it is simply not a good idea to allow light to be in contact with any loaded film holder for any unnecessary period of time considering how easy it is to take this variable out of the risk equation. However, it is not something one needs to get overly obscessive with. My comment is to just keep the time that your holders see daylight to a reasonable minimum to and from the back of your camera but keep a dark cloth over your camera back when you make your exposure. If it is windy, then tuck the excess dark cloth that is hanging down under the bellows to minimize the surface area and make sure that you shoot 400 speed film. Sometimes wind comes in patterns and with the dark cloth over the back of the camera you have the inherent ability to wait for the potential short lull and trip your shutter then.

Just my $0.02

Cheers!

[jimbobuk]

Thanks for all the pointers guys.. you're all so far ahead of me that its great to read your discussions on the subject..

I've wrestled through and scanned the film that I was talking about.. scanning colour in 2 passes (my epson 4490 only goes up to medium format!!) proves to be frustrating.. photoshop's photomerge appears to be rubbish so i've started having to join by hand which is fine but just takes too long. Anyways I thought i'd link the shots online so you could take a look, here they are

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245383588/

I believe the line down the centre is the join of my 2 images that weren't scanned to exactly the same exposure and colour.. the green "leak" is slightly cropped but still clearly visible at the bottom of the frame.. This and its twin image were all sadly underexposed due to the poor metering of a friends camera we used and then had to guestimate the exposure for the equivelant ISO, and aperture of the field camera. Crucially it was so underexposed at the area of the leak that i think the leak was allowed to be significant.. if it had been more fully exposed from the lens perhaps the leak wouldn't have even have been noticable, as is the case with the next shot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245387943/

just a garden shot, the most photographed thing so far till i get confident that i'm even vaguely doing it right.. again sharp focus seems to have escaped me throughout the frame, hopefully now i have a proper black jacket I'll be able to see more clearly.. getting an improved ground glass screen seems to perhaps appeal, along with a decent loupe... crucially this is one of the shots that doesn't seem to have leaked... the light was quite low, and as i mentioned before the film has all received a reasonable amount of exposure.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245391840/

a hillside near my house, my first excursion out trying to focus at infinity.. bit of a failure really.. but again, no light leak.. the sun was setting over a hedge in the left side of the frame.. not that much light would have been striking the film holder..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245392236/

a shot i took after reaching the sunset... its not come out great anyways, the exposure escaped me, the lens was wrong and i wasn't exactly happy with taking the shot, but wanted to finish this film so i could get them sent away. The mess that is all over the film really escapes me a little... I sometimes have trouble getting the film out of the darkslide in my changing bag.. with longer finger nails its easier to grab the film from inside the indented circle.. but then sometimes as you try to pull cleanly you inadvertently pull up as the film has seemed to stick slightly.. doing this you flex it and it gets really stuck, forcing you to almost pull the film out away from the slide rather than along it.. causing it to bend till it gives way and comes out.. thats certainly happened a few times, but i'm trying to avoid it in the future, though right now with no finger nails to speak of, i have no idea how i'll grab the film easily. Do you think something like that could cause this kind of mess.. its certainly not a light leak is it? or is it a major leak different to the others.. coming from the front perhaps? Again no idea how the film was treated on loading, or if it had expired either.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/245415474/

another castle shot.. same as before really, underexposed with the leak.

I am going to try and keep the hood on the camera for subsequent exposures.. the only problem i'll have is having the space to pull out the dark slide, and reinsert it.. don't know how much space there will be inside the 40" dark jacket.. perhaps not having the jacket THAT tight will be enough to reduce light on the film holder by so much that its not a problem.

I had a quick look on the site for light leak suggestions and tried testing some of the holders.. in daylight with a torch nothing was that obvious.. in the past i thought to help i'd leave the dark slide in the holder slightly blocking the hole up i guess.. whether in doing this i managed to leave the slide in the felt jaws of the holder and stop them closing properly I don't know.. I'll check them with torches again when its dark so it'll be easiler to see, and i'll go with trying to keep the hood on for the next exposures.. I think its less the holders and more a problem with the slide fitting in the camera back.. and obviously my inexperience with all things large format, and especially with this camera.

Any more help you guys have to offer will be received very gladly, cheers.

Jim

[jimbobuk]

Actually quite interestingly, all the light leaks occur on the opposite edge to the one with the ridges in, which puts them at the top of the film holder near where you insert and remove the dark slide as i'm sure thats how he'd inserted them, holding onto the notched ends and inserting the other end. Whether that means the dark slide whole itself or the meeting of the holder with the camera at that point it at least makes some consistent sense.

[Michael Kadillak]

Actually quite interestingly, all the light leaks occur on the opposite edge to the one with the ridges in, which puts them at the top of the film holder near where you insert and remove the dark slide as i'm sure thats how he'd inserted them, holding onto the notched ends and inserting the other end. Whether that means the dark slide whole itself or the meeting of the holder with the camera at that point it at least makes some consistent sense.

It is also recommended to insert the dark slide as "square" as possible to engage the light trap inside the holder uniformly. Starting with an edge of the dark slide and then squaring it as you continue WILL allow light to come into the film area past the light trap around the dark slide if there is light available to mess with you. I also find myself squeezing the rear standard against the camera with a holder in place to make sure that the insertion of the dark slide does not unintentionally cause the rear standard to open up. When you are inserting a long 7x17 or 8x20 dark slide this is more of an issue than with 4x5 but good habits in your shooting routine should be consistent with any LF format you load up.

Cheers!

[GPS]

Thanks Michael for your long explanation of the handling technik. I really appreaciate your realism with the use of eventual 6x9 format! In fact, I was often thinking of making an alternative for ULF field camera that would be windproof - simply a ULF P&S used on a tripod. The only reason I did not build it is the dimension of it - although easy to make, the camera would need a case surely heavier than the camera itself.

[sanking]

1) If you are on a long trip, you can check your system before you leave but you might pick up a pinhle along the way (let's say a stray bramble as you drag yourself through some thicket to a good spot, or just gremlins in the air). The darkcloth just adds some additional protection between system checks.


Cheers, DJ

This is exactly what happened to me some years ago on a visit to the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. I was working with a fairly new 5X7 camera and Fidelity holders that had not previously given me any trouble. However, for some reason the bellows developed a small pinhole that caused a light leak that was not visible on the ground glass. Because of the high winds at the location I decided to not cover the bellows. The result was that some 40+ negatives I made over a three day period have significant fogging from the pinhole in the bellows at the top right, about ten pleats from the camera back. Had I covered most of the bellows with the dark cloth, as I typically do, the damage from the light leak would have been avoided.

Sandy

[scott_6029]

I now keep my 7 x 17 holders in seperate 'bags/pouch'? I had my wife sow together some 'blackout' cloth/material and attach some velcro. I carry my holders in an individual 'bag'. It fits nicely.

When I remove the holder in the direct sun, I do my best to block the sun with my shadow, or use the dark cloth to shield the holder. Again, its not an issue with my 4 x 5 or 8 x 10 but it is with 7 x 17 holders.

[sanking]

Modern plastic holders have design features which make them virtually light tight even in direct sun. This is not true of most wooden film holders, whatever the size and age. The opening flap end is a source of possible light entry, by reflection, with virtually every wood holder I have seen. If you load these holders with film and leave them in bright light long enough there will be some fogging of the film, starting at the corners. A few designs have tried to eliminate this problem. De Busch ULF film holders, for example, used a locking mechnism that involved removing the entire end of the holder. The deign eliminated the problem, but these holders were very hard to load so the solution was worse than the problem. Great Bassin holders eliminated the opening flap and you loaded the film by bending it and shoving it under the loading rails. This worked well for 5X12 holders but 7X17 and 12X20 film was very hard to load with this design, and there was the risk of stress knicks on the film.

To avoid fogging at the flap end it is good practice to carry the holders in light tight envelopes of some kind and remove them from the envelopes only for the shortest period of time needed to insert in the camera back and then remove and return to the envelope.


Sandy King

[Diane Maher]

I have some 5x12 holders that I bought new in June 2006 and it seems that they have light leaks at the flap end of the holder. I have been shooting with my darkcloth covering these holders and still I am getting light leaks. I have finished unloading the last of them and will be setting up the camera in a darkened room and will be trying the flashlight test to see if the leak is due to how the holder fits in the camera back, just to be sure there's not something wrong there.

I looked at my 4x5 holders recently and compared the flap design to that of the wooden holders and it seems superior in that it prevents light leaks from coming in at the flap edge. I find it aggravating that my new 5x12 wooden holders are not leak proof. For what they cost, they should be.

By the way, when you guys are shooting verticals with your ULF, how do you keep the flap ends covered?

[Michael Kadillak]

I looked at my 4x5 holders recently and compared the flap design to that of the wooden holders and it seems superior in that it prevents light leaks from coming in at the flap edge. I find it aggravating that my new 5x12 wooden holders are not leak proof. For what they cost, they should be.

By the way, when you guys are shooting verticals with your ULF, how do you keep the flap ends covered?

There are things that can be done with plastic injection molding with 4x5, 5x7 and even 8x10 holders that simply cannot be replicated in wooden holders. Yes, wooden holders in 5x12 and ULF sizes are rather expensive, but let's not forget that these are are custom made products of some serious complexity and dimensional criteria particularly in the interior. That said, there are a couple of things that you can do to eliminate light leaks eminating from the flap end. First is to use some tape and mask off about 2" of the inside of the inside of the flap and the holder where the flap resides with flat black spray paint. I would add - a very thin layer of the black paint so you do not mess up the tolerances that reside in this area. That way if some stay light entered this area it would not be able to bouce around and get to the sheet film.

We already covered the second component of avoiding light leaks - a dark cloth over the camera.

To answer your questions about the verticle, if your camera facilitates pullng the dark cloth down then you are home free. If it does not then you need to either have a large enought cloth to accept the verticle proportions or go through the elastic hole with the BTZS cloth as I described above.

Cheers!

[Keith S. Walklet]

Jim,

I should probably clarify my earlier comments.

I remove the cloth when making exposures 90 percent of the time. Michael mentioned a couple more situations where I would leave it in place.

When working in windy conditions where objects in the scene can move (such as flowers, grass and branches), I might have to wait a considerable time before the objects stop moving, which would expose the film holder to sunlight for an excessive time. In that case I'd leave the cloth in place. When the subject isn't going anywhere (rocks, desert), I'd probably remove the cloth, make my series of exposures and move on.

If I were concerned about the fabric causing the camera to wiggle in the wind, minimizing the surface area in the manner Michael suggested (stuffing it under belows) works, as does wrapping around the tripod legs and securing it with a small bungy.

With the model camera you are using and the cloth size you have, you should easily be able to leave it in place on the camera while making an exposure, if you choose.

The panoramic cameras described here are more challenging, since the dark slide is so much longer, which I observed first-hand at the View Camera Conference in June. As are result, I am testing the performance of a special sleeve for ULF users that would permit pulling even these long slides.

But for you, the only time it would be challenging to pull the slide with the cloth in place would be the situation I described earlier (film holder in vertical orientation with the dark slide being pulled upward). In all other cases, there is room within the trunk of the focusing cloth to pull the slide. This can be accomplished by feel without your head in the jacket, or, if you choose, you can put your head in the trunk to see what is going on. Just remember, the sleeves are intended to be accessed from the outside in like you were using a changing bag.

In horizontal orientation, it can be done by shifting the fabric of the trunk to one side or other, or you can also pull the slide into, or through one of the sleeves, which still keeps the sunlight from falling directly on the film holder. If the pull is downward, the natural hang of the fabric provides space to pull into.

With the film holder facing upward, you would need to be a little more careful. If you leave the dark slide in the film holder when making an exposure, (some people favor pulling it completely to use as a lens shade), you would need to make sure the slide is pulled sufficiently to clear the film path. Secondly, you need to make sure the weight of the fabric pushing on the dark slide doesn't push it back down into the film path, or cause a separation between the film holder and the camera back. By pulling the dark slide out completely, this problem is minimized, but you'll probably have to practice in the daylight a bit to learn to feel for the slot and easily slide it back in.

FWIW, the types of light leaks I've encountered are as follows:

1. Roll film holder with no real light trap. I pulled the dark slide out completely and light got in through the empty slot. Poor design. I compensate now by leaving the dark slide in the holder, pulling it only as far as necessary to clear the film path. If it is windy, I either shield the dark slide with my body to prevent wind from buffeting it, or I pull it completely and leave the cloth in place as described earlier. The sleeve of the focusing cloth permits me to access the darkened environment to get at the film advance (though this is even possible to do through by manipulating the control knob through the fabric).

2. Same roll film holder, dark slide slipped a bit in transport and light got in through the window where the film is exposed. Again poor design. No lock to prevent the slide from working its way out. I now tape the slide handle in place to keep it from slipping inadvertently.

3. A more challenging leak to diagnose ocurred when I installed a spirit level in the flash shoe on the top of the rear standard. It took some time to determine that when oriented vertically, the film holder was making contact with the edge of the spirit level which created a gap between the film holder and camera back.

Aside from that troublesome roll film holder, I now also work exclusively with Fuji Quikload in a Kodak Readyload holder, so have not had to deal with the issues of loading film, faulty light traps, etc.

Anyway, lots of good advice in this thread. You'll figure it out. ;-)

[jimbobuk]

Definitely.. thanks a lot guys.. i yearned to take some more test shots this weekend but it just didn't pan out that way... it will be happening this week(end) so i'll try to take in all your tips... i will definitely be trying to operate whilst keeping the jacket on, should be ok.. though i guess actually loading the dark slide behind the ground glass could be tricky so i may have to take the hood off for this operation and then put it back on to pull the slide.. we'll see.. practice, practice, practice.

I just hope there isn't something fundamentally wrong with the setup.

[Keith S. Walklet]

Sounds like you might benefit from a workshop. You ought to check and see if there is any space in one of Paul Owen's FREE LF Workshops. I know he was planning a class next month in the Scottish Highlands.

Good luck!

[jimbobuk]

I took some test shots this weekend..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/251260349/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/251257142/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbobuk/251253484/

as you can see they have problems again.. thankfully my modded patterson processor no longer lets the negs stick to the base and come up dripping purple after washing.. i also got a motorised base for the processor and developed with this on all the time.. not sure if interactions with the lines in the lid may have caused these problems... also when opening the processor one neg had moved on top of the other.. though out of the 4 developed, 3 shown online above they all have some marks on them, so i'm assuming one moving on top of the other would only possibly affect those two pictures.

I tried to keep the hood on whilst loading the slides, and pulling the dark slide.. i struggled to do this with it fully on as i couldn't access the slide.. some more practice at trying it from inside the hood properly fitted over the bellows to leave me plenty of room will be what i have to try next time i guess.

I also had the darkslides out in the light a lot as i had no where to store them.. dont think this would be the problem but i'll try to elminate the issue.. as for inserting and pulling the slides evenly, its always going to be hard to know if i'm doing this right.

I did at least get my polaroid back and so have shot one test shot with it that came out ok.. going to shoot a couple more in bright light, without even covering the back to see if i can get clean shots without any flares.. if so at least i should be able to assume the camera is ok and i'm left with

film/slides/developing as the potential causes of the problem.

[jimbobuk]

Keith, you're probably right on the classes front but finding the time and money at the moment (to get up to scotland in this case) is a bit of an issue..

I'd certainly appreciate the hands on help of someone knowing what they're doing watching me make a mess of things :)

[Keith S. Walklet]

Jim,
If your Polaroid worked well, then I agree your problem is likely something akimbo in the way you are handling the regular film, or the holders.

I remember my first struggles with a view camera. It takes time to develop a rythmn and workflow. I often describe how I spent an afternoon with a six pack of beer, the camera on a tripod in front me and Leslie Stroebel's book for reference as I played with all the camera controls, movements. That afternoon came long after I began working with the camera, and in retrospect, should have come first.

A good workflow is really important in helping prevent errors (such as leaving the lens before making an exposure, forgetting to stop down, not putting the film holder carefully so the camera moves, kicking tripod legs, etc.) Seems to me there was a recent thread on this subject.

For the inserting removing of the film holder and darkslide, you would probably benefit from just practicing it again and again in the daylight (without film or focusing cloth) until you can do it with your eyes closed, then add the cloth and practice some more.

Lastly, there does seem to be a vital LF community in the UK, so perhaps one of your countrymen would be able to share their knowledge.

Keep plugging away. ;-)