jim_galvin

I have combined this lens with an "elbow telescope" used as some kind of gunsight and available surplus. The elbow telescope has an eyepiece near 2 inches in diameter. Remove its objective and use this lens as the objective, connecting the two together with plastic sewar pipe. Makes an about 16 times spotting scope, with that eyepiece its like looking through a picture window.

I used a recessed board for a 90mm Grandagon with my CC400, untill I got a CC402, the short rail version with a recessed front standard (available used for perhaps $150). It will even work with a flat board with a 65mm. Much better than a recessed board, which makes getting to the shutter controls difficult.

This is usually dust on the mirrors, it is out of focus and leaves a narrow streak. The CCD is usually sealed up enough so that dust on it is much less common than on the mirrors. I use my Polaroid Sprintscanner upside down, less dust falls onto the mirrors.

I live in Emeryville. (510) 655-4358. The rail groove is tapered, I am home in the evenings and you can measure mine. I have the CC400.

I use color film when wanting a B/W print because I can try different contrast filters after the fact, by choosing a channel or channel mixing in Photoshop. That is, the red channel is much the same as B/W film with a red filter. Want to see the effect of a green filter? Just switch to the green channel.

The "secret" word for Kodak lenses is Camerosity. C is 1, A is 2 etc. So an RT lens is 1959. The "L" means luminized, that is single coated. My 203 is my most used lens, covers 4x5 with plenty of motions. A very good lens, hardly surpassed by modern lenses. It is a four element four group dialyte design.

With the camera square on to the cube, the point of the cube nearest to the camera is imaged on the center of the film, the point of the film nearest the lens. Other points are further from the camera, and their images are further from the lens (towards the edge of the film), in proportion: no convergence. Any other aim of the camera and this proportion is lost: convergence. In our eye, there is an automatic photoshop: our brain. By long experience, our eye-brain corrects many things: convergence, color correction, exposure etc. But a picture is out of its original context, our eye-brain doesn't correct it, so convergence seems wrong.

As far as shift-tilt vs correction in Photoshop, either way you are stretching a part of the pic. I would rather do it in the camera. If you do it in Photoshop, you need to crop the wider (stretched) part, and plan your shot for that crop. In camera, you see the crop on the ground glass.

The tilt-swing for tilting the plane of sharp focus in the camera can not be done in Photoshop, for instance to bring the foreground into focus.

I don't have a Copal in front of me, but most shutters work the same. With the lens off the lensboard, look at the ring that the aperature knob turns. It will have a screw in the ring. That screw transmits the rotation to the actual iris insde the shutter. If that screw is loose, there will be some play. Tighten the screw.

I think getting the felt cloth that seals around the dark slide wet would be a bad idea, it might make the cloth bunch up. I use compressed air to blow dust out of the dark slide slots, and a paper towel moistened with alcohol to clean the rest of the holder. Then some lemon Pledge to lubricate the dark slides. Then a new paint brush for dust before each loading.

The layer of cement is very thin, its thickness doesn't vary much from center to edge, so it is not much of an optical element, so the index doesn't matter. For minimum reflection, its index should be between the indecies of the elements to be cemented. But I've recemented several lenses, with great results, using the Edmune UV curing optical cement. Balsam cures slowly (very) unless you use heat, risking cracking the glass, so the modern cement is better. The main concern is getting the pieces of glass centered - you need to make some kind of fixture to hold the glass centered as the cement is cured. I've used 3 microscope slides placed around the glass, with a rubber band holding it together. If you give it a few minutes of UV, the cement is gelled, youi can take the slides of and clean up the excess cement with MEK. Then give it the full cure. I have put the slides back on for the cure, don't know if it can still move untill fully cured. The main difference between my work and Grimes directions are in seperating the glass in the first place. I let it soak in MEK, a week or two, so I don't have to use heat.

Be VERY carefull when working with the insides of a flash. That capacitor holds a lethal charge, and will be dangerous for a long time after turning it

off. Don't do this unless you are familiar with high voltage.

I have been asked "Is that a Hasselblad?" I am going to put a Hassy pic in the the case for the next time. Ive been asked "Can you still get film for that?" Response "Not for 10 or 15 years now". I've had a person place a tiny

point and shoot on top of my Calumet and take the same pic.

Try this site:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

I use the same camera, works just fine for me. That camera was in production, with almost no changes, from the 40's to I think '81. That tells one something! Its an excellent first time camera, and for me a long time keeper. Parts still available from Calumet. You got a real bargain.

On my Calumets the cap is held on with one or two allen head set screws, 3/32 allen. Loosen 2 turns, the cap comes off easily. If yours arre different, you may have to drive out a pin.

I'll look at mine tonight, I haven't removed my caps, I thought those were small allen head setscrews. I'll get back to you tomarrow.

I would loosen the setscrews, and then knock it off with a hammer and some kind of a punch, maybe even a large screwdriver. The hammer would be sliding along the rail as it comes up to the punch.

Actually, the slope makes the inside at the top smaller. It is so you can hook the bottom into the fixed clamp, and swing the board in at the top. Without that slope, the board only will go in straight, not permitting the tilt to get into the bottom clamp. I made some without the slope, and replaced the bottom clamp with a sliding one, just like the top, to increase the room for the shutter controls.

Fits the Calumet CC400 series, and maybe others.

Polaroid changed the thick white paper strip that stops the packet from coming all the way out when you are exposing. The old holders don't catch the new strip, so you have to know how far to pull it out. Hold a sheet alongside, see how far it must be pulled out to clear the picture area. It can be pulled at least another half inch. Pull it too far and it won't go back in. Notice which writing on the sheet is exposed. When using, pull it just that far. A pain, but works.

Two possibilities (mine works fine at 1/1000) Flickering fluorescent, you need to use incandescent. Tester must be very close to the shutter for a focal plane, and the light at some distance, so you have fairly parallel light rays. Do reread the manual, the setup is important.

I write on the CD with a felt marker, lightly. On the label side, of course.

Haven't had any troubles.

Calumet has a shutter tester for a little over $100.

You need a room with complete darkness: if you can see any glimmer at all (like at the bottom of the door), its not dark enough. Open the film box, noting how the lids nest, tear open the packet, and remove one sheet of film. I put the film without the packet back into the box, close the box the way it was: the inner box is closed with a lid on top, the second lid goes up from the bottom. You could also keep the film in the packet. I tape opened boxes closed against accidents. Now, in the light (this sheet is for practice, is now exposed) identify the emulsion side (the not shiny side), practice putting it into the holder, note the position of the notch on the edge of the film when it is in the right way, and the several ways it will go into the holder wrong. Note what you have to feel for to identify film in wrong: not in the slot both sides, not all the way in, upside down. Practice till you can do it with eyes closed. Now turn out the lights and do if for real.

Go to http://www.largeformatphotography.info/ for lots of good info.

I don't know what that strip does. There is another issue with MIS/1160 though: the rubber seals on the bottom of the cartridges. It took me several carts to solve it. There are at least 3 diferent seals from MIS, the wrong ones leak air and and the printer loses prime, looks like clogged jets (it won't print air!). To find out, try a new Epson cart (MIS states don't omit this step). If that prints OK (with a cleaning cycle or so) and the MIS cart shows missing nozzles, or whole missing inks, or prints part of a pic then one ink quits, its the MIS cart. The rubber seals with a rectangular hole don't work. I have told MIS about this, it didn't seem to register.

This lens was used in oscilloscope cameras for Polaroid roll film. Speed was the important issue, the osciloscope screen is not very bright when a single fast trace is being photographed. The trace has no very fine detail, so high resolution was not needed. This lens has little use for general photography, although the shutter may find use.