Keith twin lens 4X5 with modified Calumet finder

[John Conway]

I really like this camera. For a few weeks now, I've been thinking about how I can make the Calumet finder work on the Keith. I had some extra springs from my Cambo finder/ CC Calumet rig, so i wanted to go with a similar set up, but I wanted to retain the original Keith hood. The only thing I need to do is pick up a few small brass screws to hook the spring ends onto, instead of just hooking them into the holes.

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w409/Conway929/DSC_0497.jpg

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w409/Conway929/DSC_0498.jpg

[Joseph Dickerson]

Man...I haven't seen one of those since my first studio gig right out of college.

We used to shoot long roll (70mm) on them. My boss did everything but weddings with them.

Yours is really a nice one, and the modification is ingenious. :cool:

JD

[John Conway]

If anyone spots a Keith for sale, let me know. I'd like to have a second camera. They were offered with 250mm lenses. I'd like to get my hand's on one of those. Mine is a 215 model.

[Corran]

Wow, that's a crazy camera.

[John Conway]

Thanks Joe. It's funny you mentioned the 70mm long roll. I actually have the 70mm accessory back. It is a big heavy unit with a plug coming out of it. If you notice, the 4x5 back is a Sinar, which is more useful than the original. This camera is fantastic for portraiture.

[John Conway]

Wow, that's a crazy camera.

Yes, crazy and mysterious. When I found this one it was love at first sight. But there is no information about these cameras anywhere. There was a guy on another forum that had one, but that is all I found. I heard they made a 5x7 model in wood as well.

[sully75]

How's the parralax with that thing?

[photobymike]

Thats crazy but cool... reminds me of a Gowland camera.. Reminds me.....remember when you could order a roll of undeveloped film from him..

[Frank Petronio]

Question I've always had is how do you adjust for the differences in focusing between the lenses? Are the lenses perfectly matched at infinity - but then what about at portrait distances? And is it just a matter of shims or is there a mechanism that can be screwing in or out?

Oh and I want to put it on a Gitzo Traveler with ballhead and drill lightening circles out of the frame for backpacking. Not really, just anticipating the next post haha.

[Mark Sampson]

A couple of guesses about the design, based on my long-ago experience with comparable cameras. 1) it would have been sold with matched focal-length lenses. 2) Parallax could be manually set, it would have been corrected for portrait distances. Infinity probably wasn't a factor, given that these were studio cameras. I took a 70mm twin-lens Camerz on the road back then; it was a real beast, but compact and a refined design compared to this one.

[Joseph Dickerson]

Parallax was/is corrected for by a cam that raises/lowers the upper lens to compensate. I don't remember if it had infinity focus as we only used them for portraiture. John can probably answer the infinity question.

If I remember correctly, the Keith "factory" was in Riverside, California. As we were in Ontario, CA it made repairs etc. very convenient.

The lenses were matched pretty closely as the focus always seemed accurate. Although we always shot stopped down pretty far.

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? :confused: I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

JD

[Oren Grad]

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? :confused: I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

Now there's a camera that says "DON'T MESS WITH ME!":

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97974762@N00/3128737973/

[Frank Petronio]

I was fortunate to avoid the traveling school pictures gig that so many people started out with. I can only equate that with something like boot camp in Texas during the Summer or spending the Winter in the Mt Washington weather observatory, etc.

I take they sent you out with only one camera, no back-ups necessary since they were built like tanks?

[Joseph Dickerson]

I was fortunate to avoid the traveling school pictures gig that so many people started out with. I can only equate that with something like boot camp in Texas during the Summer or spending the Winter in the Mt Washington weather observatory, etc.

I take they sent you out with only one camera, no back-ups necessary since they were built like tanks?

My boss was one of the rare ones who actually trained us first. We had to know (well, kinda) what we were doing before he turned us loose on the unsuspecting public. He also sent us out with two complete kits, we had back ups for the cameras and lighting. Same with weddings, we had at least two of everything. A concept I still follow today, although I'm no longer shooting portraits and weddings for my daily sustenance. Actually, I'm supposedly retired but sometimes I just feel like I'm just out of work.

Lakland AFB is the only place I have ever seen where I could stand in mud up to my knees and have sand blow in my face.

Oren, thanks for the memory jog, that was one heavy dude. It had a dedicated monostand that weighed about the same as my first MG.

JD

[John Conway]

Parallax was/is corrected for by a cam that raises/lowers the upper lens to compensate. I don't remember if it had infinity focus as we only used them for portraiture. John can probably answer the infinity question.

If I remember correctly, the Keith "factory" was in Riverside, California. As we were in Ontario, CA it made repairs etc. very convenient.

The lenses were matched pretty closely as the focus always seemed accurate. Although we always shot stopped down pretty far.

Anyone out there remember the McVan TLR? Frank? :confused: I used to use one of those with a split 5x7 back for b&w portraits.

JD
Yes, the parallax is corrected with a cam on one side of the camera.I will post another pic of the camera , showing the cam. This camera, like any twin lens, is not for extreme close up work. However, you can use the lower lens and work off the ground glass to get pretty close.When I first got the camera I compared the two ground glass images with a lupe, focusing with each and then checking the other, she is dead on.I'm certainly not at the level of many of you guys here on the forum when it comes to technical issues, but I will tell you this, the old Kieth is one heck of an image maker.