While I’ve truly only just started my large format journey, it feels like I’ve made so many fundamental mistakes that it seems the perfect time to begin documenting all of them in the form of written tips before I forgot all the stumbles I’ve made. It’s my hope that if you’re new to view cameras, you’ll benefit from the effort.
These tips are provided in no particular order, but before I get to the actual tips, I’d like to offer one “meta tip” if you will: take the time to read a book if you’re new to view cameras. Steve Simmons’ Using the View Camera is the one I saw mentioned pretty much everywhere, but to be honest, I’ve just not found Simmons to be the most understandable writer; many of the key concepts of view cameras are rather confusingly presented in my opinion. The book I found to be much clearer was Jim Stone’s A User’s Guide to the View Camera. The books cover almost identical territory, it’s just the style and approach that varies. You can preview older editions of these books on archive.org, and you can check them out for 14 days with a free account. (Simmons’ book is here, and Stone’s is here.) Both books can also be found used in hard copy form (try AbeBooks), as well as new. But new ones are pretty expensive; Stone’s book is $50 on Amazon, and Simmons’ book is nearly $30 on Amazon. (Those links are for your convenience to access these books in the US Amazon store; I don’t receive any referral commission or other consideration for them.)
Now, onto the tips that cover the mistakes I made before I knew either of these books existed.
Open-Up When Using the Ground Glass
When I first started using my Mamiya Press Super 23 and my Graflex Pacemaker 45 Crown Graphic, I followed the process I did with other cameras:
- Meter
- Adjust aperture and speed
- Compose
- Shoot
But that’s not how it’s done — if you’re using the ground glass focusing screen on a view camera, anyway.
It’s essential to get as much light onto the glass as you can, otherwise you quite literally cannot see the image on the screen, especially if you have the lens stopped down quite a bit. So the trick is to make sure you open the lens up all the way — to its largest opening, a/k/a the lens’s smallest f-number. Compose, focus — then stop down to what you want and/or have metered.
After struggling mightily to see the ground glass, even with a focusing cloth blocking external light, I was getting really frustrated with the shooting process with these cameras. Like really, really frustrated — missing this rather obvious solution completely. Once I figured it out, I also discovered that I actually don’t even need a focusing cloth in many situations; the ground glass is bright enough to compose and focus without it.
Of course, once stopped down, you can check depth-of-field — but at that point, there will be a lot less light coming to the ground glass (unless you’re shooting wide open), and it’ll be tougher to see. That is when you’ll want that focusing cloth.
Remember to Close the Shutter!
I cannot tell you how many shots I’ve ruined by failing to do this one simple thing: Once you’ve opened-up the shutter with your hold-open button or press-focus lever in order to focus using the ground glass, remember to close it before doing anything else. It should go without saying, but apparently, it does need to be said.
I have quite literally needed to create myself a checklist to remember not to skip this step. If you forget, of course, full-strength light is going directly to the film once you take the dark slide out, and wow, that’s a nice way to waste a piece of film — or in the case of a roll film back, one of the shots. By the time I finally got this down and committed to habit, I’d ruined perhaps a dozen individual shots. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
Identifying Shots and Tracking Film Holder Issues
While new film holders are still available, most of the ones most of us use are quite old, and some of them inevitably develop light leaks from worn light traps. It goes without saying that you should avoid using expensive film (e.g., Kodak Ektachrome) or taking high-value shots using film holders with an unknown condition — just in case. It’s as good a reason as I can come-up with to keep around some inexpensive sheet film (x-ray ortho film for example).
I find it useful to label my film holders in general (not just for finding leaks), and my approach is to use a letter for the holder, and a number (1 or 2) for each side of the holder. For example A01 is side 1 of holder A, and D02 is side 2 of holder D. I then use the shot logging app on my iPhone to record this information in the shot description when I snap the image, so that post-processing, I can directly connect the image to the holder it was shot with.
In the event that I discover a light leak or other problem later on, I know exactly which holder, and which side of which holder, that the problem originates from.
Added benefit: Permanent identifiers for your holders will also allow you to log (on a piece of paper, a Post-it note, or notebook) which type of film you load (brand, type, speed, etc.) when you load them, and ensure that you grab the right holder, with the right film, when you’re in the field. Just remember to take your log information with you.
Another method is simply to use masking tape or some other temporary marking to record directly to the holder what film was loaded, or what you shot. Once you process the film, and discover an issue, you can trace it back, and take that holder out of service. Just don’t remove the tape with your notes until you’ve confirmed that the holder is in good condition and has no leaks.
However you get to the solution though, being able to identify the holder, holder side, and connect that to a processed image, will pay dividends when there’s a problem — or one develops later on.
Bellows Extension Compensation
If you’ve never used a camera with a bellows before, you’re in for a treat. You’re also in for some technique.
Bellows are not limited to view cameras; Mamiya in particular seemed to like using them, and they show-up in the RB67 — a fantastic medium format 6×7 camera — as well as the C-Series TLRs (twin-lens reflex cameras) like the C220 and C330 with their 6×6 frame format. Bellows are great because they allow you to focus much more closely on your subject (up to a point, anyway) than you’d otherwise be able to without a specific macro lens, or solutions like extension tubes.
But because extending the bellows moves the lens plane farther from the film plane, there’s some loss of light intensity, and you may (and probably will) have to do some exposure compensation. The farther the bellows are extended, the more compensation you need, by either opening-up the aperture a bit, or extending the exposure time.
The aforementioned RB67 and C-Series TLRs have compensation scales right on the camera for different focal lengths of lenses, but for view cameras, you pretty much have to do it by hand.
Unfortunately, that means taking measurements (if you want to be accurate about it), and doing some math. If you do this often, you may wish to have a metric ruler (you can use inches but metric is simpler), and a calculator (or the calculator app on your smartphone).
We need to determine what’s called a bellows extension factor. To do this, once you have the shot composed, you’ll need to measure the distance from the lens plane (it should be at the iris, but the front of the lens is generally close enough), to the film plane (e.g., your ground glass). This is your bellows length.
You’ll also need the focal length of your lens, which presumably you are quite familiar with, but it’s engraved on the front of the lens of course.
Next, some simple math:
bellows_extension_factor = bellows_length² / focal_length²
By way of example, suppose your bellows length is 170mm and you’re using a 135mm focal length lens. Square both numbers (making them 28,900 and 18,225 respectively), then divide the former by the latter. The result will be 1.5857 — you can round it to 1.6. This is your bellows extension factor.
IMPORTANT: If you are a Graflex owner, please note that the Instruction and Reference Manual approaches this topic a bit differently (as you can see in the image below). Confusingly, the “bellows extension factor” that the Graflex Crown/Speed Graphic manual refers to is the unsquared division in the formula above. The manual then refers to a separate “exposure factor” — which is the squared result. Most references for view cameras today do this in one step, using the formula above (or its equivalent). As long as we all get to the same place in the end, we’re good.
The easy part is that this factor (this adjustment) is the same as when you use filters and have to deal with filter factors. Both must be converted to stops in order for you to effectively make the adjustments with your aperture or shutter speed, and the math is exactly the same for both.
Mathematically, that formula is:
stops = log2(bellows_extension_or_filter_factor)
Since I don’t carry a scientific calculator with me to photo shoots, and my iPhone’s calculator app will not do base 2 logarithms, it’s easier to just use a table. Below are various factors and the stops pre-calculated.
Factor Stops 1 0 1.2 +1/4 1.3 +1/3 1.4 +1/2 1.6 +2/3 1.7 +3/4 2 +1 2.4 +1-1/4 2.5 +1-1/3 2.8 +1-1/2 3 +1-2/3 3.4 +1-3/4 4 +2 8 +3 16 +4
You’ll notice that things change pretty fast at the low end, and then slow down as the factors increase, so the ones chosen to be listed are the ones that made the most sense, right down to quarter and third stops where things matter the most.
Remember, “stops” in this case is stops more light (hence the plus sign next to them), so open the aperture by the number of stops, or slow the shutter speed by the number of stops, or split the difference if/as needed. And again, this same chart can be used for both the filter factors and your bellows factors. And if you’re close, round up — it’s almost always* good enough.
NOTE: While perhaps unusual with large format cameras, if you happen to use Exposure Values (EV) when metering, then a +1 exposure adjustment actually equates to a reduction in EV of 1. For example, if you metered at EV 13, a +1 stop adjustment is EV 12 (not EV 14).
Use a Loupe to Focus
If you’re focusing using your camera’s ground glass, you may experience some difficulty in getting sharp focus. Goodness knows I did — at first. One very common way to bring-in some serious focusing accuracy is with a loupe, the type one normally might use with a light table to examine negatives or transparencies. Simply place the loupe on the surface of your ground glass, over the critical focus point, and make your adjustments while looking through it. You’ll be amazed at how suddenly the process gets easy.
I’d wanted a loupe for my light table, but when I got the suggestion to use a loupe on my screen from Shawn Augustson, an Ohio-based photographer, I was anxious to try it. I finally ordered one up, and from the very first moment, I was hooked.
For me, part of this is related to my vision; I’m far-sighted, and I wear progressive lens eyewear. It’s physically difficult to position my head under a focusing cloth so that I can even clearly see the focusing screen to start with, but when I first used the loupe, I’d already gotten the image what I believed was razor-sharp. Then I put the loupe down, found my desired focus point, and discovered that, at best, I was close — but not dead on. It soon was, however, thanks to the loupe.
Considering I tend to do a lot of shots with shallow depth-of-field, the point of focus has to be precise. The loupe is the answer to getting there.
Note that most of the loupes you’ll easily find are for specifically for light tables and examining negatives or slides. They work, but they have a very wide base that limits travel around the ground glass. There are specific focusing loupes available from certain specialty retailers, as well as on the used market. Additionally, there are cheap plastic loupes, and much more expensive glass ones. To start, a simple, cheap light table loupe will do the job.
Which Side is the Emulsion Side of the Film?
If you’re already shooting, you already know this, but for those who haven’t, how do you know which side of the film sheet is the emulsion side — in the dark? Use the film edge notches. In the dark, if you feel a notch (or series of notches) along the top right edge of the film sheet, or the bottom left edge, the emulsion side of the sheet is facing you, and that side goes up/out (i.e., it faces you) when inserting the film sheet in your film holder.
NOTE: In the photograph, the notches are on the top left edge. That means that this sheet is emulsion side down (as it should be when inserted into a Print File preserver).
How Do You Keep Track of Exposed Sheets?
Film holders generally hold two sheets of film, one on each side. You keep track of sheets you’ve shot by which side of the dark slide is visible. The slides have a light/white side, and a dark/black side of the slide’s grip or handle. On newer, plastic dark slides, it’s generally white and black plastic. On older, metal dark slides, it’s generally unpainted (light) on one side, and painted black on metal for the other.
I know some folks who do it exactly the other way, but the generally accepted convention is that the white or light side out means unexposed, while the dark or black side out means exposed.
In the darkroom when loading film, make sure the white/light side is out (to know in the dark, see the next section), and after taking your shot, simply flip the slide and put it back in dark/black side out.
Know Your Slides and Sides
But how do you know which side of the slide is which when you’re in the darkroom and can’t see?
Every brand of film holder has tactile indicators, usually dots or bumps of some kind along the top edge or on the handle of the dark slide on the light/white side of the slide. On older Fidelity holders, it’s a round hole punched in the metal of the handle retainer that you can feel with a finger. On newer Fidelity holders with plastic parts, there are dots molded into the plastic. Riteway and Lisco holders have raised dots debossed on the metal.
Whatever type of holder you have, examine it visually first, and you’ll no doubt find a tactile way to determine the white/light/unexposed side of the slide with ease.
Have Other Tips?
If you have a hot tip for new large format shooters that I’ve not included here, or you think I got something wrong, please contact me. I’ll include any useful new tips received, and give you the credit for it, with a link to your site or social media too if you’d like.
* I said “almost always” because with most film stocks, you have a great deal of exposure latitude, and in most situations, more light is better than less light. According to the 1962 edition of The Focal Encyclopedia of Film, “Usually filter factors — other than the lowest values — are rounded off to the nearest whole number. […] In fact, errors up to 20 percent can be ignored.” One exception to the rule would be reversal (a/k/a slide or transparency) films, which have much less exposure latitude. Kodak says, for example, that Ektachrome E100 has a latitude of just half a stop, so if you’re shooting such films, you might try and be a bit more accurate about the adjustments.
