Too hot under the cloth to concentrate!

[cxc]

Not that I'm going to suffocate or anything, but I find the heat and

close air under the dark cloth distracting. When movements/focussing

require several iterations, it's hard for me to keep from succombing

to haste.

 

With my 4x5, I can just pull the hood of my lightweight windbreaker

over the camera, but I can't get this technique to work with my 8x10.

 

I'd be interested to hear what others have done to stay comfortable

under the cloth on a warm or muggy day.

 

TIA,

CXC

[ralph_barker]

How about an XXXXXXXL jacket? ;-)

 

Or, make something like a bag bellows with a light, plastic frame inside at the camera end that can be velcro'ed to the back of the frame, and then tapered to a draw-string closure at your end, so it could be tightened around the loupe? A napkin ring (on a stick?) could be substituted for the loupe for general, unmagnified, one-eyed observation.

[domenico_foschi]

Ralph, the ring idea is a great one .

If the ring is distant enough , you could see all the image in the

ground glass in focus and in its own glorious brightness .

Thank you!

[james phillips]

Come on up to Alberta, beside the Rockies. It snowed again today... :>))

[michael_kadillak6]

Before I purchased the lightweight BTZS hoods, I had to remember to bring a cloth to wipe the perspiration from my head while under a conventional focusing cloth. As you said, it was at times unbearable.

 

I also try to take the BTZS hood over the entire camera so as to leave a ventilation hole near the camera and under my chin to allow movement of air. Seems to work better although I still find that I need to leave it outside to air out occasionally. With 4x5 on a hot day, the reflex viewer is my best friend. With 8x10, expediency is a real priority no matter how you dice it. Out of curiosity, I would love to put a thermometer inside a cloth hood and a BTZS hood to measured the temps.

[cxc]

Michael, I take it you like your BTZS cloth/hood thing. I've put off buying one myself for two reasons, 1) it looks even more enclosed and I would guess even hotter; 2) absurdly expensive.

 

Yet in fact it is cooler, you say? How can that be? Is it cuz the cloth is much thinner, or is it not completely enclosed?

 

Ralph, I'm gonna rig something up like you describe for a test, just for fun.

[paul_coppin]

My 4x5 and 8x10 Cambos have provision in the top frame of the rear standard to insert the ends of a bent u-shaped wire frame that rises up and back. The DC lays over this like a tent or hood. Takes a fairly large sheet on the 8x10 but its sort of like looking at a movie screen in a dark room. If it not overly windy you can slide in and out of it fairly easily with a loupe and do your thing. Cambo sells the wire frames for a gazillion dollars, but you can easily make one up with a length of stiff wire (music wire is good). Another trick I've used is a summer wide-brimmed hat with a mesh top. Once you get the cloth situated, the mesh holds the DC off your head, lets a little air through, and the brim spreads the cloth out a bit away from your face. Can make getting to the GG a little cumbersome if the cloth is too small, heavy or tight. Works well with a big piece or black gabardine or similar fairly dark (or opaque) cloth. A sports headband, or bandanna will keep the sweat out of your loupe and off the GG.

[Troll]

My 4x5 BTZS focusing hood isn't too hot here in sizzling South Florida.

[michael_kadillak6]

There are two reasons that I have found appealing about the BTZS focusing hood. First of all, it is as light as a feather and very thin. The newer ones are even lighter than the ones I have purchased five years ago. Seems like they found a better material. Secondly, they work. Costly? Yes, they probably are. But it is all relative. If a heavy but inexpensive focusing cloth makes it uncomfortable to use your $1,000 lens on 8x10, what is it worth to make the uncomfortability moderate?

 

I just got another BTZS hood for my 12x20 that I will also use on 11x14. ALl I can say is that I am pleased every time I pull it out of my camera bag.

[john_kasaian1]

In three words: Ice Cold Beer. Drink enough and the aerial image becomes right side up and re-reversed! However, you might need to bring along a designated light meter reader/driver!

[miles_feigenbaum___dallas_]

Try some of the same material that the windshield covers are made out of; 'super-insulation', available in rolls at the big home improvement stores. You can sew some binding all the way around the edges. I ordered some of this already sewn to fit the cockpit windows of a private DC-9 that I used to maintain and it REALLY has a dramatic effect on the very high temps that bake everything during the summer months. A margarita on the rocks also does wonders for some artistic inspiration!

[tim_curry]

Make sure you have a cloth with a white side and a black side. Wear a head band to keep sweat out of your eyes. Use deodorant. Use insect repellant. Drink lots of water. Don't eat a big meal, just a salad if you must eat first. Wait until October (when it gets below 100f).

Shoot only at night |-)

Tim, Tucson, Arizona

[graphicjoe]

Don't mess around under there. Visualize the image before going under, then focus and expose. I've seen people spend 10-15 minutes under the dark cloth and I always wonder what they can be doing. Using a cloth with a white outer side is helpful.

 

Joe S.

[dan_smith]

Move to a cooler climate?

[tim_atherton2]

absolutely Dan - snowed here again yesteday. No overheating under my dark cloth... :-)

[ed_pierce2]

It may be hot and uncomfortable, but anything that keeps the black flies away is worth it.

[nicholas_f._jones]

My wife and I work as a team, discussing the shot--composition, exposure, need for movements, etc.--before we reach the darkcloth stage. So, for most shots, we don't need to spend much time under our 5x7 foot double thickness black shroud. OTOH, there have been some agonizing protracted struggles, esp. with some of the near-far landscapes requiring close calculations of DOF and multiple complex movements. But somehow my puritanical upbringing and belief that you've got to suffer for your art always see me through. Besides, the black darkcloth is just a necessary part of the whole 8x10 view camera scene, right? Pendleton shirts are scratchy, but can you imagine a 1960s surfer without one?