Is f11 max practical in the field?

[greginpa]

Keep an eye out for a Ihagee folding cardboard chimney magnifier. it comes in a little slip case and fits in your pocket. it's spring loaded so pops open easily. There is a built in magnifier. You can put it on the glass and then press your eye socket angst it blocking out any light getting past your dark cloth. They are simply stamped Ihagee. 4 inches or so long. 1.5" x 2" straight rectangle. i think they date from the early '30s. It would be nice if someone came out with a modern version. The folding feature is really handy.

[Vaughn]

Hello Vaughn,
I think the OP means the the lens speed, not the actual "f/stop" at which he/she photograph.
My apologies if I misunderstood your post, or the OP.

Oh, my point is that an f/11 lens works fine out under the open sky. Now if it is just averages 5 stops darker under the redwoods, then trying to focus and compose at f/11 under the redwoods would be like using f/128 under the open sky...perhaps not quite that bad in reality because of all the brighter areas of the scene stand out...but the shadow areas get tough.

Under the redwoods I'll have large areas the register 2 or 3 on my Pentax Digital Spotmeter. In Death Valley, my darkest shadows were generally metered at 11, tho in some deeper canyons I got a 9 and an 8. When I closed down the lens on a desert scene, I always underestimated the actual f/stop. Being so use to the redwoods, I'd think I was at f/16 or 22 but I'd actually have the lens at f/45. But it is fun, too, working in two such lighting extremes. One takes the challenges and lessons from one and applies them to the other.

[Fr. Mark]

Hi, I'm the OP. I did mean the maximum aperture on the lens, but Vaughn's comments were interesting and helpful, never the less. I find I tend to under-estimate how much I need to stop down and the results suffer v. my expectations. I've taken a few LF photos that work at f11-16 range, but many work better for me at f32-128 though most of my lenses really only want to go to f45 (Sinar DB lenses only go that far, most of them). I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with LF. I think it is heading mainly to contact printing around 8x10 but we shall see.

[Vaughn]

I am talking max aperture (largest opening possible), too, so I must not be making any sense.

If you are working in the dense woods, or in lighter woods early or late in the day, you will have problems working with an f/11 lens. It will be workable, but take more time and be frustrating. Is the lens in a shutter? My process lenses in barrels work great in the redwoods...almost useless without a shutter in Death Valley (I did not even bother to bring them).

[Randy]

Keep an eye out for a Ihagee folding cardboard chimney magnifier. it comes in a little slip case and fits in your pocket. it's spring loaded so pops open easily. There is a built in magnifier. You can put it on the glass and then press your eye socket angst it blocking out any light getting past your dark cloth. They are simply stamped Ihagee. 4 inches or so long. 1.5" x 2" straight rectangle. i think they date from the early '30s. It would be nice if someone came out with a modern version. The folding feature is really handy.

Greg, for my 8X10 focusing I use a Mamiya RB-67 chimney finder. The opening is about 3" square and it has an adjustable eyepiece for distance from the GG, with a rubber eye-cup. It is perfect. I just removed the metal mounting bracket where it clips onto the RB and glued on some black felt so it slides easily on the GG.

[Pfsor]

It is perfect. I just removed the metal mounting bracket where it clips onto the RB and glued on some black felt so it slides easily on the GG.

Not so perfect as the distance between the gg and your loupe changes according to the pressure on the black felt and its thickness. A protective plastic sleeve glued on the same place would do better.

[Randy]

Not so perfect as the distance between the gg and your loupe changes according to the pressure on the black felt and its thickness. A protective plastic sleeve glued on the same place would do better.

...I have not noticed any problem focusing with the thin felt as a buffer. Perhaps if I applied a lot of pressure with my eye against the eye-cup...but I don't. Been using it for several years now.

[greginpa]

Greg, for my 8X10 focusing I use a Mamiya RB-67 chimney finder. The opening is about 3" square and it has an adjustable eyepiece for distance from the GG, with a rubber eye-cup. It is perfect. I just removed the metal mounting bracket where it clips onto the RB and glued on some black felt so it slides easily on the GG.

There you go. Sounds like a good solution. I suppose one could also use a folding screen from a TLR that has a built in magnifier as well if they hold together off of the camera? The reason I like mine is it is so light and pocketable.

[Michael Kadillak]

Since you need to stop down to f32 and beyond to truly evaluate your focusing plane don't over compensate or be afraid of it. If it starts getting dark at f22 but you can see linear improvement in focus on the stop down you deductively learn when it is acceptable to just go with it. If you need to get one of those new lightweight but very powerful LED flashlights and add that to the mix. Quite honestly it is really not an obstacle to the final result. When I bought my first camera (an 8x10) like many newbies I felt that there was some advantage to having a f5.6 lens so my first lens purchase was the 300 W Nikon. Took me a couple of months to figure it out I did not really need the boat anchor so the lens was sold and I have nothing brighter than an f9 optic in my 8x10 lens kit. For my V11 Deardorff I have a 30' Apo Germinar that is an f14.5 lens and I shoot it all of the time in low lighting conditions and it has never been a problem. I am far more concerned about vignetting particularly when tilts and swings are being deployed than minimum f stop.

[Fr. Mark]

In addition to having a working darkroom (2nd move in two years) and time and bellows on my field 8x10 I want to restore and a field tripod...a better dark cloth will help me a lot. I have a 300 f5.6. It is heavy! Thanks to all of you for so many thoughtful answers!