38 SA XL Covers 4x5 To the Corners Wide Open On Flat Board & Standard Bellows

Mike1234 · Jan 9, 2010

Just received my used Chamonix 45N today... for any super-wide freaks out there... see the title. This is with the lens focused at infinity. Of course, if you need movements at all... other than a tiny bit of rear swing/tilt... you'll need a recessed board and the bag bellows. Those are next on my list. I also assured the front rail is absent from the image and it clears. Once I replace the focus panel with a Maxwell I'll be very pleased. This is a well-made camera. Happy happy joy joy!!

EDIT: The nipped corners of my focusing panel tricked me... looks like approximately 1/8" is lost on all four corners as measured from the corners inward... still very impressive, IMO.

wildbill · Jan 9, 2010

Mike1234 said:
Just received my used Chamonix 45N today... for any super-wide freaks out there... see the title. This is with the lens focused at infinity. Of course, if you need movements at all... other than a tiny bit of rear swing/tilt... you'll need a recessed board and the bag bellows. Those are next on my list. I also assured the front rail is absent from the image and it clears. Once I replace the focus panel with a Maxwell I'll be very pleased. This is a well-made camera. Happy happy joy joy!!

EDIT: The nipped corners of my focusing panel tricked me... looks like approximately 1/8" is lost on all four corners as measured from the corners inward... still very impressive, IMO.

they cut the corners so air has a place to go when expanding/contracting the bellows. The shen hao leather bag bellows will also fit your camera nicely and you can order them from badger graphic in wisconsin.

Mike1234 · Jan 9, 2010

Thanks, wildbill. Yes, and the nipped corners also help in finding mechanical vignetting but they've always fooled me. I'll get a bag bellows from Badger. Now... to save the cash for a Maxwell screen.

marduk · Jan 9, 2010

Mike1234 said:
Thanks, wildbill. Yes, and the nipped corners also help in finding mechanical vignetting but they've always fooled me. I'll get a bag bellows from Badger. Now... to save the cash for a Maxwell screen.

I also think of ordering one from Badger for my Chamonix. As far as I understand I should select bellow for PTB45 model, correct?

Mike1234 · Jan 9, 2010

I don't know... also don't know if I need the centered or off-center lens boards...

mjs · Jan 9, 2010

Perhaps the lens will cover at a smaller stop?

wildbill · Jan 9, 2010

marduk said:
I also think of ordering one from Badger for my Chamonix. As far as I understand I should select bellow for PTB45 model, correct?

I have and use the bag bellows from my shen hao HZ or whatever (the original). I don't know if the ptb45 are the same but Jeff at badger can tell you if they are.

Mike1234 · Jan 9, 2010

mjs said:
Perhaps the lens will cover at a smaller stop?

I "think" what I'm seeing is mechanicaL vignetting so stopping down won't help. Still... to come that close to covering straight on isn't bad. I'm sure there will be some loss of sharpness on the far corners but WOW that's wide.

mjs · Jan 10, 2010

Would you need a center filter for this wide of a lens?

Ian Grant · Jan 10, 2010

wildbill said:
they cut the corners so air has a place to go when expanding/contracting the bellows.

Not strictly true, corners are cut so that you can check corner coverage when movements are used. The idea is that you need to be able to look through the cut corner and see light through the lens aperture when it's stopped down. This was more critical when EWA lenses etc like Protars had maximum aperture of f18/f16 and screen brightness would be too poor at the corners.

Ian

Mike1234 · Jan 10, 2010

mjs said:
Would you need a center filter for this wide of a lens?

IMHO, definitely... at least in "nearly" all compositions.

pocketfulladoubles · Jan 11, 2010

So, if you take the 38mmXL and crop out the black corners, are you still wider than the 47mmXL? Thanks for sharing your findings. This is too cool.

Steve Smith · Jan 11, 2010

And I thought my 65mm SA was super wide. The edges of the image must show what's behind the camera at 38mm!

Steve.

Mike1234 · Jan 11, 2010

pocketfulladoubles said:
So, if you take the 38mmXL and crop out the black corners, are you still wider than the 47mmXL? Thanks for sharing your findings. This is too cool.

Not really... not by much anyway. But it's an interesting observation none-the-less. As another pointed out... "illuminating" is not the same as "covering". A valid point, that is. I suppose this is only useful "in a pinch" when you don't have a 47 SA XL but do have a 38 SA XL and have some sheet film but are out of roll film... or if you want a more square-ish format with the widest lens possible perspecitve. I'm only using my 38 SA XL for 6x12cm and am not shooting 4x5. I'm sure this is only useful to a few interested parties.

Mike1234 · Jan 11, 2010

Steve Smith said:
And I thought my 65mm SA was super wide. The edges of the image must show what's behind the camera at 38mm!

So true... 65mm is very wide indeed. However, if you want the widest lens that covers 4x5, then buy a 47 SA XL. The 38 SA XL comes very close to "illuminating" but doesn't quite "cover". A TINY bit lost on the corners and some softening.

38 SA XL Covers 4x5 To the Corners Wide Open On Flat Board & Standard Bellows

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency