Dan had asked a message or so ago about the best wood for building a view camera. Well I am moving soon and re-setting up a woodworking shop (no room where we are now) and have thought about building a view camera. I know a lot of folks contributed to the question of what woods are best used for making a view camera, but I'd like to know if there are any sources for actually making/designing a camera. As my metal folding linhof doesn't quite lend itself to copying I can't really use what I have as a model. Thanks.

Artie

-- Artie Kapell (AKapell@HSC.VCU.Edu), July 27, 2001

Answers

I haven't built one, but here's an address for a web page which seems to have a lot of details on doing so: http://home.online.no/~gjon/

-- Mark Severson (mws@ouchem.chem.oakland.edu), July 27, 2001.

Artie, Also to Dan from the previous post. I do not have any camera designing url's on hand. I would like to mention the fact that if you want to design a view camera, the design and way to do it is in your head. When it comes to large format view cameras you can do what ever you please as long as you follow a few basic facts. Keep it practical, rigid, proportional, square, and if all possible, keep it light. That last fact I mentioned is what makes the professional builders like Phillips, Canham, Wisner etc. seperate from the rest. I am definitely not in that group. I am currently building an ultra large format camera. It is a modified C1 green Calument. Why the green one? Because it is light. (Magnesium). The format is 11x14 and is reversible (Horizontal and verticle format). The wood is Zebra wood, an African medium hardwood. I once made a sporting rifle custom stock from this wood and it is a light colored and beautifully grained wood. See photo's- http://dan/evergladesgall/photo.htm- I had the idea that the C1, 3 series Calumets are actually overbuilt with strength, so for this reason a larger format rear standard would be to the advantage. If you remove the rise and fall adjusting knob of the front standard it will continue to rise. The reason for that is you need to make up the difference of front and rear standard centering position. My point is the larger the format, the more ideas you get. In the long run when you finish your project camera and it shoots images as well as the $5000.00 ones your ego inflates twice. One for the camera you fabricated and one for the image it creates. Good Luck on your project.

-- Dan Kowalsky (dank99@bellsouth.net), July 28, 2001.

try this link http://home.online.no/~gjon/jgcam.htm

-- julian (j.o.bell@chello.nl), July 29, 2001.

Thanks for the info. I was able to print out a lot of information from the links provided as well as from the building section of this forum. I'm sure once I have my workshop set up and am beginning the process I'll have a whole range of other questions.

-- Artie Kapell (AKapell@hsc.vcu.edu), July 31, 2001.