Use of the dark cloth

[fschifano]

I suppose a good way to test this would be to sacrifice a sheet of film, load it into the camera and pull the dark slide. Either leave it in direct sunlight for ten minutes or so, or spend some time passing a powerful flashlight around every crevasse of the camera and film holder. Develop the film to see if theres anything other than a blank negative.

Oh no, don't sacrifice a sheet of film for this. A cheap piece of enlarging paper cut to size to fit the holder will work just fine for this test. Trust me. I check my holders regularly like this using the cheapest paper I can find.

 

[z3guy]

I wouldn't sew weights into a dark cloth! I have one that came that way and when it gets windy they can blow around and break the GG or damage the lens. Don't ask me how I know these things, but I have seen it happen.

Paul

 

[holmburgers]

For what it's worth, I use a bath towel that has elastic sewn around the waist. My mom bought it for me when I was in the dorms at college and although I've never used it for that, it's been a decent dark cloth.

 

[Jose LS Gil]

Oh no, don't sacrifice a sheet of film for this. A cheap piece of enlarging paper cut to size to fit the holder will work just fine for this test. Trust me. I check my holders regularly like this using the cheapest paper I can find.

Frank, that is a very good idea. Specially if you are using 8X10 format or larger.

 

[Jose LS Gil]

I wouldn't sew weights into a dark cloth! I have one that came that way and when it gets windy they can blow around and break the GG or damage the lens. Don't ask me how I know these things, but I have seen it happen.

Paul

You can add weight by sewing in little sand baggies, if metal weights are a problem.
I would suggest magnets, but they don't work too well with wood cameras