robert_anderson

John, from my experience with this lens, shooting interior/exterior

architectural scenes, I have not experienced any edge fall off or

vignetting at all. This is a great lens, and I have used it both for

infinity and close focus situations with out a hitch.

I have had great results from Fuji NPS [iso 160] rated at ei 80 and

processed normally. Prints have been made to 30x40 [duraflex] and

there is no observable grain, and the color fidelity is outstanding .

I would second the suggestion to use a light stand with target as a

focusing aid. This works very well. I also have used a 1k tungston

spot to blast light into regions of the scene as well. Have an

assistant move the light as you view different areas of the scene,

then don't forget to kill it before the exposure [uh, personal

expereince speaking...oops!] The use of polaroids is with-out

question your ultimate answer though.

Thank you all for the great, and prompt responses!

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And the winner is... a pin-hole on the front lens board! I use the

smaller Wista boards on all lenses, and mount them onto the Arca

adapter board which stays on the body. This adapter board has a small

pin to register the smaller boards, located at the 6 o'clock

position. Evidently, when they drilled the hole to insert this pin in

to, they slightly elongated the hole and viola, a pin-hole. This

sucker was REALLY small. Approximately 1/5 the size of a straight

pin's shaft diameter, and it was only found after placing a 4 D-cell

flash light against every piece of the damn camera for an hour in a

darkroom! I would have never guessed this could/would be the cause.

As to the lack of evidence found on the polaroids, it would be my

guess that they are too high in contrast to pick up this ghosting. It

actually looked like a semi-focused portion of the main image, but

only on the final chome's, and only of an item within the scene that

was brighter than the rest.

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Again, thank you all so much! It is a relief to be able to trust my

camera again.

I need to tap into the knowledge base of you die-hard LF users. This is probably a no brainer, but I can't figure it out, guess we all know what that means!

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A ghost image is appearing within the frame on the final film that is not discernable on the ground glass, but only under certain circumstances, usually involving direct light [sun]. The lighting angle is not into the camera position, usually 30 degrees or more out of frame. The ghost is usually the size of a dime, and is a non-mirrored, 50% intensity likeness of a bright object within the frame.

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I would like to know why this happens, and how to eliminate it.

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It appears to be related to any bright object [in direct light, or from direct light] that is within the composition, that is approximately +1 1/2 to +2 stops over the base exposure. It also seems to happen more often when this object/zone [has happened with potted flowers, as well as with a sun spot on the exterior of an adobe house] is located in the outside 1/3 of the frame, but not always. It has happened with all of my lenses, and both with and with out camera movements.

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I have purposely re-shot several of the shots with different combinations of lenses, apertures, bed angle, movements, etc. all to no avail! The simple answer is to shoot in total shade, but that is not applicable for this assignment [architectural exteriors].

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The culprit:

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Arca-Swiss F-line 4x5, std. & bag bellows, Caltar II N 75/6.8, 90/6.8, 135/5.6, 210/5.6, Arca Bino hood, Canham modified lens shade, all of this stuff is new. The shots are proofed on Polaroid type 54 [NO GHOST VISIBLE!!] and final film shot on Fuji Q/L RVP [With Ghosts] with Fuji Q/L film holder, typical exposure is f22.5 @ 1/8 sec. though I've tried just about every other combination and bracketing.

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I typically shoot medium format on location, and use the 4x5 for product shots and interiors. I have never encountered this before. Any help would be most welcome and appreciated.

I have the 30cm, expanding rail[A/S #043130]. With a 210mm lens I can

compose a loose head & shoulders portrait. I would opt for a longer

[40cm A/S #043140] rail since you already have a shorter one, and

30cm is just barely enough, the extra 10cm would be nice to have [on

the 40cm]. I also have the standard bellows and find them to be at

about their maximum extension with the 30cm rail racked out, so you

may have to get an extension bellows as well[A/S #072060].

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Hope this helps.

I don't know Ellis, I kind of like the sound of E.V. Discount Photo &

Video!

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Peder, if you could give use a little more info as to what you want

to do with this camera, and your budget, it would help narrow down

the choices.

Congrat.'s Mike! I haul my A/S F-line, 4 lenses mounted on Wista

boards, A/S bino hood, Polaroid back, Fuji Q/L holder, meters,

filters, ect. in a Tenba Air Max case [about $230 from B&H]. It will

not "legally" fit the airline reg.'s, but is close.