Xmas gifted a Burke & James 5x7". Questions.

For Xmas my wife gifted me a Burke and James View Camera from a curio shop. Came with a 4x5 and a 5x7 film back and a Dagor lens. Everything seems to be in pretty good condition except for the bellows which has been heavily taped and still has maybe 15 leaks. I found a replacement bellows for $150 that looks like it will work, but I will have to figure out how to replace it. It looks like that will be a messy job. I have a number of questions. If anyone would like to field any of these questions that would be much appreciated. I'm including a number of pictures.

A) I am showing the lensboard that came with. The opening is 2 3/8" across and the thickness is 3/8". The lens I show is about the 35mm equivalent of a 45mm lens, so I would like something wider as I principally do landscape work (or play). What can I get that will work with this lens board or do I need to go with another lens board? I can see that a different type lens board was mounted on with the inner skrew holes, but I can't see the purpose of the outer skrew holes.

B) The bellows should probably be replaced. Any pointers or tips on how to proceed?

C) Can anyone identify the model of the Camera? The receipt I show doesn't give a lot of info. Burke & James folding View Camera is about all I know. I have no idea of the year. Not shown is an extension rail for some serious macro work. I probably will never use it.

D) The lens appears to be in good shape. Very interesting. It is a F6.8 Coated, Color Corrected C. P. Goerz Dagor made in Berlin. The focal length is 6.5" or 165mm which seems to be about the 35mm equivalent of a 45mm lens. Printed on the lens is "Dagor 1:6,8 F=16,5cm" ( I guess they use , instead of . ) and then the serial number. I've never seen a lens like this, because I only do a bit of LF work. I thought it was broken till I figured things out. On the bottom is a lever for delayed shutter release - very cool. There are two apertures: One that is adjustable and the other that opens and closes with the exposure. To keep it open for composing and focusing you have to set the lever to T setting then cock the shutter and release exposure. Then you compose and focus and adjust the adjustable aperture to your choice and then move the shutter lever from T to B and then to the desired speed setting and then cock the shutter and release. Took me a bit of figuring because I've never seen a lens like that. Any guestimate on the quality of this lens ( I haven't shot anything yet ) and the dollar figure for this item? Wife picked the whole thing up for $150. Came with a rather worn leather satchel.

E) I think I will replace the handle, still looking for a good replacement.

F) Also the lens has a PC sync and a lever to go between X (red) or M (yellow). I won't be doing much flash work. I noticed a red dot on the shutter speed dial at about the 1/25 second setting. Is that the sync speed for X sync strobe work? I thought these sort of lenses synced at all speeds. Should I be concerned about setting that to X or M? Will it matter for landscape? I'm guessing that the M and the yellow dot by the delayed shutter release indicates that it should be set to M only for delayed shutter use.

G) Also, just wondering about the icon on the lens that says A G C in a spinning wheel. Ever seen that? Know what it means?

H) Can anyone make the case for shooting 5x7 instead of 4x5? Is the image quality that much better? I would have to buy all the film holders, developing tanks, etc....

I have an Intrepid Mark IV which is considerably lighter, but not nearly as solid as this. I'm thinking that getting this going will be a fun project.

First of all, congratulations on a fine acquisition. Easiest question first: AGC stands for the Alfred Gauthier company of Calmbach, Germany. They made many shutters under several different brand names. And the Dagor is a very good lens. Wooden lensboards are easy to adapt just because it's woodworking rather than metal working. Yours looks like there has been an adapter plate mounted on it at some point, hence the screw holes in the face. I use birch plywood from Blick or Tower Hobbies when I make up a lens board. A nice set of hole saws will come in handy.

The bellows should be fairly easy to replace too. Study the mounting system on the existing bellows and you'll get a good ides of how to mount new bellows. Many field cameras used frames to which you'd mount the bellows (usually some extra fabric on the ends of the bellows that wraps around the frames) and then screw into the front and rear standards. Where are you getting your new bellows?

Burke and James Commercial View.

That's a sweet-looking lens. Probably worth more than your wife paid for the whole package. (Is she willing to hire out as a professional camera shopper?) The method you describe for focussing and framing is standard practice on a lot of LF cameras, so your instincts are good!

I enjoy shooting 5x7; the aspect ratio is different from 4x5 and can be nice for landscape orientation. You might want to pick up a couple of 5x7 holders, since you have the back for them.

I have a 5x7 B&J Watson, an earlier version but of similar design. Yours is a later model; it has the aluminum rear standard and more knobs and movement controls. These are real workhorse cameras and you should get years of good use out of this one.

What a great gift.
Lens boards are easily made, just need a miter saw, some hole saws, some thin board (MDF is fine) and some thin adhesive black foam. If you cant do it not hard to find someone who can.
Lens is nothing special, but will do the job.
Check the bellows in the dark with a torch, small holes can be patched if it needs replacing there are places that will make custom sized bellows. I have gotten 2 made by a Chinese ebay seller.
Enjoy

Roger Thoms said:

Burke and James Commercial View.

Click to expand...

There you have it.

Get it up and running and then ENJOY IT!

I've bought bellows from Rudy (AKA "Etone") in Hong Kong. Sandeha Lynch, in Wales, used to make very fine custom bellows (though I dimly recall that he was cutting back...) and I'm pretty sure there are others in the US and UK doing that work too. Other people here will have suggestions, I'm sure.

One final suggestion: I always make my own handles. I get leather strap blanks from Tandy Leather online as well as any necessary hardware (buckles and such) and dyes. And I got a nice set of letter punches so if I feel like it I can inscribe the name of the camera on the handle, and idea I got from an old Gundlach camera.

Tel said:

I've bought bellows from Rudy (AKA "Etone") in Hong Kong. Sandeha Lynch, in Wales, used to make very fine custom bellows (though I dimly recall that he was cutting back...) and I'm pretty sure there are others in the US and UK doing that work too. Other people here will have suggestions, I'm sure.

Click to expand...

yeah they're still available on eBay from one of the sellers that resells them. Also, custom bellows in the UK does great work and isn't expensive at all.

The packing slip is really cool, neat to see what was originally purchased. Also very cool that you got the lens that was originally purchased with the camera.

Roger

Roger Thoms said:

Burke and James Commercial View.

Click to expand...

Very, very cool. Any idea the year on this?

Tel said:

First of all, congratulations on a fine acquisition. Easiest question first: AGC stands for the Alfred Gauthier company of Calmbach, Germany. They made many shutters under several different brand names. And the Dagor is a very good lens. Wooden lensboards are easy to adapt just because it's woodworking rather than metal working. Yours looks like there has been an adapter plate mounted on it at some point, hence the screw holes in the face. I use birch plywood from Blick or Tower Hobbies when I make up a lens board. A nice set of hole saws will come in handy.

The bellows should be fairly easy to replace too. Study the mounting system on the existing bellows and you'll get a good ides of how to mount new bellows. Many field cameras used frames to which you'd mount the bellows (usually some extra fabric on the ends of the bellows that wraps around the frames) and then screw into the front and rear standards. Where are you getting your new bellows?

Click to expand...

There are a few places selling them but they all appear to be the same ones out of china. People report they are of good quality.

My suggestion is to use 5 x 7 when you want to contact print on an 8 x 10 sheet of photo paper so that you have a photograph with a white border ready to hang in an 8 x 10 frame. That’s what 5x7 is best for in my opinion.

Second, since you have 4 x 5 film and there is a bellows on the camera now, why not set up for a shot and then before you make the shot, drape and pin your dark cloth across and around and below the bellows to make the exposure. It would be nice to have a new bellows but you don’t need one to try out the camera.

kennethwajda said:

My suggestion is to use 5 x 7 when you want to contact print on an 8 x 10 sheet of photo paper so that you have a photograph with a white border ready to hang in an 8 x 10 frame. That’s what 5x7 is best for in my opinion.

Second, since you have 4 x 5 film and there is a bellows on the camera now, why not set up for a shot and then before you make the shot, drape and pin your dark cloth across and around and below the bellows to make the exposure. It would be nice to have a new bellows but you don’t need one to try out the camera.

Click to expand...

True. Will consider it.

I find the aspect ratio of 5x7 much, MUCH more appealing than 4x5. Also, I find 4x5 too small for making "meaningful" contact prints, but 5x7 contact prints suit me nicely. I use my B&J 5x7 far more than my 4x5.

brianentz said:

For Xmas my wife gifted me a Burke and James View Camera from a curio shop. Came with a 4x5 and a 5x7 film back and a Dagor lens. Everything seems to be in pretty good condition except for the bellows which has been heavily taped and still has maybe 15 leaks. I found a replacement bellows for $150 that looks like it will work, but I will have to figure out how to replace it. It looks like that will be a messy job. I have a number of questions. If anyone would like to field any of these questions that would be much appreciated. I'm including a number of pictures.


B) The bellows should probably be replaced. Any pointers or tips on how to proceed?



E) I think I will replace the handle, still looking for a good replacement.

Click to expand...

Time for my yearly-or-so plug for 3M 850 Polyester Tape (Black). It comes in many widths, but for bellows that are holey but aren't falling to bits, 3/4" is good. It's expensive (~40.00usd per roll on evilBay) but a roll lasts a looong time. The stuff is light tight, sticks to anything, is so thin it doesn't affect bellows folding at all, and lasts for years. I've used it for quick repairs on every folding camera from 127 roll film up to 11" x 14". Even if you get a new bellows, this'll keep you shooting while you wait for it to arrive-- I've learned the hard way that bellows are camera rather than format specific.

paulbarden said:

I find the aspect ratio of 5x7 much, MUCH more appealing than 4x5. Also, I find 4x5 too small for making "meaningful" contact prints, but 5x7 contact prints suit me nicely. I use my B&J 5x7 far more than my 4x5.

Click to expand...

+1!

nosmok said:

Time for my yearly-or-so plug for 3M 850 Polyester Tape (Black). It comes in many widths, but for bellows that are holey but aren't falling to bits, 3/4" is good. It's expensive (~40.00usd per roll on evilBay) but a roll lasts a looong time. The stuff is light tight, sticks to anything, is so thin it doesn't affect bellows folding at all, and lasts for years. I've used it for quick repairs on every folding camera from 127 roll film up to 11" x 14". Even if you get a new bellows, this'll keep you shooting while you wait for it to arrive-- I've learned the hard way that bellows are camera rather than format specific.

Click to expand...

Very useful info. Thanks

I'll suggest painting your lensboards inside ( the side facing the film) flat black to cut down on stray light bouncing around in there.

GKC said:

I'll suggest painting your lensboards inside ( the side facing the film) flat black to cut down on stray light bouncing around in there.

Click to expand...

Good idea.

paulbarden said:

I find the aspect ratio of 5x7 much, MUCH more appealing than 4x5. Also, I find 4x5 too small for making "meaningful" contact prints, but 5x7 contact prints suit me nicely. I use my B&J 5x7 far more than my 4x5.

Click to expand...

my feelings exactly. 8x10 is in a different league for cost, portability, everything else, but 5x7 is just a small increment up from 4x5. Unfortunately 5x7 feels like its on life support. If you can get your favorite film in 5x7, then you're probably good, but there are a lot of gaps (including all color film, unless you wait for custom runs.)

brianentz said:

Very useful info. Thanks

Click to expand...

Black book binders tape is much cheaper and better suited to bellows repair, two inch width handles many jobs.. I've repaired several old LF camera bellows and re taped film holder hinges with it.

Should you ever decide you want more than the industrial gray look many of these have absolutely beautiful wood under the paint. A project to strip them but once done you have a unique beauty that is functional.

In the process of restoring this camera, I am getting very excited about shooting 5x7". Almost twice the surface area of 4x5", but still short of the huge 8x10". I can still process the 5x7" in my Jobo tank which is great since I don't have a darkroom and still need a daylight process. Great fun.