marcus_leonard

Could any of the contact print afficionados describe what it is that is so appealing about a contact print? Where does the special quality come from, why is it different front a projected print? Thanks.

New York Film Works, Broadway between 21nd and 22nd Street.

Respectfully, Steve, 'on its own merit' does not exist. It is always

the viewer's choice.

When 42nd Street was waiting to be turned into Giuliani's Disneyland,

there was a cinema marquee displaying 'Art is either revolution or

plagiarism'. Think about it. By the way, the Seattle photographer who

posted this really funny message, might also be a little open to the

suggestion that beautiful, decorative images have their own role,

which need not be 'art'. Most photographers are not artists, in

particular many LF ones, who pick other people's brains about 'good

locations' to make the so-manieth shot of that rock or what have

you...

I have a quite substantial body of MF and a growing body of LF negatives, stored in clearfile plastic sleeves, inside the usual plastic boxes. Summers in New Jersey can be quite warm and humid,

and I am a little concerned about my negative's longevity. Would

it be a good idea to store them in a waterproof box inside a refrigerator? Does anybody experience any troubles with this method?

Or with printing from a negative after, let's say, 15 years in the fridge?

You may run into the following problem: it is not permitted in NYC to

use a tripod on sidewalks and in parks without permit (free) from the

Mayor's Office for Film, Television and Broadcast (whatever the exact

name is). Enforcement of this rule is weak, but on occasion some cop

wants to get rid of his anger. In particular in Coney Island I had a

real bad experience. The Mayor's Office is located somewhere around

54th and Broadway, getting the permit is a formality, you should

specify though where and when you are shooting. But as I said,

enforcement is weak, just know that the rule exists in case you are

confronted with the problem.

Peter, I bought the 150 Rodenstock Apo Sironar S at B&H for $679 last

August. I have made enlargements of 30x24 inches, the lens quality is

superb, and I am really not easy to please in that respect. I highly

recommend that lens.

I will visit my friends who live on the top floor of a chalet in teh Alps, with not a single room or even closet without a window in the roof. Time for a film changing tent. I never used one before. If you have a clear favorite, I would appreciate hearing it from you. Do you have any dust problems? (I use a 4x5).

 

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Thanks

Tom, I can only endorse the suggestion of considering the Discovery.

As there are various ways to turn this camera into a real small

package, there seems little sense to the 6x9 front. I enjoy the

Discovery a lot, it is superbly manufactured, and easy to use, even in

the field.

The grain size of a good film may be of the order of a few microns.

The pixel size on a CCD is orders of magnitude larger. Scaling the CDD

and the negative to the same size, one sees that film captures a much

larger amount of data, especially so our beloved LF. So the departure

point, at present day technology, does not look good for digital,

although it may approve. For small prints, this hardly matters because

paper simply cannot store as much data as film. For large prints the

difference is obvious. LF has two selling points: detail and

movements. If you are in it for the former, chemical beats digital at

this point in time.

I have the impression that many large format photographers are in fact

in love with their equipment, and that taking photographs is merely a

celebration of this love. Which easily leads to calendar photography.

Wim and Andrea, thank you very much! Best from NY. Marcus

1. 4x5 film, Portra 160 NC or Fuji NPS 160: when sold in Europe, are the sizes different?

2. Holders, I use Toyo, are the sizes different in Europe?

3. In particular in the Netherlands, between Amsterdam and Eindhoven, where can I buy the film mentioned under 1. ? (Q for Andrea Milano?)

If the answer to 2. is YES, can I buy US sizes in the NL?

 

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Thanks.

Gursky, interview him and get him to talk technical. In view of the

noise lately on this forum about the going-digital-trend and View

Camera's role in this, this may be a useful illustration of combining

the best of the two worlds.

Also, does Meyerovich still use the same techniques as during his Cape

Light project, or did he come up with novel insights?

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but hey, 'lifetime warranty', did

you ever wonder which lifetime this is? If it's the product's lifetime

sending back the dead product won't help....

Paul --

 

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On my Rodenstock Sironar /150mm I use a metal hood, 49mm. It is a

generic Japanese product, bought at B&H for 9.95. They don't have it

listed in their catalogue, perhaps they list it online. I am sure if

you call them they know what you mean. I use the same brand, but

larger on my Contax 35mm, I considered it a great find.

You'll find that Arca-Swiss PDF file

at: www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/arca-swiss.html#more

Good luck.

This is a very annoying situation. In my experience US airports are

better than the European ones, especially the Paris and Amsterdam

security officers seem to have no idea that film other than 35mm

exists. Perhaps it would be an idea to set up a site with reliable

film vendors abroad. One could contact them before embarking on a trip

to see if the film needed is available. The same for processing labs.

What do you think about it?

 

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Marcus

Matt, this is a truly good suggestion, which answers Andy's question.

In fact, I planned on buying a cloth today, I guess I settle for a

T-shirt. Great. Sorry B&H :) Thanks!

Phill --

 

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I just wet the base board a little, which helps tremendously to keep

paper flat. Keep a towel nearby to dry your hands after wetting the

board and before putting the paper on it. Good luck.

 

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Marcus

Thanks folks, you helped me pinning down my choice for the Apo Sironar

S.

Hi LF-ers,

 

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Bought an Arca-Swiss Discovery (at Photo Gizzmo in NYC, can highly recommend the service by Louis Shu), am thinking about a lens. Inclined to buy the Rodenstock Apo Sironar S/150mm. One last just-to-be-sure question: I most likely will not use the entire large image circle of this lens. Given that, do you have any indication that the 75 degree angle of the S would give a noticeable bellows flare, in the Arca-Swiss, in comparison with the 72 degree N? Or is the quality of the S such that I should not even consider the N? After all, people seem to love this lens. Thanks.

 

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Marcus

To everyone who wrote an answer to my question:

 

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Thank you all very much, it is really wonderful to find so many

responses, after just one day!

 

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The reason for calling a 67 to 45 move an upgrade is that I really

want to make large (color) prints, 30X40 (inches) or larger.

With my 67 I shoot in a very slow way, always using a tripod, being

economic with film. In fact, in that respect I seem to use my 67 as a

mini 45. So the philosophy, also my attention for the image

composition, seems to me not that different, I did consider this

issue. The point about the lesser degree of film leveling in a LF is

well taken. However, the tripling of the number of grains is the

decisive factor, provided optics and mechanics will not negate this

benefit. Film holding will to some degree, I worried about the

mechanics and wondered about mono versus field. Your answers seem to

tell me not to worry about that issue. Right?

Having used a medium format Pentax67 for a couple of years I want to upgrade to a 4x5. My photography demands no or little tilt or swing. I photograph outdoors, roadsides and the like, my focusing distance almost always between 20m and infinity, with a normal lens (150mm in 4X5). Sharpness, detail, is the issue here. I have asked my printer who knows my demands pretty well, he argues in favor of a monorail, in

particular some Arca Swiss, with a shortened rail. I had been thinking of a Toyo45AX (I always shoot "horizontally", never vertical and need no revolving back), my printer has his doubts about the mechanics of the Toya45AX and the ramifications for the SHARPNESS FROM EDGE TO EDGE. I am reluctant towards a monorail, but if it gives better results there is no choice. Can anybody help me out here? I would appreciate it tremendously. Thanks. Oh, sure, the lens is of course part of the story, I am inclined to buy a Rodenstock Apo Sironar S 150mm.