EEEEERRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!Is it not meant to be?......

mark · Nov 4, 2005

Or....When you can't realize your photographic vision

Why are pano cameras so durn cost prohibitive, and why do I never see film holders on the used market? Am I just going about this the wrong way? ANy one have a crappy condition pano camera of any size that is begging to be rebuilt?

Dan Fromm · Nov 4, 2005

I have trouble of seeing the point of pano cameras such as the dread 4x10. What you can do with a 4x10, you can do with an 8x10, and used 8x10 cameras and accessories are a lot more common. Perhaps if you relax the constraints you've imposed on yourself you'll find realizing your vision easier and less expensive than you now think.

Jim Noel · Nov 4, 2005

4x10

Get your hands on an older wooden 8X10. Check inside the ground glass to see if it has the grooves and springs in it. Then make some splitter boards to get 2-8X10's on each sheet of film.

photomc · Nov 4, 2005

Jim Noel said:
Get your hands on an older wooden 8X10. Check inside the ground glass to see if it has the grooves and springs in it. Then make some splitter boards to get 2-8X10's on each sheet of film.

Yup!! Did that last weekend...don't think the old Korona has the springs in it - if it ever did - but the grooves are there and the slider/splitter board works fine. Took less than 30 min. to measure, cut...remeasure, cut another one (OK, need a little help with that) and paint. Just have to find a subject, hope to that this weekend, and expose some film. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Only thing used was a table saw, pencil and ruler - oh and some black paint. Big Thanks to Kerry T for his article in VC and Jeremy Moore for showing me the one he got with his Dorf.

ps...Jim you did mean 2 4x10's per sheet, right?

Paul Sorensen · Nov 4, 2005

photomc said:
Took less than 30 min. to measure, cut...remeasure, cut another one (OK, need a little help with that)

Hmmmm, the Homer Simpson method, measure once, cut twice. I know it well.

donbga · Nov 4, 2005

mark said:
Or....When you can't realize your photographic vision

Why are pano cameras so durn cost prohibitive, and why do I never see film holders on the used market? Am I just going about this the wrong way? ANy one have a crappy condition pano camera of any size that is begging to be rebuilt?

Mark,

What I do is just take a 2x5 inch slice out of a 4x5 neg (or a 4x10 slice out of an 8x10 neg.) My slices aren't precise, instead I simply compose on the ground glass. This gives me flexibility when composing. Amazingly the slices are almost 2x5 or 4x10 slices. Once you begin to see like that you really don't need a 4x10. You can enlarge the image on paper or make an enlarged negative for contact printing.

So use what you've got rather than worrying about what you don't got. When the universe is ready a 4x10 (or other format) camera will manifest itself for you.

Don Bryant

John Kasaian · Nov 4, 2005

Of course, you could make a 4x10 pinhole for next to nothing. No film holders & you can shoot paper negatives.

Charles Webb · Nov 5, 2005

Methinks I will acquire a set of the "splitter boards" that allows you to make two 8x10's on a sheet of 8x10 film. Wonder who makes and sell such things?
Charlie...........

I know it is a typo, but it gave me a chuckle any way!

Mongo · Nov 5, 2005

Actually, getting 2 8x10s on an 8x10 sheet isn't an issue at all. In fact, forget to pay attention to your dark slides and you might do this quite by accident.

On a more serious note: You can always make a splitter dark slide. Just cut a chunk out of a darkslide to expose 4x10, then keep track of which side of the film's been exposed. Not as easy as a 4x10 camera, but with careful tracking of your film it's certainly possible to make this solution work.

Either way, best of luck.
Dave

dphphoto · Nov 5, 2005

I've always dreamed of somebody making a 2X5. If course, you can always crop. Or you can go the roll film route and get a 6X12 or 6X17 back. Doesn't Shen Hao make a couple?
2 8X10's on a single sheet? You could cut your film costs in half that way! Dean

phfitz · Nov 5, 2005

Hi there,

"On a more serious note: You can always make a splitter dark slide. Just cut a chunk out of a darkslide to expose 4x10, then keep track of which side of the film's been exposed."

A few years ago VC had an article on checking film speed by drilling a series of holes in the dark slides and putting 6 exposures on 1 film. Guess who was silly enough to try it. Yep, ruined the darkslides AND filmholder. Pulled the light traps right out of it, brand new Fidelity Elite 5X7. If you cut the entire half off the darkslide, it won't ruin the light trap but it may tilt during exposure.

If you do not have the grooves cut into the reversing back, you can simply make a baffle from black poster board that fits between the body and back and is held in place by the back, won't shift. You can also make one that quarters the sheet and have 4up, easier for speed testing.

Have fun with it.

Mongo · Nov 5, 2005

When you cut a darkslide to make 4x10s, you needn't cut the entire half off of the darkslide. Just cut the first 10" off. Darkslides are longer than 10" as they must be to leave material over the film and in the light trap. But leaving everything after 10" you basically treat the light trap as you would with a normal dark slide inserted.

The bigger issue with using 8x10 film to make 2 4x10 exposures is tracking which parts of each piece of film have been exposed. I end up using sticky paper dots on the top of the film holders, and checking off the ones I've exposed. The dots are easily peeled off and replaced later, or left off completely if you're shooting a full 8x10 image.

The ultimate solution would still be a 4x10 camera, but since I shoot so many verticals all of the current cameras are at best kludges for me.

Be well.
Dave

tim atherton · Nov 5, 2005

Charles Webb said:
Methinks I will acquire a set of the "splitter boards" that allows you to make two 8x10's on a sheet of 8x10 film. Wonder who makes and sell such things?
Charlie...........

http://www.benderphoto.com/4x10pa.htm

or you could just save yourself $40 and get an old darkslide of ebay and cut it up....

mark · Nov 6, 2005

Thought about the 4x10 Idea. In fact I made a post about it. After some calculations and cutting down an 8x10 to see it in real life I realized it was just a tad too small. I then cut a 16x20 down and realized that 8x20 was jut too big. 7x17 was nice but 5x12 was much much nicer. Intimate, yet big enough. Once you get past the 8x10 size the price goes through the F---ing roof for everything. This is what I was moaning about. I have an 8x10 body but you would have no idea what a PIA it is to find a back. Before I had the camera I saw lots of 8x10 backs on ebay. Now nothing. Damn it.

EEEEERRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!Is it not meant to be?......

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