Buying New Stuff :: My New 4x5 Gear
Вставка
- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- In this video I walk through some of the new pieces of equipment that I needed to buy on my 4x5 journey.
I will show and tell my new:
Spot Light Meter
4x5 Film Holders
Ansel Adams Books: The Camera, The Negative, and The Print
& Magnifying Loupe
Find Me Online:
Website :: www.chrisswartwood.com
Instagram :: @chrisswartwood
Email :: chris@chrisswartwood.com
Gear Used:
Camera: Sony A6000 :: amzn.to/2mdXm9L
Tripod: Manfrotto :: amzn.to/2lOx69L
Ring Light: Newer Ring Light :: amzn.to/2mUP6iu
Fill Lights: amzn.to/2me3r62
Microphone: amzn.to/2mUK3yF
Lapel Mic: amzn.to/2me6Y4c
Audio Recorder: Zoom H4n :: amzn.to/2mUMFN4
Video Monitor: Aputure VS2 :: amzn.to/2mNCCIZ
The gear links above and any Amazon links I post are Amazon affiliate links and it helps with the time and costs associated with producing this show. Any views or opinions are my own and come from a place of honesty and sincerity. I hope you enjoy the videos and my channel and leave me your notes or feedback in a comment below. Thanks for watching!
-chris
I would say to keep shutter close, Two reasons Shuteer tension coil wud have rested. Also, tha dark environment would be maintained. I will let you know one funny story once in my 10X8 Wista while keeping the lens open suddenly I saw smoke was coming out my Camera. While shutter being open the Lens acted a magnifying glass concentrated the sunlight on my bellows to burn it & made a hole which needed to be replaced.
It doesn't matter if you leave it open or closed as long as you don't leave the shutter cocked. That will damage the shutter. Also never cock the shutter then adjust your shutter speeds. That will also ruin it. If there is no focus switch on the lens like the older shutters make sure bulb or T is not activated and keep it closed. Keep the lens caps on the lenses to keep from scratching the glass. Use long cloth cable releases that are more flexible to releasing the shutter. That will help eliminate vibrations. Once you have loaded your film blow off the holder then place in a ziplock bag. This will help keep dust from getting in. Before I load the film holder on the camera I'll blow it off again. I always make sure the film holder is seated properly and tightly on the camera. If it's off or loose you will get light leaks. Develop a pattern of repeatable step you can follow for setting up the camera, taking the shot then putting it away. Once you get familiar with those motions it gets easier. A better light meter would be a Sekonic 508 with spot meter. I've had mine for 18 years and works great. I use my incident meter more than the spot. Practice, practice, practice and you'll be fine. flic.kr/p/NnTsqy
Hey Ryan! Great advice. Yes, I have changed the shutter speed a few time while it was cocked and to the touch it felt like I shouldn't be doing that. Thank you for clarifying for me. And also good advice about the zip locks. Reading this is making me excited to get out and shoot! Thanks! -chris
Technically, there are some little springs in a Copal shutter than would like you to close down the preview for storage. Is that true about not changing shutter speeds after the shutter is cocked? I've never hear that. "Ruin" is a harsh word. My lenses were old when I bought them and they keep on clicking away. I TRY to be nice to them but you know... Landscapes....
Tim Lowe The springs becomes stressed causing the shutter speeds to be more off. Your half second becomes a second. Worse case the spring breaks or where the spring attached comes off. We used to send our copal lenses to a repair shop for testing shutter speed accuracy. That way when shooting film exposure could be accurate or would let us know how to compensate in stops to how fast or slow the shutter is actually running. My 210mm 1/30 actually runs slightly long at 1/20 so I stop down a third stop when using that speed to compensate.
Interesting commentary. I have to confess that I abuse my equipment a bit. I should be more careful. People are still making great cameras (not that plywood piece of crap) but lenses are getting more and more scarce. i hope someone starts making great lenses again.
Not sure if it really matters too much, but personaly i always leave cameras with shutters/lens' closed. It just seems to me that there would be less wear on any springs involved if they are left without ant tension on them.But hey as i say thats just me.
I have to agree with your logic, lens closed! Thank you!
I agree. I store mine lens closed down. It might matter to some shutter models more than others but with the age of most of this gear I feel whatever can prolong the life of the parts is worth doing.
Spot meter: a) Use your phone. Android: LightMeter by David Quiles b) Use a Sekonic L-208 Twinmate in reflected mode in contact with your groundglass. Find an equivalent ISO by comparing an average of several spots in the glass to an incident reading.
I’m someone who fixes lenses that have the shutter built in (Prontor shutter, Compur, etc). The shutter mechanism is relaxed right after you trip the shutter. That’s when all springs are unloaded. So for storage i would suggest cocking the shutter, trip it and leave it like that.
Excellent! Thank you so much!
Great video Chris. It fun watching through your recent purchases and seeing the similarity to my purchase behavior when I started 4x5 as well just a couple months ago. haha. The spot meter, loupe, ansel adams books, all right on point to what I did as well.
Btw, I sent over a instagram DM. Just a little fyi ;)
Hi Chris, Always close the shutter and move the speed ring to 1 second that way there is no danger of the shutter lever being knocked open. An open shutter pust strain on the spring and after a while can affect your shutter speeds. When loading your double dark slides always prepare them out of the bag by blowing them with either compressed air or a bulb blower wipe the slides both sides with an antistatic cloth before putting them half in, whit or silver side showing, then in the bag put your index finger above the film rail and your thumb above the other, hold the edges of the sheet with your other finger and thumb and then present it to the rail, if the film hits flesh you know that you are aiming too high it will only take you a few goes to get it right although when you do the first couple of times you won't believe it, checking is as easy as pushing the dark slide home remembering to fold in the tailgate. Make sure that the unexposed film it back in the wrappings and that the box is closed before opening the bag, I fouled a whole new box through being in a hurry.
You might also look into having collapsable loops for your ground glass. Take up less space and because they're square you can put the loop into the corner. Always keep your lens closed which is what i was told 45 years ago when starting into LF. Your correct that you need to practice a lot. Was glad to see that you sacrificed a sheet film for this purpose. There is nothing like prating with the real thing. Looking forward to following your journey in LF
Great videos man! I eeally enjoy watching them
Thank you!
Great video also. When I bought some film holders, they already had film left in them so I have old film to use to practice loading with. As far as the loading of the film, a changing bag would work but I created a darkroom in my basement. I created a separate film room off the main darkroom so that if I had friends over and needed to load film or get the film into a developing tank, the separate room allows the room to be completely black while the printing area still has the safe light in use. Need to have created the darkroom to print the 4x5 images
the college I attended stored their lenses on their boards, shutter released, and vertical (as it is on the camera) with caps on both ends and stored in a dry in a dark [relatively dustless] room hope that helps
From experience, shutter closed just like cameras uncocked to save the springs. Your three books were my bibles back in the day. Great information. Study the part over the Zone System. You don't need to bury yourself up to your neck in it but at least learn to use your spot meter to place certain parts of the scene on whatever Zone you want it on. Have Fun!
Another great video! I feel your pain on trying to load the darn film holders. I did what you showed, I used a piece of copy paper for my 8x10 holder. I spent a couple of days practicing. Keep at it, it will get much easier. The first time I loaded one holder (2 sheets) it took me 30 minutes and I felt as if I was working with nuclear material! Now I can load a holder in less that a minute. You will too, the more you do it, the easier it gets. I bought a Harrison changing tent and that gives me lots of room to put the film box and holders.
One piece of equipment that I didn't see coming was a new tripod. My "heavy duty Manfrotto" that will hold 20 pounds was no match for my mahogany and brass Zone VI. I ended up buying a heavy duty tripod from Ries Tripods in Washington. The one I have coming will hold 75 pounds! That should do it!
I enjoy your videos, keep up the great work. Thanks!
Great video! I guess I timed my new 45 right- my hair is a bit grey- so I envy your early start. I also decided to go straight to Xray film to save $ and I love the contrast. As far as the shutters are concerned- I repair lots of vintage gear (and own way too many cameras)- I think the term to be using is cocked and uncocked. Other than the B/T settings, shutters are always closed. I believe you want your shutter uncocked- to relive spring tension. the setting does not matter. I agree exercising the shutter every so often is a great practice- as per Hassy's advice. Aperture settings use the term open and closed. Not sure which is best- I would be more concerned with storage temps- and oil creep on the blades more than shock or corrosion- I have several 1930 Dehel's and Ikon folders that have pristine blades and working shutters-- and a gazillion nasty 1960's Yashica/Minolta rangefinders with oil creep/seized blades. Good luck!
thank you so much for the great info. I'm also wondering if I can start this journey. so basically now I'm looking forward to getting the camera firstly.
I'd agree, leave the shutter closed, mamiya AND Hasselblad (makers of 6 x 7 cameras) actually says in their manuals to "fire" their in-lens (leaf) shutters so as to keep spring wear during storage (a few weeks or more)to a minimum, thus keeping the spring life to it's maximum.
Great info, thanks Andy!
if u leave the shutter blades closed they will self lubricate just like the aperture blades witch is good if u leave them open they will dry out and become sticky
beau pfeiffer recordings This is such BS, absolutely no lubricants are to be on the diaphragm or shutter blades. Only benefit to leaving shutter closed is leaving the cocking spring unsprung, potentially preserving its life.
graphite dust my friend hope this solves all your issues
Book advice: Using the View Camera by Steve Simmons is also a great intro classic.
I agree, some very useful advice and some cracking photographs as well..
I would like to preface my comment with, I've been a photographer for about 6 years. I have experience with 35mm and DSLR's. In addition I have a maniacal engineering background, currently an engineering student in college. Now that that's out of the way, most shutter systems I've encountered are spring based, and as a fundamental mechanical engineering understanding, leaving a spring in a compressed state is not good for the springs longevity. NOW I also don't know how your shutter works so I could be completely wrong, but my perspective, I would leave the shutter closed/un-cocked when storing it. If you have a way of inspecting the mechanism, store the lens in the state that leaves the least amount of compression on the spring.
Excellent, thank you! Lens is now closed!
Dust is the bane of 4x5. CLEAN the film holders and keep them dust free. I have zippered sandwich lunch bags for field use and a zippered picnic basket that holds 50.
buy a lens that covers lots of film so you can take full advantage of camera movements which is one main reason for LF. I use a 110 .. Schneider that almost cover 8x10 and 180 and 210 & 300 process lenses.
You will need to learn how to process film evenly. First rule is random and vigorous agitation. We will go from there someday.
I m venturing into 35mm but larger format is already pulling me.. let me hold my horses and hope to see more large format videos ..
Yeah, probably best to burn a sheet of film "to the gods" to practice with in daylight first - though soon you'll find it is super easy. There's some good tutorial videos too. Instead of a changing "tent" (can be pretty expensive) I use a regularly dark bag with a 12" black collapsible fabric cube that is used for organizing on shelves, typically runs about $10. It might be a minor issue for dust though, so keep it clean. A collapsible cardboard box would probably work too. e.g. www.amazon.com/dp/B001LGZXR2/ I also use a DSLR viewing magnifier for my loupe on the ground glass.
Good choice on your light meter. Never used one of those spot meters but always wanted one. I'm an old guy that did this 4x5 years ago as far back as the 50's. But what I wanted to tell all you guys that are somewhat new to this format is how Polaroid knocked out Kodak years ago. Kodak went into the instant print film production and came up with a much better quality film than Polaroid ever had. So Polaroid flexed its patent muscle and forced out Kodak. Well, how come now Fuji is allowed to produce instant film. I feel like this was a major, major rip-off to the American consumer and if I was young again, I would start up a campaign to let Kodak manufacture their film once again. The sad thing is, is that Kodak might not want to do it again for fear of more litigation but it is definitely an example of patent rights going bad. Just want to let you guys know about this in the hopes of someone righting this wrong.
Jeff Bezos !thanks you for the free plug.
Curious what got you interested in Large format Traditional? Most are happy with digital imaging. Why the need for it?
Curiosity mostly. I LOVE learning about new things!
Wonderful interest in learning old things---everything old is new again...
Hey Chris - these are great videos. You don't mention what lens you're using. I assume it came with your camera, but can you let us know what you're using and if you like it or not?
I'm using a Fujinon 150 F5.6 Great lens for a good price!
What particular spot meter do you have? Is it the Pentax spot meter? Sekonic? Thanks.
I found a video on how to load sheet film into holders:
ua-cam.com/video/KdWK8varqDo/v-deo.html
This is how I used to do it when I was working in a photo lab.
You shouldn't use a changing bag if possible, dust control is the problem. I used Ektachrome film 4x5 to 11x14 a lot and any dust would ruin the shot. I always blew any dust off the holder before loading and just before closing the slide. A clean counter in a dark room will make it much easier and cleaner.
The lab bought only 8x10 sheet film to use for both 8x10 and 4x5, had to cut down the sheets for 4x5, reason being using the same emulsion lot so the same color correction could be used for both sizes if a customer wanted both.
skip the loupe and just get a strong pair of dollar store reading glasses.
lab, scanner, color?
keep the shutter closed. That is what the people who rebuild my shutters have told me
Awesome! Will do! Thank you!