Coniston Dam, Ontario, Canada. 1/30 f/32, tri-x rated 320 asa.
Shown on this page is the first attempt at a panoramic camera. Not shown is a proto type made entirely from Oak. The main beam was 30mm square and with the front and rear standards was too heavy. Generally the studio camera would have nearly unlimited adjustments (however there is a practical limit to all of these adjustments). Mostly having to do with the bellows.
As you can see the bellows is made from paper, I have not found the right formula to make the bellows required for this camera. 13 Nov, after 10 or 11 experiments with paper bellows, the correct one has been completed. Hind sight being 100% the answer was in front of me all the time, however I did not see it. On this camera the bellows looks conical. It is however square on the top and bottom because the front and rear standards are the same height. Only the sides are conical in shape.
The bellows that I have made will work with 210mm lens down to 90mm (at 90mm there is too much material to be able to rise/fall the lens more than 15mm or so). I will try and make a small bag bellows that doesn't have too much height to it. There is on 35mm from the bottom of the rear standard to the beam.
This camera has a variety of movements. The front and rear standards have both swing and tilt. The front standard is adjusted to close sharpness and the fine focus is done on the rear standard with a rack and pinion mechanism. In the prototype I used two knobs to make the fine adjustment, after using it for awhile I decided to make a long arm. The arm rotates through about 190' and allows the rear standard to travel about 25mm.
I did not make the front standard to shift. I have seldom used this feature. There is another way around this, by turning the axis of the camera to cover the desired image and then rotate front and rear standard parallel to the subject.
The ground glass holder for this camera is separate from the camera, because I can't think of a way to make the film holder fit under the ground glass as it does in the normal field camera. There is a fresnel lens over the ground glass. From the local book store I found a fresnel lens that the store sells to those who require magnification of reading mateial. Find the center of this lens (the smallest circle that can be found) and mark it with something that can be easily removed. With the center located, mark the limits and cut the plastic with shears or paper trimmer.
On the ground side of the glass, the viewing lines can be easily marked with a draftsman ink pen (.4mm). If a mistake is made, the ink will wash away easily.
Lay the sheet of glass on several layers of newspaper. In a plastic bottle add some 400 grit grinding compound, enough water to make it all fluid and some dish soap for lubrication. Pour some of the mixture on the glass, start the sander and randomly cover the sheet of glass. Keep the surface wet and don't move the sander too fast( it will leave swirl marks). Inspect the glass occasionaly, it should appear without any shiney spots on it.
The next grinding; use 600 grit and make sure the sander tool is washed between grit sizes. The finer grit will proceed faster now. Check with magnifing glass or ground glass loop for even finish.
The film holder is made from 5mm plywood, with two locks to keep it closed. In the center of the back will be a 10mm hole with a metal plate to cover the frame number (not yet done). On earlier model of this box I placed the hinges on the left side, however it does take more space to change film and also is not very strong.
The dark slide is made from a piece of tin. As I was making the back a slight recess was cut into the wood on all sides of the 55x170 opening. The right edge had an extra recess cut on top and bottom of the dark slide opening. These recess were lined with a 10mm length of black velvet from the local fabric store. On a trial piece of wood, the recess was cut to allow the two pieces of velvet to just make contact with each other. Then when the dark slide was pushed between them there was enough gap to allow easy entry.
The inside of the film holder has not been painted so that the detail may be more easily seen. The light trap is formed by the pieces of wood on the inside of the door. In order to keep the film flat apart from the roller that are located just to left and right of the film opening, I have used some foam material. The thickness is 3mm more than the actual depth so that there is a slight pressure on the paper back of the film. To enable the film to move more easily I have glued a piece of tin to the foam. Each end of this tin has a slight radius to it so that the film will not get caught.
The film spools are held in place on the bottom by a piece of hacksaw blade with the teeth ground off. At the correct distance there is a hole drill that will accept an 8-32 brass screw. The head of which is turned down so that it will just fit into the hole of the film spool. The tension for each spool is set by length of a piece of plywood in the bottom center.
To load/unload the film, a slight downward pressure on the spool and film is easily removed. I could have been more generous with the space between the roller guides and take-up spool for big fingers.
The film numbers that I use are located in the center of the paper back (about 32mm from the edge) numbers 2,5,8 and 11 produce evenly spaced images on the film.
I have changed the focus beam to take in the full length of the beam. The movement is very smooth and easy to use. Also the rear standard supports have been revised. The front standard needs to be changed in that the vertical support I think, should be curved so that it does not interfer with the bellows movement.
Most of the wood is oak, finished with cherry stain and several coats of latex urethane.
Sitting on the hood of my old Ford are two winter projects. Both are panoramic cameras, using 120 roll film. On the left is a 6x12 (250mm wide, 130mm high,130mm deep and weighs .9kg. On the right a 6x17 (310mm wide, 130mm hight, 130mm deep and weighs 1.7kg w/lens). I use a 90mm /f8.0 Schnieder Super Angulon Wide Angle of both cameras.
I have since bought a wide angle view finder that sit in the flash shoe at the center of the camera. This viewfinder has interchangable insert (I used a pepsi can with the outside painted black). Each insert cutout is shaped to match the corrosponding field of view for the 6x12 or 6x17 cameras.
The Schnieder lens has a great depth of field. However I did not want a point and shoot camera. There is a rod connected to the front standard and to a brass plate on the body of the camera. I can guess the approximate distance to the subject and adjust the focus knob to that distance. The scales on either side of the center mark are aperture indications for depth of field for this particualar lens. In this picture, I'm focused at about 2.25 m and at f/32 have a depth of field from 1.25m to inf. Using a ground glass and a 7x magnifier along with a sturdy tripod, the distance scale was mark at 1.0-1.5-2-3-5-10 meters
Originally to trip the shutter there was to be a shutter cable release. It was placed through the brass plate on the body of the camera then secured with a locking screw. This proved to be awkward. When the camera is held with the left hand and lifted to eye level of the wide angle view finder, the right hand can steady the front of the camera and also trip the shutter. This shutter trip mechanism is spring load so that the action is like that of many other camera, trip and release.
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