Taking brass taking lenses into the filed

[Tim Povlick]

Greetings,

Simple question: I have several Brass (read old) lenses that require a shutter. The shutter is a packard shutter and the two lenses can use the single shutter. I am interested in taking them out into the field (desert actually) being *very* careful in handling so sand / dust won't get on them. The back pack is the Photobackpacker.

Normally the shutter is "in' the lens so packing lens / shutter / lens board is simple and works well with the Photobackpacker lens holders. NO dust / sand gets on the gear.

In the Packard shutter, it looks like I'll have to remove it from the (8x10) camera and store in a separate lens box in the back pack. Then setup means attaching it to camera and then attaching lens to shutter. An extra step but I wonder if there is an easier way. The shutter has 'stuff' pocking out from the front / back. The piston in back and the 'fast pin' / air nipple in front. If it weren't for the front items I could leave it attached to the camera.

Just curious if there is a better way.

Thanks for the read / suggestions.

Tim


Lenses are R&J Ross at about 600mm and a Cooke Soft focus at 16" (?)
Camera Canham 8x10 traditional.

[taulen]

the air nipple and instant-pin should be mounted on a lensboard, not on the shutter itself.

[Tim Povlick]

the air nipple and instant-pin should be mounted on a lensboard, not on the shutter itself.

The components are mounted to the lens board. So one would unscrew the lens at the flange (attached to lens board) then the flange - shutter - lens board are one unit. The lens it now removed and doesn't have a flange.

Sorry for the confusion I caused.

Tim

[taulen]

With the camera you have I dont think there is a better soultion, maybe someone with better imagination can think of some, but I'm not there tonight =) Good luck tho, hope you find a soultion !

[Jim Andrada]

I just looked at my Packard shutter and the air cylinder w nipple and "fast" pin are indeed mounted on the front of the shutter itself.

[evan clarke]

I just looked at my Packard shutter and the air cylinder w nipple and "fast" pin are indeed mounted on the front of the shutter itself.

I have a brand new one and it's all mounted on the shutter.

[Tim Povlick]

Here are some (bad/digital) images to show what is happening. Agreed with Evan and Jim about mounting of the air cylinder. So the rear of the shutter (not shown) has delicate items to be protected. In this particular configuration the front of the lens board has the flange, pin and an air nipple attached. The air cylinder from the back being piped to the front. If there were front of lens board didn't have the parts protruding, then the shutter / lens board could have remained safely mounted on the camera. The only thing that comes to mind is a protective cover over these items. For now, I'll just pack the lens board/shutter combination in a container.

Also shown is a Beck 24" lens and a Cooke 16". SK Grimes made the flange, adapted to Cooke to use the same flange as the Beck, and mounted the shutter. The shutter is new from Packard. It's absolutely the largest shutter that will fit in the Canham. The shutter had to be mounted perfectly centered to fit properly. Adam and Company did outstanding work.

It looks like one will have to breakdown an extra item or two when using these lenses in the field. Fair enough. My sincere thanks and appreciation for the thoughtful responses...

_..--
Tim

[Tim Povlick]

Success!

Using the Photo-backpacker setup, was able to take a Cooke Series Vi 16" to the field. It was packed with a UV filter on rear lens + plastic lens cap. Front lens protected by a metal cap. The weight was 3# 5oz. The Packard shutter was safely stored in a large lens case, along with lens / filters / air bulb. Dividers kept items separate and secure. I attached lens to the shutter / lens board and air bulb at the backpack, then attached the whole assembly to the camera.

Attached is image of cactus growing out of a pure white rock. RVP-50 @ f/11 and shutter on fast trip mode.
No light meter was used since the air shutters timing is a guess at best.

Processed in-house with the Tetonal kit. 'Scanned' by taking a digital shot of the chrome on light desk.

No softening was dialed in and the sharpness of lens at f/11 was a bit of a surprise.



_..--
Tim

(critques / comments welcome

[premortho]

Hmmmm. I've never used any shutter but a Packard, until lately, on 5X7 and 8X10. I just remove the lens board with shutter and all, and put it in a ziploc bag, wrap a towel around it and carry it in the backpack. I even leave the bulb and hose on when I do this. When I get where I'm going, I set up the camera on the tripod, take out the ziploc bag and install the lensboard with lens and shutter in the front of the camera, and go from there. That is a brass lens, by the way. I use a Weston Master III light meter as well, which shows how old-fashioned I really am.

[Steven Tribe]

This is a neat solution - but is really only suited to the Cooke's flange mounting. If you could mount the shutter between the bellows and the front standard and have the air "terminals" in the front standard, you use the system with many different sized lenses/flanges.
This is the way that most copal/sinar shutters are used in the field on non-sinar cameras. The controls stick out at the top/sides.
Perhaps you could ask the Mods to move this to the DIY forum?