Box camera long exposures - tips and encouragment needed!

[jay moussy]

I got a few box cameras with "held-down" B setting, a homemade wooden cradle+elastics for tripod mount, typical Ilford film, and a few sites suitable landscape dawn or dusk situations.

I am looking for a few tips on how to best proceed with issues like smooth shutter operation, maybe exposure control via filters, avoiding hitting a reciprocity boundary, and other potential issues.

Multiple exposures techniques would be the next step, or combined as well.

 

[removed account4]

Hi Jay
I wouldn't worry about camera shake with long bulb exposures it won't be noticed .. the other questions, not sure, I never use filters
I just kind of wing it / shoot from the hip 99% of the time. sounds like a lot of fun !
John

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

I got a few box cameras with "held-down" B setting, a homemade wooden cradle+elastics for tripod mount, typical Ilford film, and a few sites suitable landscape dawn or dusk situations.

I am looking for a few tips on how to best proceed with issues like smooth shutter operation, maybe exposure control via filters, avoiding hitting a reciprocity boundary, and other potential issues.

Multiple exposures techniques would be the next step, or combined as well.

While I haven't done a lot of long exposures with my box cameras, I have done many with a Holga - which is effectively very similar.

Like already stated, on long exposures into the minutes, I wouldn't worry much about any initial bump/shake when you press the shutter, but you want it to be still for most of it. Not certain which box camera you are using, but you will want to find a way to mechanically hold the shutter open other than your finger. Tape, rubber band, toothpick jammed in there - whatever works would be fine. For my Holga I have a add-on cable release that's really nice, but on the occasion where I forget to pack it, I've used a rubber band.

Filters - on bright days these will be key to a long exposure. You can glue/adhere a threaded filter ring so that you can use filters - 52mm is ideal due to commonality and cheap prices. Or if you are just wanting to try it out first, just holding the ND filter in front of the small lens opening on the box camera works as well. I've done that in a pinch with the Holga before finding a slip-on 52mm filter thread.

I've never shot anything longer than an hour exposure with the Holgas, and that has been fairly easy in terms of sticking to the reciprocity failure times listed and following them.

Sounds like fun, can't wait to see the results!

Jeremy

Below is a 4 minute long exposure on a Holga and Ilford Delta 100.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I did a few exposures up to a minute back when a Brownie Hawkeye Flash was my only camera (1970-ish). I got good results, generally, by bracing the camera on a surface where it didn't rock and was pointed the right direction, setting the B shutter, and just becoming a human clamp while I counted seconds (couldn't see my watch while using both hands to hold the camera and shutter). This is clearly how these cameras (with neither cable release nor tripod socket) were intended to be used for this, if not with an external powder flash (which were common up until WWII) used "open".

 

[jay moussy]

Thanks. Mechanically, I think I got it, and I would stick with the Ilford film predictability.

Light metering exposure: is a hand light meter going to help me arrive to a good exposure guess?

 

[Donald Qualls]

Light metering exposure: is a hand light meter going to help me arrive to a good exposure guess?

It can. You (theoretically) know the camera's aperture (most box cameras run between f/11 and f/22) and you know the film speed (or EI) that you're using, so as long as you have a means to calculate the reciprocity correction, and a way to time the exposure, you're good to go.

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Thanks. Mechanically, I think I got it, and I would stick with the Ilford film predictability.

Light metering exposure: is a hand light meter going to help me arrive to a good exposure guess?

It should, no problem. I typically use a Sekonic hand-held meter.

Most important thing is knowing the f/stop and shutter speed of your box camera - for example my Hawkeye is f/16(ish) and 1/30th(ish). That helps me know I'm in the ballpark when combined with the film speed and reading.

Jeremy