How to build a folding 4x5?

[jeffz343]

Hi i have been furiously searching the net for detailed plans on how to contruct a folding 4x5 camera out of wood. Do any of you know of any sources where i can find this information? Not looking for a monorail , looking for a field camera that i can fold up. Im mainly interested in landscape photography and none of the medium format cameras are functional enough for what i need (wide shots).

I wouldnt mind buying a kit (to put together) either , but all of the current kits are unavailable for purchase.

Can somebody point me to some sources where there are detailed plans on how to make these cameras?

[jeffz343]

anybody?

[John Koehrer]

http://www.diycamerakit.com/
rayment kirby cameras

[Matus Kalisky]

There should be some simple self-assembly kits (one is called Bulldog - suitable for wide lenses actually), but I would rather get a used 4x5 Tachihara to have a full-featured field camera. I guess that "standard field camera" kit will cost you more than a nice used camera.

[jeffz343]

There should be some simple self-assembly kits (one is called Bulldog - suitable for wide lenses actually), but I would rather get a used 4x5 Tachihara to have a full-featured field camera. I guess that "standard field camera" kit will cost you more than a nice used camera.

anything else? also my budget max would be around 400-500 and thats with the lense

also what would be a good choice of light meter for landscape ?

[jeffz343]

http://www.diycamerakit.com/
rayment kirby cameras

neither of those have plans on how to make a camera , i emailed kirby about his lack of ACTUAL plans and he seemed offended by the idea to actually spend money on a nice website only to completely fail on delivering information

[engl]

neither of those have plans on how to make a camera , i emailed kirby about his lack of ACTUAL plans and he seemed offended by the idea to actually spend money on a nice website only to completely fail on delivering information

The page clearly states that the 4x5 kit is not finished yet.

A 4x5 camera built from a kit or plans is likely not going to be very precise or rigid, just look at those completed (380$) Bulldog cameras. Getting a wide lens is going to eat a big chunk of your 400-500$ budget, I think you will have a hard time building a *good* 4x5 field camera, as your presumably first camera building project, with the remaining money.

Have you considered something like a Crown Graphic?

Edit: my mistake, I saw now that your comment about not having plans was for Kirby, not the linked site

[Matus Kalisky]

500 ($ I guess) is going to be tough - do you at least already have a tripod that can hold the thing? You will also need to spend some money on developing tools (either a few trays or one of the 25** Jobo drums with 2509n inserts. And you will also need some film, film holders, chemistry, etc ... . For the dark cloth a black T-shirt will do the job (did for me for about 2 years until I bough a BTZS dark cloth)

For the light meter - the cheapest would be to use a camera you already have - digital can (with some caveats in mind) be used as a light meter with preview, but you need to check that the ISO the camera is using matches the "true" ISO of the film - just compare it with some film camera light meter of normal light meter.

Lens - as mentioned wide lenses are in general more expensive. Those cheaper ones are usually slower - like 90/8 (then look in Fujinon). You may consider getting a nice 135/5.6 or 150/5.6 Caltar II n (Rodenstock Sironar N actually) or some of the older single coated Fujinon Lenses (with lettering inside the filter ring) - great lenses for rather low price.

The camera - the already mentioned Crown Graphic would indeed be an option. If you really want to get a cheap camera you should maybe also consider some monorail - some are really cheap.

If I were you I would check out eBay prices (just sit back and watch for a while) for all the components you need and try to estimate whether you can accomplish the task with the budget you have. It should be doable but you need to be careful.

[Brian C. Miller]

See if you can find a Bender 4x5 kit camera. These were cheap monorail kits, light, and they packed very easily. Bender is out of business, but you can find photos of them (link). I always kind of meant to get one of them, but I never got around to it. By looking at the photos, you should be able to come up with a work-alike design.

[Heespharm]

i guess you can look at designs of something like a shen hao, get a dremel and some scrap metal and wood... and ALOT of time and you can pull something like this off..