dean_cookson

I stumbled upon this ( http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001078.html )

discussion of NiMH rechargeable batteries the other day. The section in the middle about

mAh ratings being (at best) half the story was very interesting, as was the recommendations

for particular brands of NiMH AA's. Hope folks find it useful.

Check out Kerry Thalmann's pages on the Toho (not Toyo) 4x5 and lightweight lenses at:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/reviews.htm

 

I saw him demo his outfit a couple of years ago and I'm sure it's lighter than my F100 and 1

lens, never mind my LF gear.

I've been using FP4+ with good results in Pyrocat-HD. I can get a G of .5 to .95 with dev times ranging from 5.5 to 20 minutes in a Jobo. You also may want to check out the Alt Process forum over at the Analog Photography Users Group (www.apug.org). There a ton of good info over there.

It's true that TMAX 100 is a no-go for alt printing these days due to the film base having some fairly significant UV blocking quality, but... TMAX 400 still works just fine.

 

On the spots on the prints question: I'm not sure, but it sounds maybe like the coating is soaking in unevenly. What's the humidity in your coating area. If mine is really try I run a small humidifier until it gets up to the 45%-50% range for an hour or two before I coat.

Sandy King has a nice article over on http://www.unblinkingeye.com/ about light sources for alt printing. He describes building something much like your work light. The folks over at http://www.apug.org/ in the alt printing forum also typically have some usefully interesting things to say about home made lighting.

 

FWIW, I print Pt/Pd with a 1000 watt, bench top plate burner from Amerigraph that I picked up on eBay and print Azo with a 150 watt R40 plant grow light suspended about 4ft above the frame. Typical exposure times for the Pt/Pd are about 6-8 minutes (280 units according to the built in integrator) and 15-20 seconds for the Azo.

Also check out the Film, Developing Film and Chemistry forums on the Azo forum at http://www.michaelandpaula.com/ Bunch of interesting posts there about how various films take to different pyro developers. Probably more stuff related to Pyrocat-HD than PMK but should still be useful.

 

Dean

It's so hit-or-miss with the TSA.

 

On the way through Boston Logan last weekend, one of the agents asked us to take the

small, terry-cloth bib off our 6mo old baby and pass it through the x-ray machine...

 

I've spend most of a week trying to think of any way that could have possibly been useful

but I haven't been able to come up with one.

Marck,

 

It not only makes sense to combine contemporary film with platinum paper but there are

some people out there currently making stunningly beautiful prints in platinum and

palladium ( http://www.kerik.com/ and http://www.dickarentz.com/ are just a couple of

examples). Check out the Bostick and Sullivan website ( http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/

) for some starting information and maybe to order a copy of Dick Arentz's book

"Platinum and Palladium Printing".

 

I think the only major problem you'll run into is that 6x9 prints are going to seem awfully

small. I just bought myself a Canham 8x10 woodfield this past weekend, expressly for

contact printing on Pd/Pt paper.

Well, you can always buy Rodinal chemistry from the photo formulary...

Not MF. It was an EOS D60 according to the tech info for the shot...

Shooting 4x5 sheet I've been rating HP5+ at 125 and developing with D76, diluted

1:3, in a Jobo 2509 tank using inversion agitation for 12 minutes for N.

I'm moving from Boston to San Francisco this weekend and am looking

for a community of large format photographers in the bay area. I've

been working with Nick Johnson at the New England School of

Photography and found both good facilities (I don't have my own

darkroom yet) and a good community of people to share ideas and

critiques with. I've pretty much stuck to B&W landscape work in 4x5

for the past year or so but I have interest in trying some larger

formats...

 

Does something similar exist in San Francisco? I'm going to be living

up in Marin and working down in the SOMA section of the city so

something in either of those places would preferable.

 

Thanks for any suggestions,

Dean

Are the black plastic bags that the 4x5 film is in, inside the box

lightproof? If I remove one, still sealed, from the box, will I fog

the film inside?

 

Thanks,

Dean

Oooo, good call on the hotel bathroom. We'll be staying in hotels and inns the entire time so that will be very handy.

 

Thanks again,

Thanks for the responses. I've got several empty 25 sheet boxes lying around so N-, N and N+ shouldn't be a problem. The main thing I was/am concerned about was keeping track of which negative is which. I typically shoot both sides of a film holder on the same scene, using the B side as the backup. I guess just being careful to record which order you stack them in the appropriate box is all that's required, eh?

 

Do you guys have a template you like for a record keeping page? Something like the 2 sample sheets Adams has in "The Negative"?

 

Oh, and not only is she letting me take the camera. When I go out to shoot, she even assists by holding my meter or darkcloth or fetching film holders from out of the backpack. It would take significant head trauma for me to start thinking marrying her was a bad idea.

How do you folks manage film when on an extended trip? My fiance and

I are headed to Yosemite and Napa/Sonomoa for two weeks in the middle

of October. I'm bringing my field camera, holders, a chaging tent

and plenty of HP5, but I'm not sure how to keep track of exposed film

once it's unloaded. I'd considered switching to Acros and using

quickloads, but I haven't had and won't have time to finish doing

film speed and development time tests and to get comfortable with how

the film responds before I leave. Switching gear or technique just

before a big trip isn't a good idea anyway...

 

Any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Dean

They're awkward to carry around when collapsed and it's one more

place to clean dust out of. On the other hand, they're cheaper than

readyloads...

 

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Dean

Carry-on x-ray machines won't fog your film unless you're using

something very fast. Checked bag x-ray machines *will* fog your

film. If it makes you feel better, put the film in a separate bag so

that when they rock your camera bag back and forth under the x-ray

emitter, they won't be getting the film too.

I don't think it's a distrust of the digital world for all of us.

 

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I'm new to both large format and darkroom work and find that I

genuinely enjoy the manual, "analog" nature of the work. I'm not

dexterous enough to draw or paint and the opportunity to create

something with my hands, through a traditional process is very

rewarding. I'm pretty sure I'm not afraid of computers though since

I pay the bills by being an engineering director at an Internet

infrastrstructure company during the day... :-)

It just worked fine for me.

Why the 110 over a 90?

It's really 4x9.

I had a similar reaction a week and a half ago when I saw my first

4x5 chrome. THIS was the reason I got into LF!

Hey folks. I've been lurking here since buying my first large format system back in Dec (Tachihara, 4x5) and I've got a dark cloth question for you all. I've read the archives for answers to the "what's the best dark cloth" question and have seen all the BTZS tube/old t-shirt/horse blanket with velcro answers but I didn't see any opinions on the Ebony cloth. It looks like the built in frame would make a handy lens shade and the fact that it's meant to cover the whole camera would be handy in the rain (last Sunday here in Boston). Has anyone tried it? Do you like it? Does it catch too much wind?

 

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Thanks,

Dean