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aggibson74
24-Feb-2011, 00:32
I am very new to LF photography and I am having some trouble looking at the ground glass to compose my shots. When I put my head under the hood and look at the ground glass i feel like I go cross eyed. It maybe due to each eye seeing the bright spot in a different position. Are there different ginds for ground glass that helps with this? From another thread it looks like there is a trade off between different grinds for easy of focus with a lupe vs. looking at the image without a lupe. Is this true?

I should add I am doing landscapes....if that matters.

Thanks for your help,
Al

Joanna Carter
24-Feb-2011, 01:12
IF you are seeing two images, then your eyes, like mine, may not be able to coordinate at short distances. Try closing one eye. If not, then you may need to ask your optician to provide a prism in your glasses to pull the two eyes into line at the distance you wish to view the screen.

Jim Noel
24-Feb-2011, 09:46
How close are you to the GG? Many students have this problem until they learn to use a larger dark cloth and back up unless using the loupe.

Brian Ellis
24-Feb-2011, 10:00
Sounds like you either have an eye problem or your eyes are too close to the ground glass.

aggibson74
24-Feb-2011, 19:25
My problem might be that i'm too close to the gg. I was using a small blanket as a dark cloth and I think it made me stand too close. Tomorrow I'll try a larger blanket and stand further back to see if that helps.

Eric James
24-Feb-2011, 19:56
Were you born in 74 :) It's common for near vision to deteriorate in the late 30s and early 40s. You might try using low power reading glassing for composing, and a loupe or high power reading glasses for critical focus. I didn't need close-focusing aids when I started a few year ago, but now I can't compose unless I use low power glasses.

As an aside: I discovered Clic brand reading glasses recently and find the magnetic bridge to be a great feature, especially for frequent on and off use. You can find them on Amazon.

Joanna Carter
25-Feb-2011, 01:44
My problem might be that i'm too close to the gg. I was using a small blanket as a dark cloth and I think it made me stand too close. Tomorrow I'll try a larger blanket and stand further back to see if that helps.
How close would you hold a book to read it? That should be fairly much as far as you should be from the screen.

William McEwen
25-Feb-2011, 15:24
And keep in mind that you're looking at the glass.

Don't approach it like you're looking through a viewfinder.

photobymike
27-Feb-2011, 12:11
I use a #3 reading glasses... magnifies the GG for easier focusing. This seems to work well for me. I also close one eye. Typically a person will use one eye to see with....and the other to get depth... most people people can have one eye operated on(Radial keratotomy)... to see 20 20 ... i am no eye doctor but most people have a strong and weak eye..... Like life, learn your limitations, turn them to strengths ...An autofocus 4x5 camera would be nice yea huh....

aggibson74
6-Mar-2011, 08:51
Thanks for all the help. I just spent the last 5 days shooting Death Valley with the 4x5 and figured out that my problem was a combination of being too close to the glass and getting use to the image fall off from looking at a ground glass.

Shen45
6-Mar-2011, 16:56
Don't forget the other delight when you first start with LF ground glass cameras; the desire to twist yourself upside down to right the image. Mind you after 30 years I now invert the image naturally in my head and I'm not really conscious of the upside down image.