Are you obsessed with ULF?

[sanking]

I wonder who bought Sandy's home made 20x24? The logistics would be a nightmare. If you have seen Don McC's book (which I assume he used a MF camera (with a little 35mm) for...can you imagine using a 20x24....changing film etc. What a hoot! Before I die, I HAVE to try this....I will have to hang on to my 10x8 in order to apprentice for this ridiculous folly. At $30 a sheet for 20x24 one would have to ensure that one's exposure technique was pretty good....

Tom,

That is confidential unless the buyer wants to speak up. However, just for the record the home-built 20X24 that I recently sold weighs less than a Wisner, and a lot less than an Ebony, so in the comparitive world of weight of 20X24" cameras the buyer gets a break.

Sandy

[Curt]

If you don't mind limitations, you can build a big camera pretty cheap. Sliding box camera, make the ground glass frame removable so after focusing you slide out the gg and insert the film holder. Use plexiglass for the ground glass. If you are shooting landscapes you don't even need to build in that much slide in the boxes. I build my own film holders for my ULF cameras using komatex (an expanded PVC sheet plastic) and use double sided tape to hold the film in place. The tape stays tacky enough that you can load the holders about 10 times before you need to replace the tape. Sheet of powder coated .080 aluminum in the middle and a composite plastic called garolite for the dark slides. The only precision machining involved is the light baffle end to insure a smooth fit for the darkslide. Everything else can be cut with good home shop tools. A holder for something as big as 12x20 costs me about $90 to make.

This reminds me of the time when I was in school and living in a one bedroom apartment with my wife and used the coffee table to build my first field camera out of cherry and brass from the hobby shop. I got the bellows material from a fabric shop and did it over a period of months. I was hand sawing and sanding everything like a precision hand crafter. My wife bought me a small table saw that I used for very short times to cut some of the wood.

Now I have a shop and house but the methods are the same, make a design, get the materials and do the build to a precision you have decided on. With the internet you don't have to spend a dime on gas to go shopping for items either. You can be obsessed right at home in your own space.

Curt

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Like I keep saying this thing we call Obsession or possesion just grows and grows. It just goes to show you the incredible minds and creativity that is part of this community.

Hugo, if you are going to do it big might as well go 20x24 with the reducing backs. I will even help you haul it!! Now that is not a bad offer seeing as how the camera will be bigger than me!!!

Jim

[Black Dog]

Just obsessed!