Focusing Dark Cloth

[Photoe]

I have recently noticed from afar some people using a focusing dark cloth with elastic to help keep the cloth "attached" to the camera. Does anybody know where to obtain one of these?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

There are several pre-made options - several of the APUG sponsors (BlackJacket, View Camera Store, among others) sell focusing hoods with elastic/velcro to attach the hood to the camera body. There are also some folks on eBay who make and sell such animals. The other option is of course to make your own.

 

[tim_walls]

I'm new at this large format malarkey, but I've taken to attaching my focusing cloth using Velcro. You can buy velcro in sticky strips from any home supplies type store in the highstreet - perfect for this, just stick one half to the camera and the other half to the inside of the cloth, and voila!

(It's also dead handy for other stuff - this may sound tragically like 'Readers Digest Top Tips', but... If you stick a strip of Velcro along something like the edge of a shelf, or on a convenient edge of your camera, and then stick small squares of the matching-half-of-Velcro to your lenscaps and other wotnots you need never lose them in the studio again...)

 

[Ole]

I have a "real" dark cloth, but I prefer to use a black T-shirt. The neck fits nicely around 4x5" and 5x7" backs, and the bottom end get used for 8x10" and larger. The sleeves allow access to the ground glass with a loupe, and flop closed when I pull my hand out.

 

[BBarlow690]

Ole is on target. I've fallen in love with my simple black T-shirt. Cheap, light, compact, cool, and highly useful. Mine was a coupla bucks at Wally World.

 

[Vaughn]

Instead of velco, I use clothes pins -- my BIL sent us some great plastic ones from Australia.

Vaughn

 

[blanco_y_negro]

You can easily saw elastic around your cloth and attach it to the camera. The tubular design practical because it is less likely to be blown away by wind. I also find it more convenient in terms of concentrating on the image on the GG.