This post if for those using view cameras. I know there is at least one of you out there. I like doing closeups with my view camera. It's the ultimate macro camera. However, as you move the rear standard back beyond infinity focus you need to add exposure. Determining just how much can be a pain. I found a neat solution with a target you could print out and then with a matching ruler you measure how big it is on the ground glass. (Go to the "Close-up exposure calculating" page.) The ruler then shows what the exposure factor should be.

That worked pretty well but it was difficult getting the target to be square to the lens. A while back Blaine sent me a link to the Quick Disk. It does the same thing but explained that using a circle meant that it didn't have to be square to the lens. You just measured on the long axis of the circle.

But the solution that really is simple is to mark the camera with the bellows factors. I found this idea in Jack Dykinga's book Large Format Nature Photography. He determined where the rear standard would be for each position that required an additional 1/4 stop of exposure and then printed out labels and put them on his view camera. He uses two lenses and so he color coded the labels for each lens. I did the same thing. I printed out green labels for my 127mm Ektar and red labels for my 210mm G-Claron.

The camera is focused at infinity for the G-Claron 210mm lens.
If the Ektar 127 was on it I would use add almost 1.75 stops.

I Use the rear edge of the standard. I started out by marking where they rear edge was when each lens was focused at infinity. The I used the BE/FL=BEF (bellows extension/focal length=bellows exposure factor) formula found at Nuts and Bolts. As I write this I realize I did it the hard way. I used this formula and created a spread sheet with bellows extensions at every 5mm. Since I just needed the bellows factor at quarter stops I should have used: BE=BEFxFE where the bellows extension equals the bellows extension factor (e.g., 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, etc.) times the focal length. Anyway, however you get there, I just need to see where the rear of the standard is and that is how many stops I need to add to the exposure.