I've sent my 135/3.5 Xenotar lens to Steven Icanberry of Alpenhause to have it fitted to a Polaroid 900 => 4x5 back conversion. He's told me that he can fit it in and that the camera will still close without needing to remove the front element.
I have a few questions for anyone doing 4x5 hand-held.
1. What shutter speed do you need to use to get good sharpness? I know the 1/focal length rule, although Steven has said he's gotten good results even going down to 1/16s with his camera. But as you approach say 3.5 ft (probably the closest the 135mm can shoot on his camera), magnification ratio becomes about 0.15x...is this close enough to macro to make significant differences in how long you can hand-hold?
2. When doing 4x5 shots, how do you figure the shutter speed given a certain ISO film? I've been using my Oly E3 to meter for my monorail, but do you do that (or use a small meter) when shooting hand-held? Or do you just memorize a bunch of conditions and various shutter speeds for them at a standard ISO and then go with that?
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