wax or gg

[xfoo]

does anyone have links to making of these... and what one would be easier to make??

[twocik23]

This is your get out of jail free card lol, you need to use the search button bro.


Wax

http://members.chello.nl/a.schultzevspierenburg/wax3.htm


GG


http://www.dokasphotos.com/techniques/ground_glass/

[xfoo]

i did and couldnt find anthing on wax... i typed it in haha

[xfoo]

but thanks

[xfoo]

does anyone know what the condenser does in the wax g thing? or is it just a macro...

[cheezweezl]

i did and couldnt find anthing on wax... i typed it in haha

for the record: if you type "wax" or "gg" nothing comes up because these words are too short (whatever that means)

i've been skimming page by page trying to find the answer i'm looking for but i have been tempted to start a new thread.......

[andreww]

With the wax option, has anyone ever experienced any problems with the wax getting soft when shooting during the day or even under those hot lights. Or is there some way around this. Chemistry says no, but I'm just curious.

[ASG]

I made dozens of attempts at wax, I found it impossible to make anything useable. A wax layer the thickness of 1 layer of scotch tape had more light loss than an oscillating coarse gg solution. In short I think wax is a dead end.

[xfoo]

yah.... go with the optisignum or thorlabs gg's... i havnt tried the opti yet but i have been using thorlabs because they are cheaper. has anyone used both of these?

[cheezweezl]

opto is ok but the grain is noticable. i have opto now and am looking for something better.....

[Wayne Kinney]

The optisigma GG i used last year, it gives alot of ghosting.

[cheezweezl]

The optisigma GG i used last year, it gives alot of ghosting.

by ghosting do you mean double images? i never had that prob but the grain seems a bit coarse an the out of focus parts of the image seem milky or hazy.... is that what you mean?

i know a spinning gg helps a lot with the grain but does it help the hazyness?

[Wayne Kinney]

Yes double image and hazyness, the two are linked in my opinion. If you hold the glass up to a window you can actually see through the glass, so this gives a mix of diffused light and aerial image which gives the ghosting/hazyness

[cheezweezl]

so is the spinning what fixes it or is it just a better quality gg that does the trick?

[Forrest Schultz]

what Wayne is saying is that the glass allows some light to come straight through, while some gets diffused, giving a half diffusive image, and half aerial, or uninterupted image. This can result in 3 things, ghosting, hotspot, and haziness. The reason it looks so funny is because the part of the image that is supposed to be blurred and out of focus is only 50% blurred while the other 50% is all in focus (aerial) this causes a wierd effect. i hope this sounds correct.

spinning would not change this issue. always remember, diffusive properties of a gg dont change by spinning or vibrating it.

[cheezweezl]

yeah i get it. so what is the fix then? finer grit gg? more even grinding? where could one obtain the perfect gg?

[Forrest Schultz]

the finer the grain, the more the ghosting problem worsens. you lose diffusion the finer the grain and as result more light just shines straight through (imagine it like you were posishing metal, the finer grit you use the prettier the resulting reflecttion because your making the surface very even. bigger grain diffuses more, but as a result sometimes loses more light. the perfect gg would be something with optimal diffusion/optimal light transmission. they have the beattie, but its scary cuz no one wants to mess it up. i found (now this may seem funny) cheapie brand scotch tape works, now hear me through. find the cheapie scotch tape at kmart or something, not the perfectly clear kind, but the foggy kind. Now lay it in strips side by side over some clear plastic (or glass). its best to lay the strips under running water because its easier to apply without getting bubbles under the tape. anyways, you can see the result but for the finale youll need to spin it or something to get rid of the obvious lines from the seams. i found it has a beuatiful bokeh, and very little light loss, one of the best ive seeen. the only problem i see is that it does not diffuse enough for my 28mm wide angle lens at 2.8, but for anything else besides a wide angle, it does the job beautfully. cheap and effective

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

interesting! definitely worth a try

[Wayne Kinney]

I would have to agree with everything Forrest says there, well put.

[cheezweezl]

you mean the cloudy "magic" scotch tape right? i wonder if they make it in wide form...... i'm on it.

[PaPa]

someone care to give us a sample of the scotch tape GG?

[Forrest Schultz]

alright, i took some pics of my setup, and tried to show a little light loss test also. The lens i am using is a 135mm telephoto at f2.8. but i think i might of had it stopped down more on accident. anyway, here are the results, please excuse my super cheap digital camera i used for these pics.

Image projected onto the gg:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/ggimage.jpg

And Aerial image (no gg in the path):
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/aerialimage.jpg

Here are some pics of the magic tape gg:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/tapegg.jpg

the setup, excuse the sock, it was for balance:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/setupopen.jpg

front:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/setupclosed.jpg

and another:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a162/vericetti/setupcloseddagain.jpg


thank you, and hopefully someone can figure out the lightloss from the 2 pictures i provided, the aerial and the gg.

[dan]

I think the way to go about measuring the light would be using a light meter with the cap on (behind the lens) for the light level of the aerial image and then cap off, reflected of the GG. This way, the measurement is not influenced by the lens used (or the maximum iris on the lens) nor by the camcorder's lens, iris or zoom position.