Setup ritual for Field Cameras?

[johnmarkpainter]

Sure...I can just move things around until I like the view....

Can anyone share their setup methods? Do you mark infinity 'stops' for your cameras?

 

I have a Shen-Hao Field camera coming in the mail. I have experience with Graphics and a

Monorail.

 

jmp

[shawn_kielty1]

Hmmm -- I'm assuming an infinity stop would tell you where to find infinity. I read Jack Dykinga's book on large format Nature photography where he talks about and shows marking exposure compensation indications on his camera -- which implies known setup locations for infinity. I say this because I find that a little difficult. the idea of scaling and marking all the exposure compensation locations for say 5 different lenses means some magical combination of colored scales on a cherry camera. His exposures are probably all very good.

 

I don't do it. I find the appropriate point to lock down the front lens standard by looking though the glass until I find a place near focus. -- Then I get the image in focus somewhere. General setup comes first -- with large camera orientaion and movements defined -- say camera angle, rise and fall, tilts, swing and shifts -- all just to achieve composition. I check at this point to make sure that the image hasn't fallen off the glass. Then I refine the focus by picking out a planar direction -- and pick three points on the plane I want in focus.

Finally -- I stop down just enough to get everthing I want in focus -- and check again to make sure the corners are covered.

 

SO now for the real trick -- how do I come up with an exposure. I read the meter (reflective 30 degrees-- averaged over the scene). I look at the camera -- I add a half of a stop for an extended bellows -- and a half if the image center is off -- If any movement is extreme -- I add another half. If it's lit from behind I add a stop or more. I factor in filters -- and shoot a polaroid. Then I adjust my exposure. I look at the polaroid through a loop to verify focus and exposure. Sometimes I need to shoot a few. Then I bracket with three exposures at 1/3 to 1/2 stop.

 

This has it's drawbacks -- I need to carry a polaroid back and film -- but I get better at guessing everytime I go out. I use alot of Polaroid film.

 

S

[vinny_walsh]

Before you take that thing outdoors you'll need to get some blue threadlocker from the

hardware store. You don't have to get the loctite brand but you'll surely lose screws if you

don't. Good luck finding a tool that fits those funny screw heads, i use a paper clip

shaped to a "U". I have had Badger Graphic send me spare screws twice. I know this

doesn't answer your question but it will save you from searching on your knees later.

[johndc]

John-

 

I got my Shen-Hao a week ago today. I sure am impressed with the build quality and the incredible value for such a camera. The main thing you have to remember when setting up the HZX is that you have to align and lock the back down after you open up the camera. It might sound trite, but more than a couple of times I've forgotten to do it, and then when I insert the film holder I move the back and have to recompose. My set-up ritual is as follows:

 

1. Open tripod and ensure solid footing.

 

2. Level the head (not too hard since I have a head with bubble levels)

 

3. Mount camera onto head.

 

4. Open camera from behind -- lock the back in upright position.

 

5. Go around to front of camera; raise and lock front standard into position.

 

6. Install lens (if necessary); attach cable release.

 

7. Try to remember what I wanted to take a picture of in the first place :)

 

8. Compose the image.

 

9. Take the picture.

 

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but I hope it helps anyway.

[leonard_evens]

I've never felt the need for infinity stops for my different lenses. I do have a metric scale taped to my rail, and at first I carefully set the distance between the standards to something approaching the focal length. But I soon stopped bothering and simply slid the front standard forward until the image came close to being in focus on the gg. It is much faster.

[scott_walton2]

Before you start marking up your camera, use it for awhile to get used to how you set it up. I do about the same steps as John states except for remembering the shot... it did sound like he was joking and all that but I don't take my camera out unless there is a shot. If I get "the feeling", I put my bag down and walk around the shot to see if I'm seeing the perfect angle then and only then will I commit to setup.

Whatever lens you have, you'll quickly get a feel for the approx. area you have to draw the bellows out to in a matter of seconds instead of searching for the appropriate mark on the camera bed... just my thoughts.

[ellis_vener_photography]

<I>I got my Shen-Hao a week ago today. </I><P>Just curious, but how can you judge

true

build quality of any camera if you have only had it a week? How much shooting have you

done with it, how much opening and closing, setting up and packing away in that short

of time ? It always takes

me awhile to really get to know a camera's strengths and then weaknesses.

[edward_kimball]

Does anybody else sacrifice a chicken in their ritual?

[christopher perez]

<i>Does anybody else sacrifice a chicken in their ritual?</i>

<p>

My ritual involves sacrificing film, not chickens. It's rather difficult to get a nice image rendered around all those feathers, beaks, and talons and things.

[pawel1]

I don't have any markings on my LF camera bed for "infinity" (I use a Wisner 8x10 technical field camera) . However, recall that the focal length of any lens is given at infinity focus. When I set up my camera, I know which lens I intend on using, so I quickly adjust the bellows length (via eyeball) to what I know will be approximate infinity. Specifically,for my 150, I set up the bellows extension at 6", for my 300, 12", for my 480, approx 19". After 'eyeballing' the distance, it is only a slight turn of the focussing knob to get the image into focus.

[jim_simmons]

The most important part of my setup process is related to what Scott said - seeing the shot I want to take first. To do this, I use a 4x5 wooden rectangle that I hold 90mm or 150mm from my eye (my only two lenses at this time). I've got a stick with those distances notched into it that I hold against the cheek under my right eye. Once I find where I'm going to stand and how high the camera will be off the ground (measured on my body), I put the stick'n'frame on the ground, go get the tripod and camera, and set the tripod up right over where the stick'n'frame lie. When I look at the GG, I rarely have to reposition the camera. As for the rest of the setup, I leave the Bogen quick release plate on my monorail, so I just slap the camera into the tripod head, point the camera in the general direction I'm shooting, and do a first levelling of the tripod head bubble levels, which I've tweaked to match the GG grid lines against a rectangular building setup. Pretty much all I have to do after that is pull off the lens cap, rack the front standard forward until the view is in focus, and then finetune the shot from there.

[johndc]

<i>how can you judge true build quality of any camera if you have only had it a week? How much shooting have you done with it, how much opening and closing, setting up and packing away in that short of time ?</i>

 

<P>

 

While I've only had the Shen-Hao for about a week, I've been shooting with a field camera for some time now, and the set-up routine is pretty much the same. As for judging build quality, it's true that I can't comment definitively about it. However, first impressions point to a very solid build.

[scott_davis5]

I've had my Shen Hao for well over a year now, and have used it both in the field and in the studio. I am duly impressed with the build quality, and I have not yet lost a single screw or knob, or even come close to losing one. I think it is the best budget 4x5 out there. It even has a real leather bag bellows for just $100. When I had a Sinar A-1, I think the bag bellows were $300 or so if I had to replace them.

[pvp]

Tripod first. Legs point down. Camera next, on top of tripod. Put lens on camera. Point lens at subject, attempt rough focus. Remove lens from camera, take off rear cap, put lens back on camera, rough focus again. Decide wrong lens. Put on different lens. Compose and focus. Refocus. Check w/ loupe. Refocus some more. Choose and install filter(s), refocus again. Pray light holds. Meter highlights. Meter shadows. Meter other stuff. Meter incident light. Decide on exposure. Don't forget filter factors. Don't forget bellows factor. Set f/stop and shutter speed. Make sure focus lever on shutter is closed. Test fire shutter, recock. Put film holder in camera. Pull darkslide. If flare-prone situation, use darkslide to shield lens. Take picture. Put darkslide back in holder. Write down exposure info. Maybe take backup shot(s). Pack up camera, go down trail. Repeat until dark, exhausted or hungry.

[donald_brewster]

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/how-to-operate.html

[brian_ellis16]

It sounds like Dykinga's markings were for bellows compensation and so you wouldn't have separate markings for each lens, just one set of markings would do since bellows compensation depends on distance of lens from film plane and not on the focal length of the lens. Infinity stops are an entirely different thing, they indicate the place on the rail where a lens is at infinity and of course with them you do need one for each lens. Linhof makes (or made) infinity stops as did Graflex and probably others. Even when using a ground glass it's kind of nice when setting up to begin with the lens at a known infinity point but markings would do as well as stops for that purpose. I think the original intended use for infinity stops was in combination with rangefinders though I don't know much about using rangefinders.

[ken_schroeder]

Press cameras (Speed Graphic, etc.) were given the nickname "guess focus boxes" many years ago because they did not have rangefinders. They could be focused by groundglass or by the vernier distance scales placed on the bed by the focusing rails. The old saying was they had three ranges, "here, there and yonder". These may even have been established by using the groundglass and making three knife marks. When range finders were addded, the infinity stops allowed the lenses to be set to a consistent spot to make the rangefinder acccurate.

 

Practice and experience will help in efficiently setting up. Leveling the tripod head makes life simpler. Always start with all the view controls (rise, tilt, etc.) in neutral, and return them there before making another setup. Using your longer lens (ideally around 210 or thereabouts) will make becoming familiar with the focusing screen easier, due to the larger image magnification.

 

My suggestion? Don't load any holders.....just setup the camera in your house or back yard and get to know each other. Read Bruce Barlow's wise comment on setup (posted elsewhere on this site). Allow yourself some personal shooting time where you can work unstressed by demands of others.

[stephen_hall]

"It sounds like Dykinga's markings were for bellows compensation and so you wouldn't have separate markings for each lens, just one set of markings would do since bellows compensation depends on distance of lens from film plane and not on the focal length of the lens."

 

Umm..unless I misunderstand you here Brian, don't Bellows Extension Factors depend on the lens focal length? An extension requiring a 1 stop exposure correction will be far longer on a 300mm than on a 65mm. These corrections are based on exposures which assume a lens focused at infinity.

 

As for set up rituals, some sort of viewing/composing aid to frame the shot before setting up will stop you wanting to stand on your head while viewing on the ground glass.

cheers

[www.graemehird.com]

1/ Find a subject that catches my eye.

 

2/ Get my Linhof zoom finder out of the camera bag if I'm not already holding it.

 

3/ Establish the most appropriate viewpoint and corresponding focal length lens.

 

4/ Walk away from the scene if the light's not right (recording details for later reference, such as when the best light is expected to be available and the GPS coordinates.)

 

5/ If the light's right or soon will be, put the viewfinder back in the bag, set up the tripod and attach the camera (Tachihara 5x4) to it. I don't worry about leveling the head - I use a ball head and it's easy to orientate the camera later with the lens attached. Open the camera, locking down each nut as it is opened. I have marked the front standard with the rise/fall neutral position, and that's where I set the standard initially. Select portrait or landscape format as required.

 

6/ Attach the lens and slide the standard back until it is less than the focal length of the lens from the GG.

 

7/ Slip under my dark cloth and point the camera at the selected target scene, aiming to have the bed of the camera approximately level. Lock the ball head. Rack out the focus to "approximately correct".(Sometimes, knowing that the "perfect" alignment can't be achieved without image vignetting, I won't bother levelling the camera bed, preferring to use rear swings and tilts to achieve focus. Since I shoot mainly landscapes, perfect alignment of the rear standard with the "optimal orientation" isn't always a big deal.)

 

8/ When the composition looks right, I focus on the most distant object that I require sharply focused. Employ front (or rear) tilt to bring the foreground into focus. Refocus on distant object, adjust tilt again. Three iterations are normally enough. (Tilt on my camera is base tilt.) Check those focus points with loupe.

 

9/ If swing is also needed (quite rare), I follow the previous step but use swing instead of tilt. Swings are axial, of course.

 

8a/ Sometimes swings and tilts will not be possible and I simply use hyperfocal distance. (An example is when a nearby tree trunk is used to frame a distant object for compositional reasons. If the foreground is both above and below the distant object on the GG, a tilt or swing will render it out of focus in part of the scene.)

 

10/ Stop the lens down until the desired depth of field is achieved. Confirm focus throughout the scene with a loupe.

 

11/ Meter the scene (using zone system principles if spot metering, or incident metering if I can).

 

12/ Apply ND grads if needed (I only shoot colour tranny film).

 

13/ Close and cock the shutter. Note the aperture.

 

14/ Insert film holder.

 

15/ Scroll the meter for the appropriate shutter speed for the given aperture. Set the shutter speed immediately and calculate reciprocity failure if needed. (Bellows extension factor is very rarely required in landscape photography, though sometimes is needed for only part of the scene when large tilts are employed for near/far focus - soft ND grads help a lot!)

 

(Steps 5 to 15 take about 5 minutes - it's a routine I know off by heart.)

 

16/ Wait for the "decisive moment", when the light is perfect, air is still (or windy if that's what I want to show) etc. This waiting can take an hour or so if I think it's worth it.

 

17/ Confirm shutter speed with the meter if the light has changed considerably (ie after a long wait)

 

18/ Pull the dark slide, wait for vibrations to stop, make the exposure. Re-insert the slide.

 

19/ Remove the film holder and open the shutter to confirm the image on the GG was all I thought it would be under ideal conditions. Start again if it wasn't.

 

20/ Pack the camera up and look for the next shot.

 

Reading back on those steps, I don't know how I ever manage to get even one shot right, but it's now a routine that runs very smoothly for me. I get very few technical duds (out of focus, wrong exposure, camera shake, etc) and I'm happy with my ratio of keepers.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Graeme.