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Thread: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

  1. #1

    Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    Hello
    I wonder if anyone can help
    I am shooting in darkish church interiors using a 90mm Caltar (Rodenstock) lens. F6.8. I am finding it very difficult to frame well since the edges of the scene are particularly difficult to see. Would it be easier with a 150mm lens which I have had an offer on borrowing. How do other manage when shooting in poor light. My camera is a Sinar F2
    Jean

  2. #2

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    Can you bring in more light to focus with? Work lights ?

  3. #3

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    You can place a tiny light, or lights, at points of critical focus. Also a Rodenstock 90mm f4.5 or other lens with a larger aperture would help.
    Last edited by Ron Marshall; 21-Oct-2006 at 09:14.

  4. #4

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    Your choices are a lens with a wider maximum aperture (e.g. f5.6), brighter viewing screen (BosScreen will cure the dark edges though it won't make everything really brighter, Maxwell will make everything brighter), longer lens (150 would be better than 90, 210 would be better than 150), and possibly a better dark cloth (one that keeps out more extraneous light if there is any). I can't think of any other on-camera fixes. But it's a fact of LF photography life that composing and focusing in dim light can be difficult no matter what you do.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  5. #5
    Kirk Gittings's Avatar
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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    All good ideas, let me mention one more POLAROID!
    Thanks,
    Kirk

    at age 73:
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep"

  6. #6

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    I have a cordless spotlight which I think is useful in such situations. I got mine from Harbor Freight but have often seen them elsewhere. It will mount on a light tripod if you don't have a helper to wave it around.

    The last time I mentioned this device, several people told me that lasers are handier.

  7. #7

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    I have the Rodenstock version of the same lens. I had trouble using it in dim light until I got a Maxwell screen, and that resolved my problems.

  8. #8

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    What you are experienceing is part of the mystique of large format. Generations of photographers have worked in poor light with slow lenses and dim screens.

    Get a better darkcloth. Use it. Use a loupe.

  9. #9

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    If you are not using movements, get a Linhof multifocal finder or a Fotoman finder for a 90mm. It will solve the framing problem, but not the focusing problem.

  10. #10

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    Re: Lens for easier viewing in church interiors

    Take longer to let your eyes adjust under a very dark darkcloth to the scene on the ground glass, then move your head to the left and right to see into the darker corner.

    Polaroid is an excellent solution, too, as well as a faster lens, added light and light colored focusing aids placed in the scene in your corner locations. These are mentioned by others.

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