Probably a dumb question - how to see or adjust LF aperture from behind the camera?

[Drew Wiley]

Numerous times, I've had my Sinar monorail with a long extension rail propped up on some little ledge, leaning over anything from 500 ft to several thousand feet of empty space. Even with both me and it roped to something more solid, how did I set the lens before the shot? - peeing my pants at the same time!

[gdi]

I thought about it but I’m still afraid I would bump the aperture mounting the lens from behind the camera.

[gdi]

I have been practicing with marking the head’s panning position and then spinning the camera around on the tripod and back - I think it will work ok. I just have to remember to do it when needed!

Or… maybe a drone will help, my son has a little Mavic Mini I can use?

[Drew Wiley]

A telescoping inspection mirror can help you at least see what your settings are. Include a parachute for yourself when in doubt.

[Andrew O'Neill]

When I've been in tight situations where it was impossible to walk in front of the camera to change the aperture, I would remove the lens, make the adjustment, then re-attach the lens. I also use a little mirror from the dollar store.

[Doremus Scudder]

I have been practicing with marking the head’s panning position and then spinning the camera around on the tripod and back - I think it will work ok. ...

I do this from time-to-time, but only when I know that I'm going to leave a little "breathing room" around my image for cropping. That way, any mistake in returning the pan head to its original position will be inconsequential. My tripod heads have a 360° marked scale on the pan movement with an index mark, so I just have to remember which mark to return to.

In most situations, I just reach around, unmount the lens, set the aperture and shutter speed, close the preview and cock the shutter and then remount it.

Doremus

[Bill Burk]

Then there was the time my son held the back of my belt as I leaned over the cliff.

I was using a rangefinder so all I had to do was compose and shoot. The focus, f/stop and shutter speed were already set.

[MrFujicaman]

Guys-

Just go to Amazon and order a cheap $3.99 stainless steel dental inspection mirror!

[Doremus Scudder]

Guys-

Just go to Amazon and order a cheap $3.99 stainless steel dental inspection mirror!

A mirror won't set the aperture and shutter speed or cock the shutter for you. You still have to either unmount the lens, set everything, cock the shutter and remount the lens, or rotate the camera around and back. With a bit of practice, either of these two methods works just fine.

In my experience, it's fairly easy to remount the lensboard plus lens on the camera from behind without changing the settings (especially easy if the lens is in a recessed board) unless you've got lots of bellows extension and just can't reach. In that case, rotating the camera around after carefully noting its original position works well.

Sure, you can use the mirror to check if everything is set correctly, but I don't usually find that that is necessary.

Doremus

[Alan Klein]

A mirror won't set the aperture and shutter speed or cock the shutter for you. You still have to either unmount the lens, set everything, cock the shutter and remount the lens, or rotate the camera around and back. With a bit of practice, either of these two methods works just fine.

In my experience, it's fairly easy to remount the lensboard plus lens on the camera from behind without changing the settings (especially easy if the lens is in a recessed board) unless you've got lots of bellows extension and just can't reach. In that case, rotating the camera around after carefully noting its original position works well.

Sure, you can use the mirror to check if everything is set correctly, but I don't usually find that that is necessary.

Doremus

It seems with all that jostling, the focus or movements may slip.