jason_j.

I don't have an answer, but I have been trying to learn more about

the different wide angle lenses for 4x5 and would like someone with

an answer to please list average prices for these lenses...

Yes, I've shot plenty of weddings this year and usually shoot with

fuji nph 400 for the 35mm shots and fuji nps 160 for the medium

format formal shots. Once I shot with the npl when I lit the format

shots with lowel tota lights, but I usually use strobes with a

daylight film like nps. The kodak portra line of film is fine too.

Either will work great. Oh, and if you need it, the fuji nghII 800

speed and whatever the new model is that just replaced the nghII is

good stuff for low light shooting. But shoot it at n-1/3 and develop

normal to keep good density in the shadows...

So far everyone seems to be in agreement. I might try to get a 90mm

first then. I want to play around with some wide angle 4x5 and have

gotten a recessed lens baord and a bag bellows off ebay for a real

good price. The only thing left are the lenses. I'll keep

researching and asking questions on the older lenses. i've got

plenty of info on the new ones that places like b&h and calumet

sell. It's just these older used ones that I'm not up to speed on

yet...

I think this link will take you to it...

 

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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1356251357

 

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If not, just look up Item # 1356251357 at ebay and help me figure out what it's worth. I have bid on it, but don't want to bid real high until I know more about it...

It's from a guy who sells on ebay. He put it up for auction and I

was the high bidder but it didn't make the minimum, so the auction

got cancelled. Not long after, the guy emailed me and said he'd sell

it for his minimumm at $100 plus shipping. I said I'd take it for %

90 after shipping and so he shipped it out today. I think the only

reason he didn't have better luck with it selling is because he

didn't label it as a cambo bellows. The word cambo was nowhere in

the text so you couldn't track it down for your camera. I just

stumbled across it and recognized the mounts. He's got some other

neat stuff but he knows what it all is, so I wouldn't expect a lucky

sale like this. his website is at www.photocamera.com and it's

basically just a link to his ebay auctions... Thanks for the help.

Now I'm saving up for a 90mm or 75mm lens. That will take a while...

I know it's been said many times above, but I just wanted to again

state why digital IS important and worth that kind of $$$ in some

situations. I've assisted at some catalog studios where it will save

them money and pay for itself in the matter of a year and a half or

two years. No more polaroid costs, film costs, processing costs,

delivery costs to run film to the developer, shipping of film since

digital can be sent via modem and even the extra labor costs

associated with waiting for film at the lab.

 

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In 35mm and medium format, newspapers and magazines get the instant

photos without development time. I freelance for one of the biggest

papers in the nation and they use digital at sports events so they

can send photos via modem straight back to the editor's desk. This

saves an extra hour or so associated with driving the film back to

the paper and waiting for development.

 

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So, it's all about time and money...

I guess I don't NEED to ask this question, because I've been keeping an eye on prices for a while and I know it's a good deal, but...

 

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I just want everyone's approval to make sure that the cambo wide-angle bellows that I'm about to buy over the net is a good deal. From the photo it looks to be in excellent condition and it's only $90 shipped and everything. There's not some secret place that I've missed where cambo stuff is even cheaper is there? It's harder to find good used cambo stuff than some other brands. I haven't seen them go any cheaper on ebay and new they are over twice the price, so...

 

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Should I buy it or wait? Speaking of wide-angle, what's a decent used 90mm to look for and it's average price? I've been watching ebay for a 90mm for awhile now and see many different models pop up.

I think that managing and NOT shooting for business will make you

more passionate about shooting your personal work. Many photogs that

shoot for business everyday don't want to pick up the camera for

their personal inspirations and this is sometimes where their best

work is... Try it out and have a plan set up incase you still don't

like it in 6 months...

I have received a defective part from B & H and just wanted them to

send a new, working one. I assume they didn't have anymore because

they refunded my purchase price plus full shipping even though I kept

other stuff that DID work from that shipment. They aren't the best

company in town but they are ONE of the best and usually try very

hard to take care of people... I would endorse B & H if someone

asked my opinion of them...

That sounds like a fun thing to play with. Does he have some to sell

at a good price?

I think it has a little to do with both, because sometimes I control

the lens and sometimes it will control me. I only shoot 210 with the

4x5 because that's the only lens I own for it, but when I rented a 65

I was trying to find as many places I could shoot with it before it

had to be returned. I know that with 35mm gear, I have specific

lenses that I like to use for certain subjects but find that a

specific shot may not work with the traditional lens that I normally

choose. Or sometimes I just try a different lens to mix things up a

bit. Working for a daily paper, photos can start to look old pretty

quick if they are all shot the same way all the time...

I can't answer you question, but maybe you can answer mine...

There's not a lot of seagull stuff in the USA. Some cheap medium

format tlr's and paper and stuff. What else do they make? Is there

a web site that shows all their line? Any importers? Many catalogs

cary the $150 tlr's, but I've never seen the back you mention. Am I

just overlooking it or is it not readily available in the US? What

about other large format items???

I placed a pinhole on my cambo 4x5 to play with while I was waiting

for the lens I ordered to come in. You can just take a piece of pie

tin and a sewing needle and make a very tiny hole. Tape it on the

lens board being sure to seal out all light except for the pinhole

itself and you're done. Focus is always there so you don't have to

worry about it. The closer th pinhole is to the film, the more the

image looks like a wide-angle. So, on a 4x5, you just colapse the

bellows down to a short length to achieve this. Now, ig you want to

see a photo of a homemade 4x5 pinhole camera, go to

http://www.janikphoto.com and click on the pinhole section. You'll

see that you can build a pinhole camera with only a few dollars worth

of supplies. It had no viewfinder and that actually made photo

taking even more fun because you had to become one with the camera as

you guessed where to aim it...

I want to find out the exact process of saving the neg in the type 55 polaroid film. I've read a few different things on the web and understand that sodium sulfite plays a part. Where's a good place to get this chemical? What's the easiest procedure for doing this?

Yeah, in reference to the last post, I wasn't planning to do a macro

shot on the moon, simply suggesting that I knew a bellows extension

wouldn't work since I wasn't doing macro work. It seems like it

won't be an easy task to do. Maybe I'll find something else to play

with or go back and use the nice 35mm gear at the paper again with a

very slow and fine grained film to get as good detail as possible and

be happy with that...

Yes, I went to Tulum near Cancun a couple years ago and they wouldn't

let me take in a tripod. Luckily my cab driver was honest and nice

so I left it with him when I was shooting medium format. They said

you DO need a special permit to do so. I didn't ask any more than

that. You can go during the off season for tourists and get there

extra early to help avoid crowds. Or shoot with a long exposure and

use the blur of moving figures to enhance the photo. There are a lot

of options, but very few will be without people completely. The

ruins get busy and stay busy. They get hot too! Bring some water

with you!

I was playiong around with my 35mm gear during the recent full moon and got close to a full-frame shot of it. It was a canon eos 600mm f4 with the 2x extender added. The 1200mm was still a little short and about a 1600mm to 2000mm would've worked best. Anyway, lets say I get the bug to shoot it in 4x5 next time I look up and see a full moon. I can't imagine the size of the lens or a telescope adaptor that would allow me to do so. I know that macro is just a matter of bellows extention, but what would be my procedure for a full-frame 4x5 moon shot? Since I'm just playing around with this and having fun shooting different things, I would like to hear if there is a best quality way AND a cutting corners cheap way to get it done...

Yeah, I've worked with Dynalites and Speedotrons both as a photo

assistant and shooter. I like the Dyn's a lot and the photog I

worked for had a 1000w pack and a few of the smaller, I think 800w

packs. They worked fine and we did a lot of multi-pops but the

images always looked great in the end. I have speedo stuff that I

got used for me and I have never had a problem with it. But it is

bulky for location use...

You're right. I went back to pick up some expired tri-x and some

pmz1000 at a really good deal and checked the 4x5 boxes. It says

kodalith, ortho type 3. I actually bought a little personal-size

screen printing kit to toy with a while back from freestyle

camera.com and haven't used it yet, so maybe this film would come in

handy for that. I'll pick up a box next time I'm out. Anyone know

what it develops in? What's its iso?

Actually, I haven't bought it yet. It was only a few bucks for a box

of 50 sheets, but I didn't pick up any boxes until I knew I could do

SOMETHING with it. I DO remember the kodak guy saying it was the

type used for things such as screenprinting. If I could do something

with it, I'll play around with it and see if I can make anything

interesting. Referring to the above, I've seen the Starn brother's

work before. What part of it is a product of the ortho film? Their

work is so busy and complex that it's hard to tell what is what...

Anyway, I just thought a new type of film would be fun to play with...

I can't remember if I asked this here before already, but I think not... I am always looking for new things to play with in photography and recently found several boxes of kodak ortho film for sale cheap. I looked at the kodak website and couldn't find info on processing or what it is used for. I even called their tech guys and all they could say was that it would be a real contrasty film. They didn't seem to have much other info. What can you all tell me? Do I need to get more info to you off the box? Can I use it for neat stuff?

It was mentioned above that he should learn html. Well, I must admit

that his page isn't full of bells and whistles, but it seems clean

enough and loads easily. What more do you want? I will admit that

the quality of the images isn't great though. And I mean the scans,

not the originals. I don't know though. Maybe the scans are poor

because the images are, but I think you just used a cheap scanner.

They are muddy and soft, but not soft from the lens, soft from a

cheap scanner type of soft...

There was a scanning question further down that covered the quality

of scans you could look at. Also, Umax has a flatbed that comes with

a full version of photoshop and the specs look good on it. I know

people who have agfa scanners that give a great image for the price,

but I think you'd need to buy photoshop seperate with the agfa models.

I know that a flat bed will not compare to a neg scanner and a neg

scanner will not compare to a drum scan, but... I assisted a photog

who had an agfa flat bed (I can't remember the model, but it was

under $1000) and it gave GREAT image scans for the $$$. I've heard

the same from other people who owned agfa's. Now I've also seen drum

scans and they are better and bigger files, but hey, if you want a

value, the agfa is nice, if you want the best quality possible, the

drum scan is it. I am not commenting on the middle ground - the

medium and large format neg scanners - because I have not personally

seen scans from the newer models yet.

I am always looking around for good deals on film and paper because I play around with many alternative processes and expired film and anything else that's different and new. Well, I found several boxes of tungsten 8x10 film at a Wolf's location that has a used dept. in Dallas. I don't shoot 8x10 - just 4x5 and smaller - but I thought someone else may be interested. It's surely expired, but they usually let their old film go very cheap. Once I got a 50 sheet box of 4x5 e-6 for about $10. The color and contrast were fine for my needs and I'm sure this stuff will be great for fun use. Again, just thought I'd let everyone know. Anyone know of other good places to get expired film and paper?!?