How to build a folding 4x5?

[jeffz343]

Hi i have been furiously searching the net for detailed plans on how to contruct a folding 4x5 camera out of wood. Do any of you know of any sources where i can find this information? Not looking for a monorail , looking for a field camera that i can fold up. Im mainly interested in landscape photography and none of the medium format cameras are functional enough for what i need (wide shots).

I wouldnt mind buying a kit (to put together) either , but all of the current kits are unavailable for purchase.

Can somebody point me to some sources where there are detailed plans on how to make these cameras?

[jeffz343]

anybody?

[John Koehrer]

http://www.diycamerakit.com/
rayment kirby cameras

[Matus Kalisky]

There should be some simple self-assembly kits (one is called Bulldog - suitable for wide lenses actually), but I would rather get a used 4x5 Tachihara to have a full-featured field camera. I guess that "standard field camera" kit will cost you more than a nice used camera.

[jeffz343]

There should be some simple self-assembly kits (one is called Bulldog - suitable for wide lenses actually), but I would rather get a used 4x5 Tachihara to have a full-featured field camera. I guess that "standard field camera" kit will cost you more than a nice used camera.

anything else? also my budget max would be around 400-500 and thats with the lense

also what would be a good choice of light meter for landscape ?

[jeffz343]

http://www.diycamerakit.com/
rayment kirby cameras

neither of those have plans on how to make a camera , i emailed kirby about his lack of ACTUAL plans and he seemed offended by the idea to actually spend money on a nice website only to completely fail on delivering information

[engl]

neither of those have plans on how to make a camera , i emailed kirby about his lack of ACTUAL plans and he seemed offended by the idea to actually spend money on a nice website only to completely fail on delivering information

The page clearly states that the 4x5 kit is not finished yet.

A 4x5 camera built from a kit or plans is likely not going to be very precise or rigid, just look at those completed (380$) Bulldog cameras. Getting a wide lens is going to eat a big chunk of your 400-500$ budget, I think you will have a hard time building a *good* 4x5 field camera, as your presumably first camera building project, with the remaining money.

Have you considered something like a Crown Graphic?

Edit: my mistake, I saw now that your comment about not having plans was for Kirby, not the linked site

[Matus Kalisky]

500 ($ I guess) is going to be tough - do you at least already have a tripod that can hold the thing? You will also need to spend some money on developing tools (either a few trays or one of the 25** Jobo drums with 2509n inserts. And you will also need some film, film holders, chemistry, etc ... . For the dark cloth a black T-shirt will do the job (did for me for about 2 years until I bough a BTZS dark cloth)

For the light meter - the cheapest would be to use a camera you already have - digital can (with some caveats in mind) be used as a light meter with preview, but you need to check that the ISO the camera is using matches the "true" ISO of the film - just compare it with some film camera light meter of normal light meter.

Lens - as mentioned wide lenses are in general more expensive. Those cheaper ones are usually slower - like 90/8 (then look in Fujinon). You may consider getting a nice 135/5.6 or 150/5.6 Caltar II n (Rodenstock Sironar N actually) or some of the older single coated Fujinon Lenses (with lettering inside the filter ring) - great lenses for rather low price.

The camera - the already mentioned Crown Graphic would indeed be an option. If you really want to get a cheap camera you should maybe also consider some monorail - some are really cheap.

If I were you I would check out eBay prices (just sit back and watch for a while) for all the components you need and try to estimate whether you can accomplish the task with the budget you have. It should be doable but you need to be careful.

[Brian C. Miller]

See if you can find a Bender 4x5 kit camera. These were cheap monorail kits, light, and they packed very easily. Bender is out of business, but you can find photos of them (link (http://www.quadesl.com/bender.shtml)). I always kind of meant to get one of them, but I never got around to it. By looking at the photos, you should be able to come up with a work-alike design.

[Heespharm]

i guess you can look at designs of something like a shen hao, get a dremel and some scrap metal and wood... and ALOT of time and you can pull something like this off..

[jeffz343]

i guess you can look at designs of something like a shen hao, get a dremel and some scrap metal and wood... and ALOT of time and you can pull something like this off..

ya thats why i was hoping for some REALLY detailed plans or atleast REALLY detailed cad drawings or something

[jeffz343]

500 ($ I guess) is going to be tough - do you at least already have a tripod that can hold the thing? You will also need to spend some money on developing tools (either a few trays or one of the 25** Jobo drums with 2509n inserts. And you will also need some film, film holders, chemistry, etc ... . For the dark cloth a black T-shirt will do the job (did for me for about 2 years until I bough a BTZS dark cloth)

For the light meter - the cheapest would be to use a camera you already have - digital can (with some caveats in mind) be used as a light meter with preview, but you need to check that the ISO the camera is using matches the "true" ISO of the film - just compare it with some film camera light meter of normal light meter.

Lens - as mentioned wide lenses are in general more expensive. Those cheaper ones are usually slower - like 90/8 (then look in Fujinon). You may consider getting a nice 135/5.6 or 150/5.6 Caltar II n (Rodenstock Sironar N actually) or some of the older single coated Fujinon Lenses (with lettering inside the filter ring) - great lenses for rather low price.

The camera - the already mentioned Crown Graphic would indeed be an option. If you really want to get a cheap camera you should maybe also consider some monorail - some are really cheap.

If I were you I would check out eBay prices (just sit back and watch for a while) for all the components you need and try to estimate whether you can accomplish the task with the budget you have. It should be doable but you need to be careful.

i have an olympus camera (43 sensor) will that fact change the "real life" iso any?

how would i find the true iso because i read somewhere that the ISO is different for this camera

[Michael Whyte-Venables]

Is not the (http://www.diycamerakit.com/)website the work of Sorin Varzaru? I have yet to find any reference to Rayment Kirby Cameras, which so far as I can see is a UK based entity (http://www.raymentkirbycameras.co.uk/). Mr Kirby has made it clear that he no longer makes cameras. Or have I blinked?

[Matus Kalisky]

i have an olympus camera (43 sensor) will that fact change the "real life" iso any?

how would i find the true iso because i read somewhere that the ISO is different for this camera

The only way to make sure is to use whatever film camera you have that has full manual mode (and correctly working shutter) - load it with a slide film (I would take Velvia 50 or 100 as it is very sensitive to over or under exposure) and expose - in different situations - one roll (or a few 4x5" frames). If shooting 120 or 35mm film making also some bracketing say +/- 0.5 stop should give you pretty good idea whether the ISO of your digital camera corresponds to the "tru" ISO. I propose slide film for this purpose as most of the have the speed as noted on the box and are sensitive.

Basic comparison can be done even without exposing any film - but for that you need a camera with (properly working) build-in light meter. If you set both (film and digital) cameras to the same metering mode (in the best case spot) they should give close to identical reading off the same subject.

My DSLR (Minolta 7D) is spot on. I used it many times as light meter with 4x5". It is particularly helpful with long exposures (do not forget on the reciprocity corrections for the film)

[Jack Dahlgren]

The only way to make sure is to use whatever film camera you have that has full manual mode (and correctly working shutter) - load it with a slide film (I would take Velvia 50 or 100 as it is very sensitive to over or under exposure) and expose - in different situations - one roll (or a few 4x5" frames). If shooting 120 or 35mm film making also some bracketing say +/- 0.5 stop should give you pretty good idea whether the ISO of your digital camera corresponds to the "tru" ISO. I propose slide film for this purpose as most of the have the speed as noted on the box and are sensitive.

Basic comparison can be done even without exposing any film - but for that you need a camera with (properly working) build-in light meter. If you set both (film and digital) cameras to the same metering mode (in the best case spot) they should give close to identical reading off the same subject.

My DSLR (Minolta 7D) is spot on. I used it many times as light meter with 4x5". It is particularly helpful with long exposures (do not forget on the reciprocity corrections for the film)

Um... he says his Olympus is 4/3 with a sensor.
What is the purpose of exposing slide film in another camera?
That other camera may have shutter speed issues, metering issues etc.
The best comparison would be to compare with a light meter.

But the most practical thing is to use the reading from the digital camera and see how it matches with your LF results. No need to go through comparison with other devices (there is always something lost in the translation).

[Matus Kalisky]

Um... he says his Olympus is 4/3 with a sensor.
What is the purpose of exposing slide film in another camera?
That other camera may have shutter speed issues, metering issues etc.
The best comparison would be to compare with a light meter.


Sure, but his LF shutters also have to be trusted, right? Comparison with a light meter may be tricky - in particular with incident light meters. As he is just starting with LF is supposed that he does not have one (I may be wrong of course).



But the most practical thing is to use the reading from the digital camera and see how it matches with your LF results. No need to go through comparison with other devices (there is always something lost in the translation).

You are right - I just proposed a cheaper way (35mm or 120 film) for the case that he should have a working camera he can trust. LF shutters are purely mechanical and if not cared well for may be off. Nikon (or whatever) SLR with electronic shutter is probably free of shutter problems (if used regularly with good results)