18 x24 pinhole/lens camera

Hi Murray,

I've also got one of those 18x24 bellows which I picked up on ebay a couple of
years ago and which is still sitting in its box. I find that there are a
number or issues to need to be resolved but I haven'tresolved them yet. But
I have not put my imagination full time on it.

The questions I need to resolve are:
1. What kind of frame to build for the back standard and the front standard,
considering that the back will need to hold a very large format film or
paper, that the front will need to hold the lensboard and that the two should
preferably be parallel.
2. How do I get the front and back standards aligned together rigidly to a
frame that will allow the bellows to extend or compress. In the case of an
18"x24", the considerable weight of the bellows makes this a more difficult
problem to solve than for a 4x5 or an 8x10 bellows.
3. What kind of light-tight contraption do I build to hold the paper or film
against the back standard.
4. Is there a way that I can build a contraption that will allow me to place
several sheets of paper or film, so that I don't have to run back to my
darkroom after each exposure?

I haven't tought about this for some time. I did check around on the internet
for sites that talk about building large format cameras and I found quite a
lot of useful information. My problem is that I am not very good as a
woodworker and I just don't have the right tools.

I'd be interested to hear about your ideas for your camera. I don't see any
problems discussing it on the list, unless we get into minute details.

Cheers,

Guy

Uptown Gallery wrote:

> Hello:
>
> Excuse the partial diversion from pinhole - I am thinking about what to do
> with an 18" x 24" bellows I picked up - definitely pinhole first, but I
> would like to have the option of experiementing with a lens - and the only
> affordable way would be a homebrew lens.
>
> Is there anyone here who has any experience with simple 2-element lenses
> with insertable Waterhouse stops willing email off list about some of the
> basics of such a camera?
>
> Thanks
>
> Murray
>
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Received on Fri Dec 21 06:16:24 2001