3D printed 4x5 Camera Body, what do you think?

DraganB

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Hi Friends,

I have a Voigtländer Bessa with an Anastigmat Skopar 10.5cm f4.5 lens in mint condition. Because I wanted to take photos with it but precise focusing was not possible, i drew and printed out a 4x5 housing with Freecad and my Ender Printer. The lens should cover 9x9 perfectly, the camera is super small and light. Today I'm going to expose the first film with it, wish me luck. If anyone is interested in the freecad files I can publish them here.


 

koraks

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Nice project. Took a while to print, I imagine?

Focus is fixed at infinity?

Did you salvage the hardware for the removable ground glass section from an old camera or was it some other creative solution?
 
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DraganB

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Thank you!

it took about 24h to print, the focus is done on lens by turning the front element, yes the metal parts are from an old camera, the ground glas also.
on the bottom is a metal tripod holder plate which I bought online. i am happy that i have mastered Freecad in only two days
its such a great program, so much better then tinkercad i used before. the material was PLA+, super strong.







 

Ian Grant

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Fixed focus should be to a Hyper-focal distance, probably for an aperture of f8 or f11. However the 105mm lens does not cover 5x4 sharply it's a 6x9 camera lens.

Ian
 

Donald Qualls

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People always say a 105 from a 6x9 camera won't cover 4x5, and it technically won't -- but I have a fairly cheap triplet (Agnar, 105/4.5) from a 6x9 folder that does a fine job, all the way to the corners, if I stop down to f/16 or smaller (goes to f/32) and focus to 12 feet or closer (hyperfocal at 12 feet at f/16). Sharp enough for any reasonable print size, illuminates the corners -- no movements, of course, but it does the job I mounted in a board to do.
 

JPD

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Nice project. The lens will cover 9x9 cm with no problem, and probably even 4x4 inches at smaller apertures.

Edit while writing: Donald Qualls just posted his experience with a 105mm Agnar.
 

ic-racer

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I have a few Horseman (Topcor) 6x9cm lenses that just barely cover 4x5. The 150, 120, 105, 90 and 65 are all 150mm or greater coverage. I think the 65 and 90 would work well on a fixed focus camera like that. They don't fit any digital camera so these Topcor lenses are pretty inexpensive on ebay these days.
 

Chuck1

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The topcors designated as super cover 4x5,
pw pt and professional not sure about
 

Chuck1

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The shutter release socket on the board, and lack of release socket on the shutter is something to be aware of...
 

Alder Statesman

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Very cool. Looking forward to seeing the pics you take with it.
 

Jonathan-sv

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Looks good! If someone wants to duplicate this but doesn't have any old parts for the back, there are some 3-d files on thingiverse for a rubber-band (not spring) back that I've used to make adapters to put standard holders in 9x12 plate cameras (a Bergheil and an ICA). I think the originals were for an Voigtländer Avus, which worked for the ICA but I had to do some modifications for the Bergheil. I also did everything in Freecad.
 
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DraganB

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Hi Friends,

It took some time but now i have the first Image, its a quick DSLR Scan, not much sharpening done, just curves. its shot from tripod at f22 on fomapan 100. Developer was Rodinal 1:50 9min.
As you can see there is full coverage of 4x5 but the image is not sharp to the absolute edge.

Below also you can see i made a grip and the next upgrade will be a viewfinder.

Tell me what you think friends.




 

grahamp

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You could try a wire frame finder. Peep hole sight and a 4x5 format ( or 9x9cm to stick to the lens designed format) frame, either full size at the lens panel, or half size at half the distance (assuming the lens is not a telephoto or retro-focus design, which this is not).

Looks reasonable. A bit of corner fall-off and vignetting, but that is not unexpected with this lens on this format.

You realize (making) large format cameras can be addictive?
 

RalphLambrecht

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congratulations to a super job well done!
 

JPD

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Very nice. Now you have a fine 9x9 camera that can also do 4x5 when needed. The optimum aperture for that lens and 9x9 should be around f:11, and a dark yellow or orange filter would cut through haze to sharpen the image nicely for landscapes.
 

Donald Qualls

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You might get a little improvement in the corners by setting the front element focus to infinity and then refocusing to hyperfocal by shimming the shutter away from the film (shouldn't take much, a couple millimeters).

This might also be a situation where a triplet (like a Radionar, to stick with Voigtlander lenses) would perform better than a Tessar type like that Skopar. I don't know for certain; I haven't tried this with a Tessar type to compare (and I'm not taking the Skopar off my Rollfilmkamera, I have no trouble focusing that one precisely enough).
 
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DraganB

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hi donald, what do you mean with hyperfocal?
 

Donald Qualls

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DraganB said:
this?
Click to expand...

Yes, that. You can use a DOF calculator or table for your lens specs to determine the hyperfocal for your lens (it'll be close to 12 feet for f/16 or smaller with a 105 mm). Set up your camera to have fixed focus at that distance; you'll gain a little on the corner coverage and quality, because the lens will be a quarter inch or so further from the film (hence the light cone will be a bit larger) and you can dispense with focusing entirely as long as your subject is at least six feet away -- you'll have what amounts to a high-quality box camera with adjustable exposure.

I've got images made with my 10.5/4.5 Agnar any my Speed Graphic or Graphic View that are sharp enough to read a license plate a block away, no darkening in the corners, and very little loss of sharpness in the corners. Once again, I'm not sure a triplet doesn't outperform a Tessar type in this situation, but it makes using the camera so much easier (vs. using ground glass on your Graflok back every shot) to be worth trying. It may also help that with the front element focus locked at infinity, you're using the lens in its optimum configuration, vs. having the front element pushed out from its design position.
 
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