how much bellows needed for 360mm?

[Daniel_Buck]

I can extend my newly acquired Cambo 4x5 to 16" (a bit over 400mm) with comfort, I'm not sure that I would want to extend it any farther, as I think that might start to over extending the bellows.

I would like to get as long a lens as I can (I enjoy shooting with longer focal lengths on my 35mm and medium format cameras), so I'm looking at the possibility of picking up a 350, 355, or 360 range lens.

How would I calculate how much bellows is needed to focus on things closer in than the horizon? Say my limit is 405mm of extension, and the closest I would probably ever be focusing is 10 meters away. Would 405mm of extension be enough to use a 360mm lens up to 10 meters close? I'm guessing that most things I would be shooting at this focal length would be much farther out, but just to be on the safe side I'd like to say that focusing to 10 meters out would be required, just to give myself some wiggle room.

I suppose another possibility for bit more extension would be reversing an inset lensboard?

Thanks for any info,

[Greg Lockrey]

I never had any difficulty in using a 360 lens on my Cambo, but that was a SCII in the 70's.

[Daniel_Buck]

I never had any difficulty in using a 360 lens on my Cambo, but that was a SCII in the 70's.
mine is an SCII as well (SCII RS) amazing how inexpensive they are now :-D

[Greg Lockrey]

mine is an SCII as well (SCII RS) amazing how inexpensive they are now :-D

They weren't all that expensive brand new either. Seems to me it was around $350-400 for the body and depending on the lens (mine are a Schneider's) they were $250-400. When a Leica M4 with 50mm Summicron went for $750. I was in the Navy at the time taking home about $250 per month.

[Brian Ellis]

There is a formula for this kind of thing but I don't know what it is nor do I know how to convert meters to feet. However, for most purposes 400mm of bellows should be fine for a 360mm lens. I used a 300mm lens on a camera with about 320mm of extension and I could focus to about 10 feet, which was plenty close for me with a lens that long.

I don't know about reversing an "inset" lens board. However, Ebony and Wista both make lens boards called "top hat" lens boards that extend the lens out in front of its normal position. I don't know whether they would fit your camera or not since both Wista and Ebony cameras use the Linhof Technika size lens boards. You can see the Ebony version on the Badger web site, www.badgergraphic.com.

[C. D. Keth]

There is a formula for this kind of thing but I don't know what it is nor do I know how to convert meters to feet.

There are 3.28 feet in a meter (and 304.8 millimeters in a foot).

The equation is:

(1/object distance)+(1/image distance)=(1/focal length)

Object distance is the distance from the front nodal point of your lens to the plane of sharp focus. Image distance is the distance from the rear nodal point to the image plane. You know what focal length is.

[Greg Lockrey]

There are 3.28 feet in a meter (and 304.8 millimeters in a foot).

The equation is:

(1/object distance)+(1/image distance)=(1/focal length)

Object distance is the distance from the front nodal point of your lens to the plane of sharp focus. Image distance is the distance from the rear nodal point to the image plane. You know what focal length is.

Or to put it more simply and to a more usable scale: there is 25.4mm to 1 inch.

[seepaert]

A 360 mm lens needs about 360 mm form lens to film at infinity (depending on the design). A 400mm bellows would suit you until (about) 1:10, which means you can focus til about 4 metres. A recessed board mounted outwards would help a little bit, but the centre of your lens will not be in the centre of the front movements any longer. It might or might not hamper the movements

[Daniel_Buck]

Thanks for all the information everyone! I think 360mm would work just fine for me and my current setup. Thanks again!

[AtlantaTerry]

I don't know if this information is at all helpful, but before it was stolen in the '80s, I had a nice little German 360mm lens in a pneumatic shutter that I used on my Crown Graphic to create portraits in my studio.

I seem to remember that the Crown Graphic's bellows had to be pulled out to it's limit. And that I had to be 20 feet or so away from the subject, but it worked.

These days I have a 300mm f/5.6 Rodenstock Sironar-N that I use on my 4x5" Cambo. But, I too am looking for a 360mm lens for my portrait work.

[Jac@stafford.net]

so I'm looking at the possibility of picking up a 350, 355, or 360 range lens

If you do not need a lot of movements, then you could consider a telephoto which would require less bellows draw. The down side is their extra weight. More specifics, good article on this very site. (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses-long.html)

Balancing the virtues of light weight and focal length is something Kerry Thalmann discusses on his site (http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/300-450.htm). He's my go-to source for compact, lightweight gear. (He is also selling some of his gear here. See the FS section.)