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Thread: Tuning a Bender 8x10

  1. #1
    Andy Eads
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Pasco, Washington - the dry side of the state
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    246

    Tuning a Bender 8x10

    I am the owner of a used Bender 8x10 format camera bought about 15 years ago. It was built by the original owner from a kit sold by Jay Bender. Its key features were light weight (less than 7 pounds) and low cost.
    It came to me with several significant problems: some because it was not assembled well and some from its design. I started a project to “tune” the camera to my liking but life happened. I lost access to my darkroom and so it has been in its case ever since that fitful start.
    With the Covid-19 pandemic keeping old timers like me cooped up, I decided to finish the project. I regret there are no “before” photographs. Here are the things I tackled.
    By design, the rear standard was bolted solidly to the monorail. There were two sets of holes along the rail and both were compromises. Focusing was done by sliding the front standard back and forth. Holding a magnifier and reaching around for the front standard was impossible with a 16” lens. I’m 6’ tall with long arms.
    The monorail was 30” long. The 30” rail meant you could do a 1:1 close up with a 14” lens but this is unnecessary for my work. With shorter focal lengths, the front of the rail was sometimes visible in the photograph for landscape and architecture photography. The long rail also made it difficult to pack.
    The locking knobs lacked any sense of progressive friction making minor adjustments difficult.
    The Bender bellows on this sample are very good quality. However, they were glued improperly with about a 10 degree counterclockwise twist from front standard to rear. This made it nearly impossible to raise or lower the front standard, such was the force exerted.
    The Bender ground glass was very nice but the spring bail was not strong enough to hold a film holder tight to the frame. With a holder inserted, the locks were not strong enough to hold the frame assembly at the chosen angle. The uprights were not glued properly and I feared they would fail at a bad time.
    There were no fiducial marks to align the camera when setting up for a photograph. For some photography this is not a great obstacle. It is a show stopper for the way I like to work.
    Part 2 will cover actions I took to "tune the camera".
    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    Andy Eads
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    Jul 2001
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    Pasco, Washington - the dry side of the state
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    Tuning a Bender 8x10. Part 2

    First, a caveat. This post shows a few things that can be done to improve an inexpensive view camera. This is not a “how to” article. You are entirely on your own to design, fabricate, test, fail, and retest your camera modifications. Have fun! I did.
    I removed the bellows from the back standard but could not remove them from the front as they were epoxied into place. This relieved most of the twist. I then re-glued the rear bellows. However, about a 2 degree twist remained because the front bellows were not installed correctly. I can live with it because the twisting force is now substantially reduced.
    I shortened the rail to 24”. The 6” remainder is used to hold the front, rear and tripod mounting blocks when the camera is stored in its case. (a)
    The rear standard uprights were removed, the joining surfaces sanded and re-glued with careful attention to getting all parts square.
    I patterned a sliding block after the front standard design. (b) This was to replace the bolt-anchored rear standard. Using the original design, I retained the swing movement. (c) Now the camera can be focused from the rear. In fact, the front and rear standards can be moved anywhere on the rail providing the ability to balance the camera easily. (d) Friction focusing like the Bender design has some drawbacks but works well enough with wood on the aluminum rail.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  3. #3
    Andy Eads
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    Pasco, Washington - the dry side of the state
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    Tuning a Bender 8x10. Part 3

    Everywhere there was a locking knob, I installed a wavy washer to provide a bit of progressive locking pressure. (e, f)
    I have a Cambo 8x10 back from another abandoned project. It has strong springs, a good bail to open the back, and it fits the Bender opening. I fabricated some aluminum lock levers to hold it in place. (g, h)
    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #4
    Andy Eads
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    Tuning a Bender 8x10. Part 4

    The back rotates 90 degrees to facilitate horizontal or vertical composition as the original back did. Unfortunately, the Bender ground glass did not fit the Cambo back. (j) Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202714 I had a piece of glass cut to fit and ground it myself.
    I built an alignment tool to set the camera to square. (l, m) Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202716 The goal was to have a way to center the front to the back. See the photographs for how it was constructed. With the tool in place on the front standard, it was easy to line it up with the center of the ground glass. I used a carpenter’s level to assure everything was parallel.
    The final problem was how to hold the rear tilt movement in place with a heavy film holder inserted. With so little wood to attach anything to, I decided on using a pin on each side to anchor the back. (899) I made a paper mockup to test the concept. I drilled holes in strategic locations to accept 16 gauge steel pins. (0) Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202717 I fabricated these with wire from the local hardware store. (An extra pin is taped to the top of the camera case.) With a pin on each side of the standard and the knob lock, the back stays firmly in place. I set it so I could get + and – 5, 10 and 15 degree angles and 0 of course. On the right standard, I marked lines in the wood to show the desired angle. I figure if I need an angle in between, I’ll tilt the tripod head the desired amount.

  5. #5
    Andy Eads
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    Tuning a Bender 8x10. Part 5 - last

    With the camera square and stable, I painted fiducial marks to make set up quick and reliable. Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202718 Yellow paint on dark stained cherry wood stands out nicely. Photo (q) Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202719 shows the camera in normal squared configuration. Photo (r) Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	202720 shows the front standard with about 5 degrees of swing, fall of about 2”and a bellows extension of about 22”.
    I partitioned an old hard-side case to accommodate the camera, 24” rail, 6 holders, lenses and accessories. (s) Click image for larger version. 

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    My goal is to use up my last 40 sheets of black and white film on subjects worthy of the format. I’ve gone digital but this seems like a fine way to say farewell to the art and craft I have loved all my life.

  6. #6

    Join Date
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    Re: Tuning a Bender 8x10

    I have bought 2 of these pre made. Did a bit of adjustments, but soon came to same conclusion. I updated the back springs to original Deardorff, changed the lens board to Linhof Kardan 162mm, in order to use the Kardan to Technika-adapter, changed both front and back standard bottom bars, and added an arm on the back tilt. As I found a used Wehman, both cameras where sold. A link to the most recent ad: [Link removed by moderator per guidelines]

    Sent fra min SM-G975F via Tapatalk
    Last edited by rdenney; 17-Apr-2020 at 11:56. Reason: Please include relevant pictures in your post rather than linking an active sale.

  7. #7
    Andy Eads
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    Re: Tuning a Bender 8x10

    I thought Wehman cameras were goofy looking till I tried a friend's. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

  8. #8
    ic-racer's Avatar
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    Re: Tuning a Bender 8x10

    I affix a laser pointer to a bench and bounce it off the ground glass without the lens. Make note of where the dot returns and then mount the lens with a filter on it. Adjust the front standard so the laser dot bounces back to the exact same spot. I use this method to center the detents on my smaller view cameras, and use it to confirm the marks on my larger view cameras with no detents.

    For cameras with the fresnel between the lens and ground glass, I bounce from the back of the camera off the ground glass, then remove the camera back and bounce off a filter on the back of the lens.

  9. #9
    Andy Eads
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    Re: Tuning a Bender 8x10

    ic-racer, That's a great approach to precise alignment. I once had access to the Hasselblad concentric mirror set to do much the same thing.

  10. #10

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    Re: Tuning a Bender 8x10

    I converted a Bender 4x5 kit to 5x7 and made some tweaks, but I think I'm going to have to borrow some of these--especially the locking washers. I like that idea.

    One thing I did for stability and easy rail extension is switch from the square rail provided to two 15mm diameter rails used for video rigs (ebay: "Smallrig 15mm rail"). They can be screwed together so I can go from a 2" storage rail to 8" to 24" of rail, depending on my lens needs.

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