can't afford a xpan? modify your bronica to do the same!

hi!

 

i always wanted to buy a hasselblad xpan, but since i couldn't afford one, i

came up with an idea to modify my bronica etrs to do the same, for the price of

a dark slide!

 

i just took a dark slide, cut it in half, and et voila! using the multiple

exposure lever i can now shoot two pictures of 6x2.25cm on one 6x4.5 negative,

which is about the same as the hasselblad xpan (24mmx65mm)

 

i can make 30 exposures that way! with the xpan, it's only 21!

 

so if you want panorama, but cant afford a xpan but have a bronica, that's quite

an economical way to go!

 

ps: cropping would do the trick as well, but shooting directly to 2.66:1 is much

better isn't it?

 

here's a sample from my flickr:

 

So you flip the dark slide to expose the top, then the bottom, I take it?

Ummmm, but it does not give you any wider angle of view.....

Fun, pretty clever ;)

Please explain how you manage to get the camera to fire with a darkslide in place. And how do you compose? Have you made a template to sit on top of the viewing screen without scratching, or do you visually approximate the framing?

 

You can as you say shoot a panoramic with a Bronica or any camera by cropping without any amendment. A gridded screen helps. Your adjustment doesn't make a Bronica into a panoramic camera- its a way of using the film you'd otherwise throw away, that's all.

 

BTW looking at your comments on the flickr site, a Xpan frame is 65 x 24 or a ratio of 2.71. Your 6 x 2.25 is not the same ratio - or even 2.66 as you quote- because the "6" is really 5.6. The only way you can equal the ratio of a Xpan is to restrict the vertical height of the frame to 20.5mm and if you do this you'll have a film size of only three quarters that of an Xpan. You might find that Xpan lenses are will resolve a little more than Zenzanon, so enlargability might well not be as good.

 

Still I'd be intrigued to know how it works!

michael: yes i put the darkslide in the back on the lower half, then frame in the viewfinder for the upper half, fire, and then vice versa

 

david: the bronica fires when you put it in "multiexposure" mode, even with the darkslide in place, but to be sure i got rid of that pin that tells the back that the darkslide is in the back!

i guess the framing since i have framelines it's quite easy to tell where the middle is, and from there on i go... i also thought about making a thin line with pencil but didn't get to that yet ;)

 

yeah i'm just rethinking my shooting habits since i frame for wide already, the frames which come out of it aren't just by luck, i want to frame for purpose more since i am also a cinematographer and love the 2.35 widescreen format and always have to practice ;)

 

yeah i also thought that xpan lenses are better... and i am not really using the middle of the bronica lens as well! but as said, it was a solution for me since i wanted to conciously frame for panorama, but the xpan wasn't in my budget, so i improvised and used my equipment which i already had... the xpan is much much smaller and more easier to handle for sure, but paying another 1500usd to get a nice outfit.. i can even exchange backs with the bronica! ;)

 

regards from vienna

Or you could get a 35W back which uses 35mm film and gives you 1 1/2 frames there about. And you will be using the middle of the lens, not the edge.

 

"Ummmm, but it does not give you any wider angle of view....."

Panoramic is an aspect ratio, not an angle of view. You can shoot panoramic with a wide angle lens or a telephoto lens, the aspect ratio stays the same.

 

Actually, I'm wanting to do this with my 4x5 but don't have a darkslide to sacrifice.

Why screw around with mutilated darkslides when you can crop after shooting?

yeah the 135w back... it's so damn rare to find though, i gave up after a while...

Give the guy a break. He's doing this for fun/to experiment/practice/economy. Not for selling to galleries!!! He gets 2X more practice from a roll than if he were cropping the 6X4.5 neg.

 

Xiaosu: how did you make the altered dark slide? Hard to measure & cut?

I have the 135W for SQ-a but have not used it as much as I thought I would. Also have the 135N for both ETRs & SQ-a & have NEVER used them. The 135N is a solution waiting for a problem (when 120 film dies)

thanks jimmy :)

thats exactly why i did it, i searched the internet for an alternative for the 135w back, and if someone else is looking for something like that, he will find this thread and be able to reproduce it!

 

i measured it really really amateurish with a normal ruler and just cut it in half with a normal scissor. i think it's not usable anymore though :) (the scissor)

 

oh! the sq-a rocks! you should use it more and the 135w as well :)

One big advantage of NOT using a darkslide is trhe ability to use the right part of the frame to maintain correct perspective. Sort of like having some amount of front rise on your camera.

Jeff: I am puzzled by your answer. I'm an ammetuer & honestly don't understand it. Can you elaborate?