Building the Bender 4x5 View Camera Kit

By Mike Pearson 74425,1654


	I recently built the 4x5 view camera kit offered by Bender 
Photographic.  In this article I will discuss the reasoning I went 
through before making the purchase, some details and tips on the 
construction process, quality of materials, problems encountered, 
and use of the camera.

	As I progressed photographically, I decided that I really needed 
to start working in a larger format if I wanted to get the best 
possible image and have the added flexibility that the movements of 
a view camera offer.  I had been working with 35mm, 4.5x6, and 6x6, 
and felt that a larger chrome was needed for some of the subjects I 
was shooting, and for the (long-term) intended uses of some of these 
images.  I started looking at the options available to me.  

	New equipment was out of the question, mainly from a 
financial standpoint.  Even the lowest priced monorail from Calumet 
would have been in the $1000 range, by the time I had everything I 
needed.  The used equipment I looked at had, for the most part, seen 
several years of hard use, and never seemed to offer as low a price 
as I would normally expect with equipment that looked like it was in 
fairly abused shape.  After reading 2 articles in Shutterbug about 
these kits over the past few years, I decided to get some 
information from Bender Photographic on their view camera kits.  
While I was going through the literature, Jay Bender began using the 
Photoforum and it seemed like an omen...support would be readily 
available, either by phone or online.

	I placed my order for the 4x5 camera kit, and a few days after 
the check cleared it arrived.  It was extremely well packed, with 
nothing rattling around in the box.  The main part I was worried 
about was the groundglass, but that had been packed in a way which 
would make it extremely difficult for even my local UPS package 
manglers to destroy. 

	As I unpacked and inventoried everything I ran into my first 
small problem.   The film holders I had ordered were not in the 
package, and one piece, a part of one of the monorail riders, had a 
crack in it.  A quick phone call set everything right, and I received a 
second package with these items a short time later.

	As I was going through the inventory and counting pieces the 
look and feel of the wood made an impression on me.  No ragged 
edges, parts which were supposed to be identical actually were, and 
all were very smooth.  The grain of the wood pieces all ran in the 
correct direction for maximum strength.  I could tell right away that 
I would not have to do a lot of sanding to get a nice finish when it 
was completed.  As recommended, I completely read the construction 
manual to see what steps were involved, and to get a feel for how 
much was really involved with this project.

	After a quick trip to the local hardware store to pick up some 
needed tools and supplies I was ready to start working.  In reading 
the manual I found that I would need clamps in various sizes (I had 
none), sandpaper in a few grades (again, I had none on hand), 
carpenterUs wood glue, contact cement, and some other assorted 
minor items.

	With all of the needed parts and materials now in stock and a 
good workspace cleared off, I was ready to start.  The instructions 
were clearly written and easy to follow.  I took my time to insure 
that everything was laid out, glued, and clamped into position 
properly.  The kit itself consists of several subassemblies, and for 
each of these the parts were shipped and held together with rubber 
bands, with a tag showing which subassembly they belonged to.  Each 
subassembly is constructed individually, with clear explanations and 
line drawings in the manual as an aid.

	All of the parts fit together exactly as they should; no major 
sanding or modifications were needed.  Most of the holes are pre-
drilled; some drilling is required, but the instructions were very 
clear on the location, diameter, and depth.  After work each evening I 
would work on it for an hour or two, setting everything aside for the 
glue to completely dry overnight.  The total time for actual 
construction was somewhere between 40 and 50 hours, and I found 
that even I, with minimal woodworking skills, was able to work at a 
regular pace and see the final form taking shape as I worked.

	Since the wood was so beautiful (all cherry), I decided that a 
clear finish would be the best to bring out the beauty of the natural 
grain.  I chose a clear gloss-finish polyurethane.  All of the visible 
hardware is made of brass, and looks very good on the finished 
project.

	Here is where I made my main mistake.  To get a good glossy 
finish, I applied 2 coats of the polyurethane.  After it had dried for 2 
days (to be on the safe side) I found that the rise, fall, tilt, swing, 
shift, and monorail riders were binding.  I should have thinned the 
finish a bit more.  This necessitated some additional sanding, 
followed by the application of a highly thinned final coat of the 
polyurethane.

	After a couple of days to make sure that everything was 
totally dry and stable I was ready for the final assembly of all of 
the pieces I had been working on.  Much to my surprise, all of the 
parts fit together without a major struggle.  After getting the 
bubble levels installed and calibrated it was time to align the 
groundglass to the film plane.

	The one thing that was lacking for making any type of 
exposures was a lens.  I made a quick trip to Adorama here in NYC, 
and was looking at some used 150mm lenses when the salesperson 
came over and asked what I was looking for.  I explained the 
situation, and he said that I could get a new lens for the same or 
less than the used ones I was perusing, which had a new Copal #1 
shutter and a warranty.  It was a "special" import from a "major 
manufacturer" which they had made a deal on by buying in quantity, 
and could be mine for about $150.  I looked at it, and it seemed to be 
of decent quality in construction, so I decided to take a chance.  I got 
it in writing that the lens could be returned for store credit if it 
didnUt meet my expectations.  As I found out later, the "Computar 
Symmetrigon" which I had purchased was actually quite sharp, and I 
have no complaints about it.  The finish was very well done, and 
everything moves smoothly.

	Once I had the lens in hand I was ready to drill the lensboard to 
hold it.  I marked the plexiglas for drilling a small taphole in the 
center, then used one of those hole-saws that mounts on an electric 
drill to make a hole just slightly smaller than the lens mount. Using 
some medium grit sandpaper I enlarged the hole until the lens would 
just barely slip through, with a bit of effort.  I then took some very 
fine sandpaper and worked for about 1/2 hour to get the mounting 
hole to the proper size and very smooth, and mounted the lens.

	I taped a ruler to a wall, set up some lighting equipment, and 
extended the bellows to close to the maximum extension (22 inches 
with the optional long monorail), at a severe angle to the ruler.  I 
focused on the 6cm mark, loaded a Polaroid 545 back with a sheet of 
film, and made 3 exposures; 1 with the ruler in the center of the 
frame, and one each with it at the top and bottom, taking care not to 
move anything in the setup while changing film.  The sharpest point 
of focus on the test prints was within 2mm of the my intended focus 
point.  I then made exposures with the 6cm mark close to each of the 
corners of the film, and here again the actual focus point was very 
close to what the groundglass indicated.

	I followed the instructions for adjusting the groundglass, and 
the next set of exposures was directly on the 6cm mark in all areas 
of the film sheet.  Now I felt I was ready to load a couple of film 
holders and give it a real-world test.  

	When the weather cleared up a few days later I loaded 6 
holders with Velvia, grabbed the tripod, and headed out to a nice 
brick building, with a garden of tulips planted in the median of the 
4-lane street in front of it.  I set up in the median, and tilted the 
front standard down a little bit so I could (hopefully) get the tulips 
and building in focus at the same time.  Putting the focusing cloth 
over my head and using a 10x loupe on the groundglass I started 
working on the composition and focus.  A few minutes later I 
(thought) I was ready.

	I put a holder into place and pulled the darkslide.  Pressed the 
cable release and nothing happened.  I had forgotten to close the 
shutter after focusing, so I got a really nice exposure of pure clear 
film., perhaps with a ghost image of the building and flowers, but it 
was *really* hard to tell that anything was there.  I replaced the 
darkslide and flipped the holder for the second exposure.    A bit 
more careful now (with 4x5 Velvia costing something like $1.50 a 
pop) I did everything step by step.  

	After a few more shots to bracket the exposures (to check the 
accuracy of the shutter and aperture settings) I was in the darkroom 
processing the film.  When the sheets dried I popped them onto my 
light table and put a 6x loupe to them.  All of the bricks, corner to 
corner, were sharp.  The tulips were sharp.  The color saturation and 
grain were typical of Velvia.  I was really surprised at the quality I 
had received.

	The camera itself turned out to be fairly easy to use.  Though 
it uses friction focusing instead of the geared focusing available 
with most of the higher quality (read more $$$) 4x5 cameras I didn't 
find that to be much of a drawback.  Since those initial exposures I 
have done some tabletop setups, and have dragged it out to 
Washington state and used it for portraits (my friends up there just 
had a baby), macro shots of some *very* small orchids (they and 
their friends also are orchid growers and use these for record shots 
and for breeding purposes), and scenics.  

	The camera weighs about 3 pounds, without the lens or 
holders, so it isn't too bad for packing in to fairly remote areas.  It 
collapses down to about 10x10x4 inches, so it fits into my Tamrac 
bag without any problems, along with several holders, a Polaroid 
holder, the focusing cloth, and the short monorail (if you buy it and 
want to do any really good closeup or macro work, be sure to get the 
optional long monorail).

	All in all, I am pleased with the purchase.  It gave me what I 
initially wanted (an introduction to the format and the various 
camera movements), along with an unexpected bonus....it it a really 
nice camera to use, and, if care is taken in the construction and 
finishing, it can be a beautiful piece of craftsmanship that you can 
take pride in.  For serious studio work I think I'll eventually buy one 
of the commercial models which offer some additional amenities, 
but for casual shooting and learning the use of the format the Bender 
product fits the bill quite nicely.