Chroma - Lasercut Acrylic 4x5 Field Camera

Terrywoodenpic said:
That pattern is the same as holders.
The emulsion must have been in contact with it. so as to prevent the developer acting in the stripe areas.
i.e... loaded inside out.
with all cut film, when the notch in the film is top right the emulsion is facing you.
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I think you’re right about the sheet being loaded with the emulsion side facing the holder in the SP-445. I’m going to shoot some more sheets tomorrow now that I’ve modified the holders to remove the centre of them entirely [emoji1303]
 
stevelmx5 said:
That’s odd, it should just open iTunes and play. You can search for the Sunny16 Podcast in iTunes direct otherwise. Episode 70 is the latest one.
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Well on my PC I clicked on your link and it asks me what to open with and I say itunes.exe and I just get the itunes page with a lot of stuff I'm not interested in :rolleyes: dunno about podcast I'm not into that. Anyway my grandson is a whizz kid on his i-phone (and now pc) and I'll let him sort it out.(y)
 
In designing the camera around the idea of streamlining the assembly, I wanted to move away from full bonded parts or heat-set threads as they're both time consuming and fiddly. I was looking for a relatively simple fixing nut that didn't stick out the back of the standard too far but meant that I can bolt the laminations together without needing extra assembly work beforehand. As a result, I came across Rivnuts that are designed for fitting threads into sheet material.

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By design, they push through the front face of the sheet and have a 1mm flange around the end to hold them flush. You would then use a threaded tool to screw into them and compress the fluted section from behind the sheet to clamp it in place. By flipping them around the other way and slotting them in from the back of my parts, I've got a ready made internal thread with a neat 1mm flange on the rear face which gives me a dry connection :) As well as simplifying the assembly, it also means that I can separate the parts if I want to for repair/upgrade down the line without having to break bonded faces etc.

I've had to enlarge the holes on the rear laminations to take the rivnut but apart from that I haven't had to make any other changes. I'll still have to countersink the front face but with a bench drill that will be quick and easy. I've also ordered a selection of black countersunk hex head bolts in different lengths so they blend in much better with the acrylic faces.
 
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stevelmx5 said:
Is this link any better? Should be able to open the episode in Itunes from here;

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/sunny-16/id1120924853?mt=2
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Your instructions don't work for me i.e. "To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play" erm no play showing so I click on "view in itunes" by using itunes.exe and get to itunes page..from there "subscribe to podcast" then copy and paste url then select "feed" ? and can't hear anything :rolleyes:
 
excalibur2 said:
Your instructions don't work for me i.e. "To listen to an audio podcast, mouse over the title and click Play" erm no play showing so I click on "view in itunes" by using itunes.exe and get to itunes page..from there "subscribe to podcast" then copy and paste url then select "feed" ? and can't hear anything :rolleyes:
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Do you have your hearing aid in, Brian? :D:D:D
 
Don't have iTunes for Windows (though it is a free download) but does play OK in the Apple podcast app; however, I did have to search for sunny-16 and select the first result in the list... Ep. 70
 
Hey, who knew. It turns out that LF film works much better when it’s loaded in the holder the right way round...in my defence, I’m an idiot.

I’ve also removed the centre of the SP-445 holder and was a bit more forceful with the agitation and the development is spot on.

IMG_9014.JPG

IMG_9017.JPG

I’ve got a slight light leak on the sides but I know what that is so I’ll fit an extra seal.

IMG_9020.JPG

Fomopan 100 of unknown heritage, shot at iso 80, f45 1/8th (150mm)
 
stevelmx5 said:
Hey, who knew. It turns out that LF film works much better when it’s loaded in the holder the right way round...in my defence, I’m an idiot.

I’ve also removed the centre of the SP-445 holder and was a bit more forceful with the agitation and the development is spot on.

View attachment 111941

View attachment 111942

I’ve got a slight light leak on the sides but I know what that is so I’ll fit an extra seal.

View attachment 111943

Fomopan 100 of unknown heritage, shot at iso 80, f45 1/8th (150mm)
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There is a little bit of fogging coming in from the sides and top, that needs investigating.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
There is a little bit of fogging coming in from the sides and top, that needs investigating.
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It might be the film, it was very, very old, stuck together and generally knackered. I used a couple of sheets before sending it o to Steve and I had similar issues, however it might still be worth shooting a sheet of known provenance just to make sure.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
There is a little bit of fogging coming in from the sides and top, that needs investigating.
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Yup

"I’ve got a slight light leak on the sides but I know what that is so I’ll fit an extra seal." ;)

I'm blaming Andy's dodgy film stock...that I'm very grateful for!

I've just done a torch test all over the camera and can see that the light is coming in from the front bellows plate. I re-used this set of bellows from a previous build and sandwiched a second plate to the front of it for the updated fixings. When I made the bellows, I wasn't fully happy with dimensions on the front so ended up bonding two sides to the rear of the plate and two sides to the front of the plate. As a result, when that was sandwiched to another plate there are a few small places where it's not a complete seal....so again, my fault!

With the proper bellows they will be light tight and bonded direct to the rear of the plate.
 
Andysnap said:
It might be the film, it was very, very old, stuck together and generally knackered. I used a couple of sheets before sending it o to Steve and I had similar issues, however it might still be worth shooting a sheet of known provenance just to make sure.
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Funnily enough, now I put the two sheets together that I've shot, the fogging on them both is exactly the same....strangely, I shot both images from different parts of the house and different times of the day so the light was coming from a different direction. Hmmmm

Next test, develop a fresh sheet without shooting it in the camera and see if it's got the same fogging.

I've just received a box of Quickload Velvia 50 off @Strappy so am cutting a second back for the Chroma to use a Quickload holder. I can't wait to shoot some slide!
 
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Another random request for advice...

Can someone with a Linhof Technica lens board measure it please and confirm the size/thickness? From looking around I thought they were 96x93x2mm but I've seen someone else say 99x96mm?

Cheers
Steve
 
stevelmx5 said:
Can someone with a Linhof Technica lens board measure it please and confirm the size/thickness? From looking around I thought they were 96x93x2mm but I've seen someone else say 99x96mm?
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Same as a Shen Hao lens board. 96 wide, 99 high, 2mm thick. The notches and chamfered corners go to the bottom
 
Cat------------------->Pigeons!

I rather like the brass screw heads against the purple acrylic with the orange bellows.

Makes me wish I had the patience for LF but I'm all too aware of my shortcomings.
 
Nod said:
Cat------------------->Pigeons!

I rather like the brass screw heads against the purple acrylic with the orange bellows.

Makes me wish I had the patience for LF but I'm all too aware of my shortcomings.
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To be honest, I quite like the mix of traditional brass and modern purple/orange too but I think the black bolts I’ve got now are more subtle.

I’m waiting on a sample of a new material to come in the post before I build another set of bellows. Should still be able to make them in a range of colours though :0)
 
Purple and orange camera and you're talking about subtle? :D
 
Just to add to the previous post with my Quickload back, I’m also working on this one;

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It will take standard 4x5 aluminium and glass plates and uses the same mount points as the ground glass holder :0)

I’m also re-designing the front standard slightly to accept Linhof-Wista style lensboards as well as my acrylic boards. I’m going away on holiday next Tuesday so will be launching the Kickstarter campaign when I get back [emoji1303]
 
stevelmx5 said:
Just to add to the previous post with my Quickload back, I’m also working on this one;

View attachment 112905

View attachment 112906

It will take standard 4x5 aluminium and glass plates and uses the same mount points as the ground glass holder :0)

I’m also re-designing the front standard slightly to accept Linhof-Wista style lensboards as well as my acrylic boards. I’m going away on holiday next Tuesday so will be launching the Kickstarter campaign when I get back [emoji1303]
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Glass plates in a plastic camera! Fantastic. You going to offer a few dozen plastic plates cut to size?
 
stevelmx5 said:
I’m not sure how well Acrylic would work with collodion but you know I’m going to have to find out now! It was Sam Cornwell (Solarcan) who asked me about wet plate so I’m blaming him :0)
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I'm sure with your contacts you could get some alu cut to size cheap enough.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Ok, I’ve got an answer off Sam. It works with a plastic plate but not ideal when it comes to heating to put the shellac on!

Like you say, I’d stick to aluminium!
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Makes sense. Black tin types are what I'd really like to have a shot at but its so much more difficult and thats before finding someone to sit infront of the camera for an hour!
 
stevelmx5 said:
Cheers for that. Interesting that the size is slightly bigger than a 5x4 film sheet (125x99). Sam’s sending me an aluminium plate so I can build the size right anyway.
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Do you need somewhere to clamp it down or some such?
 
This is just getting cooler and cooler.

Silly question time.

Would it be possible or worth it to make a plate holder for a medium format camera?

E.G. Bronica SQ
 
steveo_mcg said:
Dunno really, its just occurred to me I've no idea how the back end works for plates.
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From what I’ve seen, the plate just needs to be pressed in flat like a sheet of film so I’ll hinge the rear cover and have a screw down clamp. The cover can then be opened in a dark bag, the plate dropped in then the cover can be closed back over and locked in place. Simple (not that I’ve ever shot wet plate but you know...)
 
simon ess said:
This is just getting cooler and cooler.

Silly question time.

Would it be possible or worth it to make a plate holder for a medium format camera?

E.G. Bronica SQ
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The VP Exakta of the 1930s had this facility (on some models). The practical difficulty from an operational point of view was that the plate couldn't sit in the same plane as the film, and hence needed special lenses to be able to focus (which had to be done view camera style on a ground glass.
 
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