greg_newberry

Curious... are there any really good 19" monitors for photo editing? I could stand a dual 19" setup.

 

Thanks

Thanks everyone for your comments. I can't afford $1000, but have been looking at the new HP LP2475 and have read some very good review about it for photo work. it's about $600 on amazon. I hope Costco locally will decide to carry it.

Hi, I'm wondering what a current (2008) monitor would be a good buy. I'm shooting digital now after 35 years of

film, and I'm running into the monitor look, vs the printer look. I use lightroom 2.1 and have camera profiles

and printer profiles loaded for out-sourcing printing. The problem is my monitor. I'm looking for a single 24inch

widescreen or dual 19" monitors to setup and color profile for digital pics.

 

Any current affordable suggestions for monitors?

 

Thanks all

 

Greg

Peter,

 

I am not a pro like many of these people. But I started using diafine two years ago and love it. I only use one developer. And that is diafine. But I change my films to get the look I want. I find it easier to change films and exposure than it is to change developers and developing times. Does that limit me? Yes. But I also come up with a 'look' that is mine.

 

So to your original question... I am not sure that the consumpsion of developer is an issue... Because of Scott Waltons advice... I always split the diafine batch half and half. I use the gallon batch. One quart A working, one quart B working, and one Quart A replenisher, and one quart B replenisher.

 

I've used them up to 1 1/2 years. Filter 'B' thru a coffee filter, and keep going.

 

I hope this helps. Just ask Scott, and keep going.

 

So far TXP for portraits in Diafine is my favorite. It has real character.

 

TMX at 50 ISO is ok, but I find it picky...

 

Thanks

Greg

Thanks for the answers. I'm still learning. Been using strobes for almost a year and just figured I'd build one. But like has been said, I can't find any. I have some cords I could cut the connector off of, but it uses 28 guage stranded wire, and that is REALLY flimsy. Guess I'll try one and then go to paramount.

 

What do you recommend for a inexpensive RC strobe system?

 

Thanks again

Greg

I want to build my own sync cable. Why? I was born with a soldering

iron in my hand, have built cables of all kinds for years, and I know

what the quality is when I'm done. However, I can't seem to fine just

the PC connector. Anyone know of a source for just the connectors?

 

Thanks

Greg

Tom, was your backdrop black to begin with? And if so, you were just adding texture to it?

 

Thanks

Greg

The first batch of Diafine I mixed up worked ok even though the instructions on the gallon box I bought were for the 1 quart can. I mixed a quart of water with a gallons worth of diafine in it and still developed decent negatives. The only reason I figured it out was the diafine crystalized in the bottles...

 

I shoot portraits with TXP at 320 ISO and develope 3+3 in diafine and get absolutely glowing skin tones...

 

As Lex said, you will have to find your own unique ISO for Tri-x and diafine. You can't push or pull with diafine, it just develops the negative as you exposed it. An easy way to find a working ISO is make up a bunch of 3x5 cards with ISO's from 200 to 1600. Pick a subject that has a fair contrast range with detail in the shadows and either have the person hold the card, or just put the card in the picture as a reference. Your lighting has to be constant. Set your camera ISO to what the card says and take all the pictures. When you develop your negatives, check the shadow areas for detail. The one that has just noticable shadow detail should be a good starting point for your working ISO with that film, camera, lens combo. Of course there are other ways...

 

Greg

My negatives are not too dense at 160. As someone mentioned, are you sure the exposure is correct? Light meter ok? How long are you processing for? How do you agitate the solutions?

 

I also found TMX to be flat in Diafine, however, I was shooting at 160 as well, and I'll try 50 and see what that does. EI 25 with my yellow filter... I like denser negatives so I usually shoot at the rated speed and it works well. TXP at 320 gives me beautiful negatives that print very well. TX400 at 400 does just as good for outside work. FP4+ and HP5 do very well for me in Diafine, it's a different look, but good. I probably do this different than most people, I only use Diafine and change the film when I want a certain look. My processing is always the same.

 

Greg

I ran into the same thing. If the cans are about the size of a small can of tomato sauce, (8 ounces??) then it is a gallon size. Use distilled water to mix it up... It works great with both old and new Tri-X. Have fun...

Jorge, If it is a diafine equivalent, I would start with the agitation schedule that the original calls for. Gentle agitation for 5 seconds every minute. In both solutions. Let us know how it works.

 

Did you make it yourself? If so, what recipe did you use?

 

Greg

I have a unicolor base and drum for processing 8x10 and 4x5 film. I've

used D-76 in it before, but would like to try Diafine. Has anyone

tried this?

 

 

 

 

Thanks for any comments

 

 

 

 

Greg

Andrew, my experience with Diafine and any film I've used is that changing the ISO rating only changes the exposure. Diafine only developes the negative till it's done and quits. If you lower the ISO, you will expose the film more and get denser negatives. I shot a roll of Tri-X 400 yesterday from 1250 to 250 iso and I cannot see any difference in the grain pattern between all of them. The 1250 ISO is a bit thin, so less picture, less grain I guess :)

 

Greg

Thanks all for your comments:

 

Dean, how many rolls/sheets do you fix per gallon before you dump it?

 

Arden, You say your's is exhasted at 10-12 rolls. How big is your container of fixer that you are re-using?

 

Thanks

Greg

I'm new to Tri-X and can't add anything as I'm more confused than Lex. I have only shot the original as stated above:

6043 is old Tri-X 400 (TX) in 120,

However, I have some Tri-X Pan Professional ISO-320 TXP that I will assume is the long standing TXP.

 

I just ordered some Tri-X Pan 400 from B&H and received the new Tri-X 400TX film. Is the ISO 320 TXP the same? Is there a new version of it coming out as well? I'm so confused!!

 

What's what with the history of this film, and what do we really have to work with now in the Tri-X line?

 

Thanks

Greg

I've been using Fixer and HCA basically 'one-shot' for film

development. I develop mostly 120 film. Well, I'm going through a lot

of fixer and HCA. I save the fixer for paper fixing, but I would like

to get an idea of how much I can re-use them for film developing

without risking the film stability. I feel the film is more important

than a bit of chemicals.

 

Here's what the Kodak packages say:

 

Kodak Fixer: 12 rolls per liter. (120 or 135x36)

Kodak HCA: 150-200 8x10 equiv. in film.

 

I process in a Jobo developer by hand and use 16oz of chemical each

time. If I started with fresh Fixer and HCA, then poured them in a

seperate 16oz bottle for storage would I be at all safe in assuming

that I could get:

 

5 rolls of film (non TMAX) in the Fixer

18 rolls in the HCA (seems like a lot)

 

I would pour the used chemical back into the bottle and top off with

fresh to bring it up to 16oz.

 

I usually fix for 10 minutes, rinse, then continuous agitation in

the HCA for 1 1/2 minutes.

 

I'm asking because this 'one-shot' is getting expensive.

 

Thanks in advance,

Greg

PS I forgot to mention that I really haven't ran into any issues with Spot .vs. Incident measurements, just that my flash meterings seem to be consistatly under exposed. But as I mentioned, it's consistant so I can deal with it.

Thanks for all your comments. I haven't shot any slide film, but would be interested in your feedback on the best way to check exposure with slide film. I'm using it mostly in flash mode. My lighting ratios are right on, and I did forget to compensate for the bellows extension, but the exposures are VERY consistant. The meter may or may not be off, but it's the same everytime which I can live with. I do mostly B&W so I'll just run some tests with that, and shoot a roll of slide film, maybe +- 2-3 stops in 1/2 stop increments and see how the exposures come back.

 

Thanks again

Greg

I have a sekonic L-508 and have read several articles that imply the

factory calibration is off by about -0.7 stops because of the way the

factory calibrates the meter. I would love some feedback on that

issue, but also in surfing the NET I found this article about

calibrating, or should I say checking the calibration of a meter to

the Sunny Day f/16 rule. The article "seems" to imply that if you

have a retractable dome, or a flat diffuser, it is best it with the

flat, or in the retracted position when checking your meters

calibration, because you get a more accurate reading.

 

Any comments or suggetions?

 

Here is the website:

http://www.imx.nl/photosite/technical/exposuremeter.html

 

Anyone care to comment on either the factory calibration method, or

the difference between testing the meter with the incident dome up or

down?

 

Thanks,

Greg

I'm looking for a new meter to use with my C220. I've done mostly

landscapes up to now, and I want to do some studio work with flashes.

I'm looking at two meters now. The Sekonic L-358 and the Minolta

Flash meter IV. The Sekonic is $219 new, and the Minolta about $225

used. Both meters will do the flash and incident metering I need, but

I would like some comments on accuracy, durability, ease of use, etc.

Any comments?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Greg

Thanks Kevin. This was supposed to be a _working_ meter. I think I got screwed... I've only had it 4 hours... I think I better take it up with the dealer I bought it from. I hope it isn't a battle...

 

Thanks for the comments and will keep that in mind if I have to resort to sending it in.

 

Greg

I bought a used Minolta Flash Meter III in great shape. I think it

arrived DOA. What do you think?

 

The display works fine. It shows FNo. and ExIN on the left. The mode

switch displays AMBI, Cord, NON.C, and Multi. Time and ASA dials move

properly. When I first turn it on all the elements of the display

show for a second then display the current settings. It will trigger

the flash when in the CORD mode. HOWEVER, it will never display a

reading in Ambiant, CORD orn NON.Cord. The little 'U', indicating

underexposure (low light) is all that ever shows. What do you think?

Am I doing something wrong to use this simple meter, or is it DOA?

 

Thanks

Greg

PS - I don't have a manual, but it seems VERY simple to use.

Does anyone know where I can buy just the male/female flash PC

connectors? I want to build some custom cables.

 

Thanks

Greg

Thanks for your help. I think I'm starting to get it, but the fill flash settings confuse me.

 

1) The footage/Fstop/ASA scale on the flash is just a calculator. Right? It does not adjust the flash output, it just tells you what settings to use. ??

 

2) Let's say that I meter my subject with a grey card and set my camera to F8 @ 1/125. Now I want fill flash. At 7 foot on the blue Auto setting my flash says to use F4. (Anything from 4 to 20ft. is F4) Manual appears to be F11 at seven ft. This is what confuses me. Won't changing my aperature either way affect the overall exposure? I don't have an actual flash meter so maybe that is part of the problem.

 

Thanks in advance

Greg

I've looked through the archives for about a week and cannot find

anything related, so here it is:

I have a Mamiya C220 and for two years have just shot landscape and

natural light photos. Now I want to use some off camera flash. My

Vivitar 2500 works with my TLR in that it flashes, but it brings up

some questions I cannot answer, so I'm asking the pro's! I don't have

a manual for the 2500 either...

 

The 2500 has four settings. Red, blue, Manual, and a triangle. I

understand the first three, but don't know what the triangle is for.

I've used this flash on my 35mm cameras and I am assuming that it

will work the same on my TLR. Set the ASA on the flash, the distance

(Red or Blue) and set the aperature on the camera and take a picture.

The auto on the flash _should_ take care of the flash. Is this right?

Now, what about fill flash. If I want 2 stops less for the flash, how

do I adjust the flash or camera for that? It seems there are not

enough options on the flash to use it for fill. If I set the camera

for the correct exposure for a shot outside and just want some fill,

what is the proper way to set the camera and flash to provide the

fill?

 

Thanks

Greg