Christopher Burkett Interview on PBS

[Chuck Pere]

Nice interview on PBS Newshour:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/la...ecades-of-work

He's one of my favorite landscape photographers.

[malexand]

Thanks for posting, Chuck - love seeing a master at work!

[diversey]

Enjoyed watching the interview! Thanks for posting!

[Tin Can]

Notice his heavy aluminum Calumet C1 that everybody denigrates. A very good camera!

What was that lens?

[Pere Casals]

What was that lens?

It looks APO Tele Xenar 800mm f/12. Ebay lists one now for some $15,000, a nice adding to the C1

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...mm-Convertible

...

Nice stack of ciba boxes...

Thanks for posting, Chuck

[Tin Can]

He used a lot of bellows and rise!

It looks APO Tele Xenar 800mm f/12. Ebay lists one now for some $15,000, a nice adding to the C1

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...mm-Convertible

...

Nice stack of ciba boxes...

Thanks for posting, Chuck

[neil poulsen]

Notice his heavy aluminum Calumet C1 that everybody denigrates. A very good camera!

What was that lens?

Chris Burkett invests whatever is needed to obtain the highest quality standard, whether it be in research, time, or equipment. He's a true perfectionist.

[tgtaylor]

Actually I think that he is using the wrong camera. If you look carefully you will notice a slight up and down camera movement when the camera is nudged. I get the same thing on the Toyo MII when using heavy lens with long extension. I suspect that is due to the holding screw not having enough bite and plan on trying different screws until I find one that has maximum depth for the camera. I exchanged the hex screw that came with the arca QR plate for one that has just one turn more bite and it seems to have been an improvement but I again noticed aa pronounced up and down motion with the 760mm lens and when I dismounted the camera was able to re-tighten the screw slightly. The real solution, as I see it, is to use a monorail like the Toyo G with 2 rail clamps. That completely eliminates any up and down or side-ways motion and leaves just vibrations which quickly settle down.

Thomas

[Pere Casals]

Actually I think that he is using the wrong camera. If you look carefully you will notice a slight up and down camera movement when the camera is nudged.

Thomas, I don't think... The C1 is perfectly steady. Yousuf Karsh used one for 3 decades.

That movement you say comes from tripod head, I guess, because front and rear moves like pivoting.

I feel the C1 is legendary gear, and a sign of distinction. For 45/57 I like more the Norma, but for 810 IMHO the C1 is not a bad idea at all.

A long carreer photographer sporting an APO Tele-Xenar 800/12 and a ton of cibachrome boxes is suposed to have a refined criterion for selecting gear

Anyway IMHO the camera is the irrelevant factor for the quality of his extraordinary work, again in this case the man is what counts.

Making contrast masks while burning/dodging amazing ciba monster prints from 810 Velvia/Provia is not that common today...

[tgtaylor]

Actually I think that he is using the wrong camera. If you look carefully you will notice a slight up and down camera movement when the camera is nudged. I get the same thing on the Toyo MII when using heavy lens with long extension. I suspect that is due to the holding screw not having enough bite and plan on trying different screws until I find one that has maximum depth for the camera. I exchanged the hex screw that came with the arca QR plate for one that has just one turn more bite and it seems to have been an improvement but I again noticed aa pronounced up and down motion with the 760mm lens and when I dismounted the camera was able to re-tighten the screw slightly. The real solution, as I see it, is to use a monorail like the Toyo G with 2 rail clamps. That completely eliminates any up and down or side-ways motion and leaves just vibrations which quickly settle down.

Thomas

As a follow-up to the above post, I have found that the permanent solution to the up-n-down motion is to check that the QR plate is firmly tightened each time the camera is to be mounted on the tripod. Apparently removing and reinstalling the camera on the tripod has the tendency to work the mounting screw loose in the up-n-down direction even though the Toyo QR plate prevents even the slightest lateral movement. This means that the tendency of the screw is to thread upwards without twisting or apparently stripping. I put this into practice on my lasting outing with the camera and 760 experienced zero camera movement on the tripod other that the initial vibrations which die down quickly.

Additionally, with the MII there is a tendency for the back swing locks to come loose from handling the camera while placing into and removing from the pack. However this is readily seen once the camera is installed on the tripod without opening the clam: If the back is in its détente setting, it will be perfectly flush with the rest of the camera and this is the perfect time to check that it is without unlocking and checking the détente the manual way.

Simply installing a camera on its support is an art that is best learned from practical experience.

Thomas