Accuracy of Ebony 4x5 GG Area

[Ed Richards]

I have a 45SU, but I think all the 4x5 Ebony cameras use the same GG back. I have a bad habit of composing as if I made contact prints, but even when I intentionally leave extra space around my compositions, I often find that the image is too close to the edge. I use all new style 4x5 holders. Anyone else have this issue, or is it just my technique?

I am thinking about masking the edges of the GG. In the old days, they made narrow tape for masking drawings - wonder if anything like that is still around, say 1/8" wide tape.

[Lachlan 717]

Hi, Ed.

I had a similar issue with the GG on a panoramic camera.

I went to the local office supply store and purchased some tape that is used on white boards. Not as thin as I wanted, but it was both cheap and available.

[Paul_C]

II am thinking about masking the edges of the GG. In the old days, they made narrow tape for masking drawings - wonder if anything like that is still around, say 1/8" wide tape.

Search amazon.com for "fine line masking tape". Should find ya what you're after.

[Steve Barber]

Put a film holder in the back, then, take the back off the camera and compare its cutout to the film holder cutout. Then, take the film holder out and compare the cutout of the back to the cutout framing the ground glass. On mine, the opening in the back is large enough to more than cover the opening of the film holder, so all of the film available is being exposed. Measuring both the cutout for the ground glass and the film holder showed the film holder had an opening of 96.98 x 120.56mm where the cutout for the ground glass measured 95.04 x 120.40mm. So, on mine, the ground glass is showing slightly less area than the actual amount of negative being exposed. On mine, if you tape off any of the ground glass you will just reduce what you would be able to see of the film area that is going to be exposed.

I checked another back (yes, the backs are interchangeable) and film holder combination and the result was the same. Although the measurements were slightly different, the entire film holder cutout was being exposed and slightly less than the area of the film that was being exposed was visible on the ground glass. However, if your camera is different and you are seeing more than will be exposed, comparing the openings as I described should give you a quick idea of how much of the ground glass you need to mask off.

[Andrew Plume]

I have a 45SU, but I think all the 4x5 Ebony cameras use the same GG back. I have a bad habit of composing as if I made contact prints, but even when I intentionally leave extra space around my compositions, I often find that the image is too close to the edge. I use all new style 4x5 holders. Anyone else have this issue, or is it just my technique?

I am thinking about masking the edges of the GG. In the old days, they made narrow tape for masking drawings - wonder if anything like that is still around, say 1/8" wide tape.


hi Ed

judging from your mighty impressive photos in VC earlier this year, you've litte to worry about - the Baton Rouge Court House building (from memory), was to me, very impressive

andrew