Opinion on binocular vs monocular focusing hood for 4x5

kmallick

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I am looking for your personal opinion on a binocular vs monocular focusing hood for a 4x5 view camera. I am looking to get one of these for my Toyota 45CF and could use some good advice.

I like the idea of getting a monocular one that folds up for easy carrying. But I can see the advantage of focusing with both eyes as well.

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

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RobC

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very often you want the camera to be as high a possible to exclude the foreground without having to tilt the camera upwards. Any hood which requires you to be looking down on it limits the height you can put the camera up. Maybe you can carry some small steps to get your height back. Or maybe you're 7ft tall. Or maybe you're only using it in the studio and have a paltform/box you can stand on. Or maybe you just don't don't require that bit of extra camera height. Just something to consider.

And with a fixed eye point you will almost certainly need a fresnel lens to be able to see the corners.
 
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wiltw

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I have the Horseman binocular FOLDING hood for my Horseman monorail. I love mine, but...A disadvantage that you need to keep in mind are the situations in which you must set the camera position higher, and now you have to have a step ladder to climb up to be able to look down into the binocular viewer!
 

Theo Sulphate

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Can these viewers be attached so that they're angled down when the camera is at a height? If so, the photographer could sit on a small folding stool or a carrying case.

It would be nice if they were adjustable.
 

RobC

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Theo Sulphate said:
Can these viewers be attached so that they're angled down when the camera is at a height? If so, the photographer could sit on a small folding stool or a carrying case.

It would be nice if they were adjustable.
Click to expand...
are you a contortionist?
 

RobC

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I had a viewing hood for my technikardan becasue I hated using a dark cloth. It worked fine until you start trying to do anything but small simple movements. Put much rise in the lens and you could only see half the image. I found that being able to put my eye on the axis of where the light is actually coming from made seeing focus much easier. In short, viewing hoods can work well sometimes and not at other times. Just depends on the subject lighting and how much movements you are using.
 

DREW WILEY

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Ho hum. One more big clunky gadget. Fine in the studio, redundant in the field.
 

Theo Sulphate

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RobC

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I think that last photo has the vieweing hood disconnected and a bag bellows. i.e. its just hanging there.
Maybe its a bit like one that Linhof made/make which is a bag bellows with a loupe fitted into it which you can move across the ground glass to check fine focus but you can't see the whole GG at one time for composition. The sinar one may be different but I don't think you would see much from the position its shown in.
 

Wayne

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DREW WILEY said:
Ho hum. One more big clunky gadget. Fine in the studio, redundant in the field.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with this, except for the unnecessary condescension. What will you be using the camera for? You won't need or want either one for field work with a 4x5. Since your profile says medium format maybe you are used to using something like these for that format, where they can come in really handy. I have an RB67 and really wish I had a prism finder so I didn't have to hang upside down by my feet from a tree to see the viewfinder when I point the camera down.
 

Dan Fromm

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There are also monocular in line, also called straight-through, viewing hoods. I have a little Cambo one for 2x3 Graflok/international backs. It works a treat on my 2x3 Graphics (with, of course, Graflok backs) and 2x3 Cambo (with international back).

I also use a straight-through viewing hood on my 4x5 Cambo. Beats using a dark cloth and focusing with the naked eye but focusing is better with a 4-6x loupe. Same goes for the 2x3er.
 
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kmallick

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Thanks for all the good suggestions and advice.
I forgot to mention that I am mainly using my Toyota 45CF for field work and lanscapes. I agree that keeping the camera as high as possible is a plus. The main reason for seeking a focusing hood is because I just can't get used to the idea of dark cloth.
 

mdarnton

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One thing I think I'm noticing, but you have to tell me if I'm right, is that the two finders you've shown photos of appear to only work for horizontal. For vertical, you'll be looking in from the side at an upside-down image. For my Cambos I have a 90 degree finder that spins so it works properly vertical, but handy also is the one that's straight in from the back, with an inverted image. I usually shoot portraits, so the 90 degreee spinning finder is good, but if I were doing things at eye height, the straight one would be better, and that would probably be the more versatile one.
 

Wayne

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kmallick said:
The main reason for seeking a focusing hood is because I just can't get used to the idea of dark cloth.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing a black T-shirt is out of the question then.
 
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kmallick

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Most of the ones I am considering for my Toyo come with a bracket that allows rotation.
 

RobC

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The Linhof I had allowed the reflex viewer to swing out to the side so you get a loupe on the GG for fine focus. I don't know if your camera back and intended hood allows that or not.

If the toyo takes a standard international back then you always have the option of fitting one which has some useful options on the photographers side of it like the linhof back does. (But pricey).
 

removed account4

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i don't have a horseman but a toyo, and i don't have the bino, but the monocular hood and i use it ALL THE TIME ..
i use it with every camera i own with ground glass if i have difficulty focusing under hte hood, i'd rather use that than a loupe ( which i find useless ).
the toyo has 2 nubby metal spring rods that go into 2 little holes and act like a hinge.
the toyo doesn't point up, but sticks straight out the back. with the 2 things you have pictured you will need to be
on a 3 foot+ step ladder to view what you need to view. i'd go for a pair of reading glasses and a dark cloth before i buy one of those 2 things you have pictured ..
 

Doremus Scudder

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Well... There's really no substitute for getting your head in a dark place together with your ground glass, especially if you use and movements whatsoever. Viewing hoods are an alternative, but not optimal by any means. They are fiddly, tend to take time to mount/dismount are easy to drop, take up room, are fragile, etc.

So, I'll recommend two things. First, get a good Fresnel screen for your camera if it doesn't already have one. With a good Fresnel and adequate light you can often get by without using a dark cloth at all in the field. My Wista DXs have no hoods, etc. and I often focus and shoot without the dark cloth.

That said, when you need to, a dark cloth is one of the more comfortable ways to work. You can move your head around easily, check corners, tip your focusing loupe to match the angle of the light hitting the ground glass for better viewing, etc., none of which you can do with a viewing hood. I'd at least try to get used to using a dark cloth before shelling out for an expensive hood. I'll bet that with a little familiarity you will learn to like it. If you find you can't stand it, then you can always get the hood later.

FWIW, I use reading glasses at a strength to get me 8 inches or so from the ground glass for viewing and rough focusing and then a loupe for fine focusing.

Best,

Doremus
 

RalphLambrecht

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Don't you mean Toyo4x5;Toyota makes cars not cameras afaik
 

DREW WILEY

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The nice thing about a black T-shirt over the camera is that it gets lint all over your negatives too and saves you the effort of finding some old lens that you have to scour with steel wool to get that authentic "wooly" look in your pictures. Intelligent darkcloths are a different subject. But some people do prefer folding focus hoods combined with screen brightners, or perhaps the a high-end binocular viewer like Sinar offers. Toyota is a different subject. My wife just bought a Prius. That's fine, because it is what she likes. I can't figure out how to drive anything where the dashboard
looks like an airplane cockpit. I prefer my old Toyoto 4WD truck with all its authentic dents and scars from many photo expeditions. So, the correct
terminology is 4X4, and not 4x5 when it comes to Toyota. Now what goes INSIDE the truck could be either 4x5 or 8x10.....
 

wiltw

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Here's a photo of my Horseman folding binocular reflex finder, collapsed


then open and ready for use, shown in the downward looking view for a camera at relatively low level (unless you are on a ladder)


then positioned as if the camera were aimed downward


then shown with me looking upward for focusing when the camera is up high
 
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