My wife and I took a trip last month to Yosemite NP and to Pt. Reyes National Seashore. I really enjoyed hiking with my stripped down Crown Graphic 4x5. I took 17 holders and shot all but one sheet of film, mostly hand-held. While I enjoyed using the 4x5, I really prefer printing using larger film. So that got me thinking about 4x10....
The criteria I thought about were: light weight and portability, ability to shoot hand-held, ability to use regular 8x10 film holders instead of rarer and more expensive 4x10 holders, and ability to use on a tripod. If possible, options to use more than one lens. I considered pros and cons of adding movements, and decided to start with a simple point 'n shoot with no movements; if that proves too limiting, then I can build a front standard with rise/fall, tilt and shift later.
The design then is for a funky, asymmetrical box camera that has a rear frame and spring back for a horizontal 8x10 but with only a 4x10 (roughly) box on front. This will allow using an internal 4x10 splitter to shoot two 4x10 images on a single 8x10 sheet of film (something I've done a lot of for over a decade with traditional 8x10 field cameras). The technique is to reverse the spring back and reposition the internal 4x10 splitter between shots.
My plan is to have three lens board extenders that can be interchanged on the front of the camera: one for a 121mm Super Angulon, one for a 159mm Wollensak ExWA, and one for a 240mm G-Claron, all lenses I currently have.
Each lens will be fixed focused at infinity since I plan to use this exclusively for landscapes. I will add a wire viewfinder for composing when shooting hand held, and the back will have a ground glass for composing when on a tripod.
I'm hoping to keep the camera weight under 3lbs, maybe as low as 2lbs, without lens or film holder.
Should be fun!
First pic shows $50 of basswood and cherry craft wood ready to be turned into a 4x10 camera.
Next three pics show the frame of the camera made of 1/2 x 1/2 basswood. I plan to cover this frame with 1/8" cherry. You can see a couple of small sections of cherry glued to the front. This front will have a 7" wide opening so the (eventual) 240mm G Claron can cover the 10" wide film without vignetting....
The rear has 1/4 x 1/4 basswood glued to the outside to make a rabbet light trap for the spring back....
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