Hello everyone...and my first question!

**JammyHeff** · 3-Aug-2009, 05:38

Hi There,

So I recently made the plunge and bought a new Shen Hao PTB 54 and a mint fujinon 180/9 A optic and shot 20 sheets of 160NC. All the images appear consistently soft over the whole image...even one with flash. Could someone suggest the best section to post such a problem? I had a look but still unsure.

Great site by the way

Many thanks

James

**Gem Singer** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:05

Welcome to the forum James. Don't worry about posting in the proper the section. If you posted in the wrong category, the moderators will move it.

Now to your problem-- without seeing the actual pictures, and judging by your description, it appears that you have a focusing problem.

If it's not your eyes, your eye glasses, or your focusing loupe, the problem could be caused by a mis-alignment of the ground glass that is mounted in the wooden frame in the back of the camera.

This is not unusual. The frosted surface of the ground glass must be in the exact plane as the film in the film holder in order to maintain the correct focus. Sometimes, camera manufactures slip up.

I'm sure someone else will chime in and explain how to check for this type of mis-alignment.

**poco** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:19

Further to Gem's post, a popular way to check for inconsistency between the ground glass and film plane is to set up a shot angled down along a picket fence. Shoot wide open and note which fence picket you've focused on. On the developed negative first see if ANY picket is in critical focus (which tells you if the lens is capable of sharp results) and then if it's the same picket you focused on (which tells you if there's a ground glass misalignment with the film holder's film plane.)

**John Kasaian** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:20

With your camera open and pointed upward so the back is flat on a table, and the bellows compressed, remove the lens panel and measure the distance between the front standard and the frosted side of the ground glass.
Then.
Insert a film holder with a sacrificial sheet of film in place (or one of your soft negatives) and measure again. If the numbers are off, that's likely your problem.

You can do this more accurately if you measure using the lens panel in place, but that would require removing the lens from it. I use one of those little stainless steel rulers with a sliding pocket clip which geeks are so enamoured with

**Gem Singer** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:21

Almost forgot. James, when that Fuji 180 lens was mounted on the lens board, was the index pin removed?

If not, the index pin could prevent the shutter from mounting flat on the lens board, causing a slight tilt and mis-alignment of the focus.

**JammyHeff** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:31

Wow thanks for the speedy replies! My instint is saying either there is an issue with the optic or ground glass. My eyesight is good, the loupe good but even at critical focus the image just ain't singing out like it should (I have shot 5x4 before and own a Fuji 6x9 and the results I got don't compare).

I mounted the lens myself...to be honest I just followed my nose with that...bought a special tool...unscrewed the lens and screwed it together with the board in between and tightened with the spanner thingy (which I've conveniently put in a safe place...i.e. lost)!

Hmm..

**JammyHeff** · 3-Aug-2009, 07:58

Just checked the distance from ground glass to lens board and then with film and holder and both appear the same...how accurate I am though is perhaps an issue.

**poco** · 3-Aug-2009, 08:15

Originally Posted by JammyHeff

Just checked the distance from ground glass to lens board and then with film and holder and both appear the same...how accurate I am though is perhaps an issue.

I think lens board to film plane is too large a distance to measure accurately -- if the lens board isn't perfectly parallel to the film plane and you don't measure from the exact same spot... Take off your back and measure the distance from the interior plane of the ground glass to the wood/metal that makes contact with the camera and then do the same thing with a film holder. In a perfect world you'd use a micrometer for that, but I got fine results by using a post-it pad that lay on the ground glass and then pealed sheets from until it was flush with the wood, and then putting it inside a film holder to check the same distance. It's not a perfect solution, but it'll tell you if you have a problem.

**JammyHeff** · 3-Aug-2009, 08:18

One thing that has bothered me about this camera is that there is no intuitive way of locking the standards so they are exactly parallel to each other...Does anyone have advice on how to do this? The previous 5x4 camera I used (Toyo) everything locked down in the standard everything's flat and straight kind of way!

I've basically been doing it all by eye and examining the glass.

**Vick Vickery** · 3-Aug-2009, 08:50

Welcome to group therepy, James.

You've already gotten a look at how helpful the folks here are, but you don't mention where you're from in your posts, but its pretty likely that some of our regular posters might be near you...it might be possible to have someone close-by look at your setup just to double check the lens mounting, etc. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes will make all the difference!