OLD FOLDING CAMERA TIPS... RF or Not

[farlymac]

Don't leave your shutter setting dial on the fastest speed when shutting up the camera for the day. Always set it at the middle to slowest speed to keep from wearing out the spring for the high speed setting (Compur-Rapid, and Synchro-Compur).

PF

 

[Pioneer]

Use a Lens Shade and Tripod

Use a Lens Shade and Tripod

The suggestions here are great stuff. But don't forget some of the simple basics either. Just because you are using a 1950's folder doesn't mean you should ignore the technique that provides you with great images in your more modern equipment.

A lot of the lenses on these older cameras, even if coated, are not as resistant to flare as you may be accustomed to. It is a great idea to find a hood and use it. Even if you don't think you are going to get flare, unwanted light can reflect from a lot of spots you do not expect.

Also, you may think that your handheld images are wonderful, lots of people do, but it is a well researched and proven fact that cameras supported on a tripod produce sharper images. If you can use a tripod, or even a monopod, you will be rewarded with better results. I did not believe this myself until I started to enlarge and print my own negs. I was stunned by some of the blur I spotted in negatives I thought were great. You may not care, and it may not matter for the type of images you want to create, after all sharpness is not the be-all end-all of photography. There are certainly many good reasons to handhold a camera. But the images will not be as sharp as the ones taken with a camera that is securely supported.

For me, using the lens shade and supporting the camera has completely changed the character of my folder camera images, from so-so and ok, to terrific. After all, I am rarely using my Super Isolette or Baldalux for documentary photography.

 

[Thomas78]

Especially for triplets, scale focus and uncoupled rangefinders:

Use fast film (400 ISO) so that you can work on medium to small apertures (f/8 - f/22) to compensate for possible focusing errors / inaccuracy while transfering distance from rangefinder to lens.

In bright sunlight you could work with 1/200 or 1/250 s and f/22 (sunny 16 rule) if the camera allows no faster shutter speeds.

This also improves the image quality on (most) folder lenses, particularly on triplet lenses.

 

[graywolf]

Especially for triplets, scale focus and uncoupled rangefinders:

Use fast film (400 ISO) so that you can work on medium to small apertures (f/8 - f/22) to compensate for possible focusing errors / inaccuracy while transfering distance from rangefinder to lens.

In bright sunlight you could work with 1/200 or 1/250 s and f/22 (sunny 16 rule) if the camera allows no faster shutter speeds.

This also improves the image quality on (most) folder lenses, particularly on triplet lenses.

And what do you do when you want shallow depth of field? I shoot 100 speed film that gives me f/32 @ 1/30 to f/5.6 @ 1/500 (f/8 if you camera is limited to 1/200 to 1/300) in bright sun, and one stop open from that with a yellow filter. Basically, 100 speed film gives me the widest number of exposure combinations in normal shooting conditions. I do not want to give up that pictorial control.

I use 400 speed and 25 speed film as special purpose film.

 

[Alfasud]

Hand Held vs Tripod

Hand Held vs Tripod

I use a pre-WWII Zeiss Ikon Nettar 510/2. The main limiting factor for me is shutter speeds: 1/25 & 1/75. In spite of this, I most often shoot hand-held. I am deliberate about concentrating on holding the camera steady: hold breath; press shutter release slowly and steadily, use a cable release for landscape shots (the shutter release is on the front plate beside the lens); use the self timer. I find that a full size tripod negates the size and weight advantage of the ZI folder, and most small, pocket tripods are not sturdy enough for the camera. I sometimes use a pen sized Minox tripod, which screws together ans so is sturdy enough for me. Below is a picture.

 

[julio1fer]

With film advance, my routine is to advance just a bit after every shot. Before the next shot I wind to the next number. When a number is showing, I'm sure it is a new frame.

 

[Alfasud]

I would like to be able to use o Cokin filter set up on my folder. Has anyone tried this? If you have, and it works, show us a picture.

 

[pagpow]

And what do you do when you want shallow depth of field? I shoot 100 speed film that gives me f/32 @ 1/30 to f/5.6 @ 1/500 (f/8 if you camera is limited to 1/200 to 1/300) in bright sun, and one stop open from that with a yellow filter. Basically, 100 speed film gives me the widest number of exposure combinations in normal shooting conditions. I do not want to give up that pictorial control.

I use 400 speed and 25 speed film as special purpose film.

I, too, have found that 100 speed film gives me the greatest control and with ZI triplets is just fine at f11/f16 for hyperfocal.

I'm thinking of moving to 400 speed film w a two stop ND, however, as that gives me some extended shooting later n the day after removing the ND filter.

Giorgio

 

[pagpow]

I use a pre-WWII Zeiss Ikon Nettar 510/2. The main limiting factor for me is shutter speeds: 1/25 & 1/75. In spite of this, I most often shoot hand-held. I am deliberate about concentrating on holding the camera steady: hold breath; press shutter release slowly and steadily, use a cable release for landscape shots (the shutter release is on the front plate beside the lens); use the self timer. I find that a full size tripod negates the size and weight advantage of the ZI folder, and most small, pocket tripods are not sturdy enough for the camera. I sometimes use a pen sized Minox tripod, which screws together ans so is sturdy enough for me. Below is a picture.

Anybody found a monopod solution that provides support and does not compromise the portability of the camera?

 

[Thomas78]

And what do you do when you want shallow depth of field?
...

That is the sacrifice if you use 400 ISO film.

But you get better image quality if you have non-ideal light, because you don't need long shutter speeds ore open apertures that often.

For shallow DOF I would prefer a coupled rangefinder with a Tessar (or Heliar) type of lens. For these I would indeed prefer a ISO 100 film on good light conditions.

 

[umcelinho]

great topic, lots of useful info

 

[JPD]

That is an issue on a few cameras with a design flaw that permits an air pressure build-up from behind on the film when expanding. But most makers seem to have been aware of the issue (the more so as film often was less rigid back then), and good folders tend to have some kind of air duct between back and bellows space to compensate that.

Yes. In my Zeiss Ercona II the film is pressed against small bumps, and the spaces between them work like airducts. My Weltax has another type of airduct. I've never had a problem with the bellows sucking the film in. I wind the film after each shot.

For setting the focus, I like to stretch a piece of 3M 'Magic' tape, taut and non-wrinkled, between the surfaces that define the plane of the film emulsion. This is tape 'frosted-translucent' and shows the image nicely for examination with a loupe. The tape peels away nicely without leaving a sticky deposit.

Even better is if you cut a piece of plexi glass, or a CD cover to size and then cover one of the surfaces with the tape. Then you have a fine grained and bright viewing screen, and it's flatter than using tape alone.

 

[burancap]

Timely revival of this thread!

I just bought a pair of folders -the first of the breed for me. Keep the tips coming!

 

[kuzano]

Another advantage of a hard simulated GG...

Another advantage of a hard simulated GG...

Even better is if you cut a piece of plexi glass, or a CD cover to size and then cover one of the surfaces with the tape. Then you have a fine grained and bright viewing screen, and it's flatter than using tape alone.

You can use a loupe on it because of the flatness of the plastic. Again... I've had good luck with tupperware, or other opaque surfaces from plastic bowls... matte side toward the lens, even with the film plane frame.

 

[JPD]

You can use a loupe on it because of the flatness of the plastic.

Yes! I even use a Scotch Magic tape surface for the viewing screen in my 6.5x9 Voigtländer Bergheil. The reason is that the film plane is appr. 0.5 mm inside the frame the groundglass rests against. I use a 1.5 mm sheet of plexi glass that is pressed against the frame, and inside the frame I have attached a thin but stiff sheet of transparent plastic with strips of doublesided tape, and the matte Magic tape on the outer surface. It works very well, although the tape is so fine grained that there is a "hot spot" of brightness in the center. But it's easy to focus on.

For my other plate cameras, Avus and 9x12 Bergheil I have ground my own groundglasses using old glass plates and Carborundum #600 grit. (Old glass plates have exactly the same thickness as the original GG's in these cameras and Rollei TLR's). And the glass can of course be cut to fit on the back of a folder, or even to check the focus on small format cameras. But matte tape on plexi is of course an easier solution and will not break if you drop it.

 

[Pherdinand]

Never wind on your camera before closing it. Leave the last exposed frame on the platen when you close it. Then when you open the camera, the vacuum will displace an image already captured. Then when you "wind on" you will flatten the film against the platen as it moves into position for the next shot.

nice story man, however it is only valid if:
1. There is a venting hole behind the film plane on the camera body OR
2. there's a considerable sized empty compartment behind the film plane "filled" with air, to push the film away from the pressure plate when "vacuum" is created by the bellows.

I am not sure if any of the above points is the case for a folder...but i think not.
Vacuum doesn't suck in objects. Overpressure pushes objects into underpressured areas.

 

[Pherdinand]

Here's a different kind of tip:
Don't discard triplet-equipped folders (and in general, mf cameras) and don't discard the use of these at large f-stops.
Some of them do create rather spectacular 3D-effects at f/4-ish apertures due to aberrations left in the lens system, which you will obviously miss at f/8-f/22.
No you won't get corner-to-corner sharpness at f/3.5 with a novar anastigmat, but your object in focus will pop off the image plane in a spectacular way...
(in the right conditions. Coz a brick wall won't pop off )

 

[graywolf]

Here's a different kind of tip:
Don't discard triplet-equipped folders (and in general, mf cameras) and don't discard the use of these at large f-stops.
Some of them do create rather spectacular 3D-effects at f/4-ish apertures due to aberrations left in the lens system, which you will obviously miss at f/8-f/22.
No you won't get corner-to-corner sharpness at f/3.5 with a novar anastigmat, but your object in focus will pop off the image plane in a spectacular way...
(in the right conditions. Coz a brick wall won't pop off )

My latest folder with a triplet lens:

Sorry could not resist, and yes that is a modern multi-coated triplet on there. The camera does fold up, in a fashion, but I can not seem to get it in my pocket.

 

[Pherdinand]

you just need the right pocket.