5x7 Ground glass back for Rittreck/Wista View Camera

thingiverse

The Rittreck View is a really nice and inexpensive Japanese view camera, which has almost all the movements and features you could possibly want when getting into serious large format photography. It can be easily found on ebay at very reasonable prices. Technically it is a 5x7 sized camera, but most of them come with either 4x5 sized backs or obsolete 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 backs. The 4x5 back is perfectly useable and works very well, but why only shoot 4x5 when your camera is capable of a much larger format? 5x7 backs are hard to find and will cost more than the camera itself even if you happen to be lucky enough to find one. So I decided to design and print my own version. It has been tested and found 100% useable. You will need a 13x18 cm or 5x7" ground glass focusing screen. Instead of springs, I used 1/4" 6.5Oz. dental rubber bands to achieve the necessary tension, which works very well. The entire back plate can be rotated by 90 degrees which makes it possible to choose between landscape and portrait orientation. The back consists of the following parts: 1. Baseplate which will be mounted to your Rittreck View / Wista 5x7 camera body 2. Base section, which is attached to the baseplate 3. Screen frame which accomodates the ground glass screen. 4. Pressure plate which holds the glass screen in place and is also used to pull the screenframe and filmholder towards the camera body. I decided to hide the elastic bands inside the structure for a sleeker design and to make them less prone to damage. The assembly should be started by inserting the glass screen into the screen frame and then mount the pressure plate to hold it in place. Then place 2 elastic bands into each slot on the pressure plate. Use a suitable thin hook (you can bend a paper clip) to pull the bands on each opening through the base part, hold them tight while inserting a screw into the side opening, which will keep the lower end of the elastic band in place. Repeat this procedure for each corner. After all elastic bands are installed, the base part can be attached to the base plate. Use some black velvet or similar to cover the bottom of the section where the film holder rests. I recommend to use two elastic bands for each opening. That way, the screen will still stay in place even if one of the bands happens to break. THIS ITEM HAS BEEN TESTED AND FOUND FULLY FUNCTIONAL. CREATING AND FINALIZING IT HAS TAKEN HOURS OF DESIGNING, MODIFICATIONS AND SEVERAL TEST PRINTS TO GET EVERYTHING RIGHT. PLEASE CONSIDER LEAVING A TIP VIA THINGIVERSE IF YOU FIND THIS ITEM USEFUL: http://bit.ly/2szoAhU Video: https://youtu.be/YhO-j6LIKIk