Wood field cameras and long-term effects of humidity

**Brook Martin** · 2-Jun-2002, 20:13

I once had termites eating an old Gundlach 5x7 while living in Alabama. If it aint one thing it's another.

**Stephen Willard** · 2-Jun-2002, 22:20

The most dimensional stable wood is Eastern White Pine. Most hardwoods are not very stable, however, the humidity that the woods are cured and the cameras are constructed under will go a long ways in minimizing dimensional changes.

I believe most woods will tolerate a +/-35% humidity change before a significant change in dimension is realized. Wisner claims he manufactures his camera in 50% humidity at the factory. This equates to a range of 15% to 85% humidity before any changes are noticed. To further extend that range , he also resorts to extensive lamination where every possible which adds further stability. Whether his cameras will hold up in the tropics I do not know. You might want to call him and talked to him about this.

I am on the other end of the spectrum, living a very dry climate. I have notice some movement when things get very dry with my Wisner 4x5 Expedition, but not enough to effect the cameras performance and rigidity.

Hope this helps.

**Matthew Runde** · 4-Jun-2002, 02:06

<a name="1">Badris,</a>

I, too live in Florida. I just ordered a Tachihara today, and I'm not too worried about the humidity. It can get quite humid here (perhaps not as humid as southeast Asia, though), but I worry more about sudden changes in humidity.

For example, on a recent morning I drove to a park and made a large series of very helpful mistakes. It was pretty humid and I had all of my gear in the air-conditioned car for quite some time. I got out, took the gear, and walked for about 10 minutes before I came to the place I wanted to photograph. I was setting up and I found that the groundglass, the lens, the film holders, and the loupe were awash in condensation. The f/5.6 Schneider lens turned into an f/? soft- focus lens. I wiped the gear that I could, but everything was still a bit cold and condensation formed again in no time. The darkcloth made it worse for the groundglass and loupe. On one exposure, the old shutter became sticky, so I exposed another sheet of film and found that the stickiness hadn't disappeared. After I wasted those two sheets I had to test the shutter speeds then and there (in the fleeting light, of course) to find the one that was closest to 1.5 seconds.

When the Tachihara comes, I am going to let it acclimate slowly, but other than that I?m not going to worry much. I haven't visited Asia, but unless you move to an Aman resort you may not have to put up with the problem of air-conditioning and condensation. In my opinion, you may not have to worry much about the humidity, unless you move in with the Kaluli or something like that.