Jump to content

Musings on LF use.


rodeo_joe1

Recommended Posts

@ Ben: Be grateful that Cibachrome isn't around any more--I did prints for a show of my work back in the day and mixing the bleach from powder for that was horrendous. I know that you have access to a well ventilated lab for mixing so it wouldn't be so bad for you, but for me in the basement/laundry room darkroom that I had at the time it was probably the worst chemistry (health wise) that I have ever worked with.

As for LF and labs, when I shot a lot of it commercially I had to ship it out to process since my local E6 lab had a small roller transport machine that did 35 and 120/220 but not anything bigger. At that time some pro labs used the wonderful Refrema dip and dunk machines that did anything up to 8x10 with the right hangers or reels for small formats. My favorite lab had a standard 2 hour turn around for E6 so when a client absolutely had to have it ASAP I would drive the hour or so to the lab, drop my film off and have a nice lunch and espresso at the nearby cafe and then come back ad pick up my finished film, which they always did to perfection. You're right that there is probably nothing as satisfying as looking at a good transparency on a color correct lightbox with a good loupe for checking out details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@AJG

 

Funny enough, I was talking to a chemist friend this weekend and swapping "war stories." We were in "mixed company" with non-chemists, and when she mentioned having to mess with an HF pickling bath at work I had a shiver go up my spine(my worst one was on dealing with a cylinder of fluorine gas). In any case, I get a bit numb to it, but admittedly also don't have great ventilation at home. If I deal with photographic "nasties" I usually mix them at work to use at home.

 

In any case, the lab I mentioned above was a half hour away from me. They would run E-6 twice a day-at 10:00 and 2:00. If you got there by 10:00, they'd usually have your film ready by 1:00, and the 2:00 run would be ready by closing time at 5:00. I'd generally drop my film off, kill some time at the camera store a few miles up the road, have lunch, and then kill time in the lobby of the lab if it wasn't ready when I got back around.

 

Come to think of it, that particular lab had a rather large roller transport machine for E-6. I just tried to dig up their website on the Wayback machine, but now that I think about it they MIGHT have been able to do 4x5 and maybe even 8x10.

 

Also, my web hunting found another place in Lexington, KY that is mostly a professional photography service but also runs a small lab as an offshoot, and claims to "occasionally" run E-6 in a D&D processor. I shot them an email to see what they say, as the thought of not having to do my own E-6 makes me anxious to go out and shoot some LF...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@AJG

 

Funny enough, I was talking to a chemist friend this weekend and swapping "war stories." We were in "mixed company" with non-chemists, and when she mentioned having to mess with an HF pickling bath at work I had a shiver go up my spine(my worst one was on dealing with a cylinder of fluorine gas). In any case, I get a bit numb to it, but admittedly also don't have great ventilation at home. If I deal with photographic "nasties" I usually mix them at work to use at home.

 

In any case, the lab I mentioned above was a half hour away from me. They would run E-6 twice a day-at 10:00 and 2:00. If you got there by 10:00, they'd usually have your film ready by 1:00, and the 2:00 run would be ready by closing time at 5:00. I'd generally drop my film off, kill some time at the camera store a few miles up the road, have lunch, and then kill time in the lobby of the lab if it wasn't ready when I got back around.

 

Come to think of it, that particular lab had a rather large roller transport machine for E-6. I just tried to dig up their website on the Wayback machine, but now that I think about it they MIGHT have been able to do 4x5 and maybe even 8x10.

 

Also, my web hunting found another place in Lexington, KY that is mostly a professional photography service but also runs a small lab as an offshoot, and claims to "occasionally" run E-6 in a D&D processor. I shot them an email to see what they say, as the thought of not having to do my own E-6 makes me anxious to go out and shoot some LF...

There were bigger roller transport processors, but they were much more likely to scratch film if not kept perfectly clean. A friend of mine who worked in a lab that ran one once trashed an entire 8x10 shoot for a big time NYC photographer--it wasn't pretty... The Refrema was the Rolls Royce of the D&D machines--excellent temperature control and accurate, repeatable agitation and replenishment. But they only made sense with very high volume.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@ Ben: Be grateful that Cibachrome isn't around any more--I did prints for a show of my work back in the day and mixing the bleach from powder for that was horrendous. I know that you have access to a well ventilated lab for mixing so it wouldn't be so bad for you, but for me in the basement/laundry room darkroom that I had at the time it was probably the worst chemistry (health wise) that I have ever worked with.

As for LF and labs, when I shot a lot of it commercially I had to ship it out to process since my local E6 lab had a small roller transport machine that did 35 and 120/220 but not anything bigger. At that time some pro labs used the wonderful Refrema dip and dunk machines that did anything up to 8x10 with the right hangers or reels for small formats. My favorite lab had a standard 2 hour turn around for E6 so when a client absolutely had to have it ASAP I would drive the hour or so to the lab, drop my film off and have a nice lunch and espresso at the nearby cafe and then come back ad pick up my finished film, which they always did to perfection. You're right that there is probably nothing as satisfying as looking at a good transparency on a color correct lightbox with a good loupe for checking out details.

 

In Jacksonville FL Fototechnika has a dip and dunk machine they use for B/W and C41 (but no E6!). They can't handle 8x10 or 5x7, but they have processed my 4x10's by using 2 4x5 holders. They did a few back in 2012 but the processing was a little inconsistant, so I haven't tried since. I have since sold my 4x10 Fotoman and replaced it with a Linhof Kardan TL with a 4x10 back from China, but it is waiting on some modifications I had done by a local machinist that requires some work (by me) to reattach the rack and pinion mechanism. Using a SA 90mm f/5.6 makes for a nice 4x8 without any movements on the 4x10 film. As the Fotoman guy once said, that is a supersized 6cmx12cm format when he agreed to make a cone for the 90mm SA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I guess it depends on what circles you hang in really...

 

I know several of the young people (18-23) I mentor have taken up LF and quiet like it, but they would not likely be on here and most certainly not LFF who's age bracket really shows in the poor attitudes and especially the oppressive moderation practices used. Besides expense of materials, one of the problems LF might be having in terms of recruiting new users is just how tragically boring much of the imagery shown on the web is. People go on and on about the technical image quality and yet the resultant images often have no pulse, just flat in every way imaginable. But somehow because it took a long time to setup and is a really nice sharp and grainless negative, it is supposed to be a better photograph?

 

I use 4x5 and some of my work, but it is not my favorite format to work with due to how many boxes need to be checked before tripping the shutter, often in critical lighting nuances that are fleetingly brilliant and need faster reaction times. MF is by far my favorite for this reason, still big enough image area to handle enlargements up to 45" inches but far more controllable in fast changing or adverse conditions.

 

I think LF is alive and well, but people who are considering trying it need to see some better imagery made with it because most of it is pretty lackluster.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately the costs of film/processing have doubled since I sold my 4x5 in 2011. Not only that, the couple of options that I had for local processing are gone. I used to pick up next day. Now my only option would be to mail them in, wait one to two weeks for processing, and then get them mailed back...so maybe 4 weeks if lucky, maybe 6 weeks!

 

 

I am considering going back to 6x6 but that is for an extremely unique lens/camera with equally unique uses. So the expenditure each year would be minimal. Nothing about the cost of 4x5 film/processing is minimal.

 

Hence, I believe the reduced interest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Photo.net has always had the best forum presentation on the internet. The easiest to read and to follow post by post. I have never had pop ups and there is only one small consistent spot at the top of each page that has advertising. I don't even notice it anymore. I will certainly refer to the other website for the odd bit of research but my main focus will always be here.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh...the SWC with 38mm is not even wide enough for me! I just found out in the last few months that my Canon 17 TS-E has enough coverage to even be shifted when on the Fuji GFX 50R and 50S (not to mention new 100mp body). Of course these bodies are in the $5500-6500 CDN range, with no affordable used ones available for another 5 years. There is also a digital German system in the $10,000 range. So I started researching putting my 17 onto a 6x6 medium format film camera. The 17 TS-E has a circle of coverage of diameter 67.2mm so most of it will fit in a 56mm x 56mm frame of 6x6 using 120 film. I can then scan and crop to whatever rectangular proportion or square within that frame.

 

 

By the way I don't scan my 6x6, I photograph them with 35mm full frame DSLR at approximately 1:1. I typically stitch 6 images to create the final 56mm x 56mm image. I was very successful copying my old 6x6 and 4x5 images using my 5D II, and macro lens copying jig. Now that I have a used 5DS R I may not need as much stitching...maybe 2 images for 6x6.

 

 

I am currently investigating using the Mercury Camera Works system for using the 17 TS-E to expose onto a 6x6 roll film back. Obviously I can't use the whole image size of 56mm x 56mm but it will be vastly wider than the 38 biogon, which is just about the widest you can get in medium format. If I can achieve this the final outcome from shooting the 17 TS-E to get say a 44mm x 50mm image will be an equivalent view that is wider than a 10mm lens on 35mm full frame DSLR. Of course a Canon 11-24 would do the trick but up here in Canada that is $4500 CDN. I believe each exposure on 6x6 will cost about $2-3 CDN so I can take one heck of a lot of film images for the $4500-6500 options.

 

 

As I said, a very unique lens/camera combo and one that I won't even use 10 rolls for in a year. If I get lucky, and assuming the Mercury works, the whole camera will cost under $500 USD.

 

 

P.S. I currently shift and stitch full frame images from the 17 TS-E to provide a final size of 36mm x 48mm or 24mm x 60mm, which is approximately equivalent to a 12mm lens on full frame DSLR. Stitching means photographing absolute still scenes (clouds and leaves moving can have adverse effects). If I can achieve below 10mm equivalent (which really intrigues me) and get 44mm x 50mm or 36mm x 56mm size and do it with one exposure...then wow!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are a few more fisheyes available for medium format but I don't want the curves for my purposes.

 

 

To bring this conversation back a little closer to 4x5 the other option is to use a Schneider 47/5.6 SA XL on a 4x5 body with a 6x12 roll film back. This would provide a wider rectilinear view than the SWC. It would get to about a 14mm lens on full frame DSLR, so I think my 17 TS-E would be more fun, and half the cost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...