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The lens/shutter I first fitted to the 4x5" homemade camera was a 127mm Kodak Anastigmat in a Compur shutter. This was taken from an old folding camera and was an ideal first choice for this camera.
However old lenses/shutters are quite easy to come by at car boot sales where we are - and I hope to try out several more - both on this camera and other home made ones.
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This is a selection of lenses/shutters bought as a job lot recently at a car boot sale. Only the brass coloured one on the left is suitable for large format use (see below) - the others are mainly for medium format.
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This one is a Beck Symmetrical lens in the remains of a Bausch & Lomb shutter. It dates to about 100 years ago (1900-1910) and is an F8 Rapid Rectilinear type of unknown focal length. The minimum focal length is likely to be 5" (127mm) and should easily cover a 4x5" plate/sheet.
It is a shame the shutter is incomplete - though the aperture iris is still working. By using a lens cap it should be capable of taking pictures using paper negatives as the exposure time for them is normally several seconds.
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Of course most old lens/shutters are still attached to their original cameras. This is another Beck Symmetrical lens (Aluminium rather than brass mounted) on an Ensign camera of about 1908. The camera is in a poor state - but the lens/shutter are an ideal candidate for the 4x5" Homemade camera - and the shutter will allow the use of real film - rather than just paper negatives.
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