Clack Close Focus Distance?

Before shooting my Clack, I want to figure out what it is actually focused at for the two possible settings.

 

The camera says either 10ft-Infinity or 3-10ft. Using f/Calc and f11 I cannot find a distance that gives these ranges

unless I increase the CoC by 6X over the recommended for 6x9... was Agfa really that sloppy in putting the range...

or is it I guess that the DOF is based on contact prints only?

 

anyway, using this assumption the close focus distance will be 4.75... but looking then to the distant range a focus

distance of 9ft gives a DOF of 4.4-Infinity so clearly Agfa was not consistant in marking these distances...

 

...anyway, the reason I ask is because I figure if I know where the camera actually is focused for and I shoot for that I

will more likely be happy with the results.

 

thanks for any enlightenment on this!

Good point Mark , one way to find out use a ground glass and check with the back open.

A piece of translucent drawing paper taped to the film rail can be of use too.

Manfred

I'll be interested in seeing what you turn up on this subject. There's a fair amount of conflicting

statements to be found about the camera's characteristics on line, and I think you are right about the

overly-optimistic DOF. I haven't made any careful analysis, but in looking at my own photos from the

Clack I believe a more realistic range for the close-up setting is 5-6 feet for the area of sharpest focus.

Practically speaking, the real determinant for getting sharp photos from the camera is the slow shutter

speed, so holding the camera really still is the key. Putting the camera on a tripod and using a cable

release will eliminate that variable and give you a sense of the camera's bottom-line capabilities. It may

sound like a lot of trouble to go to for a simple box camera, but I've gotten a lot of real nice pictures from

mine, and it is one of my favorite shooters.

true, there is a lot of conflicting information on the web about the Click and Clack, then, to make things more confusing there are a few different models as well<br><br>Not sure if a simple calculation would do the job as the film plane is curved. So the DoF might actually be more at f11 than with other, flat plane cameras.

Here is a photo made with the close-up setting of my Clack.<br>

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/connealy/clack/dof/02.jpg">

<br>I estimated the distance to the top of the round cactus in the foreground to be about three feet.

<br>

<a href="http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/connealy/clack/dof/02b.jpg" target="_blank">

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/connealy/clack/dof/th_02b.jpg"></a>  

<a href="http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/connealy/clack/dof/02d.jpg" target="_blank">

<img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a9/connealy/clack/dof/th_02d.jpg"></a>

<br>

As you look further from the near point, either up or down, the focus sharpens rapidly. The area of

sharpest focus appears to be approximately congruent with the near and far rim of the pot containing the

tree in the middle. The focus again degrades as you move to the plant in the rear. It's not a very

scientific test, but it is a useful way to get an idea of the near focus capability of the camera. For more

successful examples of the use of the camera using both distance settings, you can look at the photos

on <a href="http://mconnealy.com/vintagecameras/clack/index.html" target="new">my web page about

the Clack</a>.

Thanks all! Mike, from your example, it seems my assumptions were pretty good for guessing 4.75ft. :)

 

Also, clearly, my sunny setting is not f12.5 or f16, but f11 with a yellow filter (1.5X?).

 

Is there any trick to opening up the lens/shtter? Thinking that either sticking an f16 aperture over the yellow filter

would make it better for shooting 100 speed film in sun... are maybe putting in a stiffer spring to get the shutter up to

~1/100th.

 

I knowing I'm kind of nerding out on this thing... but that's half the fun for me. :)

I don't recall now if I opened up my Clack after bringing it home from the flea market. There are some

instructions on getting to the shutter and the lens on <a href="http://kosara.net/photo/lochlomo.html"

target="new">a page</a> by a guy who turned his into a pinhole camera.