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View Full Version : The Sandeha - a fun lil' 4x5 camera weighing mere ounces



nelsonfotodotcom
7-Dec-2007, 15:36
Many months ago, Sandeha Lynch, of Wales, sent me a 4x5 P&S kit he made himself. I finally got around to completing it as a pinhole, a couple of months back. To make it right-as-rain, I needed a lens in shutter for it. A 90mm would do the job.

Purchased a 90mm Optar from a guy here on LFf. It arrived yesterday, and this morning I awoke and set about getting it mounted in a board.

I have a spare ground glass, so I opened up the lens, raised my blinds, held the glass in the back of the camera, and eyeballed. Looked good, but not good enough. I tilted the glass at the bottom, prying up and away to increase focal length--basically tilting--and noted the image sharpness shifted on to a point about lensboard's thickness. That's where it needed to be.

Began to brainstorm, and realized I could just strip the other board of its pinhole, and use that board as a shim. Perfect!

Taped the boards into place, bagged the camera, went to Colliers to dig out an old grip--found a nice one, big and thick, with a cold shoe, and through-the-grip cable release mount. Picked it up, and headed to the graveyard.

Once there, I mounted the camera on the tripod, and walked it back and forth until I found infinity distance. Once accomplished, I fired off four sheets of Acros rated 160, fstops from f6.8 to f32, skipping f16. Came home, souped up in Diafine, and they're hanging to dry now.

Being the impatient little PITA that I am, I shot two of the sheets with my D70s and Tamron, using the piss-poor lamp in my frontroom that doubles as a place to hang my film.

Oh. What. Fun.

Should have the negs scanned soon. For now...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2250/2094292712_e55b41ef7d.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2250/2094292712_9a7c0c534e_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/2094292904_0fa85f8e4c.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2217/2094292904_528e6c177d_o.jpg)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2094293126_86351f9352.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2094293126_657786c773_o.jpg)

Frank Petronio
7-Dec-2007, 16:26
Damn I don't want to cross you, that is bad ass. The camera is cool too.

Geert
7-Dec-2007, 16:29
simple and clean. I'm currently testing a similar camera made of black ABS boxes, the kind they sell for hobby electricians.

G

nelsonfotodotcom
7-Dec-2007, 16:49
I think something like this, mass-produced, with interchangeable boxes for different focal lengths, could be an easy sell folks wanting to shoot a big negative without the fuss of movements and whatnot. I know, many would argue that the point of LF is to gain control of focal point, perspective, etc., but I still think it would be cool to have low-cost gear for all.

As I've always been more attracted to reportage/street work, this little camera is a gem. Without the grip and lens, it weighs only a few ounces. No, it's not very durable, made from light stock. Made from ABS or something else, I don't think it would end up much heavier, and probably lighter than any press-camera around. The grip I picked up has a neat cold-shoe on it, so I'll just need a bi-post to PC-male sync and my speedlights will give me all the light I need at night. Hmm... I need one of those two-fisted grips, a shoe on each one, the SB25 sync'd and the SB26 set to optical slave. That would be evil.

Michael Graves
8-Dec-2007, 06:31
Looks like a fun little toy. I would be interested if one was mass-produced.

BTW: Do you have much success photographing children? Just curious.

Scott --
8-Dec-2007, 08:19
Craig, ya done good gettin' it together.

nelsonfotodotcom
8-Dec-2007, 08:27
Looks like a fun little toy. I would be interested if one was mass-produced.

BTW: Do you have much success photographing children? Just curious.

Michael, believe or not, children are some of my favorite folks, in front of the camera or not. Has to be the sheer size of me (just under 6'2", 310lbs), combined with that familial (runs in my family) deadpan, almost-grimace I wear when concentrating, problem-solving, etc. Of course, I do smile, and I'm never mean to kids.... the most important thing I do is lower myself to their level and engage them eye to eye, talk to them not at them, etc.

I am... The Kid Whisperer.

:D

C.

nelsonfotodotcom
8-Dec-2007, 08:28
Craig, ya done good gettin' it together.

Thanks, Scott. Whydja yank yer Sandeha link? Put it back, already. Yer not bothering me.

Scott's built his own bad-ass version of the Sandeha/Neretta. A nice woody.

Scott --
8-Dec-2007, 11:58
Just as an added data point, I'll say that I (as well as a few others) have been influenced by Sandeha (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scott--/2072499182/). Too fun a toy.

Craig - I'm guessing that the neg scans will lose out in effect to the images you posted. Great way to display them.

And who's Byrnes?

nelsonfotodotcom
8-Dec-2007, 15:12
I've no idea who Byrnes is. That's the family plot stone, not a marker for an individual.