First 4x5's from converted polaroid

Hi everyone,

 

This are my first two 4x5 photos from a converted polaroid. As you

can see, there are serious DOF problems at close range and at large

apertures. Photos taken on FP4+, D-76 1:1 @ f/4.6, 1/8 sec.<div></div>

This is the second one. Sorry for the first one, forgot to reduce it in size.<div></div>

Very nice tonalities in those shots. I'm not sure I would describe the dof as particularly problematic in relation to your setup; I think it's just a fact of life in close-ups. Did I miss an early thread about the camera conversion? I'd be interested in some details, and maybe some pictures of the camera.

f/4.6 is not the aperture to shoot large format. I doubt you will find most people (except in special circumstances) shooting 4x5 in the f/11-f/64 range.

Thank you Sir:

 

My mistake, thank you for pointing this out. The aperture was f/5.6. You are correct, the aperture should have been f/16 or f/22. I exposed this at 1/8 because at the time, I did not know the reciprocity characteristics of this film, and I wanted a "manageable" shutter speed. Time of exposure was late evening.

Is your Polaroid one of the large, viewfinder/rangefinder types? And who did the conversion? I see a lot of these at Maison du Leica (the large/medium format part) on Beaumarchais in Paris, but I rarely see these for sale in the US - except for the Littman Single which is much more expensive than the French cameras. The focus on your shots just looks like it might be a little closer than the closest object, so you might need a bit of calibration on the rangefinder - or you might use a ground glass to double check focus if that is possible.

 

Here is Polaroid Type 55 P/N shot at f4.7, ISO of 25, so exposure of something like 8 seconds indoors. My mother's sweater from when she was a child and her family was incarcerated in a Japanese Internment Camp in Manilla, Philippines during WWII. The sweater is made of the wool from several other sweaters that wore out during their stay. One of those special occasions for using an f4.7 aperture and 4x5 film : )<div></div>

Yes, very special shot you have there.

Gentlemen:

 

My camera is a homemade conversion done by myself on one of the old type rangefinders. It is not difficult to do and I was truly impressed by the large negative results. This adaptation only takes some ingenuity and good quality glue.

 

In a certain way, it is an alternative to the smaller formats, as Mr. Connealy says: "this format brings out the tonalities...:. Nevertheless, the situation that we have today forces the use of B&W exclusively, as it will be prohibitively expensive to have color processed in this format.

 

I just wanted to have a camera in this format without paying truly exorbitant prices. I found that this can be done in a rainy Saturday. One does not have to purchase it from France or someone else, as I said, this can be done easily with some patience.

 

I like the photo of the sweater very much, it shows what level of detail can be achieved by this format. Also, the sweater picture has a certain "mood" that is pleasant to me. Thank you.

 

If I may point out, there are zillions of "classic cameras" out there, of the same kind as mine that can be "revived". The only thing that I can say is that: long live that well made equipment and long live film. I considered that it was a waste to let them fade away.

 

This is a new adventure for me in photography, and I am loving the "getting there" part.

Can you maybe post some photos showing what you did to the camera? I settled on a plate camera for cheap LF but you have me beat by a wide margin :)

Jorn, that picture & the background story that goes with it are very moving - thank you very much for sharing it!

Mr. Kovacks:

 

The modification that I did is basically a wooden trimmed picture frame with battens around the edges to make a fence on three sides for holding the film holder. A sort of a box.

 

Then, once this frame is trimmed, glue it with epoxy to the camera back, from which all the polaroid gear has been removed. The film holder is held flat and in position with two rubber bands.

 

I then took the glass from the same picture frame and ground it with a sharpening stone. Found a Graflex pack film holder and inserted this glass inside. This is used for ground glass focusing.

 

After that, I readjusted the infinity by collimation with my other camera. Loaded some film, and you have seen the first results.

 

It cost me $70 and one afternoon to be ready for this format.

I have been looking at a near mint Polaroid 800. Converting it to film look like a daunting task.....

Mr. Falkenstine:

 

I considered the Polaroid 800. The problem is that the lens is "automatic" and impossible to use as is. Try one of the 110 models, those are more suited for this task.

 

It is not daunting, actually it is rather simple and 4x5 film is widely available. I was very surprised by the intital results, quite a jump from 35mm.

 

The 110 models come with nice manual lenses and have the correct bellows length so that one can even use different focal length lenses.

Quite a creative solution! Thanks for sharing the details.