fresnel lens

[joe zarick]

I recently purchased a Zone VI 4x5 and it has no fresnel, what do I need and whe re should I get it? j zarick cinn ohio

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I would recommend spending your money on a good focusing cloth and a quality 4x or 6x loupe. While a Fresnel screen will brighten the overall image on the ground glass, it many times will not do so evenly. The concentric line pattern can often be confusing to some and interfere with accurate focusing as well. If you feel compelled to buy a Fresnel anyway, get an after market type that fits between the gg and your eyes. that way you won't run into gg/film plane alignment problems and you can also remove the screen if you decide you don't like it! Or, you can visit some of the threads on this forum that discuss other types of quality ground glass screens that others have used and investigate those. Boss and Maxwell screens come to mind, but again, others have posted specific comments on these. Good luck.

[Carl Weese]

Another vote for no fresnal. Just had a student take a view camera workshop this past week, and I found the fresnal screen in his camera just as annoying as I remember them. A well made hood-style focusing cloth and a plain ground glass is the way to

[M.]

You guys may have Superman vision, but I can't see to use a GG without a Fresnel screen. The best solution is to install one of the "bright screens" incorporating a Fresnel, such as Beattie, Maxwell, or Linhof's Super Screen which is sold cheap by midwest Photo (check the archives for their addresses). The other option, nearly as good and quite inexpensive, is to buy a Fresnel at an art supply story (or Barnes & Noble) and cut it to fit your 4x5 GG. As far as I am concerned using a GG without a Fresnel is medieval, akin to wearing a photographic hair shirt.

[William Marderness]

Try the camera without a fresnel for a while. You may come to like a plain gg better. I used to think I needed a fresnel. After I worked without one for a month, I came to like the plain glass better. Now, I avoid cameras with permanetly installed fresnels. I hate fresnels.

[neil poulsen]

If you decide to try a fresnel, mount it so that the ground glass is between the fresnel lens and the camera lens.

There are exceptions, where the camera is designed to place the fresnel between the ground glass and the camera lens, but I'm pretty sure that this isn't the case with the Zone VI.

[Scott Walton]

I use Beatties on all my cameras and like them alot. They have gotten me out of jams in low light shooting MANY times. Highly recommend them. Cheers

[Gem Singer]

You realize that you are responding to a thread that is 11 years old?

Check the date.

[Leigh]

You realize that you are responding to a thread that is 11 years old?
Interesting conundrum...

We admonish newbies to "check the archives" for relevant posts.

Yet when they find one and respond to it, we chastise them for doing so.

And if they start a new thread on that subject, they're chastised for bring up something that's in the archives.

So what exactly are they supposed to do?

- Leigh

[Gem Singer]

Leigh,

I wasn't chastising the poster.

I was merely making him aware that he was responding to an eleven year old thread.

So cool it already!

[Ari]

Cut it out, you two, or I'll send you to the back of the class!

[Leigh]

I'll send you to the back of the class!
Class?? What class???

We ain't got no class! :D

- Leigh

[Gem Singer]

Speak for yourself, Leigh.


Gem

[Leigh]

Thank you, Gem. Now take your medicine and lie down. You need a nap. :D

- Leigh

[Ari]

Class?? What class???

We ain't got no class! :D

- Leigh


Speak for yourself, Leigh.


Gem


Thank you, Gem. Now take your medicine and lie down. You need a nap. :D

- Leigh

Geez, did Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon resurrect and join the Forum? :)

[Leigh]

Geez, did Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon resurrect and join the Forum? :)
From the look of my pay stub... no. :D

- Leigh

[Ari]

From the look of my pay stub... no. :D

- Leigh

Well played, sir!

[Old-N-Feeble]

Cut it out, you two, or I'll send you to the back of the class!

No no NO!! You've got it reversed. Threaten to send them to the FRONT of the class!!

[Ari]

No no NO!! You've got it reversed. Threaten to send them to the FRONT of the class!!

Of course! I should remember, I was there plenty.

[jose angel]

Well, if we´re responding an eleven years old thread I`d encouragely advice to look for a Bosscreen instead of a fresnel.

And if someone is still on 2002, please buy one for my Canham... wait... and another Palm device to run Wheeler`s VadeMecum!

[eddy pula]

hey all, you might scoff at the quality but definitely not at the price, most rear projection tvs (the giant super light weight wise, pretty dim and shitty) large screen tvs of the 80-90's have giant fresnel lenses in them, like 20x24 and you can usually find them free on the street wherever students are moving out of. Just crack the case open and the fresnel is usually behing a polarizor type filter, also the projection lenses are fairly soft super fast f1.5 lenses that cover 4x5 and luck be have it there is one for r, g and even B. I got a nice sony one from the late 90's on the side of the road, and the LOUD speaker unit on bottom is now my darkroom boombox. Enjoy

[E. von Hoegh]

Class?? What class???

We ain't got no class! :D

- Leigh

Leigh, you have plenty of class. It's just that it's very low class.....

[Ari]

Leigh, you have plenty of class. It's just that it's very low class.....

Ok, Grumpy Old Men II...