Very Wide Panoramas:5:1 Aspect Ratio Project
I really enjoy my Fuji G617 camera where I get a 6x17cm image for a 3:1 image ratio. I have recently bought a 6x12 film back for my 4x5 Intrepid camera though this is only 2:1 aspect ratio.
Since I bought the G617 I have toyed with idea of putting 35mm film into it. My idea was to tape the film to some old backing paper and re-spooling it and loading it into the camera. There are some challenges however.
35mm film has a 24mm wide image area between the sprocket holes. With my 6x12 back this is 120/24mm or 5:1 aspect ratio. If I load into my Fuji G617 I get to 7: I could crop from 120 film of course and this may be the best answer. I do have a bulk roll of FP4+ so it could be cheaper. An extreme thought is to break out my roll of 16mm film and use that. That would give 7.5:1 and 10.5:1 aspect ratios. I suspect this would be extremely difficult to compose with little margin for error in terms of level horizon.
I started by using an expired 120 film for comparison and measurement. I unspooled it and hung up the start end of the roll. Now I could see (and feel) where the film was adhere to the backing paper. I then hung the blanking backing paper along side it so I could use the other paper with film as a guide.
Next with the lights out I pulled the tab of film out of the 35mm canister then clipped off the leader with some scissors. I was using a 36 exposure roll so there is no worry of running out of film. You will have to cut a tail off it.
Once the start of the film is located on the backing paper comparing with the film next to it the 35mm film is taped to the backing paper. I chose to align the edge of the 35mm film right along the edge backing paper. This should make composing on the film easier as you can compose against one edge of the finder. Putting it along the right edge will locate it on the bottom of the ground glass in the 4x5 camera which is the top of the image as it is inverted on the ground glass. This orientation is determined by the inversion of the image but also the direction the film moves across the film plane (right to left).
For the G617 the film runs from left to right (looking from the back of the camera). This means the 35mm film should be aligned on the left edge of the backing paper. This will place it on the upper part of the focal plane which should correspond to the lower part of the image in the viewfinder. The reason this is the same setup as the 4x5 camera despite the film movement being in the opposite direction is because of the use of a viewfinder rather than the ground glass. This removes one inversion.
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| The 35mm film attached to the left edge of the backing paper. |
Now I start an empty spool on top end nearest the tape and begin rolling the paper and film onto the spool being careful to keep them both tense. This process requires two spoolings as the first one will be backwards as the tape end is the start of the spool. This works well as it keeps the film and paper together as the far end is not attached.
Once I have spooled it up I get another spool and start the backing paper on the one making sure when I get to the 35mm film it gets tucked tightly into the spool then continue rolling it up. If one is careful then by the time you get to the taped end without a bulge or mismatch in the length between film and backing paper. If there is bulge then move the tape further up the backing paper. Finish the rolling and tape the leader to keep it from unraveling. It is ready to shoot.
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| Here is what the film looks like in the 6x12 film holder. |
The First Problem
Since the film only occupies about half the width of 120 film you have to be very clear where this will lie on the ground glass. I was careful and marked on the film roll which side the film was on. However I did not take into account the inversion of the image on the ground glass. So I get home and develop the film and alas all I have is sky. No horizon no ground. Disappointing. But it did work. I got images. |
| Not spectacular but a good start. |
A Second Problem?
One concern that may be apparent in the following photo is getting the film to lie flat. Over such a long length the film could have a tendency to curl along the top edge in the photo below. This might affect the focus. |
| Close-up of Film Plane |
A Third Problem?
If you look along the lower edge of the cloud image above there is some darkening along the lower edge which in the inverted image of the camera would be the edge of film in the middle of the film plane. I have some concern that light might be piping in from the film edge and infringing that edge of the image. Not every image I took had this so it may be an imagined problem.Next Steps
I will wind on another piece of film but this time along the other edge of the backing paper. This will make the orientation as I intended that is along the top of the ground glass which is the bottom of the image. The film back photos above shows this new position.With the new film a new set of photos. I am keen to get detail across the film width to assess the impact of any film curling on focus.
Next Photo Set
I went out with another hand rolled 35mm in 120 backing paper. Again I used the Ferrania P30 Alpha. It was a poor day out with lots of wind and biting cold. My shutter speeds were in the range of 1/8 to 1/15th of a second so sharpness is one can't look too closely at. The results were pretty impressive. I shot a 90mm and a 210mm lens versions. On the 210 version there is an issue of leveling the camera properly. With these wide formats that is critical as there is not much vertical to crop out. I don't see any of my anticipated problems. I find the 90mm image the most compelling.At 4.5:1 aspect ratio this can give a 4.25"x20" image.
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| 90mm lens at box speed ASA 80 |
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| 210mm lens at box speed ASA 80 |
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