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davidp
3-Aug-2008, 01:40
Hey everyone!

I'm very keen to head into the LF world. Ive read a bit of the guides on the website but I think I am a visual learner (learn best from pictures/videos). I was just wondering if anyone knows any videos on cameras, gear, set-ups, how to shoot etc etc. Ive seen most of them on youtube but if anyone knew any, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!:)

Bruce Barlow
3-Aug-2008, 05:22
"Camera Repair in the Field with Richard Ritter" Has tips on repair, what to carry, and much more.

"The Richard Ritter Ultra-Large Format Camera Owner's Manual" demonstrates Richard's 7x17, explains the design and engineering of it and, subsequently, his 8x10 that shares much of the thinking.

More to come, if I get motivated. I have shooting scripts for Large Format Basics, Large Format Portraits, Printing (an update of Printing with Fred Picker, which I was in), and - ulp - Composition. We may do a Camera Repair Two -Richard Unleashed, too. Now it's a matter of time and priorities to get them done (yuk yuk...they've been on the list for four years!). So no holding breaths. I'm amazed I finally got Finely Focused done, and its's "only" an eBook. Life gets full, doesn't it?

www.circleofthesunproductions.com has what's available now, and will have any new ones.

Alternately, come to a Fine Focus Workshop and we'll have you up and running in a weekend.

All best,

davidp
3-Aug-2008, 14:10
Are you based in Australia? if so I would love to go!!

Kirk Gittings
3-Aug-2008, 14:21
don't miss this video: :p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a64iG-A-cRI

Mike Castles
3-Aug-2008, 15:50
Will 2nd the vote for "The Richard Ritter Ultra-Large Format Camera Owner's Manual", while parts of it are specific to the Ritter camera's there is also some very good information on shooting LF. Now, should Bruce 'FIND' the time for those other vids I think it would be Great ;) Of course, I DO understand the Life gets full comment...and that is an uderstatement Bruce. Besides, one must find time for our own photography first.

Brian Ellis
3-Aug-2008, 18:13
Fred Picker made a video "Photographing With Fred Picker" that I used to enjoy watching. It isn't a detailed instructional LF video but it has some good information in it. It's long been out of production but copies turn up here and on ebay occasionally.

davidp
4-Aug-2008, 20:29
Could somebody from this forum maybe film one? :p

Shen45
2-Nov-2008, 21:09
What !!

Dave Jeffery
6-Nov-2008, 20:20
There are about 4 very short movies on this site that illustrate view camera movements and the plane of focus.

http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook18.html

ViewCamera.mov Viewcamera2.move etc.

Have Fun!

Dave Jeffery
6-Nov-2008, 20:31
And this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR4m70xr9mE

Dave Jeffery
6-Nov-2008, 22:26
Some more drivel,

I was still in the process of getting my gear together when a magical lighting was no doubt going to occur. There was a very even layer of clouds over the whole sky and the clouds were open to the west so I was fairly certain that the clouds would light up and be amazing. I had never set my camera up and practiced with it but I had made copies of the steps of how to use the view camera, which is on the LF home page here.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/how-to-operate.html

The sky was changing quickly and in a half panic I raced home, grabbed all the camera gear, which was spread around the house, and retrieved the film from the fridge. It was amazing to have actually been able made it to where I wanted to shoot and having never made one image before it seemed kind of hilarious to be using the list step by step to take the pictures – and it worked! The pictures are great! What you see on the ground glass is what you will get on film if you don’t miss a step on the list and do things in sequence.

I have since made my own additions to that list
13a. Test fire the shutter – this will let you know if you forgot to close the lens which may save you from ruining the film, and you can sometimes tell if your shutter speed is not set correctly, and the cable release may glitch or stick.
15 Look at the subject, moving objects will be blurry at slow shutter speeds ALSO look at the lens to make sure nothing has landed on it.
18a Look at the ground glass to double check the image you just recorded, is it still in focus or did something move?
19b. Reset all the movements back to zero if you have used them – rise, shift etc.
19c. Open the lens and the aperture so you have one less thing to do on the next shot.

I had also used Velcro to set a small 6” stainless steel ruler (in mm) in it’s sheath to the bed of the camera so I could focus on distant hills, slide the ruler in the sheath to set it to an easy number to remember, focus on a near object and then split the difference on the ruler and note the length in mm to pick the aperture from the chart below. You can just stick small pieces of masking tape on the rail to mark the focus points to get started. The difference in mm (D mm on the chart) will give you an idea of the optimal F-stop as listed on this chart. The F 45 numbers should be rounded off.

D mm---- F-stop
.17-------- F8
.13---------F 11
.7----------F 16
1-----------F 16.6
1.3---------F 22
2-----------F22.6
2.7---------F 32
3-----------F 32.2
4-----------F 32.6
5-----------F 45
6-----------F 45.2
7-----------F 45.4
8---------- F 45.6
9-----------F 45.8
10----------F 64
11----------F 64

The chart above was created from this info
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/fstop.html

I eventually made a focusing knob out of PVC plumbing parts (a 1” coupler that is tightened by hand and some other bits) using a Dremel and it was well worth the effort.

Print up a list and get out and shoot! Have fun with it!

If anyone finds any errors with any of this information please let me know.

RichardRitter
10-Dec-2008, 06:47
There is the Fred Picker DVD set. Covers , dark room , doing the zone tests, and photographing with Fred. Books are good too, one that goes beyond the basic and gives you assignments to do both in the dark room and the field is Bruce Barlow's Finely Focused http://www.circleofthesunproductions.com/

ejohnson
10-Dec-2008, 07:37
There is a very good Beginner's Series in View Camera the last 2 issues. Not a video, but very simply and explanatory diagrams. As a beginner myself I've found these articles to be very helpful.

eric

Leonard Metcalf
12-Dec-2008, 04:44
Hi David,

I run large format workshops in the Blue Mountains in Australia. I offer individual tuition at your convenience. I have had quite a number of large format photographers through my door who have all been appreciative.

You can find out more at my website http://lensschool.com or call me on 0404 663 608

If I can be of any assistance,

Regards,

Len