Donald, I'm a little confused. Aren't all let's say Copal 0 aperture settings marked the same regardless which lens they're mounted on? Couldn't those hash marks have click stops?
Notice how those little metal plates that have the f-numbers engraved in them are easily interchangeable
So you are saying 4x5 is hard?
I'll try to post a picture of the click stop mechanism on one of my No. 1 Compurs. The Compurs with click stops have linear diaphragms, of course. None of my click-stopped Compurs have the intermediate stops marked. I have some literature from Prontor/Zeiss Gruppe with a date code of 1988 showing what I think is probably the last of the line of the Compur shutters. The No. 3 Compur now has a top speed of 1/250. The No. 1 and No. 3 have intermediate marks corresponding to 1/3 stops; the No. 0 has a half stop marked between each full stop. Descriptive text says "They have a diaphragm with marked click-stops in 1/3 steps (size 0: 1/2 steps)." Wonder what the actual production numbers of these were.all of my later Compur shutters have clicks on the aperture--00, 0, 1, & 3. One of these days I'll take them apart remove the clicky thing.
Edit: here is a Compur #0 with click stops--in the photos you can see on the rear of the shutter the click stop mechanism:
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If a shutter and lens are fixed together, as with the RB lenses, sure you can have f-stop click stops, but with large format lenses and shutters, they are separate parts combined. A #0, #1, or #3 shutter never knows what lens it will be attached to. It can't know anything about f-stops.
I have a Schneider Kreuznach 150/5.6 that has 1/4 f-stop clicks. Shutter clicks a single stop.
:Niranjan.
Aren't the hash marks the same location on all Copal #0 shutters/aperture control attachments? Aren't these swappable between lenses?
Thanks for the reply. Are you shooting reversal film? I ask because most negative film (is that the right word?) has enough latitude that +/- half a stop makes no difference.
all of my later Compur shutters have clicks on the aperture--00, 0, 1, & 3. One of these days I'll take them apart remove the clicky thing.
Edit: here is a Compur #0 with click stops--in the photos you can see on the rear of the shutter the click stop mechanism:
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No. the f-stop number is defined as the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the aperture (well, technically, I think it is the diameter of the entrance pupil, but close enough) and, on a Copal #0, for example, the diameter of the aperture is directly proportional angular displacement of the aperture but the Copal #0 is used for many different focal lengths - everything form say, 75mm to 200mm. For any particular the position of the aperture selector, the f-number is gonna be different for different focal lengths. So, no. The scales are not the same.
Look closely at your LF lenses. Notice how those little metal plates that have the f-numbers engraved in them are easily interchangeable - that's because they're specific to focal length and many differnt focal length cells can be fitted to the same shutter. If you have two different focal length lenses, each mounted in a in a copal #0, the spacing of the f-numbers will be different between the two.
All that said, clicks stops are of course possible,they would just have to be custom done for each focal length. Which would cost extra.
Surely, but between handling sheet film in the dark (vs. roll film), dealing with film holders, learning "the dance" as Matt Marrash calls it, and dealing with the larger, heavier, less automated cameras and so forth, 4x5 isn't even the kind of "easy" 120 in, say, a 1950s TLR is. There's a learning curve, and a fairly steep one, even for experienced manual photographers in smaller formats, and the more of the "real" 4x5 experience you go for (movements, for instance, ground glass focus and composition, or color) the less "easy" is left in this form of photography. And never forget the cost, which makes learning more stressful, but without the instant feedback of similarly or higher priced Polaroids.
Alan,
If you're routinely bracketing your LF shots, you're not metering carefully enough and/or you haven't done the requisite testing for E.I. At some point, bracketing LF exposure should be reserved for tricky situations only, where there is a large possibility of ruining a shot at the chosen exposure.
Heck, when I make a second exposure of a particular set-up it's rarely because I'm unsure of the exposure. Other things, like subject movement, changing lighting or clouds, fear of damaging the only negative of a really great image, etc., are what prompt me to make that extra negative.
Maybe you could elaborate why you need to change quickly in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments?
Doremus
Doremus, It's not a deal breaker. It's just easier to lock in the setting with clicks than eyeball it. Especially because the lens is so high I sometimes have to strain to see it.
If it is hard for you to see the aperture setting because the lens is too high, how are you able to compose and focus on the ground glass?
Who makes the shutter portion?
I'd expect most large format shutters not to have any click stops in support of the ability to mount any lens with the correct thread (more or less standardized) and engrave an aperture scale for the specific focal length. Click stops would make sense only on a shutter (almost) exclusively used with a single lens.
Why would you remove it?
Not sure of the function of the toothed sector to the left.
for some reason the ƒ numbers on copals sold with Nikkor and Fuji actually aren't removable. but other than that nitpick
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