Amateur camera builder from Vancouver says hello.

Stolk

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Joined
Aug 3, 2025
Messages
22
Location
Vancouver, BC
Format
ULarge Format
Hello,

I am a photography enthusiast (and amateur camera builder) from Vancouver, BC in Canada.

I have built a 16x16" ultra large format camera, in the style of Zev Hoover: a projected image that gets photographed with a secondary camera using a shifted lens.

Here is a photo of me and my camera. (digital imaging part not mounted, but that is a GFX50R with shifted P645 35mm lens.)

In the photo, the camera has mounted my rehoused Bell & Howell 36 inch monster lens. I designed and 3D-printed the new housing for the Bell & Howell myself.

My favorite hobby is buying vintage lenses and adapt them to see what they can do on my camera.
 

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Stolk

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Joined
Aug 3, 2025
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Location
Vancouver, BC
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ULarge Format
koraks said:
Welcome aboard @Stolk, we're happy to have you!

The projected-image approach is interesting; is it possible to satisfactorily suppress flare and light falloff?
Click to expand...

I think flare and fall off are more properties of the lens: if the lens covers more than 16x16 inch, I have no problem w fall off.

Flare is not made worse by extra bounce: the projection area is fully diffuse. So if the lens is coated or has hood, it can be controlled.

note: the more popular method of doing ulf digital is photographing a glass screen from behind, and that does have severe fall off unless corrected w fresnel elements.
 

tezzasmall

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Welcome to the site Stolk.

For anyone interested in the original reference to the guy who made the ULF camera, search for for LOTS of links by using:

'ultra large format camera Zev Hoover'

OR you can watch a short video by him here:

zev hoover - 8x10 video camera

zev hoover official website.
zev.tv

Terry S
 
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Stolk

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Aug 3, 2025
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Vancouver, BC
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Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

I over-exposed it, sadly. But I still find it an interesting Ultra #LargeFormat photograph. Not bad for the cheap Soviet 3,65 / 365mm Триплет lens on my 16x16" camera.
bsky.app

Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

Wow! Sweet mother of science... so sharp! Maybe I've been doing #LargeFormat #Photography all wrong, by chasing large aperture lenses. This is an f/8 lens, 216mm focal length. The tiny lens (EM. Target) must be 140yrs old or so, but SO SHARP. (half-res + cropped, but look at that ® on the ball.)
bsky.app

Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

The result, you ask? "Go, Canucks, Go", on 49th and Main st. #Vancouver #Translink #Canucks
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Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

1950s Liesegang 28cm episcope lens... A lens so soft and full of aberrations, that we are now firmly into #Lomography territory. Still, it has... je ne sais quoi. The bokeh smears are different from any other lens. As if the background was rendered in coloured sand.
bsky.app

Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

This #LargeFormat photo was taken with a lens so rare, you can't even google it. The only real hit is the eBay listing where I bought it. Pentacon 3.6/420 is BIG with front glass ⌀116mm. I suspect it is originally from an epidiascope. It's the largest lens that I own. (Could be sharper.)
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Bram Stolk (@bramstolk.bsky.social)

Hey, Vancouver! When you are shoveling snow this morning, why not do your neighbour's sidewalk as well? My friend Gregg calls it "Shovel-a-trois." (Picture taken w Abracam using BBT Krauss Paris Quatryl 500mm f/5.6 #LargeFormat #Photography #Shovel-a-trois)...
bsky.app
 
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Stolk

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Location
Vancouver, BC
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Should have had focus on bark of trunk, but I still like it a lot:

 
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Stolk

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Location
Vancouver, BC
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koraks said:
Ah yes, I was under the impression you were doing it that way. So you're photographing an aerial image instead?
Click to expand...

I am photographing the image from the front, through an off-axis hole in the front w a shifted lens.

Illustration below: ULF lens in blue. Digital camera in green.

 
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Stolk

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Location
Vancouver, BC
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Alan Edward Klein said:
Welcome aboard. Interesting hobby. Is there a place to see ULF photos you've taken?
Click to expand...

Amateur camera builder from Vancouver says hello.

Hello, I am a photography enthusiast (and amateur camera builder) from Vancouver, BC in Canada. I have built a 16x16" ultra large format camera, in the style of Zev Hoover: a projected image that gets photographed with a secondary camera using a shifted lens. Here is a photo of me and my...
www.photrio.com
 

Sirius Glass

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Welcome to Photrio!
 

MattKing

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I'll extend my welcome as well - from the south side of the Fraser river.
Looking at your collection of lenses, I'm wondering whether you and Phil Chin might have crossed paths!
 
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Stolk

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Joined
Aug 3, 2025
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22
Location
Vancouver, BC
Format
ULarge Format
MattKing said:
I'll extend my welcome as well - from the south side of the Fraser river.
Looking at your collection of lenses, I'm wondering whether you and Phil Chin might have crossed paths!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Matt. I don’t know Phil Chin, so looked him up. Quite a prolific photographer. Seems like an interesting person.

So you are in Richmond? I had a great day cycling in Richmond yesterday, to Steveston. The kids loved the bike park.

I took my GFX50R with the MMZ 35КП 1,8 / 120 on the ride, and shot this in Richmond.

 

MattKing

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Not Richmond - further south, in Delta, near the US border.
At one time recently, Phil might have more traditional 11x14 and larger camera equipment than anyone nearby, so I'm surprised you haven't encountered him!
 
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