Basic queston from someone who never used large format camera

Hi,

I never used large format camera. All is more less clear how to use it except one thing: when you focus looking at the ground glass, and then insert the film holder - does ground glass stays all the time in the camera?
Exposure on the negative goes through the ground glass?

tnx,

With most LF cameras the glass stays in place. It is on a sprung panel so that when you focus the ground surface of the glass is where the image is formed as you focus and compose your image. When you are satisfied with the image you then slide your film holder into position by lifting back the sprung panel that holds the ground glass screen so you can fit your film holder in between the panel and the back of the camera. When you have slid the film holder fully into position the frame of the sprung panel presses the film holder into close contact with the back of the camera. This ensures that the sheet of film is in the exact plane that the ground surface of the ground glass screen was when you focused and composed your picture. Then when you have set up the shutter and aperture you slide out the dark slide and fire the shutter. Then you turn the dark slide round and slide it back into the film holder to shield the film for you to take out the holder and take it home to process.

There are other cameras, like the Travelwide, https://wanderlustcameras.com/ where the ground "glass" (or plastic) focusing screen is slid in to compose and then slid out to allow you to slide in the film holder for the exposure.

RR

This guy sounds a bit boring and fast-talking, but you can see how they work about 4 mins in... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wML47KVnujM

Thanks for replay . It is clear now.