Three 8x10's. Can I make one work?

[Whiteymorange]

As is often the case, I have come away from my friend's warehouse of camera gear with more than I bargained for. Dick Welch, of Assabet Valley Camera, is one of the nicest guys on the face of the earth. I walked in with a question and walked out with three LF cameras. A Calumet "Green Monster", a B&J View Camera and a Century Studio Camera, No.7A. I also got two packard shutters to help with the project. Now each of these things is a venerable beast and each has it's problems. Dick picks things up at various sales and auctions and sometimes gets around to fixing and selling them. Sometimes he doesn't, and they go into hibernation in the back of his place. This is the case with the Calumet and the B&J. The Calumet needs a back, the B&J seems to have had its bed extension misplaced and has nowhere near the bellows I need for my long lens test. (the B&L lens took about 21 inches of draw on a 4x5 to photograph the Christmas figurine I posted last.)

The Century is another story. This thing is in pretty good shape and I hope to try it out soon. Has anyone here had any experience with this camera? It has a sliding back and some serious heft - definitely not a traveling rig. I'm going to refit an iron typewriter stand from the 1920's to hold it. There is an Ilexpro packard shutter mounted on it now with what I think is a flash connection integrated into it - at least it has a two-pronged connector on the front that is wired to the shutter assembly. Looks like a factory set up, not a jury-rig.

Tomorrow I have a wedding to go to, the next day is a trip to the airport... How come the toys come just when you can't play with them?!

 

[jimgalli]

Sounds like you're right up to your elbows in alligators! I have 3 of the giant Century cameras. The Ilexpo is a treasure. Get one of those big aprture looking gizmo's that will clamp around most any barrel lens and you've got the perfect test bed for most any crazy old lens you drag home. One of my old Century's is for sale with a grand old Wollensak Petzval right here in the classifieds. And Bob Fowler just listed one also.

 

[Mongo]

Regarding the Calumet - It should be pretty easy to modify just about any 8x10 back to work with the camera. The attachment is just two screws...if you have a back of the correct size or can hack up a back to get it to the right size, it should be very easy to make a back fit the C1.

Good luck.
Dave

 

[jimgalli]

I think the Calumet may have a raised metal light trap. Still, if you had a wooden back, you could tap an indent with a hammer and then dremel it to fit perhaps. Was the raised area in the back or in the camera? I've forgotten.

 

[Ole]

YOu can see what an Iris mount looks like here: Dead Link Removed

The first one there is a 18x24cm plate camera, which has been fitted with another iris mount since I took the pictures. The second one is a classic German 13x18cm "Reisekamera", with iris mount (holding a 18cm Dagor for the occasion).

 

[avandesande]

Its not uncommon to see those calumet backs on ebay. Successful use of ebay, as with most things, has to do with patience.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Thanks, everyone! I saw Bob Fowler's ad just after posting last night but couldn't find yours, Jim. I'm still short some holders and the time to fiddle with these things, but they are on long term loan, so I'm not really rushed. Dick may even have one of those iris mounts, Ole. I'll bug him to check the back room again. There is a tremendous amount of material in Dick's back rooms. Think three average bedrooms filled floor to ceiling with equipment and boxes of "stuff," barely room to walk through. He also tried to give me three different wooden LF cameras that seemed a bit delicate for this particular set of lens experiments or that had bad bellows. He does collect woodies in a fairly serious way. I may end up buying at least one from him and start a rebuilding project.

Oh! The adventure of it all!

 

[bobfowler]

The Century is another story. This thing is in pretty good shape and I hope to try it out soon. Has anyone here had any experience with this camera? It has a sliding back and some serious heft - definitely not a traveling rig. I'm going to refit an iron typewriter stand from the 1920's to hold it. There is an Ilexpro packard shutter mounted on it now with what I think is a flash connection integrated into it - at least it has a two-pronged connector on the front that is wired to the shutter assembly. Looks like a factory set up, not a jury-rig.

I have a Century 4a (it's for sale as I type in the classifieds) which I really like, but I'm selling mine as I too just bought a "Green Monster" (with all 3 backs) and can't justify another large camera in my rather limited available space. Then again, if it doesn't sell, I may just keep it at work!

Anyway, the Graflex sliding back attachment (pretty much standard on these cameras) is great for doing 2 or 4 up on 8X10 and 2 up on 5X7.

Your 7a has more bellows draw than my 4a, but other than that, they are pretty much the same animal. The 4a was designed for smaller studios where long lenses wouldn't be needed, and for full length shots with shorter lenses. Either camera is wonderful.

 

[JHannon]

Whitey, it looks like 8X10 has found you! The back of the Calumet is raised on the body for a light trap like Jim said. You would have to grove out the back to fit. You can take a look at my 8X10 back to measure..Or, with luck --Ebay.

I too just bought a "Green Monster" (with all 3 backs)

Hey Bob, I just got one of those too with all three backs. No 8X10 holders yet... I look forward to using it.

--John

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Whitey- yes- keep an eye out on ebay for the 8x10 back for the Green Monster. That one and the 4x5 back show up regularly. It took me 6 months of searching to get my hands on the 5x7 back for it, but now I too have all three. If you're impatient, get a sheet of plywood, and any old 8x10 wooden back, and glom one together with some wood glue and a RotoZip tool . The Green Monster is the most useable of the three, I think, for general purpose use. I've done 1:1 macro work with it and my 14" Commercial Ektar, in the field.