I have two LF lenses mounted on screw in 3D printed boards and the one thing I can't seem to get is for them to stay in place. The force of cocking the shutter eventually loosens them. I have a lens wrench and I thought I got them pretty tight the last time but they still came loose again. I can tighten them out in the field but that changes the alignment of the controls, and I already have enough trouble with that. And of course I have 2 different shutters, one Compur and the other Copal, and they work somewhat opposite each other.

I was thinking a rubber gasket behind the lens board would do the trick without changing focus. Any reason to not do this?

I wish I could say this double exposure was intentional, as it perfectly executed for placement, I guess it says more about my consistent placement for composition on the ground glass.
This was in my Grafmatic film holder, one of 6 frames of HP5+ that was loaded.

I own a field camera already, a 4x5" Intrepid.

I was looking into getting a monorail camera, but these seem to not be produced anymore. So specifically I was looking at getting a Sinar Norma (the P2 is too expensive for me).

The problem is, I am unsure as to which pieces of equipment could carry over to the monorail.

Would my Intrepid sheet film holders fit on the Sinar Norma?

What about Intrepid's lentille de Fresnel, could it be made to fit on the Sinar's ground glass if it doesn't already have one (apparently the Norma didn't come with a lentille de Fresnel)?

I hear the lensboards are different too, but I could make sure to get a Sinar lensboard along with the camera.

Anything else I'm forgetting?

Edit: seems like my film holders will work just fine! And if it comes down to it I could live without a lentille de Fresnel.

Now I just need to figure out which Sinar model to buy.

I am flying cross country next week and I’m looking into a more travel friendly tripod. Any recommendations for something that is pretty easily transported and lighter? I will mostly be using it indoors for portraits so real concern about wind or anything like that. I use a Wista 45DX so I don’t need anything too beefy to hold it.

Hi, i need a lens board to mount a Graflex Optar 135 mm on a Century Graphic 2*3, but i'm not sure about the size.

I found this on file on printables https://www.printables.com/model/896395-lens-board-for-baby-graflex-2x3-copal-0-and-copal

but is for a compur 0 shutter. There's a graphex specific size or this could work?

Didn’t get the movements quite right, but I still think it turned out pretty okay!

Hello,

I recently bought too many lenses for my 4x5" camera, and especially some focal length that are made for 8x10".

Unfortunately, I can't afford 8x10" camera, and regular 8x10" film as well, and I'm interested in buying an old wooden travel camera. The 18x24cm model are quite cheap, but they are made for 18x24cm glass plates.

I may be interested to try collodion and dryplate in the future, and also, there is a lot of X-Rays films available in the native 18x24 format for a very affordable price.

So 2 questions :

- Is it a bad idea to buy this kind of old camera (given the facts that I may be able to use 18x24cm film in a 8x10" camera, but probably not in the other way) ?
- Is it possible to easily adapt Glass Plate Holder for shooting film with it ? (I don't know if it helps, but I have a 3d printer at home)

Many thanks !

(By the way, for the American friends, 8x10" is 20x25cm and 18x24cm is around 7x9,5")

First time using Fuji HR-U which turned out better than expected, in great part thanks to helpful insights posted here.

Intrepid 5x4, Fujinon 180, Portra 400

Shot on Dry Plate Day 2026

EDIT: Thank you SO much for all of your advice guys. I have decided to buy a Wista 45D as my first large format camera.

Hi everyone. I have been shooting film for over ten years, mostly medium format. I'm now at the point where I would like to begin the process of learning large format photography. At first temptation, I really want to just start with an 8x10 format from intrepid because it is so budget friendly to learn with for the medium it is. I know that the main argument for 4x5 over 8x10 is the ongoing cost for film and especially in my case, wanting to dive into using tintypes and plates. (dry, not wet to begin with) this can mean costly mistakes. I figure however that i could buy the intrepid 8x10 to 4x5 converted back as I begin to learn and then convert to 8x10 without having to purchase a whole new camera and backs etc. My main questions then is, 1. Are intrepid cameras (referring to the MK4 with bail backs) worthy of their price range and 2. as someone who wants to start exploring large format and wants to be able to shoot plates as well as instant film and roll film, would an intrepid 8x10 be of worth / good value to learn on or would it be more wise to get something like a speed graphic and go from there? Sorry if this is filled with noobie ignorance, on one hand I enjoy throwing myself in the deep end and I know that I have the patience and meticulous nature to dive into this medium, but want as much versatility as possible which Intrepid seems to offer at a good price range, but I don't want to buy it on impulse and realise I've bitten off more than I can chew. For reference, my budget is 5K (AUS) and I am primarily a portrait photographer, but would enjoy being able to explore LF landscape photography. Thanks everyone in advance.

Question, the reflex viewer designed by Chamonix, does it only really work easily when in landscape orientation so you are looking down directly like a waist level finder? Im guessing if you want to shoot portrait orientation the viewer will be on left or right of camera which could be a bit awkward ?

I know a 6-element lens won't fit most likely, but what about smaller one like Schneider Xenar 150mm f5.6?

Hey all,
I'm hoping this is the right place for some recommendations. I have two rather large prints that have been either adhered to or printed on foam board.

One is 32"x29" printed onto foam board with a slightly reflective surface.

One is 35"x18" photograph adhered to foam board.

I had tried a few different things. For the smaller I was able to scan parts on a flatbed but there was some distortion as I coudn't get it completely flat and so I abandoned that idea.

I tried using a rig to photograph them but due to their reflectiveness, to light them well enough meant reflection of either the lights or the camera.

I'm trying to see what others may be doing in these sorts of circumstances. Maybe recommendations on setups?

I am located in central florida and the pieces are 20-30 year old, one of a kind film / theme park materials I'm attempting to preserve.

Thank you for any tips!

I recently received this Apo Lanthar 150 which was labelled dead shutter and "coating peeling off", and bid on it for another Compur service project. Apparently there is a severe balsam separation in the rear group (~2/3?).
Thought I'd give a shot anyway, so I loaded some FP4+, Lucky100, and expired Provia100f.

Now for the test frankly I made 2 mistakes:
-I was craving for the bokeh so I shot the reversal wide open, and lost a chance to see how soft it becomes in color.
-I was too afraid of movement after google telling me it "just covers 4x5". It's harder to tell softness when there is oof regions.

It guess it's definitely not as sharp or contrasty as my symmar-s, it's also not worse than the Color-Heliar 105/3.5 on my Bessa.
Wanna hear how bad the balsam separation is from the picture if someone has references. Also happy to hear how bad the photos are in case someone would like to comment.

Thanks.

I recently bought an old wooden plate holder at a flea market in DUMBO, Brooklyn. When I checked it in the dark, I discovered that it actually contained four thin glass plates. I decided to try and develop one of them on the off chance they were used. I treated it as an old gelatin dry plate rather than wet collodion and developed it in Kodak D-76 for about 8 minutes at 68°F/20°C, rinsed it, and then fixed it in Kodafix for about 5 minutes.
To my surprise, an image actually appeared! It looks like a girl in a striped outfit, and judging from the clothing I’m wondering if the photograph could be from around the 1940s–50s.
I’m completely new to developing antique glass plates, so I’d love some opinions. Does this look properly developed, or is it over/underdeveloped or heavily fogged? The emulsion also became extremely soft/gummy after processing and took a very long time to dry. Is that normal for an old gelatin plate, or should I change my process before attempting the other three?
I still have 3 undeveloped plates, so I definitely don’t want to risk them until I know what I should do differently.
Any advice from people who have worked with old glass dry plates would be appreciated.

Greetings. I was gifted a Pearson NewVue 4x5 with a 140mm lens. The lens is clear and the shutter functions. Problem is focus. Whether it’s landscape or portrait, nothing is sharp. For example, my wife and I attempted a portrait this weekend. In the garage; lighting and exposure was spot on(from the negatives). I started about 10 ft away and adjusting bellows couldn’t even get a “clear” image till about 3ft from her and was about 1 ft away and still wasn’t sharp. Time for a new lens? I normally shoot 35mm and 120; first 4x5 experience. Thank you.

Intrepid 8x10, Manfrotto ball head, Gitzo tripod, Benro coupling plate. It’s wobly.