dan_fromm2

Asking prices or transaction prices? Asking prices are meaningless.

Interesting if true. I've had three cell phones that claimed to have GPS receivers. None could find where it was when in a location without cellular signal. This happened most recently in a mountain valley in the Dominican Republic. Since I do fieldwork in places without connectivity I carry a hiker's GPS so that I can log locations accurately and use a Garmin routing GPS with downloaded maps to find my way around. I miss gasoline companies' highway maps. I also carry a laptop with Garmin's Basecamp and downloaded maps.

Now that I think of it, OP, you also haven't grasped the reality of shooting with "flexible" flash brackets. Getting reproducible flash-camera-subject geometry with these brackets isn't trivial. When I was working hard at flash photography in the field -- subjects were flowers, insects, sometimes herptiles, ... -- I found that rigid flash brackets that gave consistent geometry were the key to getting consistently good results. The alternative is to use an incident-reading flash meter. OP, do you hav a flash meter?

Sigh. Do the GN arithmetic, adjusting for loss of illumination due to magnification. And then, perhaps, you'll understand what I've been telling you.

Turning the flash down won't solve the problem. An ND filter on the taking lens will do the job, at the cost of making the view dimmer. For the second time, which ISO will you be using? Film and digital.

Are you shooting film or digital. Either way, which ISO? And what is your camera's highest flash sync speed? The rig you're thinking about was fine for KM (ISO 25) with 1/250 shutter speed. This will completely overpower ambient, giving you full control of exposure without having to stop down too far. Remember that effective f/ number at 1:1 is twice the f/ number set, i.e., set the aperture at f/11, get the depth of field and diffraction you'd expect at f/22. With higher ISO and/or slower shutter speeds you'll have to stop down too far to eliminate ambient light.

That's the theory. It is a nice theory, seductive even. But and however the practice often falls short, and that's why regulation is often needed. By the way, Milton Friedman's argument against regulation -- technical change will make a regulation unnecessary but the regulation won't go away -- is an empirical argument. Honest observation rejects it.

There's a small screw in the bottom of the rail rider. It adjusts the position of the drive roller. Back the screw off a little.

HI, Ralf. I was there, sorry I missed you. Perhaps if there's a fall show? Nothing much there that spoke to me, but tastes differ.

See Copal Shutters - The Photographers Machinist for mounting hole diameters. Retaining rings have centering ridges. Check that the retaining ring for your lens' shutter is loose in the board's hole with the ridge in the hole.

As Q.G. said in post #2 above, you have the lenses, we don't. Ask them. In my experience, Heliar types have less coverage than Tessar types of the same focal length. Skopars are Tessar types. Voigtlaender priced them below equivalent Heliar types, but this may reflect differences in cost of production rather than differences in performance. Yes, some people say that they perceive differences in rendering, whatever that means, between Heliar types and equivalent Tessar types. I'm a certified ignorant barbarian insensitive to the fine points -- I took the course, passed the exam, have the certificate -- and I don't see the difference. Subjective is as subjective does.

I don't think Arthur Fellig, AKA Weegee, would agree with you. Neither would the many other photographers who used flash bulbs with Graphics.

Hmm. Some press cameras have focal plane shutters. Others don't. Why? My best guess is historical accident. Folmer & Schwing made Graflex SLRs with focal plane shutters before they started making Speed Graphic press camera with focal plane shutters. The press cameras had shutters first used in the SLRs.

Mike, a 105 mm lens is too long for slide copying with a PB4 + PS4. At 1:1 sensor to subject distance will be ~ 420 mm.

This discussion puzzles me. I've searched it from the start, found one mention of the ES-2 slide holder, in post #3 above. I don't understand why it or the earlier ES-1, either one mounted on a 55 or 60 mm MicroNikkor on an FTZ adapter, won't do. I also don't understand why the PB-4 PS-4 combination won't take an FTZ. What have I missed?

Hmm. I've had my PB-4 and PS-4 for > 50 years. I've had a 55/2.8 MicroNikkor AIS for 35 years. I recently broke down and bought a used D810. I don't have a scanner. Please explain to me why I should buy a scanner. And please send money.

I doubt it is a Berlebach, but ask them if it is one of theirs. berlebach.de

Roy, what you're seeing is pretty normal for 4 elements in 4 groups double Gauss type wide angle lenses. The general recommendation for them is to use full aperture for focusing and to stop down to get good image quality. This doesn't quite go for Wide Field Ektars because they were designed for less coverage -- 80 degrees -- instead of the usual 100 degrees for most others of this type.

Clean your ground glass. If I can focus a 60/14 Perigraphe you should be able to focus a 90/6.8. Which "Speed Graphic" do you have? Pacemaker and Anniversary types both have linked inner and outer bed rails, which make focusing lenses that make infinity with the standard on the inner bed rails easy. The Pacemaker's minimum extension is 66.7 mm, the Anny's is 65.1, if you want to use a lens shorter than 90 mm, check flange-focal distances before shopping. Re the beer budget, these days f/8 Super Angulon types down to 65 mm aren't quite beer, still wine -- not champagne -- is more like it, but if you want to go that way look into Fuji SW lenses.

On Pacemaker Graphics dropped bed will do it. I can't say anything about older Graphics, no recent experience and I'm too lazy/uninterested to take the book off the shelf ... Front rise -- 19 mm on 2x3 Pacemakers -- works with all focal lengths. As for monorails, my hybrid Cambo will allow useful movements with my 47 SA and longer lenses. Can't say anything about a normally configured SC-1 or SC-2, haven't had to try them 'cos I have the hybrid.

Conrad, this really depends on the press camera and on the monorail. The shortest lens that will cover 2x3 (6x9 in metric) is the 35/4.5 Apo Grandagon. Mine focuses to infinity with mm to spare on my 2x3 Crown Graphics and Century Graphic. Using it on my 2x3 Cambo SC-1 isn't really possible, even with Cambo's own bag bellows. I can use it on a funny sort of hybrid Cambo (SC-1 front standard, my own bag bellows, SC-2 bag bellows) with some gymnastics. FWIW, the 2x3 Crown/Century's minimum extension is 34.9 mm. The 4x 5 Crown's is 41.3 mm. Crowns are quite friendly to short lenses. Speed Graphics, not so much. Graphics lack movements but they're more useful than they appear.

Chuck, how are you focusing? I ask because I shoot 2x3 Graphics. 2x3's normal focal length is 100 mm +/-. I have no trouble focusing on the ground glass with a normal lens wide open, using a 3.6x Toyo loupe. 90mm isn't that much shorter than 101 or even 105 mm. In fact, I have no trouble focusing a 60/14 Berthiot Perigraphe wide open on my 2x3 Century Graphic. To put 60 mm in perspective, this is a long "normal" focal length for 35 mm still. You may want to get and use a loupe, also to clean the ground glass. If you clean the GG, be careful when refitting it to the camera. Shiny side towards photographer, matte/ground side towards lens. To find the infinity position, mount your camera on a tripod, pull the front standard out, roll the rails as far back as they will go and lock them in place, aim a a target at least a mile away and slide the standard back and forth while checking focus on the GG. Use a loupe, naked eye won't do. Marking the infinity position on the rails isn't a bad idea. However, I use a variety of lenses on my little Graphics, haven't taken the trouble to find the infinity position for any of them. I just put the standard in more or less the right place and focus on the GG. If I've put the standard in the wrong place for the shot I want to take, I move it appropriately. I always focus on the GG. This procedure -- not using proper bed stops to ensure that the standard is square to the rails -- introduces the risk of slight unintended swing. I mitigate the risk by using a sort of moveable stop. My first was made by the late Fred Lustig, who called it a Chinaman. Seriously. My second was made by SKGrimes. You can see them and read more about them at http://www.galerie-photo.com/telechargement/dan-fromm-6x9-lenses-v2-2011-03-29.pdf

Ed, I once made some "test" shots with my 55/2.8 MicroNikkor AIS, 105 MicroNikkor AIS and 700/8 Questar. Same subject, all from tripod, all with flash illumination, all at 1:4, which is as close as the Questar will go. Indistinguishable. I love the Questar for what it can do when used carefully, can't recommend it for moving subjects. Too slow working.

Hmm. Could be veiling flare caused by internal reflections. Are the reversing rings interiors shiny?

It depends a bit on budget, what you do and which lenses you have. I recently broke down and got a DSLR that can use my old manual focus Nikkors. The D850 appealed but a used D810 was much less expensive and better than good enough so that's what I got. For one of my applications, hand held macro with flash illumination and dim ambient lighting the D810 is harder to focus than I like. My old flash rigs still work but dim ambient = dim view in the finder = great difficulty in seeing when the subject (unconstrained fish in an aquarium) is in focus. I might have been better off, if much poorer, if I'd got a mirrorless.