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Thread: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

  1. #1
    David J. Heinrich
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    buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    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?

  2. #2
    Unwitting Thread Killer Ari's Avatar
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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    With some practice, you can shoot at 1/4 second; the converted Polaroids (I have one from Steve as well) are remarkably well-balanced and are heavy enough to steady at slower speeds.
    I can focus up to 2ft with mine, and extension has not been a factor in proper exposure.
    Meter as usual and fire away.

  3. #3
    David J. Heinrich
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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    Ari,

    Thank you very much for your response. Yea, I don't know about using the Olympus E3 DSLR to meter. That's what I've been doing with the monorail, but it is a completely different setup, that is already slow. The purpose of one of these guys is to be able to shoot more candid shots handheld, and juggling and Oly E3 DSLR (kind of heavy itself) and a Alpenhause would seem to somewhat counter that.

    Maybe I could get the Sekonic L-208 Incident / Reflected Light Meter, Gossen DigiFlash, or Gossen Digisix. They're all small and fit in the hotshoe.

  4. #4

    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    I have built a few conversions and they are remarkably easy to use. I have never seen one of Alpenhause's so I can't comment on it. If you want to shoot at slooooow shutter speeds, you can rest the camera on your collarbone or shoulder. I find it much easier to hold the conversions steady than a smaller camera, even a Leica. Mine are really light though because of the way I made them. Anyway, you should have a blast with it. I would love to have one with a Xenotar 3.5 lens. If I ever build another one, that is the lens I am going to put on it.

  5. #5

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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    Much depends on the camera's balance and ergonomics. I've never been able to hold my Canon F1 very still, but my old Crown Graphic with 135mm lens was so nicely balanced it was easy to hand hold.

    Peter Gomena

  6. #6

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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    Patrick, do you have any pictures of your cameras? I'm working on some conversions myself, would love to see what you have done.

  7. #7
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    There used to be a Cd out there that described the Razzle conversion.

    http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~razzle..._/razzle_.html
    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  8. #8

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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Bedo View Post
    There used to be a Cd out there that described the Razzle conversion.

    http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~razzle..._/razzle_.html
    Yeah it was $50 and I've heard not that valuable. I'm winging it.

  9. #9

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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    So is he going to reinforce the front standard to carry a larger lens like the Xenotar?

    And put a better rangefinder on it so you might have a chance of focusing the thing wide open at portrait distances?

    Not to rain on the parade, but it seems like a good way to spend a lot of money in order to get a lot of slightly out of focus shots....

  10. #10
    David J. Heinrich
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    Re: buying an Alpenhause for hand-held, tips?

    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Petronio View Post
    So is he going to reinforce the front standard to carry a larger lens like the Xenotar?

    And put a better rangefinder on it so you might have a chance of focusing the thing wide open at portrait distances?

    Not to rain on the parade, but it seems like a good way to spend a lot of money in order to get a lot of slightly out of focus shots....
    Before I sent it to him, I brought up these issues. He thinks the 900 body will support it just fine. He does do some kind of modification which allows it to be folded up without unscrewing the front standard. I talked with him on the phone, and he said after receiving the lens that the 900 body will easily support it (the lens in shutter is 380g). He told me that previously, he fit a 150/2.8, although that was a headache.

    He also said that focusing of it should be fine up to about 3-4 ft. Maybe I'll ask him to test it out wide open at portrait distances.

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