Re: [APML] Large Format Question

["Monte Wilson" <montezinho@bigpond.com>]

Dear Roland,
                   I do some of this stuff. Have a look at the following
links. I am trying to get motivated to do a site but in the meantime it's
just a bunch of links.

http://www.tradepart.com/techinfo/newmount1.jpg
http://www.tradepart.com/techinfo/newmount2.jpg
http://www.tradepart.com/techinfo/newmount3.jpg
http://www.tradepart.com/techinfo/newmount4.jpg
http://www.tradepart.com/techinfo/southerncross-wide-small.jpg

I have a 4x5 monorail camera but I don't use it as is. I had problems
keeping all the parts of it aligned. That caused problems with uneven focus.
I guess it would be less of a problem with a flatbed camera like a Linhof
Technica. I made a camera from a steel tube and an aerial mapping lens. The
one in the pic is one I no longer use. It was an antique that had bad coma
but the concept is the same with a shorter tube. I use the blue scope for
guiding. I hold the film with the back plate of my 4x5 camera. It is flat
and so is the back of the tube. I hold it on with some office clips and it
has never moved. The clips let me rotate it for composition and then lock it
again.

When I started I thought all that talk about vacuum film holders was just a
waste of time but after a few wasted weekends with poor focus, I made one
out of a film holder, a lot of silicone sealant and a fish tank air pump. It
works so well and I have pin points across the film.

Good film is hard to get, in 4x5 these days you can try E100s and Provia
100F. Both are good, E100 has better red and blue response but larger grain
and Provia is super fine but a bit slow.













----- Original Message -----
From: Roland Roberts <roland@astrofoto.org>
To: APML <astro-photo@seds.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2002 3:33 PM
Subject: [APML] Large Format Question


> Anybody here do 4x5 for things like constellation portraits?  I've
> been wondering ever since I posed for a friends portfolio and saw his
> 4x5 films.  The idea of having a film the size of a decent print is
> very enticing, but...
>
> There is the entry cost of acquiring a camera and lenses and then the
> learning curve.  What I have noticed is that most 4x5 cameras are
> designed for special effects; e.g., controlling perspective and being
> able to deliberately vignette.  Things I don't want to do.  I've even
> wondered about trying to build a medium format camera and just buy a
> lens and board and film back; i.e., trying to think of how to get to
> large format cheaply.
>
> So, does anyone here to large format and how did you get started?
> What equipment do/did you have?
>
> roland
> --
>        PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD
> Roland B. Roberts, PhD                             RL Enterprises
> roland@rlenter.com                     76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B
> roland@astrofoto.org                       Forest Hills, NY 11375
>
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