MPP 4 X 5 inch plate camera
Discussion
Something different:-
Just thought I'd put this up for something different to see. Its an MPP Technical Camera 5 x 4 inch plate camera. MPP being Micro Precision Products. I picked up in a junk shop back in 76 for £30.00.
I collect old cameras and this one looked kind of interesting. Its got a 5" wide angle Ross Express lens with built in leaf shutter, the camera body also has a focal plane shutter fitted. In modern cameras, as you know, the focal plane moves across the film at the same speed, but the gap between the two shutters is adjusted which results in the exposure time, in this one, there is a length of black cloth about half a metre or so, with different size gaps cut out, each gap being equivalent to a different exposure time,you just crank up the handle to line up the one you want. When you release it, there is an almighty "clank".
Just after I got it, I phoned MPP to try to date the camera, when I gave the guy the body number, within seconds he told me the number of the lense, and said they had repaired it in the 60's, I visualised some guy with a paper index looking this up for me. They dated it as being manufactured in the early 50's, but couldnt be specific as they no longer had the records.
I have used it perhaps a dozen times, you can imagine the resolution of the prints with a negative measuring 4 x 5 inches.
With the bellows fully extended for macro shots, they extend almost 18" from the camera. The lense mount allows the lens to move left or right, up, and tilt back. The rear of the camera allows the plate ie negative, to be sort of angled backwards or sideways from the upright position.
Anyway thats it, looks like I have gone on a bit, but thought it may be of some interest to our readers.
Just thought I'd put this up for something different to see. Its an MPP Technical Camera 5 x 4 inch plate camera. MPP being Micro Precision Products. I picked up in a junk shop back in 76 for £30.00.
I collect old cameras and this one looked kind of interesting. Its got a 5" wide angle Ross Express lens with built in leaf shutter, the camera body also has a focal plane shutter fitted. In modern cameras, as you know, the focal plane moves across the film at the same speed, but the gap between the two shutters is adjusted which results in the exposure time, in this one, there is a length of black cloth about half a metre or so, with different size gaps cut out, each gap being equivalent to a different exposure time,you just crank up the handle to line up the one you want. When you release it, there is an almighty "clank".
Just after I got it, I phoned MPP to try to date the camera, when I gave the guy the body number, within seconds he told me the number of the lense, and said they had repaired it in the 60's, I visualised some guy with a paper index looking this up for me. They dated it as being manufactured in the early 50's, but couldnt be specific as they no longer had the records.
I have used it perhaps a dozen times, you can imagine the resolution of the prints with a negative measuring 4 x 5 inches.
With the bellows fully extended for macro shots, they extend almost 18" from the camera. The lense mount allows the lens to move left or right, up, and tilt back. The rear of the camera allows the plate ie negative, to be sort of angled backwards or sideways from the upright position.
Anyway thats it, looks like I have gone on a bit, but thought it may be of some interest to our readers.
simpo two said:
And to replicate that with digital you'd be looking at the best part of £20K, not to mention perspective control!
I bet you don't need to spend £70 on a cable release either!
Your probably right, if I were to purchase a new lens with leaf shutter, I essentially have a new camera, albeit film, Oh, the ordinary 35mm camera type cable release fits this as well.
Looks very similar to my recent purchase - a Shenhao 5"x4" view camera 
The camera is a lovely bit of kit - hand made from wood, brass and leather, and using it is a much more enjoyable experience than my DSLR. The lens was bought off ebay, and is the same age as me! It's a completely different world to the 35mm photography that I've been used to, but the quality of a 5x4 Velvia slide is out of this world - I've not scanned any in yet, but I expect the results to blow away anything my 1Ds II can produce.
The camera is a lovely bit of kit - hand made from wood, brass and leather, and using it is a much more enjoyable experience than my DSLR. The lens was bought off ebay, and is the same age as me! It's a completely different world to the 35mm photography that I've been used to, but the quality of a 5x4 Velvia slide is out of this world - I've not scanned any in yet, but I expect the results to blow away anything my 1Ds II can produce.
ehasler said:
Looks very similar to my recent purchase - a Shenhao 5"x4" view camera
The camera is a lovely bit of kit - hand made from wood, brass and leather, and using it is a much more enjoyable experience than my DSLR. The lens was bought off ebay, and is the same age as me! It's a completely different world to the 35mm photography that I've been used to, but the quality of a 5x4 Velvia slide is out of this world - I've not scanned any in yet, but I expect the results to blow away anything my 1Ds II can produce.
Looks smashing, in better nick than mine, did you pay more than I did? (Joking, of course you did), If you havnt done it before, its interesting loading the plates with the negatives in COMPLETE darkness, I used up a couple in daylight first on a trial run.
but it is new. Righty ho then, heres a couple more shots of my MPP, not all that good, but unfortunately in a bit of a hurry today.
Shot above is with the bellows fully extended for macro shots, well almost macro, a thumbnail almost fills the 5 x 4 inch screen, incidently forgot to mention, the manual alingment of the lens is measured in Yards, for some reason or another, you can of course just view it on the ground glass screen at the back, hoods missing though, but a dark towel over your head works just as well.
This is it set up in the "Point & Shoot" mode, with the foresight and backsight opened up, just need arms like Arnie to hold the camera up.
Side shot showing the lense angled back, and raised up, also the back has been moved around, I dont even pretend to know what its all about, but I do think by angling the back the right way, you can get shots of building looking up, and kind of straighten the sides out a bit, instead of them going in towards each other, (Bet GetCarter knows all about this)
Button at the top back of the camera is the crank handle for setting up the appropriate focal plane shutter speed, which is achieved by a large length of black cloth with a hole cut in it.
Thank god for digi cams now..........
Shot above is with the bellows fully extended for macro shots, well almost macro, a thumbnail almost fills the 5 x 4 inch screen, incidently forgot to mention, the manual alingment of the lens is measured in Yards, for some reason or another, you can of course just view it on the ground glass screen at the back, hoods missing though, but a dark towel over your head works just as well.
This is it set up in the "Point & Shoot" mode, with the foresight and backsight opened up, just need arms like Arnie to hold the camera up.
Side shot showing the lense angled back, and raised up, also the back has been moved around, I dont even pretend to know what its all about, but I do think by angling the back the right way, you can get shots of building looking up, and kind of straighten the sides out a bit, instead of them going in towards each other, (Bet GetCarter knows all about this)
Button at the top back of the camera is the crank handle for setting up the appropriate focal plane shutter speed, which is achieved by a large length of black cloth with a hole cut in it.
Thank god for digi cams now..........
Thanks for posting those shots. I didn't realise that the enlargement would be that great, a 1" object becoming nearly 4" on the rear screen is almost microphotography rather than macro ! Seriously thinking of buying something like that as they're so cheap now, especially with the focal plane shutter so that you can use barrel lenses if you want to.
I suspect that you'd have to add the weight of a slide rule to the 8.5lbs of the camera for all the exposure compensation and DoF calculations in the good old days !
I suspect that you'd have to add the weight of a slide rule to the 8.5lbs of the camera for all the exposure compensation and DoF calculations in the good old days !
simpo two said:I did try the ol' swapping bags trick when Bacardi and I compared notes on our new toys, but I didn't get away with it
I've decided to give loading film a miss, and use Fuji Quickload which is much easier
Digital back?
You can get large format digi scanning backs, but the exposure time is measured in minues, so not really ideal for subjects that move
If I won the lottery I might stick a Phase One back on there (although it's a fair bit smaller than 5x4 so you'd get a smaller portion of the image), but to be honest, I love the look and feel of film, so am more than happy to stick with Velvia Even better - I've also got a 6x17cm panoramic attachment for the camera which takes 120 roll film, so it's great for big panoramic shots too
>> Edited by ehasler on Wednesday 16th November 17:20
te51cle said:
Thanks for posting those shots. I didn't realise that the enlargement would be that great, a 1" object becoming nearly 4" on the rear screen is almost microphotography rather than macro ! Seriously thinking of buying something like that as they're so cheap now, especially with the focal plane shutter so that you can use barrel lenses if you want to.
I suspect that you'd have to add the weight of a slide rule to the 8.5lbs of the camera for all the exposure compensation and DoF calculations in the good old days !
Just done some measuring, and using a standard 35mm film cassette as the subject, which is about 1 6/10th of an inch in height, filled the 5" ground screen with the bellows fully extended. Up here in Aberdeen we dont get much in the way of junk shops, so maybe down south you'll have better luck, mind dont know if you'll find one now for £30.00 at the time I think the shop was glad to get shot of it. Good luck.
vipers said:This is the same principle as the "tilt and shift" lens from Canon.
Side shot showing the lense angled back, and raised up, also the back has been moved around, I dont even pretend to know what its all about, but I do think by angling the back the right way, you can get shots of building looking up, and kind of straighten the sides out a bit, instead of them going in towards each other, (Bet GetCarter knows all about this)
www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Tilt-and-Shift_Lenses/index.asp?ComponentID=25204&SourcePageID=26112#2
www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_24tse_35/
joust said:One of the big advantages of large format cameras is all the movements they offer.
Side shot showing the lense angled back, and raised up, also the back has been moved around, I dont even pretend to know what its all about, but I do think by angling the back the right way, you can get shots of building looking up, and kind of straighten the sides out a bit, instead of them going in towards each other, (Bet GetCarter knows all about this)
www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Tilt-and-Shift_Lenses/index.asp?ComponentID=25204&SourcePageID=26112#2
www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/canon_24tse_35/
Basically, large format lenses are designed to produce an image which is much larger than the film area. This then enables you to move the lens or the camera back around to compose the image.
An example of this would be if you were standing on the street trying to photograph a tall building. With the lens and film back aligned centrally (i.e., default setting on L/F camera, or what you'd have with a 35mm SLR for example), you would have to tilt the camera up to aim 1/2 way up the building. This would mean that the film plane would not be parallel to the building, and results in the top of the building being further away than the bottom, and the image of the building is narrower at the top (aka keystone as the building looks like a keystone used in a bridge).
With a L/F camera, you would point the camera straight ahead, and then move the lens up, or the film back down, so that the building would move into the correct position on the view finder, and the film plane would still be parallel to the building.
Some examples of the movements avaailabe are:
It is possible to buy lenses for 35mm cameras that offer some of these movements, as Joust points out, however these only offer a fraction of what most L/F systems can provide.
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