Taking Sharp Photos Using a 6x9 Folding Camera
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From: RolandRB on 20 Mar 2010 12:07 Taking Sharp Photos Using a 6x9 Folding Camera Author: Roland Rashleigh-Berry Version: Draft 1.0 Date: 20 March 2010 Introduction Those of you who still use film cameras might from time to time consider the option of using a 6x9 folding camera. Here you have a large film area (6cm x 9cm) with the associated possibility of capturing a great deal of detail, combined with the convenience of being able to fit the camera in a large pocket. Many people have tried this but are disappointed with the results and give up on the idea. There are good reasons why it is difficult to get good results but it is possible if you follow some guidelines. These will be described here. Contact Prints Folding cameras were fashionable at the time of black and white film (that was not sensitive to red light) and prints were contact prints. In other words, the black and white picture that was the end result was made by shining light through the film negative onto photographic paper. The final photo was the same size as the film area so these folders were not designed with enlargement in mind. If you intend to use a 6x9 folding camera then you probably will want to enlarge the photo to show up the detail you wish to capture so you should realize that you are going to make use of the camera beyond its design limits. This means you need an exceptional folder that is capable of enlargement. This is why nearly all attempts to use a 6x9 folder fail at this first hurdle - the camera was not up to the task. Very few are. The Three Requirements What is needed from a 6x9 folding camera to allow enlargements to be made is a good lens, a fairly firm pressure plate to hold the film flat and a firm "standard" such that when the camera is extended, the lens is held rigidly in place. Assuming the camera is mechanically sound then these are the three main requirements. This limits the choice of camera and the only make of camera I am aware of that meets these three criteria are the Zeiss 6x9 folding cameras with the Tessar lens. There are other notable cameras, such as the Vöigtlander Bessa camera with the Color Skopar lens or the better Heliar lens but in the case of the Bessa II the standard that holds the lens in place often has slack in it which causes blur when the photograph is taken an the lens was never as sharp as the Tessar in any case, perhaps due to lack of manufacturing precision rather than lens design. In fact the older pre-WWII Tessar lenses designed for black and white film produce better results than the Color Skopar designed for color film. This could explain why Zeiss never felt the need to make folders with an upgraded lens design to compete with its rivals (although the Tessar lens was redesigned a few times over its history to improve its performance). The Zeiss 6x9 folding cameras You will have to take it on trust from me that if you want to take sharp photos capable of enlargement with a 6x9 folder then the only sensible option is to use a Zeiss 6x9 folder. Deviation from this will almost certainly result in failure. But apart from making sure the Zeiss folder is in sound mechanical condition and the lens in good condition, there are other guidelines that need to be followed. Wind on just before taking the photo You need the film to be as flat as possible. The film will be flattest a few seconds just after being wound on so you should wind on just before taking the photograph and wait just a few seconds for the film to flatten further. If you delay taking the shot for whatever reason then retighten the film by using the wind-on knob without actually advancing the film. Use f11 to f16 Even with taking care to ensure the film is flat, there is still some unevenness in the film surface. You need to use a small enough aperture to give you enough depth of focus to ensure the full surface of the film receives a sharp image. This limits you to apertures between f11 and f16 inclusive. Any fractional values between these limits are of course possible. Use 1/200th sec film speed or faster for hand-held shots 6x9 folding cameras are difficult to hold steady when taking the shot. The focal length of the lens will typically be 105mm so to ensure a reasonable chance of taking a sharp photo then you will have to use an exposure time of 1/150th second or faster so you have to ensure that this sort of shutter speed is available on whatever Zeiss camera you choose. Most Compur shutters that many of the better Zeiss cameras have will have a 1/150th sec or a 1/200th sec shutter speed available. Note that most Compur shutters have an even faster speed such as 1/400th sec or 1/500th sec. The trouble is that to achieve these speeds a stronger spring is used and this can create extra camera shake that negates the speed advantage when taking hand-held shots. Use a monopod Even using the faster shutter speeds will not ensure all your pictures are sharp. Even with a good technique, some of the shots will be blurred due to camera shake. You will get much better results if you can support the camera. A monopod will help enormously. This makes carrying the camera less convenient but you might be carrying it as a second camera and you might benefit from using a monopod for the primary camera. Bright sunny weather If your aim is to capture a lot of detail in color then you will probably opt to use a slow film speed such as ISO 100. Using the "Sunny 16 rule" then for subjects front-lit by the sun, at f16 the exposure should be the inverse of the film speed. So at f16, using ISO 100 film, exposure should be 1/100th sec. But this is too slow for hand-held shots with a 6x9 folder so the equivalent at f11 is to use a 1/200th sec film speed for ISO 100 film. So for taking sharp hand-held shots using 100 speed film you are limited to sunny conditions with your subject front-lit by the sun using an aperture of f11 and a shutter speed of 1/200th second (1/150th sec is also good). Focussing and Depth of Field It is important to use the correct focal distance. If possible, you should set the focus to the exact distance. If your subject is at infinity for landscape shots then set the focus to infinity and not some marking on the lens that is supposed to be good for all long distances. These marking were only good for contact printing. If you require some depth of field then do not use the markings on the lens as your guide as again, these are for contact print size. For f11 you should use the markings for two stops more open at least. Preferably three. So for f11 use the d-o-f markings for f5.6 or f4 if you can get away with it. Conclusion Follow the guidelines above and you will be able to take sharp photos with your Zeiss 6x9 folder that are capable of enlargement of maybe up to 8x. Viewing these images made with color slide film on a light table and an 8x loupe can be very satisfying. I want to end with a few practical tips on using these old cameras. If your camera has a red window in the back that can not be covered using a twist knob then you will have to use a piece of black insulating tape for this purpose that you can peel back to see the film frame numbers. Winding on film should always be done in subdued light otherwise the light that is making the frame numbers visible will also fog the film. Folders have poor light seals so you should aim to finish a roll within a few days of starting it and between use the camera should be stored in a dark place. If you intend to leave the roll unfinished for more than a week then wind on an extra frame and waste that frame so that less light leaks onto the last good frame you took. Old cameras will allow double exposure so don't become so engrossed in the technicalities that you forget to wind on the film before taking the shot.
From: RolandRB on 21 Mar 2010 03:25 On Mar 20, 5:07 pm, RolandRB <rolandbe...(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > Taking Sharp Photos Using a 6x9 Folding Camera > > Author: Roland Rashleigh-Berry > Version: Draft 1.0 > Date: 20 March 2010 If anyone wants to web this I can send them the latest version as an RTF file. I could make some scans of images I have taken with a 1933 Zeiss camera but these files will be very large and my scanner is only an Epson 4990 so they won't be of high quality.
From: stephe_k on 22 Mar 2010 01:49 RolandRB wrote: > > This is why nearly all attempts to use a 6x9 folder fail > at this first hurdle - the camera was not up to the task. Very few > are. > Nice post and also the reasons I like the 6 X 4.5 folders better. The 6X9 chromes are nice but with the film flatness issues etc I get better results from the smaller negs most of the time, especially when hand holding the camera and shooting neg film. I've also found the models that don't use front cell focusing work better for infinity shooting, the front cell focusing models appear to be optimized for "portrait" distances? Stephanie
From: Lawrence Akutagawa on 22 Mar 2010 03:31 <stephe_k(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:ho70cu$5lb$1(a)news.albasani.net... > RolandRB wrote: >> >> This is why nearly all attempts to use a 6x9 folder fail >> at this first hurdle - the camera was not up to the task. Very few >> are. >> > > Nice post and also the reasons I like the 6 X 4.5 folders better. The 6X9 > chromes are nice but with the film flatness issues etc I get better > results from the smaller negs most of the time, especially when hand > holding the camera and shooting neg film. I've also found the models that > don't use front cell focusing work better for infinity shooting, the front > cell focusing models appear to be optimized for "portrait" distances? > Steph - You can adjust the focus of those front cell focusing cameras yourself. There used to be a fair number of websites explaining how to do this, but I can't find them at the moment. aha - here is one such website. Click on "focus adjustment." http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/repair.html
From: stephe_k on 22 Mar 2010 17:23 Lawrence Akutagawa wrote: > <stephe_k(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:ho70cu$5lb$1(a)news.albasani.net... >> RolandRB wrote: >>> This is why nearly all attempts to use a 6x9 folder fail >>> at this first hurdle - the camera was not up to the task. Very few >>> are. >>> >> Nice post and also the reasons I like the 6 X 4.5 folders better. The 6X9 >> chromes are nice but with the film flatness issues etc I get better >> results from the smaller negs most of the time, especially when hand >> holding the camera and shooting neg film. I've also found the models that >> don't use front cell focusing work better for infinity shooting, the front >> cell focusing models appear to be optimized for "portrait" distances? >> > Steph - > > You can adjust the focus of those front cell focusing cameras yourself. > There used to be a fair number of websites explaining how to do this, but I > can't find them at the moment. aha - here is one such website. Click on > "focus adjustment." > http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/repair.html > > What I am talking about is optically these front cell focusing cameras are a compromise, not that they need repair. They appear to be designed to work best at medium distances and then use the shifting of the front cell as a means of getting the focus at other distances acceptable. I've found the models that use a helix or other means of moving the whole lens assembly to produce sharper images at the ends of the focus range. Stephanie
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