35 mm on a large format camera

[igord]

Is it possible to mount and use 35 mm or digital SLR on the 4x5 camera?

[michael_beckmann]

No. Why would you want to do that? Are you looking for shift and tilt capability? Do you want to use lenses intended for large format photography with this? What kind of photography are you planning to do?

[keithdunlop]

Yes it is. Go to Calumet's web site. They have a new Cambo camera that permits mounting most digital 35mm bodies to the rear standard with the proper adapter plate. It permits making full use of the 4x5 movements, with digital capture to your DLSR.

[igord]

Thanks, I want it for fashion and table top photos, don't have money for digital back. I though about mounting it on some old 4x5 camera but wondered if optically it would work.

[michael_briggs2]

Possible issues are: 1) will the LF camera conveniently use lenses with focal lengths as short as you want to use for the small camera? 2) if the front of the small camera is attached where the ground glass goes, then the distance from LF camera lensboard to ground glass adds to the distance from small camera lens mount to film, and you can only use lenses that are long for the small format, 3) will the particularly LF camera easily allow movements of sufficient fineness/precision for use with small film? 4) can you see the results of the movements in sufficient accuracy in realtime?

[vick_vickery]

I just made such a back using an extra lens board for my Cambo (will mount on either end) and an old screw-mount Vivitar 220SL 35mm I had laying around. I took the screw mount section off of an old pre-set lens that was also gathering dust and glued it to the board. Works fine; I just did it for fun and 'cause I was curious how it would work. It will work with 135mm or longer lensed on my camera without using a recessed lensboard; it also provides me with a center-weighted TTL meter for my 4x5!!! The meter doesn't have low-light capability due to the restrictions of the camera its on, but it works fine for daylight shooting and takes the bellows factor into account automatically!

[michael_beckmann]

Igor, your solution may be a roll film back for the 4x5 camera.

 

Do you have a dSLR already? If you don't have money for a digital back, you don't have money for a full-frame dSLR either.

 

Most large format lenses are unsuitable for small sensors anyway.

[george_jiri_loun]

It is fully possible to use a 35 mm SLR with a 4x5 camera. It is a simple and elegant way to do macrophotography for ex. Of course, you will loose the automatic coupling between the lens and the camera body but it is not the end of the world. Movements will be limited though because the bayonet opening limits their use - the film plane is burried too deeply behind the bayonet.

[sjixxxy]

I've considered doing it. Remove the back of the 4x5 and create a board with a hole in it to replace it. Bust out the glass on an old 52mm filter and attach it to the board as threading. Then use the reversal ring for my Nikon to screw into the board to mount the SLR body. Nice big macro cam with plenty of movements. And since my old Fe meters off the glass regardless of what is being used as a lens, complete autoexposure if need be. Heck, I bet one could even find a junker camera and hack the bayonet mount off it to make a lensboard for the 35mm lenses.

 

Course, I never actually did this, it is all just theory.

[bruce watson]

Bill Lear (of 8-track and Learjet fame) used to say something along the lines of he could do anything given enough time and enough money.

 

Sure you can do it. I don't know why you would want to, but if you do, it can certainly be done. You won't be the first; I think there are commercial products out there already. I seem to remember seeing something like this on the Calumet website...

[photodon]

Igor

 

It is a piece of cake! I made one up twenty years ago for my Toyo.

The lensboard will fit at either end, so I just screwed a lens reversal adaper to a lens board, and my F2 Nikon bodys mounted right on. I was doing a lot of micro work on ICs (about the size of a pin head) This setup gave me tons of bellow extension with a little movment to boot, and the great thin was I could use the Nikons meter to measure a small grey card! That gave me perfect exposures with out all of the calculations for bellows extension. I used an old Nikor 105mm bellows lens; which is on of the finest lenses Nikon ever made.

It was no useable with shorter lenses, because the bellows wouldn't conpress enough, but for macro/micro work it was the best. I still jave it and use it today.

 

www.doncameron.com

[jnanian]

igor -

 

i had a 35mm back for my 4x5 for several years. i think the one i had was a recommar

back and it was mounted on a board to fit a graflock back. i think that nikon also makes

the same sort of back for a 4x5 camera.

 

i used mine pretty often to shoot 35mm film with brass lenses, something you really can't

do with a regular 35mm camera :)

 

good luck!

[kelly_flanigan1]

A 35mm lens doesnt cover the 4x5" frame. It is just a circle. The 35mm F2.8 Shift PC Nikkor will cover a wee bit more. In close ups; the lens gains a larger diameter; but still no complete 4x5 coverage. Close up with a 4x5 an enlarging lens of 50mm or 35mm focal length is sharper; better corrected for these distances. At 1:1; the 50mm lens is moved forward about 50mm; and coverage is about double; ie 48x72mm; instead of 24x36mm. Using a 75mm or 80mm enlarging lens on a speed graphic at 1:1 will fill alot of a 4x5 frame.<BR><BR><IMG SRC=http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-298.jpg><BR><BR>

<IMG SRC=http://www.ezshots.com/members/tripods/images/tripods-296.jpg>

[peter_white2]

"Yes it is. Go to Calumet's web site. They have a new Cambo camera that permits mounting most digital 35mm bodies to the rear standard with the proper adapter plate. It permits making full use of the 4x5 movements, with digital capture to your DLSR."

 

Well, no, it can't make full use of a typical 4x5 camera's movements. The reason it can't is that the front opening of any 35mm camera body will block the light if the standards are set for any significant amount of shift.

[lacey_smith4]

someone suggested the two biggest limitations, which all but exclude your desires -- lens legnth, and/or extreme macro only. It is doable, but will likely not satisfy your needs. And, to buy new, is expensive.

 

First, the resulting depth of lens to camera body is the depth of the 35mm body plus the sizeable depth of whatever view-camera. So, around a 45 mm camera depth for the 35 mm, then another 100 mm or so view camera depth (maybe less), for focussing any furhter away than a few inches means a 150mm, even then with bellows packed in so close that movements don't work. Your high quality 35 lens will only allow very extreme close-ups (and few are corrected for that, so an enlarger lens or such (with no focussing mount, so the lens can be as close as possible to the film plane) would be better. A much longer lens (180-300) might allow infinity focus with some movements. The newer "digital" large format lenses might give good performance on this relatively small image area.

 

For any movements, you should choose a lens that goes up at least one size in format/coverage (35 mm body, use at least a medium fomrat lens).

 

There are moveable standard bellows designed for 35 and MF bodies -- novoflex makes some, still, and I have a 1960's version (Leica screw mount, used now on SLR with SLR-Screw adaptor). But, because you still have camera body depth plus bellows depth, these work for nromal range photogrpahy only for lenses substantially greater than 50mm, and any 35mm mount lenses (except bellows versions and enalrging lenses) will still have the macro-only capability -- Still need lenses with no focussing mounts.

 

I have an ancient 35 mm on 4x5 adapter, and MF as well. MF is useable, the 35 is a curiosity, mostly (I may have taken it apart, even). Both require view camera lenses to be used much.

 

If you want to try, you can cut out heavy cardboard or plywood to fit your view camera back, cut a central hole bigger than your 35mm camera throat, tape the board on the view camera(maybe with a felt layer for insulation), and press fit (hand pressure) the body against the board. Or, I have seen sort of a glove of fabric, taped to the view camera body, forming a tent, with its apex taped to the camera. That can be light tight, and then your movements are rear, camera body. I've even seen some pictures use such a makeshift tent without the View camera, if you can figure out how to hold front lens and back camera still, without intervening collapse of the fabric into the light path, that is your cheapest way to try this. Give you an idea of capability, anyway.

 

Lengthy, I am sorry. More of a neato-hobby question, I am afraid. But, you can try the makeshift tent with enlarger lens as the cheapest trial.

[jnanian]

sorry i forgot the link igor :)

 

the think i used looked like this http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/images/69649.jpg

and i had mine mounted to a board that fit into a graflok back.

this back takes conventional 35mm film and it slide up - down on that funky black block.

there is a tiny ground glass for focusing &C.

[igord]

Thanks all for your responses, I will try to use it somehow.

[erik_fredsti]

The answer to the question is YES. There are 35mm film backs available for large format cameras. If you want to adapt a 35mm camera to a large format camera: 1) Measure the distance from the 35mm cameras mounting surface to the film plane and match that to a new ground glass so that you can focus properly, this will allow you to use a rangefinder 35mm. If you use a 35mm SLR then just use the view finder to focus the bellows. The same thing goes for a digital SLR. Here you have to be VERY careful not to scratch the CCD when you get the mount focus distance.

Both the 35mm film camera and the digital camera work the same way, the image has to be focused on a surface and you have to find the distance from the mounting surface to the plane of focus.

The lenses for 35mm and SLR digital camera will most likely be a problem as they have a very short back focus distance and the bellows of the large format camera can not fold up that tight. You can use a recessed lens board but that will hinder the use of the control rings of the lens. Lenses for the large format camera will work just fine. They will give you a cropped image, that is, on a 4x5 camera a normal lens is about 150mm and this lens gives a 'normal look' to the image. This lens used on 35mm format will be like cutting out a 35mm piece from the center of the 4x5 film. The angle of view is that of a mild telephoto lens but with no compresion of field.

You will have to blacken all surfaces or make some light traps or some sort of film gate to control all of the extra light from the large format lens.

Befor you go through all this ask yourself 'Why?' What do you want to do and is this the right way of doing it. Sure you can do it but should you do it?

Erik