Built my own ~2lb folding 4x5!

[Jay DeFehr]

Aren't some of the Argentum cameras friction focus?

[Michael Roberts]

Looks great--thanks for sharing!

[Uri A]

killer job!

[paulbeard]

This is a great design exercise and I would love to know how well it performs. Regarding some of the comments on the focusing rail, here's another approach. Use a threaded rod down the center that turns a fixed nut to move the front standard: with a thumbwheel under the ground glass, turning the rod/screw would extend or retract the front standard. Have some guide tracks on the outside edges for stability and use a stop screw to lock focus. How you reconcile that with the fold down front standard is up to you: Chamonix cameras unship the whole thing and fold it down, from a video someone showed me.

This is a rough description of an idea I want to use myself, approximated from what I see in the Shen Hao cameras. Geared focus is fine but seems fiddly in terms of getting parts and implementation without any play or slop in the works but anyone can thread a nut on a bolt.

And if you post the plans, I'd love to see them: I have waterjet shops nearby and would love to see how this works.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Aren't some of the Argentum cameras friction focus?

No, the basic Argentum cameras are focused by simply sliding the standards forward and backward and then locking them in place. This is different than some of the Calumet and Gowland cameras that used a disk, turned by a knob, within a slotted rail for friction focusing.

Kerry

[Gordon Flodders]

I really like this design. Smart thinking 99 To give a little more rigidity I think it could be made from aluminium and still remain reasonably light weight.

GF