Dark cloth material

[wally_hess]

I've never had or even seen a real dark cloth. I want my wife, an

accomplished seamstress, to make me one. What material should I buy?

Is it made of single or double thickness material, and how large

should it be. I've read that one side should be black and the other

white.

Appreciate any tips

Thanks

[louie_powell1]

Wally -

 

My first dark cloth was a single thickness of black denim that I actually hemmed myself. It worked just fine.

 

Today I use a double-thickness commercial darkcloth, one side is black and the other white. The only advantage of the commercial product is that the white side (which goes on the outside when you are using it) tends to reflect light/heat and keeps the inside from getting too stiffling in the summer.

[ralph_barker]

There are probably three objectives you want to aim for, Wally: darkness, coolness, and ease of head movement. Black on the inside is somewhere between good and essential. When looking for fabrics, hold them up to a light source to see how much light gets through the spaces in the weave. The denser the fabric, the better. But, dense fabrics also tend to be heavy and hot. White fabric on the outside will reflect more sun, keeping it cooler under the cloth. Ease of movement is a matter of how smooth the fabric is. The first darkcloth I made was black satin on the inside, and black velvet on the outside. Works well at blocking the light, and looks very classy, but it's awfully hot under the thing. It no longer gets used outside. ;-)

 

You might consider using lighter-weight fabrics, and going with a panel of mylar-like material in the middle or outside. Again, just hold the "sandwich" up to the light to see how much light it keeps out. Use Velcro dots or strips along the edge to provide a means of closing the darkcloth around the camera back, and closing up the space below.

[bob_moulton7]

Wally,

I would suggest a darkcloth comprised of two layers, white and black, For maximum opaqueness you can use black ultrasuede. For the white, cotton or a white nylon or even white goretex. The latter is handy if you wind up photographing in inclement weather.

While the cattle blanket style will work--I use one made of cotton + ultrasuede-- I would suggest also that you consider the design of the BTZS darkcloth. It is reasonably compact, and made with the materials mentioned above, would be really servicable.

One final note: I have a BTZS cloth and found the elastic not very user friendly. So were you to opt for that design, I would replace the elastic and the closed "tube" design with overlapping velcro or in place of the elastic a cord and locks like those found in most parkas by Marmot or North Face. Either way, you can more easily place and remove the cloth onto the back of your camera without possible moving any adjustments..

Hope this helps,

 

Bob

[capocheny]

Wally, you have some good answers from the previous posters

already. I just wanted to add that I purchased fabric from a local

shop that repairs tents and other outdoor camping gear.

<p>

I found a nice piece of black nylon material that was waterproof. I

also found a very light piece of white nylon that the fellow sewed

together with the black piece. It works very nicely and if I'm

caught out in the rain...the darkcloth will protect the camera from

getting drenched.

<p>

The last thing I had done was to have a strip of velcro sewned on

the long edge side of the cloth. The reason I did this was so that

I could seal the light out without having to try and grip the two

edges together, focus, and make changes with just one hand.

<p>

Hope this helps...

[leica ron]

According to the View Camera article on this very subject it suggested 4 foot by 4 foot square as a minimum size for a 4x5 camera and 6 foot by 6 foot for 8x10 and larger.

 

The cloth of choice was "broadcloth" which can be found at any Fabricland type store.

 

The article suggested going to the store and check the 'weight' of the material to ensure that it will block light. Also, black broadcloth on one side and white broadcloth for the other.

 

Avoid too much stitching as the obvioulsy will allow light in !

 

Good luck,

 

Ron

[todd_west]

<p><a href="http://www.rdrop.com/users/twest/photos/gear/bender-4x5-build.html#Dark-Cloth">http://www.rdrop.com/users/twest/photos/gear/bender-4x5-build.html#Dark-Cloth</a>

 

<p><i>Avoid too much stitching as the obvioulsy will allow light in !</i>

 

<p>Huh? For any sane scenario I can think of, the thread fills the hole left by the needle, and that's with coated fabrics. It'll be even less of an issue with uncoated fabrics. I've between two and four rows of stitching in the cloth I sewed, and there's no light leakage. Gaps around the camera or from the opening of the cloth are a vastly larger problem.

[tim_curry]

Wally,

 

I made mine. Used white for the outside and black inside. I made a pattern out of newspaper first (tape a few sheets together) which is shaped like a half circle. The long straight edge (middle about 30" or so) has a length of 3/16" elastic cord sewn in place and a plastic slide to pull the cord tight (hiking supply). This center segment of the line is just long enough to go around the camer's body (not the whole length of the straight edge). When this is folded around the camera's body, there is some left over which hangs below the camera to keep more light out.

 

The idea is to have a large enough semi-circle to make a "tee pee" out of the cloth when it is wrapped around the camera so you can move around under there. I also used a small handfull of my son's steel BB's to add to the hem on the round side (acts as a weight which can move around inside to help keep it down in a breeze). This has worked well for me, was cheap to make and fits my camera perfectly.

 

It is now in the 100's every day here so I'm thinking about adding air conditioning as well. Just haven't figured out a light, cheap, simple way to do so. Will post again if I figure that one out. Any suggestions (about the AC) would be helpful. tim, tucson

[leica ron]

Todd,

 

Avoid too much stitching as the obvioulsy will allow light in !

 

That's what the article said. But then again the article goes on to describe how you should use your cloth to wrap around the complete camera (except the lens of course) to eliminate light leaks which may be present in the bellows, etc.

 

I myself use a Harrison Dark Cloth and don't have a problems with leaky stitch-holes ...

[lbi115l]

How about glueing the seams with some sort of fabric glue of krazy glue?

[tim_atherton2]

pinholes from stiching really aren't an issue.

 

"I myself use a Harrison Dark Cloth and don't have a problems with leaky

stitch-holes ..."

 

And it can double as a tarp for 20 people to have breakfast under if it's raining... :-)

[leica ron]

You got it Tim !

 

The thing is huge, if I ever get stuck in the woods it can double up as a sleeping bag or a tent.

 

Back to the topic at hand, I read on a thread somewhere that the Bromwell dark cloths were slightly shaped to allow the cloth to accomodate a persons head more comfortably. Not sure how you'd accomplish this, but just a thought ...

[gary_meader]

Wally- All good answers. I just made mine, and the only advice

I'd add is to sew into each corner a couple of curtain weights.

Your wife will know what they are. Easy to do. I used 2 layers: 1

black denim, the other white denim. Blocks light well,

indestructible, washable if needed. I dreamed of getting real

fancy with drawstrings and all that, but couldn't design it for my

neighbor, who sewed it for me. This works like a charm. Good

Luck

[ilkka]

Be careful with the weights. Pieces of velcro might work better in the corners, to tie the cloth together under the camera. Ansel said he once broke a groundglass on a windy day with the weights...

[douglas_howk]

Concerning stitching holes, my wife sewed the two sheets together except at one corner, then pulled the material thru that corner thereby reversing inside out. She then hand-sewed the corner. Stiches are invisible, therefore no light leaks. She also sewed velcro on areas that match velcro I glued to wood frame of camera back.

[tim_atherton2]

"Back to the topic at hand, I read on a thread somewhere that the Bromwell dark cloths were slightly shaped to allow the cloth to accomodate a persons head more comfortably. Not sure how you'd accomplish this, but just a thought ..."

 

It's a piece of crap! I got taken in by all the BS once, specially shaped, hand sewn by a family of local CHinese tailors etc...

 

Boiught one via B&H once - close to to small, just had a couple of tucks in it to "specially shape it" (didn't do anything at all) and it wasn't anywhere close to light tight... it was two layers of material with quite an open weave that just let light through.

 

Sent it back for a refund.

[pvp]

I made my darkcloth using three layers of fabric, admittedly overkill. Two layers of black plus a layer of white on the outside. Overall dimensions 3' x 4' for 4x5. I put velcro tape on one of the 3' edges plus about 15" along the long edges so I can seal it around the back of the camera plus close the edge back a bit. It works great. If doing it again, I'd try using only two layers (1 black, 1 white) and I'd use regular 2-part velcro. I made mine with the combination-type that has both hooks and loops on one tape; yes it sticks to itself but not as well as the original 2-part velcro.