Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: MattBurt on October 07, 2015, 01:39:54 pm
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Anyone ever used something like this (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150755497910?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)?
(http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFgxMDAw/z/U4cAAMXQTT9RwAZ5/$(KGrHqR,!roFG6iw+wT4BRw!Z5gHh!~~60_57.JPG)
My Rochester looks a lot like this one (http://www.photographyhistory.com/CS06/foldingrochester.html).
(http://www.photographyhistory.com/CS06/RCCFRochester.jpg)
If I understand this right I could put this on the back of my 1896 Rochester folding camera and mount my Pentax 645 on there allowing the use of the Rochester optics and body to make photos on 120 film. Can anyone say how well this works? I understand there would be a crop factor and I guess I'd have to remove the ground glass to do this. Seems like an interesting idea but maybe also a gimmick not worth pursuing.
I'd love to hear if anyone has any practical experience with these. I don't have a darkroom or the right film holder for the Rochester, but I think it might be fun to capture images this way if it's usable.
Thanks!
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If that adapter works (= if it fits on both cameras) then yes, you can use it and of course you'll have to remove the groundglass (edit: not viewfinder of course).
However - I highly doubt that the adapter will fit your Rochester camera, they were made for dry plates and not the 'modern' 4x5 sheet film holders - which the adapter will be built for. Therefore you'll have to make some serious modifications on that camera.
Unfortunately the movements will be very limited due to the fact that the film/sensor is behind the mirror-shaft (or mirror-box, whatever you call the space where the mirror is and moves). So, if you move the camera too much, the light will quickly be blocked from the sides.
Apart from that you probably won't get the best image quality out of it, those plate cameras have interesting optics, but I don't know how well they'll perform under the scrutiny of a smaller sensor/film area - after all the lenses were meant to cover an area of 50.8 cm^2 and you're only using 27cm^2. That's about 50% and that's quite a heavy crop and I doubt the optics will lead to satisfying results...
That being said it may turn out to be a nice project, at least for photos in a pictorialist stlye.
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I did something similar with a horseman 5x4 to Canon Dslr with a homemade adapter.
I doubt that you will be able to focus at infinity as the sensor is moved backwards from where the film would be.
Ray
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Thanks, I don't want to significantly modify the camera so I think I won't bother.
This Rochester has bellows in the front and the back which I think was for something like we would use an extension tube for today. I thought with that extra movement moving the film plane back it might work but I'm losing enthusiasm for the idea and I don't want to mess up the Rochester which is in great shape.