lf-photo.org.uk

Looking at the adverts I found from 1923 (here: http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2689 ) it's curious that while the maker, type, and f-stop of the lenses supplier with the cameras are all specified, there's no mention of focal length. But I don't think there's been much differenc...

Some calculated included angles on the diagonal - only the 110 on the 5x7 would be considered wide angle these days. Lens Film Diagonal Angle 105 6x9 108 45.8 135 4x5 160 49.8 110 5x7 215 62.9 130 qpl 116 41.2

'Standard' lenses would have been, I think, slightly wide angle by modern standards. Only prime lenses were common. At the time, either RR (rapid rectilinear) or Anastigmats were the best lenses available, probably with a focal length not too much shorter than the diagonal of the plate. I have 10.5c...

Hah. Cracked it, at least with R09@23C: 2 min prewash, 17 mins, slosh it around every thirty seconds, 1 min wash, 4 min fix. Finally, a picture with some contrast and shadow detail - it scans very nicely. And the choice of subject? Well, perhaps the less said the better!: Tomato tree, test card, tom...

It's coming along, but there's a lot of waiting for glue to set. I've done the reversible back which will hold the slides and the focusing screen, apart from how the slides and screen might be held. Two choices present themselves - either a spring-loaded back which will require the focus screen to b...

Well, there is that... but while the offer is appreciated, let's let it ride for now.

After all, I have a box and a bit of sheets to go through, and I'm not far off now, even for the coffee method.

Neil

Ah, but my nearest 35mm camera is on Skye!

Started building... non-folding, extension to at least 250mm and perhaps 300mm (it depends how stable it is and the length of the bellows when I put it all together).
Tilt, twist, shift in both directions, and reversible back so it will work in both portrait and landscape, rack and pinion focus.

Neil

Thanks for that, Ian. The 40:1 R09 came from the great big development list; 50:1 is recommended on the bottle which I purchased only last week. I need to go out and shoot some more test negatives - I got bored with the workman still life and started building the lightweight camera on it - but given...

Regrettably, no; the quarter plate I inherited (a lovely clause in my godfather's will: 'all items of a scientific, technical, optical, or photographic nature') and the 4x5 are the ones that I purchase thirty years ago with the MPP press camera, and which I used with home-made film adaptors until I ...

Should such a demonstration happen, I have a small number of wooden dark slides intended for glass plates, for both quarter plate and 4x5, which I would be happy to share on the occasion.

Neil

This Adox is doing my head in... The picture here shows, from left to right, images exposed at IE50. The laptop screen was used as an impromptu light-box. The first is developed in R09, 40:1 dilution, 9 minutes (per the great big dev chart) - I think it's under-developed. Note though there is no fog...

Ah, if only I could get Adox to bloody well *work*!

Having measured it - 4.25 by 3.25 on the ground glass. That makes it quarter plate.

Neil

While wandering through the vast, gloomy, cobweb-ridden spaces ((c) H P Lovecraft) that pass for an attic in this place, looking for a measuring cylinder small enough to do R09 developer, I came across a dusty leather case - the original case for my Sanderson folding field camera which I haven't loo...