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gavin_.1

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Posts posted by gavin_.1

    Metering snow?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    Thanks a lot to all who answered this. I'm really looking forward to

    this trip a lot, and have already packed and repacked and re-repacked

    my camera! The only issue I'm now worrying about is whether my

    carrying cart will get stuck in the snow... :o)

    Film Flatness - when does it matter?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    This has come up a few times recently, mainly in relation to using preloaded films in a non-dedicated holder. Elsewhere it was mentioned that 1/8 of an inch of bowing had been seen. I'm curious as to what effect this actually has. If the depth of field is very small then the centre of the film will be out of focus, so for product photography you should probably be using the film holder made specifically for the film you're using. For larger depths of field however, the only problems can be distortion effects caused by the shape of the film, and I wouldn't have thought that 1/8 of an inch would cause much of this type of distortion at all. Does anyone have any photographic examples of what actually happens? I know that seeing your film bow by 1/8 of an inch may look pretty damning, but perhaps this isn't a big deal at all; instead, it could just be something to be aware of and try to correct if the type of photography you're doing could be affected. For landscapes and architecture the convenience of only having one holder to carry may offset the problems caused by film flatness, given the nature of the work you're doing. There's an argument for saying "why compromise?", but from an purely engineering standpoint it would seem that flatness will have an acceptable range of tolerance based on lens length and depth of field, and I'm sure some mathematically endowed person could work out what it is...

    Polariod 545i and Readyloads

    in Large Format

    Posted

    Scott - good news! I've just got a couple of boxes on Readyload and

    was planning to run them through my 545 Pro. Bit more confidence now.

    Fuji stuff seems to work fine, and both Kodak and Fuji provide

    instructions on using their film with Polaroid holders, so you should

    be able to expect successful results.

    LF teamwork

    in Large Format

    Posted

    Please stop reinforcing those American stereotypes! Next time I'm

    over there I'll be scared to carry any more than a cereal box pinhole

    camera loaded with the cheapest film I can find, and I'll only use it

    from a moving car! I live in Japan, and there are *very* few places I

    wouldn't go at any time of day or night, with or without my camera.

    The only reactions I've had when using my monorail so far have been

    combined amusement and amazement. Also, people come and stand next to

    me to take the same shot. This is odd; I'm only really a beginner so

    to be honest am more interested in just getting well exposed results

    than a good composition, so I'm not sure what the spectators think

    I'm photographing. There's an interesting social experiment to be had

    there somewhere. I'm a Brit, but when I lived in England I wasn't

    really interested in photography, so I'm going to have to learn to

    exercise more caution than I do now. Japan is pretty much a

    photographers paradise...

    First meters: Old faithful or hi-tech whizz?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    After a couple of goofs while metering for E6, I've finally decided to buy a decent meter and attempt to be a bit more methodical about determining exposure. So, I went shopping, initially for a spot meter, but... As a techie the Sekonic L-508 seemed to have everything I'll ever need, including a manual to explain how it all works. In contrast the Pentax Spotmeter V taught me how to use it by itself in a few seconds; just so simple and intuitive. One of the reasons I got a 4x5 was to move slghtly away from the computers and flashing lights, and the Pentax was like picking up an scientific instrument rather than a PDA - I liked that. So, now I'm in a quandary. Do I buy the Sekonic knowing that it'll probably do everything I ever ask of it, but also knowing that to get the most out of it will require hours of reading the manual, or do I buy the Pentax knowing that all I then need to learn is how to apply the meter readings to my photography? Anyone been through this dilemma?

    Fuji quick load film

    in Large Format

    Posted

    Actually, for Fuji you've got *two* choices, QuickLoad and

    QuickChange. QuickLoad is single sheets of film in light tight paper

    holders, similar to Kodak's ReadyLoad and Polaroid's 4x5 sheet film.

    This means that all three can share a Polaroid 545 (i or Pro) holder

    with no major problems, which is what I do. There are supposed to be

    film flatness issues with this approach, but I'm a beginner in LF so

    don't really mind at the moment. QuickChange is different beast

    altogether, an 8 shot pack with a dedicated holder. You shoot, change

    to the next leaf in the holder, shoot again. To me it looked like a

    CD changer mechanism that I once had. :o) Pretty neat, but only Fuji

    and only three films to choose from at the moment (Provia 100, Astia

    100 and Velvia). I'm not sure if you can get 5 from 8 processed or

    what have you. If you're a low volume type photographer then it may

    be best to go the QuickLoad route. Get a QuickLoad holder if you just

    want to do Fuji, as it'll avoid any potential issues caused by using

    a non-Fuji holder.

    Lighting for still life - where to start?!?!

    in Large Format

    Posted

    So, I was sick last week and stuck in the house being bored, so I thought I'd play around with my camera and shoot some things in the house, mainly (I'm an LF beginner) to experiment with plane of focus and camera movements. Anyway, I realised that I'd no idea where to start with lighting! There doesn't seem to be anything obvious about it either, and my photography texts I now realise are biased towards outdoor, ambient light shooting. So, where does one start? What basic equipment would I need to set up some simple B&W still life shots? I want to do the classic types of thing like photograph a book on a table and change the POF to get the whole page in focus, use very small depth of field and again POF to highlight selected items in a set of objects, etc. Do I need to spend a fortune? I know zip about studio lights. Anyone got any good resources? Web pages, books, etc?

    New Fuji Quckchange holder, holds 8 pieces of sheet film!

    in Large Format

    Posted

    According to Fujifilm's website, you can get Provia 100, Astia 100

    and Velvia in <a

    href='http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/pro/film/qc/qc.html'>QuickChange</a>.

    If you want something else I guess you can always load a magazine

    yourself, although can you actually get an empty holder? Is it

    something you can open up yourself without destroying it, or is it an

    APS cartridge type idea where Fuji lock everything up so you have to

    go to them for processing? Can't think they'd do that, because for

    4x5 they've surely got to cater for people doing their own processing.

    Dealer for Fujinon LF lenses in Japan

    in Large Format

    Posted

    International mail order, eh? Hmm, not easy. If you can get over here

    then I'll agree with trying Yodobashi, but only for their ease of

    use. They're good if you're only in Japan for a few days, but

    recently they seem to be charging a distinct premium, visible if you

    shop around. Most of the large chains will do duty free sales if you

    have a foreign passport, but another option is to use a discount

    point card, which most of the big chains have. This will give you 5-

    15% as points. Not sure if you need to be a resident to get one, so

    you may need to take someone shopping. You can buy something, get the

    points, then immediately buy something else using those points. One

    problem is that the big chains tend to have a stack 'em high and

    sell 'em cheap approach, so tend not to carry a huge range of LF

    gear. Fujinon lenses are not a problem though, but anything more

    exotic and you'd be better off trying a smaller retailer. For

    example, Yodobashi in Shinjuku is the main store and has the widest

    selection of LF gear, but it's still a bit disappointing. If you want

    the absolute cheapest prices and largest range, then pick up one of

    the larger camera magazines like 'Asahi Camera', but you'll obviously

    need some Japanese speaking assistance. As an aside, <a

    href='http://www.photojpn.org/'>Photo Japan</a> is a pretty useful

    site for hints. FW is right when he says that you probably won't find

    a Japanese dealer who ships internationally. I hear the situation is

    much better if you find a dealer in HK or Singapore. One drawback I'm

    finding is that even the huge chain stores don't show their LF prices

    on their websites; you either have to call them or physically go to

    the store. Anyway, good luck! You can drop me a mail if you want any

    more hints, and I'll no doubt be in Shinjuku soon (addicted) if you

    want a price for comparison purposes.

    Exposures over a second - timing?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    Newbie question: if I want a 3 second exposure but my shutter only has a maximum controlled speed of 1 second (with bulb as the next setting), how do I accurately time the exposure? The difference between 1 and 2 seconds is obviously a lot bigger in percentage terms than the difference between 14 and 15 seconds, so this is accuracy is more relevant at faster speeds, so how do you go about getting an accurate 2 or 3 second exposure?

    QuickLoad -vs- QuickChange

    in Large Format

    Posted

    So, I went to my local camera shop to look at getting a Polaroid film back, a box of Polaroid film and some some Fuji QuickLoad film, perhaps some of the scarce Fuji B&W. Anyway, it's not a major store, so I failed to find a 545 back (they only had the 550) and the choice of film was limited, so I came away empty handed. They also only had two kinds of Fuji film in QuickLoad, but had a couple more in <i>QuickChange</i> format. Anyone know if this is a good system? I've never heard of it before. I had a search around the Internet and found <a href='http://www.fujifilm.co.jp/eng/salon/pkna/pro-4a.html'>this link</a> to it. Seems to be an 8 shot version of QuickLoad. Cost is about 4000 Yen for 8 shots as opposed to 8500 Yen for 20 sheets of QuickLoad.

    Cambo - Good camera for a beginner?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    I'm contemplating the purchase of a second-hand Cambo view camera as my first dabble in large format photography. Principally I'm interested in the perspective correction on offer for architectural work, and the enlargement opportunies of the larger film size. I currently mainly use an EOS system and a couple of fully manual 6x6 TLRs. Anyway, I've seen a Cambo view camera advertised and it looks like a reasonable buy to me, but I could use an expert opinion or two. It comes with a 150mm f/5.6 Fujinon lens (in a Linhof lens board), two sheet film holders, a magnifying loupe, cable release and carrying case. Cost equivalent 500 USD. Too much? I don't have a darkroom, so need to use a lab to have my work processed, and as a beginner want to use Quickloads, so I'd have to buy another back to allow this. Basically I've read and understood a number of books and web sites, but it's the technicalities of my first camera that are worrying me. Are there multiple flavours of Fuji film back available? The camera doesn't look very old, but am I better buying new to make sure everything is compatible? Is compatibility between camera parts a big issue in large format? I don't initially want to spend a vast amount of money, and am also aware that at the 500 dollar level I could probably resell the camera later if I either want to upgrade or can't cope. What I want is a decent beginner camera to see if I like it, and to see if it suits how I work. I should add that I live in Japan - building a darkroom isn't an option, labs are plentiful, and esoteric camera bits are easy to find.
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