Using and Modifying the Travelwide 4x5 camera

[letchhausen]

No, definitely not, and if you ask this type question we may give you an easy DIY solution, but ask that here. http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ide-4x5-camera

I wrote the DIY solution 10 minutes ago but deleted it as I felt it too obvious, perhaps you do not have the camera yet?

I was asking the question directly to someone else's comment in the kickstarter thread and while my comment got moved, theirs did not so sounds a little out of context. And no, I do not have the camera yet but hopefully tomorrow depending on the incompetency of USPS. But like the person I was speaking to, I could see having a better GG. I have a Maxwell in a box someone around here that I could probably dig out and use or hack or whatever...

[Tim Meisburger]

It seems like it would be fairly easy to cut out a hole in the Wanderlust plastic calibration panel and then drop in a 4x5 piece of ground glass, with supports glued across the corners to keep the same registration.

My camera has not arrived yet, so hard to tell, but I wonder if you could simply re-grind (or grind) the plastic calibration screen? Ben was trying to buy a manufactured texture and had problems with that, but would the application of a bit of 600 grit sandpaper and some elbow grease improve the supplied screen?

[Ben Syverson]

Just to clarify, we will 100% be producing an improved focusing screen. We'll make it available for free + shipping to all current backers and pre-order customers, and all future orders will ship with it.

We actually lost the texture of the current focusing screen through subsequent attempts to improve it, so once these are gone, they're gone. It's almost too bad, because that center spot is so bright that you can do focus calibration in daylight without a loupe. I anticipate that the current screen will have a life of its own on the used market once we replace it with the new one.

[Tin Can]

Chicago is suffering from 5 days of 70 degree dry weather. We are in the streets, as soon snow will come....

This may seem stupid, but today I scouted shots with my iPod 6 and when shot in square mode, it's angle of view is close to that of my Raptor 90mm and corresponds with the view I see with the Travelwide wire sports finder.

Now you wonder, 'So what!'

Well, I like to shoot from a low angle or right from street level, but I dislike laying on the ground and looking through a peep sight or GG, so I test shoot angles of view to see what my Travelwide will capture by mounting the TW on a 3" high tripod and shoot a test 'Polaroid' right through the wire finder. Of course I am shooting hyper-focal.

Not perfect, but good enough for what I want. ymmv

Decided I could do better and found in my junk parts, a phone holder and a threaded cold shoe mount that fit, placing the iPod lens in the right place. I'll compare pics in a day or two.

[Tin Can]

[Corran]

Just hung up 11 negatives to dry, all shot with the TW. I could immediately tell that the framing was not good. The stock viewfinder seems to be much tighter than reality, and so I have really loose compositions.

I will be trying some different viewfinders...

[Corran]

Update: I was surprised to find that the Mamiya 43mm viewfinder works pretty much perfectly, using the inner framelines, not the whole view. I don't even have that lens or the Mamiya 7, I just picked up the viewfinder cheap on eBay as an experiment. As a bonus it has a bubble level built in! I've always thought the ~45mm focal length on 6x7 was akin to a 75mm lens on 4x5, but apparently that viewfinder is a bit tighter.

[David Aimone]

Glad to hear there will be an improved focusing screen eventually, and glad it will be free (but was willing to pay for it).

When the dust settles, parts for my second camera would be great, as the little interior retainer ring crumbled when trying to get the last screw out for installing the 65. Fortunately, installing the 90 was easy as cake and very happy with the images coming from that camera.

First four images from the 90 here.

[EdSawyer]

The Mamiya 7 43mm viewfinder is a great piece (as is the one for the 50 also). The 43mm 6x7 FOV is about equal to a 65mm lens on 4x5. The best viewfinder for a 90mm on a 4x5 that I have found is the Koni-Omega 58mm viewfinder.

[Corran]

The 43mm viewfinder has framelines inset into the whole frame. I assume the inner framelines are what you use to frame with the 43mm, but I could be wrong. Dividing the nominal size of a 4x5 image by the nominal 6x7 image shows that the 43mm is roughly equal to a 75mm lens, not 65mm, and a 53mm VF would be correct for a 90mm view on 4x5. That said, like I mentioned, the Mamiya seems to be forgiving enough (showing a slightly tighter composition) so that it is about perfect for the 90mm view. This makes sense since rangefinder VFs tend to be a bit smaller than the actual frame, leading to looser compositions.