Question regarding ground glass frame/film holder.

[matthewsommers_]

Hello All,

I am a newbie to large format photography and recently picked up a Linhof-Technikarden 45S for a killer deal. Anyway, I finally picked up all the required components to shoot and seem to have ran into my first question that the manual wouldn't solve.

When testing out inserting the film holder into the camera, I noticed that when the holder is in the correctly seated position, there is a slight wiggle if I try and move the film holder. Is this normal? Also, when removing the dark slide I noticed the holder moves ever so slightly.

Even with no film holder, if I push the ground glass spring back holder it moves ever so slightly both up and down. Im not sure if this is just me over worrying, but want to double check before I spend money developing and the focus is off etc...

Thank you : )

[MartyNL]

I understand your concern, I think we've all been there, but it's probably nothing.
You really need to put some film through it first, and I doubt it will be a problem. If it is, or you're still in doubt you will always be able to send it off to be serviced. It's worth bearing in mind that some of these camera's have been around for quite a while now, some will have had more wear and tear than others and parts may have been swapped.

Give it a go. They are wonderful camera's and I should get out with mine more!

[John Layton]

Something to try: with the camera (without lens) on a tripod, bellows extended about halfway, and a couple of strong light sources aimed sideways towards the film back (especially where the film holder gets inserted), with a dark cloth over your head to block out extraneous light, and a film holder inserted into the film back...look through the front of the camera back towards the film back, while pushing the trailing edge of the film holder backwards, increasing the pressure until you see light leaking around the inside flange of the film back.

You might also see if you can remove and re-insert a dark slide while looking through the camera, to see if this causes enough movement to let light in (a bit tricky as you will need to emulate the "correct" angles of force required to do this, while you are not in the "correct" position as you would be while actually using the camera...maybe get an "LF knowledgeable" friend to help?).

Then, repeat the above, but with the camera facing directly upwards - and see if the amount of effort required to see light coming through the back flange is appreciably lighter than that required to cause this light-leak while the camera was level. While the effort required with the camera oriented vertically might be just a tad lighter (due to the weight of the film holder), it should still be firm enough to keep light out during the process of removing and re-inserting a dark slide...assuming that you do this with reasonable care.

At any rate...if it seems a bit too easy for you to "see the light," then you might think about tightening up on your film back pressure springs just a bit, then test and tighten further if necessary. The goal is to achieve a balance which will provide adequate tightness, regardless of camera orientation, while still providing enough smoothness so that camera placement/back adjustments are not jeopardized during the process of film holder insertion. A bit of an art to this...but well worth the effort! I've experienced a number of commercially available film backs over the years (particularly those incorporating Graflock-style mechanisms) which seem inordinately tight, making it difficult to insert holders smoothly without jeopardizing any pre adjustments.

[matthewsommers_]

Thank You! Going to give that a try right now!

[Maris Rusis]

I've fallen into the following routine to avoid focus errors and light leaks when loading and unloading a view camera:

1. Make sure the transverse rib on the film holder falls into the groove in the camera back. This means the film holder is located in the camera back at the correct insertion distance.
2. With the film holder in the back pinch all four corners of the film back to make sure the film holder really is firmly seated with no gaps.
3. Grip the camera back and film holder tightly together when pulling the dark slide. This means a crack of light doesn't happen from the film holder moving out slightly.
4. As above when putting the dark slide back in.
5. Shade the dark slide slot to keep raw sunlight off it.

Good luck!

[John Layton]

The thing about these transverse ribs (which falls into the groove as mentioned), is that these are often (at least in plastic holders) slightly bowed outwards (check very closely with a straight-edge, and I can almost guarantee that others will also see this), and it is up to the film back's tension springs to overcome this slight curvature. Usually not much pressure is needed to "correct" this curve, but it is still a factor when dialing in those springs!

[maltfalc]

a little wiggle room is needed to make it easy to insert and remove film holders without them jamming, especially with holders being made by various companies with varying standards and using various materials.

[Jim Noel]

To eliminate the possibility of almost any light leak, I keep my dark cloth on the camera covering not only the back , but the bellows. On the 4x5 I use my small dark cloth which is 4x5 feet.