Easiest DIY 4x10

[Dr Croubie]

So I'm addicted to 617 panos at the moment, and I've just gotten myself an 8x10.
Put those two together, and I'm contemplating shooting some 4x10s if/when I can.

So here's my thinking, I'll load a regular sheet of 8x10 in a regular holder. No need to get a special split-holder and buy 4x10 from the ULF run each year.
I get a spare darkslide to modify (I'll have to carry it separately to the holder in use, obviously).
I'm afraid that if I just cut it straight in half, it'll work fine in the bottom (shooting the top half of the film), but in the top half it might slide-down. Does anyone do this, and ever have this happen?

To get around this potential problem, I'm thinking something along the lines of keeping the darkslide 8x10-sized, and cut out a 3.75x9.5" section from one side.
That would leave one half with a full 4x10" solid bit, and the other half would have a 1/4" border around the cutout, to keep the darkslide a bit rigid and stop it from falling down. (I don't mind losing a tiny bit of film with this 'border', my 180mm Symmar-S covers 252mm and this 3.75x9.5" cutout would need an IC of 259mm). Or is that unnecessary overkill work?

Of course I'd have to process it as one sheet and cut in half later, but that's actually a plus as it'll fit nicely into my new Catlabs CL81, I'm not good enough to adjust processing on a sheet-by-sheet basis (yet).

 

[Tom1956]

Be sure to find a lens of good quality. Remember all lenses have light falloff from center to corner. Were it not for that. sounds like an idea for some good panoramics. Or buy X-ray film at 30 cents a sheet and mark off the GG for 4x10 dead center and ignore the top and bottom 2 inches apiece.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Yeah, the 180mm Symmar-S is nice and sharp on 4x5, I might have to invest in a Centre Filter if I'm going to use it all the way to the edge of the IC (but I'll be doing B+W only, probably just Rodinal stand to begin with, so vignetting might not show up too badly as E6).
Soon enough I'll get a 12"/21"/28" Turner Reich convertible in the post. Once I fix the shutter that'll be my main 4/8x10" lens besides the 465mm Apo-Ronar (which has no problems covering 8x10).

Speaking of Xray film, I just realised the other day randomly: My best friend from high-school married a Radiologist. I wonder if she can get me some stuff cheap...

 

[Tom1956]

Oh, another Rodinal Stand Development thread. Looks like I walked right into that one. The owner of the site has APUG and DPUG. Maybe he ought to start a Rodinal Stand site so I don't have to hear any more about it.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Well, the thread's actually about cutting up darkslides, so just mentally bleep out words you don't want to read... (I think there's an app for that)

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Well, the thread's actually about cutting up darkslides, so just mentally bleep out words you don't want to read... (I think there's an app for that)

Some cameras will accept splitter boards, my Deardorff V8 for instance. Much simpler than cutting up darkslides.
As for using the 180, I tried a 210 Symmar-S on 8x10 and was not happy, regardless of printed figures. The 210 would have worked OK on 4x10, though, as it just mushed the very corners.

 

[C Henry]

I use a dedicated 4x10 (Shen Hao), and my 180mm Symmar (the older convertible) does just about cover, although there is no room for movements. As such it is rarely used. Also, I've never used a centre filter, but don't use a lens with 100 degree plus angle of view...

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

When I tried this I simply used the front rise and fall to align the center of the lens optical axis with the (off-center) center of the 4x10 "frame", keeping all other controls initially zeroed. Maybe not all camera's range of movements are able to do this? But my old Calumet C1 handled it easily.

And instead of cutting a darkslide in half laterally, I made a cutout using black matte board that nestled inside of the removable back without affecting focus. I simply removed the back and rotated the mask between exposures to then make the second exposure on the same negative.

Ken

 

[pgomena]

I advise against cutting a window with a border around it. I tried this once with a 4x5 holder which had *repeat* had felt light traps. First time I tested it, the trap caught in the window and ruined the holder. Better to cut the slide into an "L" shape leaving only as much border at the top to reach the edge of the top of the holder. This will stop the slide from moving around in use.If you search around on this forum or the Large Format forum, you will see an example of how to cut a dark slide for this purpose.

 

[John Koehrer]

Oh, another Rodinal Stand Development thread. Looks like I walked right into that one. The owner of the site has APUG and DPUG. Maybe he ought to start a Rodinal Stand site so I don't have to hear any more about it.

Hmmm. Maybe you could ignore the thread instead of bothering with useless comments.

Useless=non-constructive

Thank you

 

[Gregg Obst]

There are several options for shooting 4x10 on an 8x10 covered here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/archive/index.php/t-104059.html

I do something similar but with my 4x5. I cut the main section of a dark slide in half and swap that out with the regular dark slide once the slide is in the camera and the shutter is closed down. This works particularly well if you have a rotating back. Chamonix sells pre-made solutions for 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 here: http://www.chamonixviewcamera.com/halfframe.html