Satin Snow Ground Glass

[Michael Graves]

I saw an earlier thread about Satin Snow ground glasses on these pages and decided to take a shot. On my first try, I failed to mention that my 5x7 was a Toyo, and apparently these cameras have a GG inset that's 1/8" smaller than "standard". I sent an email to the company and told them my dilemma. Even though it wasn't their fault, they told me to send it right back and they'd trim it for me. I sent it back last Wednesday and got the resized glass yesterday. The image is at least a full stop brighter than my old glass, which makes it so much easier for these senile old eyes to see. After seeing several posts saying how slow these guys were, I thought I'd just point out that not only was my order processed very quickly; I got about the best customer service I've gotten from anybody in a LONG time. My thanks to whomever posted the plug for Satin Snow.

[Kevin Klazek]

I did have a long wait for my 5x7 Dorf gg, but I was aware of the delays because Dave was upfront with his backlog situation. The wait was well worth it. I would also say the view was at least 1 stop brighter. My 90 f8 SA is definitely easier to use with the brighter image. An excellent product overall.

[Ron Marshall]

I was sceptical, but no longer, SS is definately brighter than my stock Sinar GG.

[Nick_3536]

I also don't consider it slow. I think mine shipped with in days of the date he claimed it would. I knew when I ordered it would take a while but that's okay. It's the ones who don't tell you that bother me.

[Dave Moeller]

My experience was like the experiences that Kevin and Nick had...at the time Dave definately had a backlog and was very upfront about how long the glass would take. He missed his original estimate by two days (not bad, all things considered), and I couldn't be happier with the product. I know there are other solutions out there for getting a bright image to view and focus, but the performance his ground glass delivers at the price he charges is fairly astounding.

As with many small operations, it's worth setting your expectations with the seller before the transaction starts. In my experience small companies are better at communicating problems and at hitting their deadlines reasonably (although there will always be exceptions). What they tend not to be good at is having a large stock of things to ship out to you immediately...which is, I believe, fully understandable.

Be well.
Dave

[Mike Kovacs]

I've decided to get one for my 4x5 Calumet monorail.

I had one in my 1920's plate camera and of course it was miles better than the stock screen. Its no comparison to the Maxwell in my MF Rolleiflex TLR but at 1/10 the cost its hard to complain. My guess is that an add-on fresnel will help with my wide angle lens.

Suggestions for a cheap fresnel to go along with it?

[William Mortensen]

I ordered a SatinSnow replacement for a gridded gg (which I didn't like), and at the prices being charged, ordered a couple of spares to save on shipping and just have the peace of mind that a future broken one will not be a problem. Definitely a great value for the dollar. I had a bit of a wait, but was warned in advance, so no complaints there.

This is definitely one of the few high-quality bargains in lf photography. Thank you, Dave! (You should up your prices, now that I have mine!)

[lee\c]

I have 4x5 5x7 and 8x10 glass for my cameras from Satinsnow gg. They are great. I highly recommend them but like everyone has said it did take a while to get them. It was worth the wait.

leec

[James Bleifus]

I received my 8X10 SS glass last week after a 6-8 week wait and took it out shooting this weekend. Wow. My 210 G-Claron sure is easier to use. I'll be ordering another one for my 5X7 back soon. And the wait for the GG didn't bother me at all. Dave has always seemed very upfront about his delays that I knew it would ship when available.

Cheers, James

[Tom N]

I ordered one for my Shen-Hao a while back and I didn't expect it to show up until at least January. Wouldn't you know it but it arrived last week. I installed it right away and it's fantastic!