Show me your dark/focusing cloth design? (I want some ideas)

[l2oBiN]

Hello. I would like to make a dar/focusing cloth for a 4x5 camera. I have a design in mind but, I am sure many people have gave it a lot more thought than myself. So, I am interested in seeing what other people have come up with. Here is your chance to show off your design.

Please include as much detail as you can (eg, materials, shape, sewing cut/plan), so that it would be easy to reconstruct.

Thank you all in advance. I look forward to seeing the interesting designs.

[memorris]

My favorite design is white blackout cloth on one side and black velvet on the other. Small lead weights in the corners and velco strips along one side. I have 2 that my wife made and I wish they were large enough for the 8X10

[Bruce Barlow]

Go to Target (or WalMart, but my wife won't let me shop there) and find a $3 black T-shirt. Get an XXL or larger. Stretch the neck over the back of the camera. Voila! Light, cheap, highly usable. Small enough to be relatively unaffected by wind. Stays on the camera. Completely surrounds the GG. Stores compactly. Easily washable after several years of use. No labor on my or my wife's part in making. Cheaper than buying cloth to make one. Not heavy enough to be really hot. Not big enough to become a sail and blow the camera over in the wind (like my old one did once...)

My 8x10 cloth has an elastic band that fits the back of Norma, and it's BIG, and HEAVY. probably 5x6 feet before making the elastic loop. Black on one side, white on the other, heavy cotton fabric, weighted corners (washers sewn in). I like it, but the T-shirt is outstanding for 4x5.

[Maris Rusis]

My latest focussing cloth is the standard black one side, white the other with a useful extra: a cloth measuring tape sewn in along one edge. No more guessing at those pesky bellows extension numbers!

[Daniel Stone]

white blackout cloth(for making blackout curtains) on one side(wait for a Joann's/fabric store 50% off sale to buy it), and black nylon on the other side(inside). Doesn't get sweaty like velvet does, but is light, and folds up very small. I make one that is big enough for my 8x10 camera, and use it on both the 4x5 and the 8x10. I had some small hi-carbon steel pellets that I sewed into the corners(yes, I sewed it myself ).

beats spending $50-90 on a cloth from Harrison...

oh.. and mine is 5'x5'

time not included(just material costs: $15)

-Dan

[Winger]

My mom and I used the silver fabric for covering ironing boards on one side and a black woven fabric on the other (usually the inside). On one end, we put a cord through through a hem and it can be cinched up around the back of the camera. Along the contiguous sides with that end, we put velcro so the whole thing can be made into a tube of darkness. It works well, though it messes up my hair. It usually ends up as a cape when I'm not looking through the camera.

[BarryS]

My latest focussing cloth is the standard black one side, white the other with a useful extra: a cloth measuring tape sewn in along one edge. No more guessing at those pesky bellows extension numbers!

Brilliant!

[Daniel Stone]

... It usually ends up as a cape when I'm not looking through the camera.

so we can call you "super shooter" now ?


-Dan

[Heroique]

I’m another “poor-man’s darkcloth” person.

I use an Adirondack-style windbreaker, tightening its waist (w/ cinch cord) around my 4x5 Tachi’s camera back, and slipping my head through the zippered neck.

When I use a loupe, I zip-open the V-neck a little more so I can fit my forearm inside. My other arm operates the camera. Depending on movements, I might have to switch arms. A little clumsy, but I’ve gotten used to it.

The windbreaker is light-weight, light-tight, easy to pack, breathable & water resistant. So if it rains, I wear it. Or I might slip it over my camera in hostile environments.

The biggest drawback – I always end-up with static-crazy, disheveled hair.

[Sirius Glass]

Now I feel badly, I got an all black used traditional one with snaps and Velcro for $7US, but you guys have black and white ones ... I am so left out! <<sniff>>