[Leica] OT: Another maybe not so stupid GH1 question

[imagist3 at mac.com (George Lottermoser)]

I too, as a young lad with few bits of gear and lots of curiosity,  
hung an M2 with Visoflex on the back of a 4x5 camera (as well as,  
later, a Nikon F). I also built a zoom (two boxes which slid together  
on black velvet) 4x5 polaroid pinhole camera; and many other  
fascinating still image recording devices.

I really believe that those sorts of excursions into making cameras  
out of odd bits and pieces gives us a useful, deeper feel for how it  
all works in these little auto everything, digital, computer imaging  
devises. Those entering the field with these new devices and dozens  
of menus may actually miss the obvious: aperture, shutter, focus,  
light sensitive plane, click - is all there really is under all the  
buttons and screens.

More recently I still hang my M8/Viso, R8/DMR and 5D on my 4x5 Ultima  
to achieve shifts, swings and tilts.

Regards,
George Lottermoser
george at imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com/blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist

On Mar 26, 2010, at 1:31 PM, Jim Nichols wrote:

> Your analogies brought back thoughts of a rig that I made when I  
> was young and had little money to spare.  After reading about the  
> Leica focaslide, I carved the necessary parts from wood (leftovers  
> from the wooden packing crates in which the USAF shipped our meager  
> household belongings when I came off active duty), and fitted them  
> to the back of a 5x7 folding view camera that I had acquired.  With  
> my IIIa installed, I set out to photograph an eclipse.  The rig  
> worked, but the photos were never spectacular.  The parts remain in  
> a closet, 57 years later.