Reality So Subtile

Just received my Reality So Subtile French-made pinhole camera with the curved film plane. Not easy to load but not impossible after a few tries. This camera promises fantastic pinhole pictures as the entire film plane is equidistant from the pinhole. I've loaded it with T-Max 400 as this film promises very low reciprocity with long exposures. Problem is, it's very difficult to read the frame numbers through the little red window on the back. Not sure why this is. Perhaps the numbers on this film don't line up with the window? Or maybe they are just not distinct enough? I think I'll try Ilford Delta 400 next as this could have better numbers printed on the backing. Any other suggestions?

as the entire film plane is equidistant from the pinhole.

 

Unless the film plane is spherical, it is difficult for this to be literally true, isn't it?

 

While pinhole "lenses" are sort of pan-focal, they never are precisely sharp

 

Hello everyone. Reading some of the threads here, and else where on the net, it seems Kodak is printing their numbers much lighter these days on almost all of their 120 films. It could be due to their bleed thru numbers "problems" a few years ago (I got caught there!). I am a frequent user of the Ultrafine Xtreme 120 films (100 & 400 asa) and on occasion, the Delta emulsions and have not had any problems reading the various arrows & dots on the paper backings with my 6x6 or 6x9 vintage cameras. Aloha, Bill

Bill Bowes is correct, as a consequence of "wrapper offset" a few years back, Kodak changed the printing density and also removed some data that used to be there. In some cases this made the film unreadable in a few early folding cameras. As far as I know, the primary rows that have been used in recent history are still there, but they are sometimes difficult to read. I shoot mostly 120; the cameras I have line up the numbers OK in both 6x6 and 6x9 varieties, but I am aware that is not always the case. Of course some of the newer cameras index without red windows. I would think with the Reality So Subtle cameras being a relatively recent vintage they should be using the modern hole position layout, but who knows!

 

It's slower than 400Tmax, but Fuji Acros 100 is well known for low reciprocity failure and has more legible numbers.

I seem to remember an old Bakelite Brownie that had a curved film-plane with its fixed-focus meniscus lens. There's nothing new under the sun, and at least the Brownie allowed 'instantaneous' exposures to be taken.

 

"Little red window"?

- That's a bit anachronistic and lame in this age of 3D printing. A crude frame counter would surely add almost no extra cost to the camera? You even get that in disposables.

Edited March 18, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

The Fuji Acros 100 I have (expired in August 2014) has black numbers on a white background, very easy to see. My last roll of Arista 100 was fainter white numbers on black background, not as easy but still ok if you are careful.