Greetings from Maine. 8x10 p&s

[camerabrain]

Hello, I am very excited to have found this forum. I am not new to LFP, I had unwittingly sold my large format camera some time ago to pay off medical bills for a long illness, so I have been using a medium format camera for a while. I came across the Hobo II hand held camera and fell in love. It is a bit pricey but I'm looking for plans for something similar on the internet so that I might build one. I can't do the mountain climbing and traveling shots anymore so I think this would work out for me. I find large format to be most breathtaking. I think I'll stick to contact printing as my current enlarger is medium format! You all do very good images from what I've seen and your topics are amazingly well written and thought out. If anyone has a plan for a handheld point and shoot 8x10 fill me in. :confused:

[RexWH]

The Maine Traditional Film Photography club meets at 6:30 on the second Tuesday of each month at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, if you are interested.

[Jay DeFehr]

When did box cameras become "Point and Shoots"?;) A simple box camera is not difficult to build, but there is some math involved. You should begin with a wide angle lens that covers your format. You'll need to calculate the hyperfocal distance for the aperture of your choice, based on your chosen Circle of Confusion, and from that, calculate the flange to film plane distance, which will be the depth of your box. Here's a useful link:

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Since you're not focusing, you won't have to worry about a ground glass frame or T-distances, etc., just a simple frame that mates to your film holder without letting light in. You might want some kind of viewfinder, of which there are many options ranging from simple wire frames to swank Linhof optics. Other potentially useful options include interior baffles that mimic the folds of a bellows and reduce internal reflections. and a good lens shade. If you can build a box, you can build a camera! Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

[jp]

Welcome! I'm in Rockland.

8x10 is a good size to contact print (or scan). Few people have the space for an 8x10 enlarger.

I'd suggest starting with a used 8x10 wooden back on Ebay that fits a B&J, Kodak, Deardorf, etc.. will be far easier than fabbing something from scratch and will be $100-300 with groundglass.

[Nathan Potter]

Welcome camerabrain. Where in Maine are you located? I spend time intermittently along the coast in the Milbridge area. The sliding box within a box approach will even give you focusing ability. I made an 11X14 once that way and hell - when traveling I could even pack my clothes inside!

The main task is to have fun, and be creative.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therapy! :) If you look a little (I immagine in the "Gear" forum) you will find a thread on home-made cameras...some of which are literally works of art! Apparently, lots of folks build their own LF cameras!

[Vick Vickery]

Just thought to go and look around for the "Home Made" thread...its in the "On Photography" forum.

[camerabrain]

Your in Rockland too! Where do you get your 8x10 film holders around here? I've been having a heck of time finding anything around here.

[camerabrain]

Well thank you for the info, I'm thinking buying an 8x10 back might be a good idea for this. I'm also wondering if it might make more sense to build a 8x10 full size camera out of ultralight materials. This p&s thing does seem mighty limited. Have to put some thought into it.

[jp]

Your in Rockland too! Where do you get your 8x10 film holders around here? I've been having a heck of time finding anything around here.

Pretty much all photo stuff come from Ebay, this forum, apug, craiglist, B&H, freestyle, adorama, and the other web retailers.

In a different time, I could get common consumables at Maine Photographic Workshops store in Rockport, Maine Coast Photo in Camden, and Thuss in Rockland.

[jp]

Well thank you for the info, I'm thinking buying an 8x10 back might be a good idea for this. I'm also wondering if it might make more sense to build a 8x10 full size camera out of ultralight materials. This p&s thing does seem mighty limited. Have to put some thought into it.

What makes sense is to buy a used camera and use it. But I'm into shooting, not woodwork or composites. You don't have be sensible; we'll understand.

I'm a little cheap and have observed that the more you spend, the more options you have for lightness and compactness. Other people might highly value their camera being a couple pounds lighter so as to call it ultralight.

Thus, I'm using a B&J that is neither. Still takes great photos but not as convenient to transport. I have used other people's Deardorf which can be much more compact. I lug around enough extra pounds of insulation as it is and won't complain about my camera being a couple more pounds than the ideal one.