How can I convert Fotoman 624 Pan Camera for makro use.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Perhaps someone can advise regarding twin element close-up diopter attachments.

[DazrAus]

With focusing ring still attached to lens - am happy to go with a narrow depth of field as may result - not sure of finished results ultimately with the specific lens being used for macro.

[hoffner]

So you want to use the optional gg to see what is in focus, then put the film in the camera and then - still on the same focus - take pictures in a terrarium?

[Jac@stafford.net]

So you want to use the optional gg to see what is in focus, then put the film in the camera and then - still on the same focus - take pictures in a terrarium?

Linhof had an interesting device used to frame close-ups for their Super Technikas, but it could be used with some other view cameras. The OP could choose his preferred distances, index them on a similar device and shoot without the ground glass.

The one pictured in the link has the frame mounted upside-down.

(Image from www.leicashop.com)

[hoffner]

Linhof had an interesting device used to frame close-ups for their Super Technikas, but it could be used with some other view cameras. The OP could choose his preferred distances, index them on a similar device and shoot without the ground glass.

The one pictured in the link has the frame mounted upside-down.

(Image from www.leicashop.com)

Yes, that could work with stone dead animals who do not move in the terrarium. Good luck!

[Lachlan 717]

So you want to use the optional gg to see what is in focus, then put the film in the camera and then - still on the same focus - take pictures in a terrarium?

Exactly what the Shen/Ebony do.

[Lachlan 717]

Hi Lachlan I am in Castlemaine, Victoria.

Melbourne for me. Mightn't be too difficult!

[hoffner]

Exactly what the Shen/Ebony do.

That's why they are used on macro pictures of moving objects in a terrarium, I suppose. Would they also work on butterflies, I wonder.

[hoffner]

Thanks Lachlan for your thoughtful comments. I have been photographing terrariums with a Hasselblad CM 500 and an extension tube - work currently being exhibited here in Australia - and the results has been somewhat dreamy with the extension tube creating narrow depth of field and blurring in foreground and background. I am wanting a similar result in panoramic so may go with a custom bellow system. Happy to go with quirks of lens rather than totally clear macro images. So, thanks for your comments. Much appreciated!

Still curious - how do you get a tripod with the Fotoman camera mounted on it to the terrarium?

[Dan Fromm]

Linhof had an interesting device used to frame close-ups for their Super Technikas, but it could be used with some other view cameras. The OP could choose his preferred distances, index them on a similar device and shoot without the ground glass.)

The device is called a focusing frame. Focusing frames are discussed extensively in Kodak Publications N12-A Closeup Photography and N-16 Closeup Photography and Photomacrography.

I did the thought experiment of using a focusing frame on a Speed Graphic years ago. Several major limitations. There has to be a clear area around the subject so the frame can be positioned around the subject without disturbing it. The subject plane has to be accessible; from the outside, everything in a terrarium is inaccessible. And the subject, if live, has to tolerate close approach.

Shooting immobile subjects in terraria can be done with the camera on tripod outside of the terrarium and with focusing on the GG. This will work with some reptiles and amphibians.

Re the need to get close, well, with a 110, shooting at 1:1 needs the lens' front node (very near the diaphragm) to be 220 mm from the subject. Whether this is possible depends on the subject and the terrarium. Lower magnifications will need greater working distances.