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  #1  
Old 19th May 2011, 06:59 PM
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Martin Aislabie Martin Aislabie is offline
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Default Darkcloth acting as a Sail

I have just had a few days in the North Yorkshire Dales with my 5x4

As the time went on I became increasingly frustrated with my Darkcloth
  • Firstly, in a strong breeze it would flap around a great deal
  • Secondly, it would inflate itself and become extremely difficult to fold up
  • Thirdly, if it was just laid on the ground it would take off and blow away
  • And last but not least, in one particularly windy location, while I was using it as a cover in a heavy rain shower, it managed to blow the complete Camera and Tripod over – definitely NOT recommended
It is a perfectly reasonable and manageable Darkcloth in the much more sheltered Warwickshire.

It just is outside its operating environment in the Pennines

Clearly, less sail area is required.

Has anyone a Darkcloth they would recommend that works effectively in strong winds.

I would prefer it to be rain/shower proof too

Thanks

Martin
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  #2  
Old 19th May 2011, 07:22 PM
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Most of us are outside our operating environment in the Pennines .

Not being an LF user I can't really offer any suggestions, it's one of those things that I've always thought might be a problem with LF. It'll be interesting to see if anyone else has a solution.
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  #3  
Old 19th May 2011, 07:36 PM
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Martin - not the most ideal solution and certainly not weather-proof, but two t-shirts one inside the other are fairly bulk free and if stick your head through the neck hole, they're not going anywhere. I haven't got round to elasticating the hem yet so they are difficult to keep on the camera - they do however make a lovely neck-warmer in colder weather
Jack Dykinga's book, has lots of pretty decent tips for all weather photography.
Phil
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Old 19th May 2011, 07:48 PM
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Martin,
I know exactly what you mean they are a pain in windy conditions.
Since I lost my Ebony cloth last year I've just used a black T-shirt and it works just fine for me.
I fit the neck over the back of the camera and poke my head up the waist but when it's really windy wear the T-shirt around your neck and just pull the waist over the camera back to view.
I used the T-shirt just to get over the loss of my D/cloth to start with until I could replace it but the T-shirt works as well or better than any I've used and lost, so it's a T-shirt for me.
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Old 19th May 2011, 09:03 PM
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When I worked with large format (very many years ago) I made my own darkcloth - with two oblong pieces of black material sewn along the top and right-hand side (away from the camera back) with bottom sewn with a gap in the middle (big enough to get my head in) and the side facing the camera being open with a strong bit of elastic sewn into it. Darkcloth was secured to camera with the elasticated end, head in the hole in the bottom, move head backwards to tension and combat wind. Rain protection was an old cycling cape with a hole that fitted over lens. Lens was protected with a cheap UV filter that allowed focussing and was removed immediately prior to exposure. Worked very effectively even with raging winds and seas at Hartland Key.
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  #6  
Old 19th May 2011, 09:34 PM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
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I now use a Blackjacket Focusing Cloth after buying it from another FADU member, no focusing cloth is perfect in extremely windy conditions but it is a huge improvement on a standard cloth and it is weather proof, so I often use it to protect the camera while it is still connected to the camera, only problem is there is no UK seller but the link below is to the US supplier.

http://www.quietworks.com/FRAMES_FIL...OME_FRAME_.htm

Neil
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  #7  
Old 19th May 2011, 10:00 PM
DougHowk DougHowk is offline
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For my 4X5 Shen-Hao I'm switching to a hood (looks like those on Crown Graphics). For 8X10 & ULF I admit to getting frustrated with the lighter weight darkclothes flapping all around (hard to even see the corners); but they're a necessity since my larger cameras/filmholders are prone to light leaks. Do have a heavier one that will take out on next breezy day.
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  #8  
Old 19th May 2011, 10:27 PM
DaveP DaveP is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Martin - not the most ideal solution and certainly not weather-proof, but two t-shirts one inside the other are fairly bulk free and if stick your head through the neck hole, they're not going anywhere. I haven't got round to elasticating the hem yet so they are difficult to keep on the camera - they do however make a lovely neck-warmer in colder weather
Jack Dykinga's book, has lots of pretty decent tips for all weather photography.
Phil
I also use the double-tshirt trick, but on mine i did sew a thin bungee drawcord into the hem so its elasticated yet adjustable. Used 2 primark shirts, must have been about a quid fifty each. Hand holding the loupe goes in an armhole for focussing. Frankly i wouldn't dream of using a big flappy old fashioned sheet, it'd be a nightmare.

You could easily weatherproof the above by sewing a sheet of pertex or similar to the outside, or substituting the outer tshirt with a cheap single layer windproof top from Decathlon or something like that.

Last edited by DaveP; 19th May 2011 at 10:30 PM.
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  #9  
Old 20th May 2011, 07:16 AM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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I use a BZTS dark cloth, not cheap but well made.
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  #10  
Old 20th May 2011, 08:42 AM
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You may also want to look at Mike Walkers dark cloth http://www.walkercameras.com/a_darkcloth.html

Best described as "compact and bijou" but behaves itself in the wind. It also has a handy gap at the bottom so you can get your loupe in to focus.
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