20 x 24 sightings?

[Zebra]

Finally my 20 x 24 has a friend in the Southeast!!!!

Congrats Sandy

Opening those boxes are great days.

Monty

 

[sanking]

OK, here is a .jpeg of my new Richard Ritter 20X24. That is me in the picture in the back ground.

Not sure about weight, but I can pick it up with no problem and put it on the tripod. I am guessing 25 lbs. Not sure about bellows draw either, but I am guessing 42" - 48".

The back is just reversible. That is, unlike the RR banquet cameras all you have to do to go from horizontal to vertical orientation is to reverse the back itself, as is typical with 4X5, 5X7, and 8X10 cameras. I also have a 12X20 reducing back that can be used either in horizontal or vertical orientation.

Sandy King

 

[Colin Graham]

Now that's something.

 

[RobertP]

Sandy, How does it focus? Is it gear driven? How do the other movements work? I bet you feel like a kid in a candy store. Looks great! Robert

 

[CRhymer]

Congrats Sandy,

Well it is -28°C here tonight and your old camera misses the warm weather.

That new one sure is a beauty.

Cheers,
Clarence

 

[RobertP]

Sandy, Sorry for bombarding you with questions. I'm just excited for you. I see now what appears to be a center worm-gear-like threaded rod that I assume is the focusing drive. You enjoy the new toy and tell us all about it later after you catch your breath. Robert

 

[sanking]

Sandy, How does it focus? Is it gear driven? How do the other movements work? I bet you feel like a kid in a candy store. Looks great! Robert

You can make large adjustments just by pushing and pulling the front standard back or forth. The rear adjusts with a center worm screw as you surmised. If you look in the picture you can see it sticking out in the front, right in the center. This is a slow movement mechanism that you would use for fine focusing at the rear.

I need to read the manual on CD to see if there are other options, but all in all the camera looks easy to use and un-complicated.

For movements, it has shift, tilt and swing on the front, and swing and tilt on the back.


Sandy King

 

[sanking]

Congrats Sandy,

Well it is -28°C here tonight and your old camera misses the warm weather.

That new one sure is a beauty.

Cheers,
Clarence

Clarence,

Well, the one you have is more compact!!

Frankly I can not imagine what -28C would be like. I have never experienced temperatures below about 5 degrees F. That left me with no joy for life.

Sandy

 

[TracyStorer]

20x24 sightings

The Ritter camera looks really nice and light....my prototype is a bit heavier than I had hoped, tipping the scales at close to 60#, but some of that is the recycled Wisner back. I'm working on the "diet" CAD drawings now.

 

[scootermm]

how exciting sandy.
cant imagine how much fun that must have been to open up and put together.
look forward to seeing the results from it, imagine they will be damn impressive

 

[sanking]

BTW, I just finished watching the owner's manual that comes with Richard Ritter cameras. Very informative and I learned a bunch of things about the camera that were not evident at first glance. Definitely a lot of thoughtful engineering went into this camera, and more, the fact that the designer was a real photographer with experience with this size camera really shows in the small details.

And here are some more views. One shows the bellows extended to 42", with movements on the front and rear. The other shows the camera folded, at which point it measures about 28"X28"X7", or a tad less.

Wow!! I have to say that this camera has fully met my expectations in terms of its specifications for movements, weight, rigidity and bellows draw. One kick-ass 20X24 camera IMHO.

BTW, on the left of the folded image you will see me in another picture, and oin the right is a folded stocking for Santa Claus. Put there for the granddaughters. Camera is too big for the stocking anyway.

Sandy King

 

[Brian Bullen]

Sandy, congratulations on the new camera! Will you be posting an in depth review of the camera? 25lbs is great for such a large camera.
Tracy, your camera is coming along nicely, what size is the lens board? How much weight do you think you will be able to trim off?

 

[TracyStorer]

Thanks Brian,
my original goal was a full featured camera of around 50lbs and I think I'll end up around there. Max bellows is 60". Folded 30" x 30" x 6".(excluding knobs)
This is tiny and light compared to the Polaroid I've been shackled to for decades, but still a lot to haul around.
Lens boards are 8"x8"
I am working on a 16x20 (14x17/12x20 combo really) of the same basic design and am working out plans for smaller lighter cameras as well.

Tracy, your camera is coming along nicely, what size is the lens board? How much weight do you think you will be able to trim off?

 

[Brian Bullen]

Tracy, are all of these cameras for you or are you planning to produce for retail sale?
The lens board is a good size, plenty big for some of those heavier lenses. It certainly has an impressive stature, very rigid looking with that metal bed.

 

[TracyStorer]

Definitely available for sale. Rather than second guess what people will want though, I started out designing for myself.
Being a small operation, everything will probably have to be "built to order" unless it generates enough income to build some cameras for "stock". That would be highly speculative at this point, however. I'll be putting together a webpage for this stuff soon.

Tracy, are all of these cameras for you or are you planning to produce for retail sale?
The lens board is a good size, plenty big for some of those heavier lenses. It certainly has an impressive stature, very rigid looking with that metal bed.

 

[jgjbowen]

BTW, I just finished watching the owner's manual that comes with Richard Ritter cameras. Very informative and I learned a bunch of things about the camera that were not evident at first glance. Definitely a lot of thoughtful engineering went into this camera, and more, the fact that the designer was a real photographer with experience with this size camera really shows in the small details.

Sandy King

For any of you interested in owning a ULF camera, I would recommend you purchase Richard's camera manal...it is a DVD and available from Dead Link Removed for $15 including postage. Oh yeah, Richard will refund the $15 if you wind up purchasing one of his cameras. I owned my RR 7x17 for over a year prior to the DVD being completed and once I obtained a copy, watched it twice due to all of the info....and I learned a couple things about my camera, I wasn't aware of.

 

[Ted Harris]

If you want some hands-on experience and maybe even expose a sheet of film ..... think about coming to Foto3 www.foto3-2008.info. We are now woking out the details of a half day to full day ULF demo and workshop. Richard Ritter, Kerik Kouklis and monte McCutchen will be hosting the gathering. Monte will have his 20x24 Ebony and some of his smaller cameras there, Richard will be there with his 7x17 and there will be at least one more of Richard's 7x17's there. It will definitely be happening on Thursday. Hugo, if you get to town in time and have some Chamonix "big boys" in tow, please join in.

 

[sanking]

Attached is a .jpeg of me working with the 20X24. I had to back pack the camera about 1/2 mile to get to this spot.

I forgot the stepladder, and it is really important to have one when working with a 20X24!!

Sandy

 

[Zebra]

Sandy,

That looks great! Congrats on getting it out and about so soon. I know that is a wonderful day. I especially like the covered parking you were able to find for it. As to the step ladder I am with you on that program although with mine I also have to include a dolly as mandatory as there is no 'backpacking' at the weight mine comes in at. Hope you have many more days like the one in the picture,

best,

Monty

 

[sanking]

Monty,

Here is another one!

Hard to believe it is 13 December and one can hike in the mountains in short sleeves!! Temperature here today got up to the low 80s.



Sandy

 

[Dave Wooten]

Maybe with a small block and tackle you could hook on to the rafters above and elevate yourself into position in order to check the comp and fine focus a bit.

 

[Brian Bullen]

I'm feeling a little jealous here, not just about the camera but also about the weather. The high today was around 15 F not to mention the wind chill.

Looks great sandy, can't wait to see the results of your effort.

 

[sanking]

Maybe with a small block and tackle you could hook on to the rafters above and elevate yourself into position in order to check the comp and fine focus a bit.

Dave,

I am thinking that the step ladder might be a better solution!!

Sandy

 

[sanking]

I'm feeling a little jealous here, not just about the camera but also about the weather. The high today was around 15 F not to mention the wind chill.

Looks great sandy, can't wait to see the results of your effort.

Brian,

It is going to get a lot colder here, and soon. Typically highs are the in the low 50s or high 40s this time of year.

But here is one more .jpeg, showing me strapping on the equipment for the short hike.

Sandy

 

[jgjbowen]

Sandy,

Focusing is one thing, but pulling the slide for a vertical is something else all together. I'm 6'6" with 38" sleeves and XL hands and the first time a did a vertical with my RR 7x17, I had to stand on my tiptoes to pull the darkslide....it was at a Fine Focus Workshop and Richard Ritter, Bruce Barlow and Ted Harris were betting I wouldn't be able to do it...

Enjoy your "beast" for it shall present many unusual shooting experiences/challenges

John