[pure-silver] Re: Large camera plans
- From: Graham Hughes <graham@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2006 19:30:18 -0800
Mark Blackwell wrote:
> Well taking the largest camera ever used in a slightly different
> direction, I am soon going to build a camera. Ive seen the Bender
> plans, and I am a fair woodworker. Yet I would be interested to know if
> there are other common plans out there, and if you have built one was it
> used successfully.
I have a Bender and have been using it for a little over a year. In its
defense, while the joints look less than sturdy when the whole thing is
put together they reinforce themselves--for example, the standards are
initially a sort of alarming U-shape, but when you put the back and
front in they are considerably sturdier; similarly, the monorail riders
are hard to hurt when they're on the rail and not all that easy even
when they're off. I do have some issues with the Bender's design--the
light weight is delightful carrying but sometimes causes problems on the
camera, e.g. in high wind; the unified shift/swing control can sometimes
be awkward; I'd really like zero detents but haven't figured out how to
put them in; the standard bellows are too stiff for a 135mm lens
necessitating a bag bellows, which requires a little effort to put
on--but ultimately I'm relatively happy with it. Certainly if I buy or
build another large format camera, it'll be a 5x7 as I can't really
justify replacing the Bender.
Your shooting style may be radically different from mine, wherein you
would find precise, geared movements very attractive. This is something
only you can find out.
Much is made of precision in camera design, but in a view camera the
only thing that absolutely needs to be precise is the ground glass/film
holder alignment. That was a bit awkward to do in wood, and I ended up
using little pieces of tape as shims; I recommend getting access to a
micrometer if you are seriously going to build the thing yourself. I
find I don't have much trouble with precision in focusing and tilt/shift
with mine, which is all friction based.
Graham
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