I have been interested in photography for 30 years and have been practicing it as a hobby for about 25 years. My first camera was my dads Kodak Pony 35 mm camera, which gave me good service during my high school years. Once I started working I bought myself a Yashica FRI and a zoom lens. This camera I used for twenty some years until I bought some used Yashica TLRs, 2 Rolliecord's and a Kiev 88 system.

Years ago I fooled around with some darkroom work, but it was a pain living in a apartment. For the last five years I have had a permanent darkroom in my basement and even some money to stock it. Having a full darkroom in your home is great, you can leave it set up and use it whenever you get the urge. B & W is fairly easy to setup and get decent results, although it takes some practice to get good at it. I make some of my own color prints, but I find it rather challenging to get excellent results. For that special shot it is worth it!

The Idea of Large Format

Somewhere along the way I read about Ansel Adams and his large format camera. This lead me to check into purchasing one, but once I found out what they charged for them that stopped the idea. Being a skilled woodworker I entertained the idea of building my own large format camera. Since I don't have an enlarger that can handle 4x5 I choose to look into making a 8x10 camera. A quick check of the internet convinced me that a monorail design would be somewhat easier to make for a first camera. Jon Grepstad's web site proved valuable in designing my camera. Also Rudolf Midelmenn has a site that helped also.

Coming Up With A Plan

I have resisted the urge to post exact plans for my camera on this website since so much of the design is centered around the woodworking equipment that I have in my basement. My wood shop consists of a 10 inch Delta table saw and a home made router table. I have recently purchased a table top drill press which has been a great help in my woodworking. Much of the oak that you see on the camera is off the shelf precut wood I purchased from Lowe's home stores. The more complicated pieces I have had to find ways to make them by hand. You may have more or less equipment that I do, so much of your design will depend on the equipment and your skill level.

Before buying the first piece of wood do yourself a favor, investigate and study the information out there first. Learn all that you can about large format photography. Once you can think intelligently about the topic, come up with an idea of what you are going to do with the camera. Don't design a 25 pound monorail camera if you like to hike great distances into the wilderness. Once you pack up all the stuff you have to take with you, a packhorse will be necessary. If you are like me and don't take 10 mile hikes, a monorail will be manageable to cart around. For extended hiking trips you may want to consider a small 4x5 camera, since they weigh in considerably less than 8x10’s

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First Things First

Once you decide to make a camera you had better think about the bellows first. A large part of your design will center around the bellows. The sizes of the front and rear standard will be dictated in part by the size and shape of your bellows. You can purchase a commercially made bellows, but that is not cheap. I took great pride in the fact that I made my entire camera except for the film holders. Making a bellows is a slow painstaking process that takes a great amount of patience. There are several places for information on bellows making on the Internet. Doug Bardell has a great site about the subject worth taking a good look at. If you decide to make your own bellows you can mount it to the camera any way you want, which will dictate how you build your camera. On the other hand if you buy a used bellows your camera design will have to deal with how it mounts to the camera. If you do not have a great deal of patience I would not recommend making your own bellows.

On To The Process of Construction

What I did was go to a photography swap meet and buy an old second hand film holder and start my design using it as a guide. Not knowing much about large format this was a logical starting point. Armed with this film holder I had all the important measurements that I needed to start designing my camera. Being a very good woodworker it was no problem to come up with the design that would work for the money that I had to spend. I work repairing electrical & mechanical equipment and have a excellent mechanical background so coming up with a way to make everything work was fairly easy.

One word of caution concerning an 8x10 camera, don't ever look into it's ground glass unless you plan on falling in love with the format. Once you gaze into this world you will never look at a smaller format the same way again. 

The On Going Modifications

After using this camera for a short time I realized that friction focusing presents a challenge while trying to focus a scene. Ron Bakers website gave me the idea that I needed to make my focusing jig for the back standard. See the close-up picture for details on this jig. I took an extra clamp for the optical bench and drilled a hole through it for a 1/4" threaded rod. I then took the clamp for the rear standard and drilled a hole through it and then mounted a threaded insert in the hole so the threaded rod could pull or push the rear standard to focus the image on the ground glass. When not used this focusing attachment can easily be removed. I have used this focusing attachment for close up work and is a huge help in getting just the right focus for depth of field. 

Currently I am making a good camera back out of red oak to match the rest of the camera. (see picture) The one in the picture is a prototype I put together quickly. Although it looks a little rough with the type of springs that I used, it does a great job of holding the film holder. Just going through the process of making it I learned good lessons on what I want the final back to do. 

Thoughts On Making The Perfect Camera

I have found that making a camera is a process of failures to get to an end product that will do what you want it to do. If you try to make the perfect camera the first time, chances are it will never get done. Do a reasonable job putting together a camera, then go out and shoot some film and see what needs to be changed to make it easier to use. Doing this will teach you more than one could ever imagine. After using the monorail for some time, I realized that my camera was a little bit unstable. The flatbed design is a great improvement over the monorail design, but I still use the monorail for close up work.

Transporting The Camera

Needing a safe place to store the camera instead of in the middle of the house on the tripod, I set out to make a box for the camera and the supplies. As you can see the box is quite large, but since I have a pickup truck it is not much of a problem. At a office supply store I picked up a folding two wheeled luggage rack to make it easier to get around once I get someplace. There is a side compartment that is large enough to hold all the film holders and supplies that I might need while using the camera. The box is constructed of 1/4" plywood to make it light enough to carry. There is plenty of support for the camera as it hangs upside down in the box. When I don't use the box, to travel with the camera it gets strapped down with one of the car seat belts. Film holders, dark cloth and meters then get put into a brief case.

Recently I have purchased a hard-shell Pullman suitcase from a wholesale club and modified it to hold the disassembled camera and tripod so it is easier to haul around. It has wheels on it and is great for taking the camera some distance from our car or truck. The film holders spot meter and dark cloth I put into a small backpack to carry. I used this system on our last trip to the Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio and it worked fairly well. 

I have already begun thinking about making a field camera that is more compact, but that is a project that will take a number of years to complete. Also in the beginning stages is the construction of a 8x10 enlarger that will use the camera. 

Closing Thoughts

One word of caution if you take a large format camera out in public is that it acts as a magnet for people. I was once asked if I worked for "National Geographic"  while taking some shots at a local park. I have even had professional photographers come up to me an ask about the camera. 

As of September of 2002 I have modified my camera to a flatbed design to give it a little more stability while exposing a shot. Also with this upgrade I have attempted to make it a little easier to transport it around. This process will be the first step in learning what will be needed to make a folding 8x10 camera. I also made a box to store and transport the camera around. (see the 8x10 Construction page)  I have a folding luggage carrier that I strap the camera box and tripod too. The film carriers and all other needed accessories are carried in a wheeled backpack. I have used this setup several times now and it seems to work well. 

To Be Continued

Jon Grepstads website: Great large format site

  http://home.online.no/~gjon/

Rudolf Midelmenn website: A great 8x10 camera

http://www.artm-friends.at/rm/index.php

Doug Bardell website: Bellows making

  http://www.cyberbeach.net/~dbardell/bellows.html
 

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This site updated on August 29, 2005