Universal iris clamp

I just wanted to share this very versatile camera part with you.
It is called universal iris clamp or lens chuck.
They are available in different sizes.
The problem with lenses is that many of them are missing the lens flange. That makes it almost impossible to mount on a lens plate.
These clamps have very stiff aperture blades which makes it able to hold different sizes of lenses without using a lens flange. Most of the time these clamps are made of aluminium.

This beautiful clamp, made of brass, can hold lenses with a diameter from 2,5 cm up to 9,5 cm and up to a weight of aprox 2 kilo without any problem!

(BTW, this one is not for sale !)

They got married.....

I just couldn't wait any longer.
Made a lens plate today and "married" my new Large Vogtlander lens with my 20x20" Donchev camera.
(I have two original lens plates which came with the camera, but i hate to cut a hole in them........)The difference in age between he and she is huge.
The voigtlander was made in 1862 and the Donchev is made in 2011.
Lets call it a "modern" marriage
It looks just great on the ground glass and i definately want to make some work with this camera starting in 2012. So keep posted.

If you need any more info about the Donchev camera's, just have a look at Andy's weblog : http://donchev-cameras.blogspot.com/

How to store your precious Ambrotypes

Making nice plates in one thing, but storig them in a proper way is at least that important.
Although your plates are varnished, it's very important to store your plates safely.
I bought my envelopes from the Dutch fotomuseum. They are acid free and have the exact European size ( 18 x 24 cm ).
They also sell smaller sizes !
Here you can order them : http://www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl/component/option,com_nfm_verpakkingen/Itemid,794/lang,nl/index.php?option=com_nfm_verpakkingen&sub=detail&Itemid=794&id=233

I print the actual picture at the front. Just by using my laserprinter and at the back i print some additional information.
I use a safe shockproof aluminium case to store them vertical.
Storing them this way doesn't take you much space and they are safe.

Normal film plate holder part 2

In oktober 2010 i posted some pictures how to modify a normal film holder to a wet plate holder.
Here's the post http://collodion-art.blogspot.com/2010/10/normal-film-holder-for-wet-plate.html
I have got several questions how i manage to hold the plate into the plate holder as it has no door with a spring.
Well, actually this is quite simple. Just take a normal plastic (limonade) bottle. Cut a small part out of the bottom part (which is mostly the stiffest part) of the bottle  (about 1.5 x 3 inches) et voila:  you have made yourself a spring for your plate holder.
Just as simple as that.
Try to make it of a white bottle which makes it much easier to locate when you are working in the dark room.

I finally found "Her".......

After a long search i finally found a suitable lens for my 20x20”Donchev camera.

This is a 24” early Voigtlander petzval which was produced aprox in the year 1864.
This lens is massive. I thought my 20inch Hermagis was big. This one is huge.
The glass is in execptional good shape. No separation, fungus or what so ever.
It came with one original waterhouse stop.

Some specs:
Weight :                         8,3 kilo
Height:                           39 cm
Diameter lens hood:        19 cm
Flange diameter:             23 cm
Serial number:                12540
Focal lenght                    24"
F-stop                             aprox 5.2 (because of waterhouse slot)

If anyone can supply me the exact production date of this lens, please let me know.
Just to show how massive this lens is, the lens next to the Voigtlander is my Dallmeyer 3B

Beautiful rare Derogy lens

Recently i bought a very early beautiful Derogy petzval lens for my small collection.
Every time i say to myself, i have to stop collecting stuff, but this one i couldn't resist......

The lens is dated between 1850 - 1860 so more than 150 years old.
A beautiful example of perfect handcraft.

The bayonet system makes this a rapidly convertible portrait/landscape lens.
The lens has a focal length of about 8" and it's speed is about f 3.8
unfortunately it has no flange, so if somebody could help me finding one i would be more than grateful !
Thread diameter is 88,6 mm.

I made you some pictures to show how the ingenious lens works.

 Standard portrait situation

fast opening with bajonet

 It has a double lens cap which can be taken apart.
One for the portrait lens and a smaller one for the land scape lens

Here you can see the aparture rings which were used in very early lenses

Mounted as a landscape lens including the smaller lens cap mounted at the front

Great source for black aluminium !!

Thanks to a participent of my workshop i found a great supplier of black aluminium over here in Holland. I also think its one of the very few in Europe.
It's a small firm located in the  south of Holland in a place called Schinnen.
So also close to Germany and Belgium
We already made some testplates and they work just fine.
They are able to cut in any sizes you want and they are also willing to ship all over Europe. The thickness of the material is aprox 0,7 mm
Getting it from the US might be a just bit cheaper but this source is fast and accurate !!
No problems with the customs anymore.

If you are interested just contact my contact person, Daniël Putters.
Website : http://www.graveerbedrijf.com/
E-mail : info@graveerbedrijf.com
Phone : Tel. +31 (0)46-4428442