Bigger is better

Bigger is better

People seem to like it when I write about old cameras: so here goes with one that’s a bit of a beast. Absolutely no chance that a Gorillapod will be of use.

It’s actually quite a modern camera, and makes extensive use of plastic: a basic model, with a basic lens. But it does the same things as far more elaborate and beautiful cameras made with wood and brass.



It’s a Cambo Explorer, designed to provide a simple and cheap introduction to large format photography. By fitting different lenses, you can use any focal length at all: the lens fits in a flat panel which is removable. Standard for 5”x4” is a 150mm lens, and wideangles go down to around 65mm, while telephotos reach 300mm.

The Explorer is a monorail: that means that rather than having a body with the lens attached, the lens and film are held in separate units mounted on a single rail, and with adjustments in all sorts of directions. A classic plate camera has the lens mounted on a board that folds down from the body, and is less versatile, though easier to use! Have a look at a few examples of the amazingly lovely Gandolfi cameras on the web - made in Peckham Rye by three brothers.



Everything seems odd: but all of it works the same way as your MFT digital. Almost. There’s an extra lever on the lens, which switches the shutter from normal operation to open, for focussing. You have to remember to switch back before you put the film in!

Film: you load single sheets of film (really! 5” by 4”) into a film holder, and once the camera is set up and focussed, you push the darkslide down behind the focussing screen which pantographs outwards to allow the film to sit exactly where the ground glass screen was for focussing.



But I’m dodging around, and method is your friend when you use a large-format camera. You set it up on a tripod, open the lens, focus (with the aid of a magnifier and a yard-square cloth over your head), close the lens, set the aperture and shutter speed, **** the shutter, put the filmholder in, pull out the darkslide that covers the film, expose, replace the darkslide, and remove the filmholder.
Simples? Once you get the feel for it, maybe.



For all this inconvenience (and cost: the film is a bit over £1-50 a sheet), you get the potential for superb quality. Think about it: a contact print that is big enough to use, and the ability to correct perspective and distortion with the extensive lens and back movements that a monorail allows. But perhaps that’s the subject of another article tomorrow…