A large format tale

I saw my first large format camera at the Linhof stand at the London Earls Court Camera Show in 1967. Ground glass viewing was magical but I preferred the Linhof 220 for its ease of use. In 1973 I succumbed and traded my Olympus Pen-F outfit for a Linhof Technika III with 135mm f/5.6 Symmar lens. Shot some Polaroid and then mostly E6 chrome. I was satisfied with viewing the chrome on a light table. Stayed with the Technika III till I traded for a Technika V. Used this to copy watercolor paintings with Fuji 64T.

Years went by, had 2 kids who sometimes didn't mind helping dad by carrying the tripod. Used mostly 35mm for family stuff and documenting trips etc. By 1999 I was buying and selling camera stuff on Ebay, and began collecting LF lenses and cameras for use when I retired.

Well I retired in 2010 but got caught up in the new fangled digital age and eventually ended up with a Sony A850 with a bunch of lenses from my Minolta days.

Now I am finally getting to LF again with 4x5, 5x7 and some 4x10. I don't have my darkroom any more but can convert a part of the workshop for developing and contact printing B/W. I just found replacement bellows for the Linhof Bi-Kardan 5x7, the Linhof Technika IV, a very beat-up example is working well for copying with 64T. I sold my 4x10 Fotoman and found a Linhof 4x5 Kardan TL that a guy in China supplied a 4x10 back with bellows.

I miss the stunning view on the ground glass - such natural colors! I think after setting up the 5x7 with all the adjustments made, that instead of inserting a B/W film holder I with just photograph the ground glass with my Sony A850 and 50mm macro lens. I will have to replace the gridded original ground glass with a plain one I picked up in my LF journey. Finally digital meets LF, at least for me!

I saw my first large format camera at the Linhof stand at the London Earls Court Camera Show in 1967. Ground glass viewing was magical but I preferred the Linhof 220 for its ease of use. In 1973 I succumbed and traded my Olympus Pen-F outfit for a Linhof Technika III with 135mm f/5.6 Symmar lens. Shot some Polaroid and then mostly E6 chrome. I was satisfied with viewing the chrome on a light table. Stayed with the Technika III till I traded for a Technika V. Used this to copy watercolor paintings with Fuji 64T.

 

Years went by, had 2 kids who sometimes didn't mind helping dad by carrying the tripod. Used mostly 35mm for family stuff and documenting trips etc. By 1999 I was buying and selling camera stuff on Ebay, and began collecting LF lenses and cameras for use when I retired.

 

Well I retired in 2010 but got caught up in the new fangled digital age and eventually ended up with a Sony A850 with a bunch of lenses from my Minolta days.

 

Now I am finally getting to LF again with 4x5, 5x7 and some 4x10. I don't have my darkroom any more but can convert a part of the workshop for developing and contact printing B/W. I just found replacement bellows for the Linhof Bi-Kardan 5x7, the Linhof Technika IV, a very beat-up example is working well for copying with 64T. I sold my 4x10 Fotoman and found a Linhof 4x5 Kardan TL that a guy in China supplied a 4x10 back with bellows.

 

I miss the stunning view on the ground glass - such natural colors! I think after setting up the 5x7 with all the adjustments made, that instead of inserting a B/W film holder I with just photograph the ground glass with my Sony A850 and 50mm macro lens. I will have to replace the gridded original ground glass with a plain one I picked up in my LF journey. Finally digital meets LF, at least for me!

If you really want to shoot off your gg then find a Boss Screen for your camera. The image is formed on a wax layer so it is grainless.

Thanks Bob.

The screen I have is by "Satin Snow"TM. The Boss Screen is for 13x18 and cost 150 euros according to their website. I will try my screen first.

Thanks Bob.

The screen I have is by "Satin Snow"TM. The Boss Screen is for 13x18 and cost 150 euros according to their website. I will try my screen first.

That screen, I believe, is ground, if so, shooting off it will not be grain free.

Interesting, John. I was introduced to LF during an HNC course, and subsequently acquired a Horseman 5X4 monorail camera but I regret never using it in anger. I've also got a Sony A900. I'd be interested to see your pictures of the ground glass screen.

Hi John. I took an ONC in electrical engineering in 1962/3 after having only 2 mediocre "A" levels. Decided EE was not for me and eventually became a computer programmer in 1966. Moved to Montreal in 1968 and then Florida in 1978. Have been married to Gwen since 1968. Gwen is very understanding of my LF passion and my love of most things Linhof. She has taken over my A850 for her watercolor portrait business, but will retire from this in 2019, when we both will reach 3/4 century in age.

When I get the new bellows I will try it with the following lenses all in shutters:

90mm f/5.6 SA

105mm f/8 Fujinon SW

121mm f/8 SA

165mm f/6.8 Angulon (the SA version still costs at least $1500 if you can find one)

210mm f/5.6 Symmar-S

250mm f/6.3 Fujinon-W

300mm f/5.6 Symmar-S

12inch f/9 Apo-Artar

14inch f/6.3 Commercial Ektar

plus a few barrel lenses that may cover.

I have accumulated the above over many years.

My go to lens for 4x5 copy was/is the 135 Componon-S and/or the 150 Apo-Symmar (my most modern LF lens).

That screen, I believe, is ground, if so, shooting off it will not be grain free.

Maybe I will like the film look in a digital image!

If you really want to shoot off your gg then find a Boss Screen for your camera. The image is formed on a wax layer so it is grainless.

Bob, this reminds me of a camera obscurer I made for my wife's art class. I used a telescope objective of about 30 inches focal length, a front silvered large piece of mirror to shoot the real image up onto a piece of glass with waxed paper laid on top. It focused by sliding the front of the box. The image obtained was quite remarkable and about 10 inches square. I built it several years ago and still have it in the attic of my little workshop. It is cumbersome to use but does the job. Apparently this is what some old masters used to get the realistic perspective in their paintings.

I really enjoyed this post. Thanks

I've waited, but here I go off topic, sort of.

camera obscurer

In my experience they usually were "obscurers" ;)

I've been in an actual camera (="room") obscura only once, at the New Harmony historic site, where there is a log cabin with a hole in the door. The image is projected on the other three walls, upside down, of course. The image is pretty dim and not very sharp, like most "pinhole" images. I've inverted it here:

I gave up 4x5 eight years ago. I have copied my 4x5 and 120 images using my DSLR, a macro lens with extension tubes, light table, and converted enlarger stand. It is quite paradoxal but my copied digital files from 4x5 and 120 produce far deeper colours of the same scene than my DSLR on its own! This has lead me to the possibility of taking up 4x5 and/or 120 again, with the sole purpose of shooting fine grain chromes (Velvia 50) again and copying them for digital printing. By the end of the year I hope to be shooting 120.

I don't think shooting the GG of a 4x5 is going to yield anything terribly useful, but copying the images you make on film, with your DSLR certainly will. For this I suggest shooting transparency film since copying negatives and converting them is inconsistent and extremely time consuming.