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View Full Version : New Ground-glass 8x10



ThePenguin
27-Jan-2012, 06:29
I have a B&J Commercial View 8x10, and the ground glass sucks! I can't see nothing on that thing.

What do you recommend? Can I do something to make the groundglass I have today any better or should I just get a new one?

thanks!

cdholden
27-Jan-2012, 06:36
Remove the cap from the lens!

What's wrong with the glass? Is it just dim or can you not focus the image on the glass?

cowanw
27-Jan-2012, 06:41
If there is a lot of tobacco smoke stain on it or just dirty, a soap and water wash works wonders as long as there is not a water based grid on the GG.

ThePenguin
27-Jan-2012, 06:57
There is no grid at all.

Well the problem is that I cant really see if its sharp or not, also it seems quite dim. I'll try wash it. Thanks

jumanji
27-Jan-2012, 07:23
GG is cheap. Just buy a new one.

Ari
27-Jan-2012, 07:33
Surplus Shed has kodak GGs.
Yanke on eBay makes a very good GG for a good price.
Steve Hopf makes an excellent GG for a good price.

MIke Sherck
27-Jan-2012, 07:40
Original ground glasses on older cameras always seemed dim and coarse to me, regardless of how carefully I washed them. The crowning moment came a number of years ago when a friend and I were photographing in the bottom of a ravine in Shades State Park in Indiana. I couldn't see well enough to focus on my Calumet CC-400's original screen, even under a heavy focusing cloth, while my friend who had a newer camera with a Maxwell screen didn't even need the focusing cloth! The difference was amazing! I went and bought a new focusing screen from Satin Snow and the difference was just staggering. Dump that old junk and get yourself a real ground glass! :)

Mike

gth
27-Jan-2012, 08:08
Original ground glasses on older cameras always seemed dim and coarse to me, regardless of how carefully I washed them. The crowning moment came a number of years ago when a friend and I were photographing in the bottom of a ravine in Shades State Park in Indiana. I couldn't see well enough to focus on my Calumet CC-400's original screen, even under a heavy focusing cloth, while my friend who had a newer camera with a Maxwell screen didn't even need the focusing cloth! The difference was amazing! I went and bought a new focusing screen from Satin Snow and the difference was just staggering. Dump that old junk and get yourself a real ground glass! :)

Mike

Anybody knows how an original Calumet C1 GG (new condition) compares to a "modern"? Supposedly the C1 GG was (is?) considered very good.

/gth

ic-racer
27-Jan-2012, 13:48
There is no grid at all.

Well the problem is that I cant really see if its sharp or not, also it seems quite dim. I'll try wash it. Thanks

A f 5.6 plasmat should give a nice bright image. What lens are you using? If it is a f12 wide-angle, it is going to be dim.

IanG
27-Jan-2012, 14:22
Original ground glasses on older cameras always seemed dim and coarse to me, regardless of how carefully I washed them. The crowning moment came a number of years ago when a friend and I were photographing in the bottom of a ravine in Shades State Park in Indiana. I couldn't see well enough to focus on my Calumet CC-400's original screen, even under a heavy focusing cloth, while my friend who had a newer camera with a Maxwell screen didn't even need the focusing cloth! The difference was amazing! I went and bought a new focusing screen from Satin Snow and the difference was just staggering. Dump that old junk and get yourself a real ground glass! :)

Mike

I think this is due to the quality (purity & finenes) of the grits used to gring the glass. I've reground quite a few screens and they are now substantially brighter. It's not just dirt you could see they were coarser to start with. Modern grits are much better graded.

Ian

jbog
29-Jan-2012, 15:44
Surplus Shed is great. I've ordered both 8x10 & the 4x5 Kodak GG from them. The 8x10 GG is only $12.00. Shipping is a set $5.00 for any size order.

Link to the 8x10 GG >>> http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3965.html

>>> Jim

johnielvis
29-Jan-2012, 22:13
??????????
no way
it's stopped down then
what lens?
you get a flashlight and put it in the scene and you see if you can focus---cause that's what you gotta do sometimes when there's no light.

you wanna focus a slow lens in the dark....HA...use a flashlight IN the scene focus on that

johnielvis
29-Jan-2012, 22:15
OR....MY trick...laserpointer ON the ground glass...it does the graflex rangefinder light focus thing but with blur....you focus on the spot! it works dude