Preparing a Quarter Plate Camera for Wet Plate
Preparing a Quarter Plate Camera for Wet Plate
George (instagram: @gwalshphotography) did an excellent job restoring his quarter plate camera. He replaced the bellows and gave the camera a full once over. I might have to remember the green bellows for my own cameras!
For my part, I made a new front rise panel for his universal iris. I also; modified an antique dry plate holder for wet plate, made a replica brass latch, and fitted a borosilicate ground glass screen and Fresnel.
Making a Replica Front Rise Panel
George sent me his front rise panel so that I could measure it to create a new one. Special considerations had to be given to the offset hole, thumbscrew slot, the mahogany species, and the French polish colour.
Modifying an Antique Dry Plate Holder for Wet Plate
The camera is very compact, and so is the reversing back. This made it difficult to find holders to fit. Of course it also made it difficult to create a new back for the camera to fit larger holders.
In the end a similarly compact Watson dry plate holder from the 1890s came to save the day. Of course the focus needed calibrating. The easiest solution would have been to take ~1mm off the ground glass ledge, however I also thought that a period correct solution for wet plate would be to have 1mm sterling silver square wire corners as the reference surface for the wet plate. It would still allow for some leeway for calibration. It worked. Finished with a black lacquer inside to help resist the silver nitrate.
Making a New Brass Latch
The main consideration was to remember to fold the brass in the correct direction for a mirror image
Adding a Brass Stop to the Camera Back
The original plate holder must have had a stop rib on it. As this holder didn’t, the most elegant and reliable solution was to add a brass strip to the camera back.
Adding a New Borosilicate Ground Glass and Fresnel Lens Screen
The ground glass frame was ever so slightly under actual quarter plate size, and so required a little fettling. Got there in the end! According to George the borosilicate ground glass screen and Fresnel are quite the transformation!
Thanks for the interesting work George!