I hope I´m not boring you to death with further incarnations of the same camera, but the recent change was due to necessity, more than cosmetics. But when I did redesign the handle, I thought I´d do something different, which I think added to the camera´s looks.
After the first trial run I found the existing handle to be too puny and cramped for comfort. Took design cues from one of flickr user adbieber´s creations ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/adbiebe...n/set-72157623... ). Much better grip for handheld shots now.
I think my woodworking skills are improving. Which bodes well for the next project (winter 2010/11?)
Hi, I have built a special shift wide lens camera only for the Schneider 47XL. It should be not expensiv, not complecated. It was for a travel to NYC to get the scyscrapers. For the 47XL is sharp from very of near the camera it is a fixfocus. 1,5 m away all the world looks sharp.
You find an explanation with a drawing and an image here, it´s in German, sorry: http://www.larshennings.de/larshenni...w47xl-plan.pdf
4th proper bellows made out of the leather from a relatively unsuccessful 3rd (it worked completely, but was just plain ugly)...
370mm outer dimension with 21.5mm wide strips = just under 13" inside dimension that means it is large for 8x10" and too small for 11x14" ... But made in mind to test new techniques but it will end up on a Wetplate tailboard with a universal plate holder system that can take any size plate up to around 12" square.
Extends completely to 850mm (33") if need be - easily 2/3rds that with no refolding required upon contraction - compress to 85mm (3.35")
Should keep me happy until I get a much larger lens - although I suspect I may have reached the limit of size envy with my ~19" f5(ish) Voightlander anyway - my Dallmeyer 4A at least will be able to reach 1:1, the Voight maybe also ok at 1:1 due to the fact the iris is forward of the lens board anyway and the extra dimension of the holder and the rest of the camera body gumph
Strips were laser cut in registration already out of 0.5mm clear PET plastic which was kept with strips of tape as you can see in the pictures for gluing, something I'll do every time from now on - compared to the amount of work involved and crap output of cutting it myself its goer from now on - I'm even considering buying a laser cutter myself, at least something CNC. I use clear strips as they become black enough anyway, and you can see where the adhesive isn't covering fully on the first side. I also had the bellows vacuum pressed with a bit of heat as an experiment - the heat did nothing as the adhesive wasn't a heat activated variety (nor a deactivated variety thankfully!). The press worked for half an hour and I did note some more compression on pulling it out - not sure if I'll continue doing it however. As the previous bellows had thicker strips, the older bend/creases could be seen phasing in and out of alignment in these newer ones, a bit of steam treatment over the winter soup making sorted that out (they smelled like vege stock), then compression for a week or so and some boot polish while I was otherwise occupied with work and there is now no trace of either carrots or the older creasing.
You can see the seams of the inner and outer leather in photo 6 or 7 I think - leather on top for the pic but the seam will live on the bottom for the camera... Too hard to explain how I do it this way without pics, which I'll try to do for the next one (a larger tapered one, which will need a full hide to do, so far I've been working with half beasts :rolleyes - anyways, the way I do it means there is no overlap in the leather, much better for the eventual compressed dimension... It's a completely light proof butt joint of sorts. The linen interior joint does overlap, but the double size increase fits in the area that the extra dimension the corner folds introduce (leather wont do the same) - all joints angled so they don't get a chance to bunch in one spot, effectively meaning only about 3 strips worth bunch in any one area... The leather butt joint does have a slightly thicker dimension (glue) but as it is so small the smallest of gradients will offset it strip to strip...
A lot of the info will make more sense to someone who has made a bellows or two previously - a lot of gotchas involved that can only be fully appreciated hands on (agree ?)
They're a bit dusty at the mo' - will clean up once the mess making is over ...
Last edited by nick mulder; 07-04-2010 at 09:19 PM.
Cleared the bowel problem, working on the consonants...
Looks like I didn't put up my pictures of the camera I made this summer. It took right around 3 weeks to complete. It's pretty rough in areas but I have been successfully taking many photographs this summer with it. I'm planning a second camera for maybe this school year or next summer that will be much slimmer and tailored to my needs more exactly. One of the things I did give up on was a spring back to contain a 4x5 holder. Instead I have a removable GG frame and it sits in a slot where the 4x5 holder can slide into. Here it is: \
What I plan on improving is the overall bulk (I started this camera with the intention of a reversible back, so it is 180mm square, but I ended up simplifying it to a vertical position and have a lot of wasted space now), using a better bellows material, the front standard will be hinged like the older half-plate cameras, and the back will probably be an actual slot for a gg frame or a 4x5 holder to slide into snugly without needing little brass springs or anything.
My bellows projects have ground to a halt at the moment as I can't find the adhesives I really want yet here where we live in Turkey.
Patterns are ready, much the same as yours, but both tapered sets.
Ian
Originally Posted by nick mulder
4th proper bellows made out of the leather from a relatively unsuccessful 3rd (it worked completely, but was just plain ugly)...
370mm outer dimension with 21.5mm wide strips = just under 13" inside dimension that means it is large for 8x10" and too small for 11x14" ... But made in mind to test new techniques but it will end up on a Wetplate tailboard with a universal plate holder system that can take any size plate up to around 12" square.
Extends completely to 850mm (33") if need be - easily 2/3rds that with no refolding required upon contraction - compress to 85mm (3.35")
Should keep me happy until I get a much larger lens - although I suspect I may have reached the limit of size envy with my ~19" f5(ish) Voightlander anyway - my Dallmeyer 4A at least will be able to reach 1:1, the Voight maybe also ok at 1:1 due to the fact the iris is forward of the lens board anyway and the extra dimension of the holder and the rest of the camera body gumph
Strips were laser cut in registration already out of 0.5mm clear PET plastic which was kept with strips of tape as you can see in the pictures for gluing, something I'll do every time from now on - compared to the amount of work involved and crap output of cutting it myself its goer from now on - I'm even considering buying a laser cutter myself, at least something CNC. I use clear strips as they become black enough anyway, and you can see where the adhesive isn't covering fully on the first side. I also had the bellows vacuum pressed with a bit of heat as an experiment - the heat did nothing as the adhesive wasn't a heat activated variety (nor a deactivated variety thankfully!). The press worked for half an hour and I did note some more compression on pulling it out - not sure if I'll continue doing it however. As the previous bellows had thicker strips, the older bend/creases could be seen phasing in and out of alignment in these newer ones, a bit of steam treatment over the winter soup making sorted that out (they smelled like vege stock), then compression for a week or so and some boot polish while I was otherwise occupied with work and there is now no trace of either carrots or the older creasing.
You can see the seams of the inner and outer leather in photo 6 or 7 I think - leather on top for the pic but the seam will live on the bottom for the camera... Too hard to explain how I do it this way without pics, which I'll try to do for the next one (a larger tapered one, which will need a full hide to do, so far I've been working with half beasts :rolleyes - anyways, the way I do it means there is no overlap in the leather, much better for the eventual compressed dimension... It's a completely light proof butt joint of sorts. The linen interior joint does overlap, but the double size increase fits in the area that the extra dimension the corner folds introduce (leather wont do the same) - all joints angled so they don't get a chance to bunch in one spot, effectively meaning only about 3 strips worth bunch in any one area... The leather butt joint does have a slightly thicker dimension (glue) but as it is so small the smallest of gradients will offset it strip to strip...
A lot of the info will make more sense to someone who has made a bellows or two previously - a lot of gotchas involved that can only be fully appreciated hands on (agree ?)
They're a bit dusty at the mo' - will clean up once the mess making is over ...
Too many half built projects laying about and a heap of 11x14" in the freezer so I decided to build a 1:1 magnification only camera (no focus) for a new Petzval I have here...
The plan was zero design - just GO! COMPLETE THE DAMN THING!! - I had delusions of a rule that I wasn't allowed to ponder a design issue for longer than 10minutes, but once again it took me ages (work, travel etc...)
Its a Voightlander 18" f4 or so - like the 7B, but longer and correspondingly slower - very nice specimen from Bulgaria, I know the seller and at least one other keen buyer lurks the forums here and there (hello!)
I shoot fairly composed portraiture at this mag so no focus is no issue - I can always move the camera or sitter (and cat, added for scale incidentally) - will either lay it on a table, or use two tripods so I wont crack the base when I load the holders...
meow
The pile of bits you also see is a wet plate camera I'm building (rear tilt and swing only) that I started even before this one - should get about an 11" to 12" square image size out of it, pretty much a tailboard but with a lead screw focus with a 'quick release' system of sorts - we'll see!
After all of this and once I get my CNC mill working is an attempt at a 11x14" field camera that can take huge lenses - based on in no particular order:
Ebony
Chamonix
Deardorff
Canham
As you can see, a hybrid of all these would be impossible, but those are the ones I'm looking at may as well learn from the best - but in the spirit of "imitation is the sincerest form of limitation" (or flatulence) I'll have a crack at my own invention also
>>>>groan, I've just realised that I've still got to wire and mount the dang PC plug on the Packard shutter board
Cleared the bowel problem, working on the consonants...
OK not as flash and technical as some here, but my finished 6x17 with fixed at hyperfocal 90mm. Made of timber as a test to see if I could make one, but worked out so well I thought it can stay as it is.
I really do envy all of you for your marvelous large format constructions... I have neither the tools nor the skill for stuff like that. Only an assortment of scrap lying around and 15m of duct tape, so I built this:
This is the very basic version without bells and whistles:
It's basically a very simple retrofocus wideangle lens with an experimental film holder attached. The lens consists of an ancient brass barrel lens (probably from a laterna magica) and a much smaller two-element lens from another objective in front.
I just randomly combined some lenses that seemed promising and was really surprised that this one worked so well. The angle of view for 35mm film is about the same as a 28mm lens, only with lots of barrel distortion. The focal plane for infinity is exactly at the end of the brass barrel (wow, really lucky!) and wide open it's at about f/1,6. Yep, I built a lovely 28mm/1,6 from scratch without calculating or even buying anything at all.
Take that, Zeiss!
The film holder is (obviously) inspired by medium format SLRs to make it more compact. The film plane, otherwise known as "piece of wood" was later covered with metal sheet from a film canister to reduce scratches on the film. The picture is as big as the barrel (almost 50 mm diameter) and circular right over the perforation, because I didn't build a film mask.
The shutter in front of the lens is a flea-market find: a very small and primitive one with only one speed of around 1/30 sec plus B and T modes and a tiny 5mm aperture. Sadly, this limits the lens to 5,6-16, but with slow film it's enough for most situations.
Because of it's unusual form, the camera is held in the palm of the right hand with the thumb at the shutter release. No focus or viewfinder, so it's hyperfocal and shooting out of the hip all the time. Kinda Lomo...
There's one obvious advantage: It doesn't look like a camera at all to most people, even if I point it right at their faces - every shy street photographer's dream. That one might be the biggest disadvantage as well, especially at airports...
Adv Reply
- anyways, the way I do it means there is no overlap in the leather, much better for the eventual compressed dimension... It's a completely light proof butt joint of sorts. The linen interior joint does overlap, but the double size increase fits in the area that the extra dimension the corner folds introduce (leather wont do the same) - all joints angled so they don't get a chance to bunch in one spot, effectively meaning only about 3 strips worth bunch in any one area... The leather butt joint does have a slightly thicker dimension (glue) but as it is so small the smallest of gradients will offset it strip to strip...
(agree ?)
\
Originally Posted by nick mulder 
