Another possibility is the sliding box type of focusing. The front 'standard' can be moved in or out of the main camera body to focus.
Another possibility is the sliding box type of focusing. The front 'standard' can be moved in or out of the main camera body to focus.
I handhold a 5x7 Speeder and have a cheat sheet for my lens---a 203mm Kodak Ektar--- indicating the nearest something will be in focus at a given f-stop. I rely on this and use the sports finder. Focusing with the ground glass while hand held is a problem I just don't want to deal with.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Very possibly - thanks.Originally Posted by Morten
:-) I already have a few decent DSLR's, and since I will be mostly shooting Xray film cut to 5X7, I can afford to screw up a couple sheets.
Yes, if I just can't work a helical into it, that will probably be the route I go.
Mamiya Press and Polaroid 600SE have nice helical for #0 shutters! And if your shutter doesn't fit you can just move your cells into its Seiko.
My stuff for sale is here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...-0?usp=sharing
Peter Gowland offered a focusing tube and threaded plate for his aerial cameras. There may be a few left. Here's a link to his site---I don't know if Alice is still taking orders or not.
http://www.petergowland.com/camera/repairs/
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
what would you be shooting with your camera?
probably not landscapes as there would be no reason to have it be hand held...so I'm thining street / portrait - something like that
If so..just make it focus to one distance..8'? 10' ? and either attach a focus deal hacked off a polaroid Big Shot..or attach a string or chain of that distance
I would like it to be just a fun/creative way to shoot large format fairly quickly - street scenes, portraits, perhaps as close as a meter. I would like to be able to shoot all those things one might shoot with a 35mm camera and a 28mm lens mounted.
The movement of the lens, from infinity to 1 meter is only about 20mm, so it seems to me that a helical focus mechanizm would be ideal. Perhaps an alternative to the "sliding box" method that Vaughn mentioned above would be two sections of PVC, one sliding inside the other...? I can get a helical focus mechanism on ebay for about $109 shipped. It looks like it is about the right size but I don't know if the travel is enough (20mm), and not being familiar with them, I can't tell if, when turning the focus ring, the lens will rotate as it travels.
I recall that Clyde Butcher and some friends made hand held 5x7 cameras set for landscapes using hyperfocal distance. They looked like duct tape and scrap wood but the images were worthy of the format. Might be worth a search.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks