Camera Obscura with WWII aerial lens : Wet Plate Monster Project

After taking the shutter out the lens and putting it all back together we decided to test this bad boy out with an old fashioned camera obscura using the window and curtains.

The image below is what was projected on the wall on the other wide of the room approximately 4 metres away.  The grey areas you can see are bricks and to give it some context of size on the right of the image you can just make out a radiator.

To give us some kind of idea of what it would be like work with focus on huge plates we used a towel which measured about 25" x 50".

And below is another projection on the towel of the house behind which is at least 25 metres away.

Focussing the image was a matter of moving the towel a few centimeters in either direction.  This is the lens fully open but when we tried with the lens closed down we experience vignetting, I reckon this is down to the aerial camera being design for 9"x18" photo which at such height would need to be closed down to get any kind of detail .... I think.



Next .... thinking of ideas for the "camera back/darkroom space".  We've got something in the pipeline but we think it won't be until after Christmas till we get a little further with this.  Until then we have all the chemicals and silver we need to be shooting with my 5x4.

The Beginnings of a Wet Plate Monster

So Mikey Simpson and I purchased this Kodak 36 inch f:8 Huge Vintage Aerial.  Our aim is to build an epic wet plate camera with some alternative methods.  The lens weighs 10kgs and with the collar is a big hunk of metal and glass.

 I wanted to take a look inside and we decided we should take out the shutter because it was one speed and it slightly obscured the edges of the lens.  Apparently the glass on this thing is radioactive, that's why it will be stored at Mike's house.

Above you can see the shutter mechanism, the shutter control button collar and various washers and clips which held it all in place.  The lens came apart simple enough and with only a little man-handling the shutter components soon came out too ... easy so far!

Just had to put the aperture control and iris back in and it's good to go.

We got the lens, now we got to find a way of mounting/supporting the beast and come up with some kind of camera back!

Nimslo .GIFs 2nd Batch

Nimslo Animated .GIF 1st Batch