As a woodworker and a large format photographer, I'm totally inspired by this! Thanks not only for the assembly part of the video, but also the lessons learned throughout.
Wonderful project Patric. back in the 70s I had a deal with a local Hobby Shop to build and display any new plastic kits that the shop recieved. None of the cameras I owned could do justice to the quality of the models I could build at the time and I found a view camera was what I needed. The camera I built uses the back portion of a polaroid portrait camera and the lens is from an antique Kodak Folding camera because it is self contained with shutter. I taught myself how to make the bellows by dissassembling the bellows on the kodak. I made the bellows using Contact Paper shelf liner, heavy black construction paper and black cotton fabric and it is still 'light tight' today. By the way the camera worked. I would add Photos of the camera if I knew how to do that here.
Brilliant work! As a long-time photographer and new woodworker, I found this fascinating to watch. I do hope you upload a bellows video. Thanks for sharing.
About 45 years ago or so I built a 4.5 cm X 6 cm view camera. Mine didn’t have rack and pinion adjustments as I built it on a monorail as I already had the bellows on hand. I used it for several years and always wished I had done it in 4 x 5 format instead. This has given me the urge to build one again. The bellows construction really intrigues me. Wood love to see how it’s done. Thanks for sharing.
at 8:48, this back standard, as it holds the film, is also termed a "format frame", as to change calibres, you simply change bellows and this frame, the bed is always a constant, simmilar to the archa swiss, and Linhof Cardan or colour series of mono-rail cameras.
Hermoso video, perfecto. Muchisimas gracias por compartir. Seria impresionante ver una fotografia de esta camara, sería la cereza del video. Muchisimas gracias
I love and hate this video. Love the camera and details and the content, and I want to build one to shoot with... Hate that it reminds of how far I have to go with my woodworking ;)
A beautiful camera. I would buy it immediately. However, as a wetplate with appropriate plate holders and at least 8x10, or larger. Very nicely done, thanks for the video!
Congratulations for attempting this. I thought about doing something similar, but every time I look at my Chamonix 4x5 I realise I couldn't make a better job of it.
Beautiful! Thank you for making this video. Do you know why the word "compendium" is used to denote the bellows and lens shades? I have never understood this use of the word.
This is fantastic Patrick! I'm in the planning stages of my own 4x5 camera project. Looking at lots of pictures, and Jon Grepstads book. This video is a fantastic help! Lots of neat little details I was struggling to figure out. Thanks!
@@baroneblades5386 primarily I'm building it for standard film holders and sheet film. Tin type is definitely something I'd like to try at some point, and I'm thinking that it won't be too hard to make an alternate backplate to hold plates instead of film holders.
I could see this over and over again. I dont have the tools you have but are there kits or plans that we can built part by part to achieve a working camera? Thank you.
You do a lot of thinking. Good planning. I want you to think about using hollow-ground screwdrivers from now on. The walls of the driver are more or less verticle for better contact with the screw slots. I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't know.
I used a Speed Graphic large format camera back in the 70s, and was amazed at the detail one could achieve. After viewing your video, I realized that I hardly tapped into it’s full potential. Amazing design! Thank you for your insightful videos that are very well produced; I really enjoy them!
I don't know why this popped into my feed but I am very glad it did. Kudos on a very very well done project. Back in my day I used a number of different wooden view cameras as well as the venerable Speed Graphic I also had the use of a monorail view camera for a time and some of the Ektachrome transparencies are my best work. I would have been glad to use yours as well. I did notice the lack of a shutter on the lens you purchased, I wondered why that was as film in a holder is sensitive enough for a shutter to be necessary, but you mentioned wet plates, which would not need a shutter, but would need a different type of "film" holder which you do not mention at all.
Looks great and should work well. My only question is why? There are so many 4x5 cameras in closets and garages unused for years. I've got at least two and an 8x10. I shot 8x10 as recently as 2010, but neither format since. No demand for it. I could see making a very large view camera. Be fun to see how you made the bellows. I figured this out some years ago, made a few paper tests. Interesting process and bellows are beautiful. The biggest issue with a bellows after does it work, and is it light tight? is reflections off the sides. With film if you can get - 5 to -7 stops lower light off the bellows it's good. (Another bellows tip. My 8x10 is a Horseman. I think they were almost $10,000 new, in the 1980s. I bought a used one with a smashed bellows for about $3000. Never did anything to the bellows except occasionally check it for pin holes. Worked fine.) The trick to aligning your camera or an enlarger is mirrors. Make concentric circles on the surface of the mirrors/plex (as a see through mirror) and align those. When all those circles line up you're good. All my view cameras were good when I got them and easy to reset back to zero. My Bessler 4x5 enlarger however was horribly out of whack - from the factory. I've heard that most of them were. They can and need to be aligned. The Besslers are fussy because the adjustments you can make with the screws on them are too wonky and large to be of much use. I can't remember how I did it, but it someone needs, I can go out to the garage and take a look at it.
Glass plates, both coated and uncoated, are available from a company in Europe called Zebra Plates. I had a good experience ordering coated glass plates for my 100 year old 5X7 camera from them. I think they will make custom sized plates for customers.
Amazing Workmanship man, have gotten into 35mm film cameras in the last year, would love to get into taking Pictures on Glass plates with one of these.
Excellent job. I have always fancied trying this myself and i think i could manage most of it. The part i always seem to have a mental block on is properly measuring and placing the focus screen to the correct place relative to the film holder.
I’m a photographer and woodworker. I’ve always been interested in doing this but have found few resources to help. Closest I’ve come is to restore an 1870 Watson & Sons plate camera that was missing its back.
Very interesting process! Can you please comment on how you determined the thickness of the lip for the ground glass? I built a 5x7 back for a Burke and James view camera a while back, and the best I could figure out was to use digital calipers to measure from a film holder's surface to a piece of film I had placed in the holder. Wondering if you did something similar or had a better solution. Thanks!
I used exactly the same system--digital calipers, and my visor magnifiers. This was the first camera I have ever made, and I suspect that a professional could find many things to criticize. But, God, it was fun.
This is heaven sent. Thanks so much! I have 3 4x5, an Intrepid, a Crown Graphic and a Cadet Wide Monorail. I want to build a 5x7 since I have the lenses and film holders and a 8x10 to make contact prints. Thanks again for the detailed explanation.
Hi Patrick, Congratulations for your incredible job. Your video is very very good, and really I like the way you are explaining everything. It is really rare to find a video sharing all these details. I appreciate very much the mindset and the will to share.
I need to replace my calumet 400 cc. I really love the concept of your camera build. did you refer to any books for a guide how too. thinking of building 3/4 cameras, 1 for me and the others for my brothers 3 children. as for the bellows did you create it or order a custom one. I might as well build a carrying case too. what wood species would you recommend for such a project.
Right. No shutter on this lens. That is not critically important for the collodion prints my daughter wants to do, because the speed of the wet plate process is so slow that exposures are often 10-30 seconds. You can just uncover the lens, watch the second hand on your watch, and cover the lens when the time is up. I intend to purchase a second, more modern lens soon with a built-in mechanical shutter. Most of these newer lenses are less suitable for the collodion prints because they have lens coatings which block a lot of UV light, making exposure times even longer. I tried to keep the focus on the woodworking, rather than the photographic technology, but real photographers will naturally be curious.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
As a photographer and woodworker I am blown away by this beautiful project. Inspiring!
*would love to see the bellow making!*
As a woodworker and a large format photographer, I'm totally inspired by this! Thanks not only for the assembly part of the video, but also the lessons learned throughout.
This is some of the best wood working on RUclips!
Do you have any photos taken with this yet? It's an amazing bit of workmanship, and I would love to see the result as well.
Would like to see those as well...
Wonderful - absolutely wonderful!!!
That's fantastic, thank you for taking the time to share it.
I built a large format camera during covid 2020.... mine is a lot more simple design... i wish i seen this video...thank you for all the ideas
WOW! That is amazing! Look forward to watching a video on making the bellows.
Great to see another woodworker into LF. Been doing dry plate and other LF work for 4-5 years now and these hobbies feed each other so well.
Perfect project for a school shop class
Absolutely incredible build.
Very interesting video, thanks for sharing! Would love to see the construction of the bellows.
and built the bellows too. damn that is incredibly impressive. definitely post pictures you take with this gorgeous piece.
Brilliantly explained. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Wow what a great artist you are.keep us inspiring with your DIY.
One of the greatest tutorial of building something i ever see. Great work great editing.
Thanks for sharing. Really cool project
Wonderful project Patric. back in the 70s I had a deal with a local Hobby Shop to build and display any new plastic kits that the shop recieved. None of the cameras I owned could do justice to the quality of the models I could build at the time and I found a view camera was what I needed. The camera I built uses the back portion of a polaroid portrait camera and the lens is from an antique Kodak Folding camera because it is self contained with shutter. I taught myself how to make the bellows by dissassembling the bellows on the kodak. I made the bellows using Contact Paper shelf liner, heavy black construction paper and black cotton fabric and it is still 'light tight' today. By the way the camera worked. I would add Photos of the camera if I knew how to do that here.
That is a true labor of love--so much precision and time went into it that build!
Beautiful work, Patrick.
Brilliant work! As a long-time photographer and new woodworker, I found this fascinating to watch. I do hope you upload a bellows video. Thanks for sharing.
This is without a doubt one of the most interesting woodworking videos I have ever seen ! This is not only practical, but also gorgeous ! Congrats !
I believe that you are all around the Best woodworker ever seen!
My congrat's! 😳
Fantastic. Well done. 40 years ago, I wanted one of these so bad!
About 45 years ago or so I built a 4.5 cm X 6 cm view camera. Mine didn’t have rack and pinion adjustments as I built it on a monorail as I already had the bellows on hand. I used it for several years and always wished I had done it in 4 x 5 format instead. This has given me the urge to build one again. The bellows construction really intrigues me. Wood love to see how it’s done. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome, love to see you develop this further.
There's a pun there someplace
Awesome project and well executed. Love to see some pictures taken with it.
Absolutely Amazing. Thanks for sharing!
One _loves_ to watch human creativity in action!
at 8:48, this back standard, as it holds the film, is also termed a "format frame", as to change calibres, you simply change bellows and this frame, the bed is always a constant, simmilar to the archa swiss, and Linhof Cardan or colour series of mono-rail cameras.
What incredible craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful work, congratulations on a project well made.
You make this look easy, sir. Truly a gift to watch a master craftsmen at work.
Outstanding. Thank you for sharing.
Fantastic work!
Very intricate piece of work !!!
Nice job Patrick! I would love to see the bellows construction as well, as I am currently drawing plans for a 5x7 camera similar to your 4x5. Thanks!
Hermoso video, perfecto. Muchisimas gracias por compartir. Seria impresionante ver una fotografia de esta camara, sería la cereza del video. Muchisimas gracias
What a satisfying video. Definitely going to build one of these one day.
A great project done well. Thanks for sharing
Paul
trully wonderful build. it looks beatutiful and original. great craftsmanship.
That is some incredible craftsmanship.
I love and hate this video. Love the camera and details and the content, and I want to build one to shoot with... Hate that it reminds of how far I have to go with my woodworking ;)
Wow! It's beautiful as well.
It would be nice to see some photos taken with the camera. Always enjoy your work. Thanks
Well done and very instructive. Thank you for posting this.
A beautiful camera. I would buy it immediately. However, as a wetplate with appropriate plate holders and at least 8x10, or larger.
Very nicely done, thanks for the video!
Beautiful work and camera.
awesome! very enjoyable production video!
When on watches this man's video. One is watching a master at play!
I'm glad I stumbled across your post, fantastic, inspirational, I love both crafts, photography and woodworking, what a synthesis!
That is a beautiful peace of art worthy a thousand pictures =)
Magnificent video. Your take on woodwork is very special to me
Very cool project, thanks for sharing!
This the easiest explanation of the scheimpflug principle i have seen so far
Patrick that was a remarkable job with an excellent result. Hopefully we can view a few images taken with your camera in a future video.
Congratulations for attempting this. I thought about doing something similar, but every time I look at my Chamonix 4x5 I realise I couldn't make a better job of it.
Job well done. I think I will make mine with brass.
Wonderful work. A credit to you.
Your ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Wonderful build
perfect system gold hand God blessings all life
many art hunting
Beautiful! Thank you for making this video. Do you know why the word "compendium" is used to denote the bellows and lens shades? I have never understood this use of the word.
This is fantastic Patrick! I'm in the planning stages of my own 4x5 camera project. Looking at lots of pictures, and Jon Grepstads book. This video is a fantastic help! Lots of neat little details I was struggling to figure out. Thanks!
Is yours going to be for tintype. I want to build a camera for that. Just started researching?
@@baroneblades5386 primarily I'm building it for standard film holders and sheet film. Tin type is definitely something I'd like to try at some point, and I'm thinking that it won't be too hard to make an alternate backplate to hold plates instead of film holders.
Awesome project and well executed. Thanks for sharing!
I could see this over and over again. I dont have the tools you have but are there kits or plans that we can built part by part to achieve a working camera? Thank you.
Fascinating! Great job!!
wow, that is something new, unusual and interesting! thanks for showing;)
Astounding! Would love to see the pictures it takes!
Patrick, well done fantastic content
Amazing skill and great looking camera!
You do a lot of thinking. Good planning. I want you to think about using hollow-ground screwdrivers from now on. The walls of the driver are more or less verticle for better contact with the screw slots. I don't think I'm telling you anything you don't know.
Nice work. it's amazing to see that we can actually make our own camera.
magnifique travail ...pour essayer d'en fabriquer un en ce moment , je connais la difficulté d'un travail aussi propre
Would love to see some photos taken with this! Maybe in a community post?
Very impressive work! It looks beautiful and very well made!
Wow... very artful work, Sir. 👍
Well done my friend. Proud
Whish I had your skills. Thanks for sharing this amazing and motivating video. Craftmanship at its best!
are you offering plans/detailed measurements... i could totally do this... i just picked up a ton of rough cut cherry that will be perfect for it.
I used a Speed Graphic large format camera back in the 70s, and was amazed at the detail one could achieve. After viewing your video, I realized that I hardly tapped into it’s full potential. Amazing design! Thank you for your insightful videos that are very well produced; I really enjoy them!
I don't know why this popped into my feed but I am very glad it did. Kudos on a very very well done project. Back in my day I used a number of different wooden view cameras as well as the venerable Speed Graphic I also had the use of a monorail view camera for a time and some of the Ektachrome transparencies are my best work. I would have been glad to use yours as well. I did notice the lack of a shutter on the lens you purchased, I wondered why that was as film in a holder is sensitive enough for a shutter to be necessary, but you mentioned wet plates, which would not need a shutter, but would need a different type of "film" holder which you do not mention at all.
Looks great and should work well. My only question is why? There are so many 4x5 cameras in closets and garages unused for years. I've got at least two and an 8x10. I shot 8x10 as recently as 2010, but neither format since. No demand for it. I could see making a very large view camera. Be fun to see how you made the bellows. I figured this out some years ago, made a few paper tests. Interesting process and bellows are beautiful. The biggest issue with a bellows after does it work, and is it light tight? is reflections off the sides. With film if you can get - 5 to -7 stops lower light off the bellows it's good. (Another bellows tip. My 8x10 is a Horseman. I think they were almost $10,000 new, in the 1980s. I bought a used one with a smashed bellows for about $3000. Never did anything to the bellows except occasionally check it for pin holes. Worked fine.)
The trick to aligning your camera or an enlarger is mirrors. Make concentric circles on the surface of the mirrors/plex (as a see through mirror) and align those. When all those circles line up you're good. All my view cameras were good when I got them and easy to reset back to zero. My Bessler 4x5 enlarger however was horribly out of whack - from the factory. I've heard that most of them were. They can and need to be aligned. The Besslers are fussy because the adjustments you can make with the screws on them are too wonky and large to be of much use. I can't remember how I did it, but it someone needs, I can go out to the garage and take a look at it.
Glass plates, both coated and uncoated, are available from a company in Europe called Zebra Plates. I had a good experience ordering coated glass plates for my 100 year old 5X7 camera from them.
I think they will make custom sized plates for customers.
Amazing work.
Nice job! What a great looking camera.
When I worked as a tog, I would have given my all for one of these. A beautiful job there.
I love you video.. it is what I was looking for... good information and a video to follow along your build...
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Amazing Workmanship man, have gotten into 35mm film cameras in the last year, would love to get into taking Pictures on Glass plates with one of these.
I love your channel sir!
Excellent job.
I have always fancied trying this myself and i think i could manage most of it. The part i always seem to have a mental block on is properly measuring and placing the focus screen to the correct place relative to the film holder.
I’m a photographer and woodworker. I’ve always been interested in doing this but have found few resources to help. Closest I’ve come is to restore an 1870 Watson & Sons plate camera that was missing its back.
How about a video on the small wood plane you show using once in a while? I would like to see one about it. Thank you.
Very interesting process! Can you please comment on how you determined the thickness of the lip for the ground glass? I built a 5x7 back for a Burke and James view camera a while back, and the best I could figure out was to use digital calipers to measure from a film holder's surface to a piece of film I had placed in the holder. Wondering if you did something similar or had a better solution. Thanks!
I used exactly the same system--digital calipers, and my visor magnifiers. This was the first camera I have ever made, and I suspect that a professional could find many things to criticize. But, God, it was fun.
This is heaven sent. Thanks so much! I have 3 4x5, an Intrepid, a Crown Graphic and a Cadet Wide Monorail. I want to build a 5x7 since I have the lenses and film holders and a 8x10 to make contact prints. Thanks again for the detailed explanation.
Heck of a project
Hi Patrick,
Congratulations for your incredible job. Your video is very very good, and really I like the way you are explaining everything. It is really rare to find a video sharing all these details. I appreciate very much the mindset and the will to share.
I need to replace my calumet 400 cc. I really love the concept of your camera build. did you refer to any books for a guide how too. thinking of building 3/4 cameras, 1 for me and the others for my brothers 3 children. as for the bellows did you create it or order a custom one. I might as well build a carrying case too. what wood species would you recommend for such a project.
Thank you!
such a beauty! Does it have a shutter inside the bellow? The old Zeiss lens has no shutter right?
Right. No shutter on this lens. That is not critically important for the collodion prints my daughter wants to do, because the speed of the wet plate process is so slow that exposures are often 10-30 seconds. You can just uncover the lens, watch the second hand on your watch, and cover the lens when the time is up. I intend to purchase a second, more modern lens soon with a built-in mechanical shutter. Most of these newer lenses are less suitable for the collodion prints because they have lens coatings which block a lot of UV light, making exposure times even longer. I tried to keep the focus on the woodworking, rather than the photographic technology, but real photographers will naturally be curious.
@@PatrickSullivan thank you, that makes sense...
Amazing work of engineer art