rotating backs

[larry_sandt4]

I just bought a new view camera with a rotating back. Why is it when I rotate the back, the image is still upside down.

[jeff_hall2]

I don't make many posts, but this one I have to say hah on. :-)

 

<p>

 

If you're serious, my apologies upfront.

[dan_smith]

You bought the one made to be used South of the equator. If you had

gotten the right one this wouldn't be a problem. Sell it to an Aussie

or someone in South America and they will bless you and your

posterity for generations to come. The southern hemisphere rotating

backs are quite rare.

[ruud_knulst]

Rotate the lens 180 degrees, problem solved.

[don_welch]

Larry,

 

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If you were serious, you better say so soon, or this is going to

get to be too much fun.

[tim_atherton2]

Oh oh - okay - if you really are serious - and I can see you actually

could be...

the image on the focus screen will always be upside down - it's one

of the joys of Large Format - learning to read the picture upside

down. The rotating back just allows you to go from horizontal to

vertical format easily and quickly (and also make minor adjustemnts

to the horizon line without fiddling with the tripod/head.).

 

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If you weren't serious - I just about blew coffee out of my nose

reading the post!

[jim5]

Sounds like the bellows was insatlled upside down. I had this happen

to me about 80 years ago. It took forever to figure it out. In your

case, I would return it to the dealer :)

 

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Just kidding...

[hagai_kaufman]

Larry, just rotating the back woun't do -- you have to rotate the whole camera - i.e put

your camera on the ground, then attach the tripod to the camera so that the legs form an

upside-down pyramid faceing straight towards the sky. This works best with very very

expensive and over-built cameras.

 

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PS - of course, this technique works only in the southern hemisphere

 

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Please let the group know how your test with this technique worked - i'm certain that this

will be very entertaining..

 

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thank you for your contribution to the moral of all of us in these hard times and God bless

America

 

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Hagai Kaufman

Tel Aviv

[andre_noble4]

Try rotating the photographer first. If that don't work, send new

camera to me. Andre

[wilhelm]

I would have thought this was one of the funniest posts I've ever

seen, then I noticed the .edu suffix, and realized that it was

certainly not a joke. Lucky for Larry, there are several appropiate

answers given by his peers.

[charles_mackay]

SLR cameras have a prism that makes the image appear right side up.

The image projected directly on the film or groundglass appears upside

down and reversed. Some LF camera systems offer reflex viewers that

will make it appear right side up.

 

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For that matter, the image on your retina is upside down and reversed,

but the brain figures it all out.

[tom_perkins]

The last post explains why large format photography is such a good

thing. Because the image is upside down on the viewing screen, it

appears right side up on the retina, and the brain doesn't have to

turn it upside down again to understand it.

[larry_sandt4]

Sorry people,

 

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I am afraid I offended some people with my joke. Quite frankly I wanted some humor in my life, and this question

popped into my head and I figured, why not. There has to be some fellow large format photographers out

there that would just a kick out of this question. We now life in a societly that is full of hate, anger, mistrust,

and fear. I never lived that way before and I will not continue to life my life that way. So humor is the best way

for me to deal with it. Thanks for the humorus responses, I really enjoyed them.

[wilhelm]

Thank YOU, Sir.

[jim_thompson1]

Well done Larry

[richard_ilomaki]

Wait wait!!

 

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Does I understand about the southern hemisphere cameras not working

north of the equator, but does that mean if I go to Lonndon and

procede further east, then the image in my Rollie will start to move

in the correct horizontal orientation?

 

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My goodness- all these years.

[richard_ilomaki]

OOOOPS

 

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Scratch that first "Does".

[george_nedleman]

It must have something to do with the coriolis affect.

George

[brian_ellis3]

Come on guys, it doesn't matter what hemisphere you're in. The image

will always be upside down. The only way to reverse it is to use

reversing film. That's why there's "negative" film (which leaves the

image upside down) and "positive" film (which reverses it to right

side up).