From: donl@glass.esd.sgi.com (donl mathis)
Subject: Re: Novice 4x5 field gear questions
Reply-To: donl@glass.esd.sgi.com (donl mathis)
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 03:04:16 GMT


In article <1992Jul24.005343.12322@beaver.cs.washington.edu>,
franz@cs.washington.edu (Franz G. Amador) writes:

|> I need some sort of changing bag.  KEH lists one called the "Rokunar
|> Portable Darkroom (27"x30" for $26, 36"x45" for $39).  Anybody know
|> about these?  Would the small one be adequate?  How 'bout "The
|> Changing Room", which Adorama lists for $84.95 (ouch), but looks
|> nifty?

The small one is probably adequate.  I bought a little kit of white
plastic sticks and black plastic corner brackets a few years ago that
assemble into a frame inside the bag.  This helps a *lot*, because it
keeps the top of the bag up and out of the way while you're working.
Make something out of tinkertoys, for goodness sake.  The "Changing
Room" accomplishes the same thing, but for a lot more money.

|> Do you just carry an old empty film box to put your exposed sheets
|> into, or is there some slicker system?

Empty film boxes are the slickest system possible.  ;)  If you're going
to be using different films, or using the zone system so that you'll
have different contrasts to worry about, you'll need more than one
box.  The little 10-sheet boxes hold a lot of film.  I use the white
cardboard over- and under-sheets that came in the original envelope,
but I don't worry about the envelope.  Rubber bands to hold the boxes
shut are *mandatory*.  And you can scribble how many sheets are in
there on the front on the box, so you can keep track of what's going
on in the dark when you take them out.

|> I'm hoping to make a lightweight focusing cloth by sewing together two
|> pieces of coated nylon ripstop fabric, one white (for the outside;
|> cooler in the sun) and one black.  Seems like it'd be adequately
|> lighttight, and I could drape it over the camera if it started
|> raining.  Has anyone tried anything like this?

Certainly.  My mom made me the World's Best Focusing Cloth.  I would
suggest a fiber-based material rather than nylon, because a nylon
focusing cloth is generally quite slippery and it slides off all the
time.  You'd probably need something to hold it on the camera, and that
still doesn't solve the problem of it slipping off your head.  Mine has
a barrier between the black and the white layers.  I would suggest that
you make a test run of the two layers of cloth you have in mind, and
see how dark they make it.  You might find you want a solid barrier in
there, too.  I think mine's some kind of rubber layer.

|> Lens protection: are those "lens wraps" good enough to protect lenses
|> put in a stuff sack in a backpack, or is there a better option?

It depends.  They're probably fine, if the bundle can be nestled nicely
in the pack, and they aren't going to get smashed by various things.  I
made little boxes out of thick (i.e. 3/8") dense black foam rubber,
duct tape, and silicone seal.  The lenses fit in these 4x4x4 boxes with
lids, and are reasonably safe.

On the other hand, I once put the dust cap back on my 120/8 Super
Angulon without cleaning the inside of the cap after dropping it in the
dirt, and on the hike back out, the cap was pressed against the front
surface of the lens, and etched a nice little patch in the glass.
This is not recommended procedure.  (1) Keep the dust caps clean inside,
and (2) don't let them get pressed onto the front of the lens.

|> And more generic 4x5 questions:  any recommendations for focusing
|> loupes?  There's quite a variety out there, and I'm at a loss at
|> how to choose.  I'd certainly prefer light, tough, and cheap, but
|> still good enough to do the job.

I think mine was about $40 or some such.  You probably want 7x or 8x,
and it should be made with ground glass in mind, because the surface
you want to focus on is not at the base of the loop -- it's on the
inside of the ground glass.  An unenlightened loop might have to be
modified to work right.  Mine's a Horseman I got from Calument; they
have another one they put there name on, but it's basically the same
loupe.  But please -- don't buy a terribly cheap loupe.  It's a small
fraction of the total amount you're going to spend, and you're using
large format partly because you want sharp images.

|> Lastly, are all film holders pretty much good enough, or would I
|> be screwing myself if I bought the cheapest?

I'm not aware of much of a range in price for "normal" holders; they
all seem about the same.  Well, there aren't that many anyway --
Riteway, Fidelity, and... uhm...  :)  You can get holders with little
thumbwheels to put digits on the edges of your images, but I've never
used them, and suspect they wouldn't work if the image wasn't light
in the right places.  And then there's Mido -- small, light, small,
very light, and very small.  I hear they're a little tricky to load
and unload, and you have to take other care with them, but people
seem to like them.  And they're rather small and light.

- donl mathis at Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
donl@sgi.com
Newsgroups: rec.photo