Phew!
I just got attacked by the badtrans but Nortons fought it off!
1)Fungus is not the end of
the world. Try taking a pic with it and if the
image is generally OK, it
can be polished but don't go to that far until you
are sure it shows promise.
2)Yes the grass is great,
I keep an eye on it during the day because I am
sure the guys from the local
putt putt golf place will try to steal it.
3) Those back plates are
not hard to find. I know that most second hand /
pro shops have a few large
format cameras gathering dust and you can get a
whole camera for not too
much. Most of them have a completely removable back
(that's what you need).
As long as the back can be held flat to the plate
that is at the end of the
tube you are in business. BTW - if you get a tube
cut, have it cut in a lathe
so the ends are parallel, a saw just won't do.
Don't use aluminium for
the tube as its thermal expansion will make your
focus change by the hour!
4) My camera is an Arca Swiss
monorail but the flatbed Linhoffs are just as
good, perhaps even better.
IMO - they made the best German cameras but they
didn't excel at making a
profit and went bust last year. If you get a whole
camera and an old lens you
will have a wonderful camera for all sorts of
uses too. I think people
are frightened by 4x5 when in reality it is no
where near as hard to use
as any of the AP stuff we all play with every new
moon.
Regards Monte
----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Di Marzio <frank@trinity.unimelb.edu.au>
To: <montezinho@bigpond.com>
Sent: Friday, November 30,
2001 11:56 AM
Subject: 4x5 back??
> Hi Monte,
>
> I just checked out your
images of the new mounting. Very nice indeed! I
> liked the fake grass too.
>
> It's a bit sad that your
600mm didn't live up to expectations, but I can
> proudly say that I have
a 900mm lemon ... with fungus! Now when's the date
> for the next hard waste
collection :-)
>
> Anyway, of particular
interest to me was your 4x5 back. It is *precisely*
> what I'm looking for in
another (hopefully not vain) attempt at building a
> 450mm astrocamera. Could
you please tell me which large format camera that
> back was taken from? Any
ideas where I could purchase a good second hand
one
> without having to purchase
the whole camera as well?
>
> Good luck with the 355mm!!
> Cheers,
> Frank