david_munson

Some use book binding tape, but I have yet to find something that

beats Bogen cloth gaffer's tape. This stuff is stickier than the

regular Permacel gaffer's tape and wears very well. I re-taped all

of my 8x10 holders with the stuff and it works wonderfully.

Eric Idle: "And now for something completely different- a pet rock

with a lifetime warranty. Please note that the warranty does not

apply if your rock is from the cretaceous or earlier, quarried

overseas, or if you chose not to wear pants on every other tuesday of

the month, barring accidental purchase of a dead parrot."

A great idea! I would like to take this opportunity to shamelessly

plug the <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/film/large">LF Users

Directory</a> that I've been working on putting together. The more

people we have listed on the directory, the easier it would be to

find people for this sort of thing. There are currently 12 people

listed, but I'm hoping other people will email me with info to put on

the list. I know it's on Angelfire for the time being and you get

the stupid pop-up ad, but once I get my commercial site set up some

time in the next six months to year, I'll make the lf directory part

of that. Anyhow, I'd be more than willing to give fellow

photographers a hand, so count me in.

Doug is right about their original use in newspaper/graphic arts

apps. I use a 240mm f/10 Process Nikkor for both 4x5 and 8x10. I

have found it to be very sharp at all distances- at least as sharp as

my Schneider 90mm XL. I had it mounted into shutter by S.K. Grimes

and it has served me well. The color rendition this lens provides is

a bit different from my 90mm, but I'm still not exactly sure how. Be

forewarned that if you're looking into having yours mounted into

shutter, it'll take a sizable bite out of your wallet. FWIW, I'm

currently planning to switch over to a Schneider 240mm Apo-Symmar, so

if anyone is interested in one of these lenses and doesn't want to go

through the hassle of getting it mounted into shutter, I can help.

I'm pretty sure it would cover 11x14 at infinity.

Sorry to say that it will not flush mate. That's the whole reason I

got rid of my 1570. I bought the head before I got my ancient Ries A

series sticks, and when I got the latter, it quickly became apparent

that the former would not work with the tripod. Mine was a few years

old, but as far as I can tell from pictures of the current

incarnation, it would still have the same problems as mine did. I

ended up selling the 1570 and buying a used J-250 head and have never

regretted it. The combination can support my weight (140 lbs) so I'm

not worried about putting any size camera on top of it. One of these

days I might go up to the A-250 head for the larger camera mounting

plate, but I see no reason to rush out and do it. Can't comment on

the Arca head, but I'm sure others here on the forum have had

experience with it. If you think you can get along without a quick

release, though, go for the A-250 and you won't regret it (and if you

do, I'll buy it from you...). I have yet to see a tripod system

sturdier, more beautiful, or better suited to large format work than

Ries. Good luck.

As compared to stuff like Bron strobes, Speedotrons are one heck of a

deal. We use nothing but Speedo's in the studio here at OU and I'm

pretty impressed with their durability if nothing else. Any strobe

that can handle numerous different college students using them on any

given day throughout the year are pretty tough. If you're still

considering hot lights, it's hard to beat the Photoflex Starlite

system.

I'm currently using a Bogen 3039 head on a set of 3236 legs to

support everything up through my Linhof Kardan 4x5 and it's very

secure and feels very precise, at least a lot more so than the 3047 I

had used previously. Though I've never shot my Deardorff 8x10 from

the top of it, I have put it on to test the stability and I was very

surprised as to how sturdy it was. Granted, it was still a bit

wobbly compared to my Ries setup, but I have yet to find something to

beat that. Of the heads you have listed, I think the 3039 would

probably be your best bet. The Bogen hex plates are sometimes

disparaged as not being secure enough or more prone to failure, but I

have never seen one fail nor have I been able to make one fail

despite my tries (yes, I was that bored, I actually tried to make it

fail). You might also want to consider the Gitzo 1570 which is a low

profile version. I used to have one of these and it was great- I

only got rid of it to make way for the Ries. No quick release to

speak of, but I'm not a big fan of using quick releases with anything

bigger than 4x5 anyway. The low profile really makes a difference

with something as big as an 8x10. The handles are pretty long and

stick out a good way, but this seems to be common to all 3-way

heads. Good luck.

Berlebach tripods are also available through Lotus View Camera. I

made inquiries to both a little while back and both seemed very

friendly and willing to ship overseas.

Can't comment on Ries other than to say that they're worth every

penny, but something you might want to consider about the tripod

mounting system on LowePro backpacks is that while it might be

adequate for lighter (eg carbon fiber) tripods, it's probably not

going to be secure enough for a Ries. The mount on my Super Trekker

AW is great, but I had to replace the elastic strap things with ones

made from black nylon webbing so my Bogen 3021 wouldn't move around

as much. After I replaced the straps, though, it worked fine, and I

imagine that this sort of change would make the mount very capable of

handling a Ries. Good luck.

Any Arca-Swiss camera with micrometric Orbix (not standard Orbix)

will have geared front tilt.

After much consideration of features, weight, system versatility, etc, I've decided to make the switch from my beloved Linhof Kardan Bi to something in the Arca Swiss F-Line. My one remaining decision is how much I need geared movements. The cameras I've narrowed it down to are the F-Line Compact and the F-Metric Compact. I will be using the camera for landscape, architecture, and occasionally some stuff in the studio. Because I will be using this camera through the remainder of my college career and I'm assuming well into my professional career, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be worth the extra $705.00 to go for the F-Metric model so I could have geared rise and shift. Though my budget as a college student certainly doesn't allow a whole lot of room for that extra $705.00, I'm not sure that over time the convenience of geared movements wouldn't pay for themselves since I'll be using it to shoot architecture the majority of the time. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

The directory is growing slowly but surely. I just wanted to add

that if people would like an example of their work to accompany their

info on the directory, I can add a photo easily enough. A small scan

(jpg. in the neighborhood of 250k or less) would work best and you

can send it to me as an email attachment.

We're up to four people in the directory now. I encourage all of you

to send me your info so I can put you on the directory. I really

think that this could be a valuable resource if enough people were to

get on the list.

I have some spare time on my hands and I thought that I'd put together a large format user's directory on-line. I already have the site up at www.angelfire.com/film/large, and the next step will be to add info on people. If you'd like to be in the directory, send me an email at orthoptera@juno.com. Include name, email, etc.- whatever info you would like to accompany your name. I figure I can sharpen my HTML skills and put together a useful resource at the same time. I know in the past there has been interest in making up some sort of directory of the people on the forum to make it easier to find/contact/communicate with each other. I'm not putting this together as competition for any of the existing LF sites out there, just as a supplement. So again, if you'd like to be part of it, send me an email.

I know Lens & Repro has used studio stands listed sometimes, though

they do not ship them, so you'd have to pick it up.

When I'm at school, like at the moment, I don't have a set-up to do

contact printing on AZO like I do at home, so I just contact on my

usual paper, Luminos Flexicon FB paper. While the prints I make on

the Luminos don't necessarily have the same feel as the ones I get on

AZO, I find that I can make prints that pretty damn good. Pyro stain

does help in the highlights, I've found. Last week I printed a

negative of one of the greens at OU that was partially in shade and

partially in direct sun. There was a sun-lit white door that printed

perfectly while still holding good shadow detail in the rest of the

print. I've photographed the same scene in the past using non-

staining developers and always had trouble in the printing because of

the high contrast range. So yes, I do think that pyro stain does

have a noticable effect. One nice thing about pyro negatives in

general combined with variable contrast paper and filters is that it

makes it easier to burn down highlights or shadows without affecting

the other. If my shadows are where I want them, and the highlights

are a little high, I can put in a grade 0 filter and burn them down

without changing the shadows. At least that's how it works for me.

I'm sure others use different techniques and have had different

experiences.

So much good advice- this is why I love this forum!

Lots of good suggestions- thanks much. I like the idea of

avoiding "destination based" road trip as well, but we'll need some

place to stop along the way to call my mother and tell her we

got "there" ok. I'll just make it up as I go. The trip itself is

pretty important, but the photos are too. One of my favorite places

to take pictures I've ever been is the Sangre De Christo range, so

perhaps that would be a good general area to go. Thanks again for

the suggestions.

In addition to what George said, make sure the tone of your spotting

fluid is a close match to your print color. If you've got cool tone

prints and a slightly warm spotting fluid, the difference in color

will make it stand out a lot more. I guess most people use Spotone

#3, but for my prints I've found that Spotone #2 better matches my

print tones.

I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a road trip in the summer of 2004. I know it's a long way off, but I figure it can't hurt to start planning now, especially since I've got to start saving now... Right now, I'm just feeling out ideas for a possible midpoint destination somewhere in the US or Canada. I'll probably be starting out in Missouri, though I may have to swing through Ohio to pick up a friend. The limits I'm setting myself are no more than 30 days or 10,000 miles driving. When I say I'm going on a road trip, I mean a loooong road trip.

<p>

Given the chance to go on a road trip anywhere in a 5,000 mile radius of Columbia, Missouri, where would you go? The one idea I've had so far is Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Are there any particular spots in North America that you think would make an appropriate goal for a LF road trip? Any suggestions in terms of locations, logistics, traveling long distances shooting LF, and any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I just started shooting color again using Provia 100F. At first I

was skeptical about the reciprocity thing, but I tested it and it all

works out. It makes low-light shooting so much less of a hassle.

If you're looking for a particularly good looking portfolio binder

check out Lost Luggage at www.lost-luggage.com. Very clean and

professional looking products....customizable too.

A studio stand of any good quality should be like a rock under just

about any camera, and will easily be sturdier than any given tripod.

Last spring in my "Intro to Photographic Illustration" class, we did

all of our stuff in the studio on studio stands. Several times I did

shots that required my camera (Linhof Kardan Bi, about 10-12 lbs) at

full extension pointed straight down. Even pointed straight down

everything was rock solid. The nice thing about a studio stand is

that it's heavy and I can't imagine any camera that you would be

using that could make it go off balance. Of course, you can't

really take it on location, but if you're working in the studio, then

it's not really an issue.

I refinished mine 2 summers ago. Like Chad, I had to replace some of

the screws, but probably only about 5 or 6 total. Mine is a pre-1950

that had front swings added later. Because of its age and what I

assume was professional use at some point, it had seen better days

but was still structurally sound. I took an approach to refinishing

it that would probably make a collector cringe, but it yielded a

wonderful user that looked much improved. Most people, when

refinishing a camera like a Deardorff 8x10 will try to make it look

as much like it originally did as they possibly can. This means re-

plating metal parts, stripping and re-finishing the wood in a finish

similar to the original. I had neither the time, money, nor

resources to take my beater of a 'Dorff and make it a museum piece.

So, what I did was disassemble it, strip the wood of its old finish,

and refinish it with several coats of tung oil. Metal parts were

gone over with #000 steel wool to remove corrosion and were then

given a clear-coat. I put it all back together and while it doesn't

look all shiny and perfect like a collector's item, I don't worry

about it like a collector's item, either. If I get caught in the

rain, I don't panic, I just fold it up, pack it away, and give it a

good once-over with a towel when I get home. I bought mine to use,

not to look at, and I use the heck out of it.

<p>

Make sure you keep track of where everything goes- it took me 3 tries

to put it back together again. Some metal parts may not only show

brassing and some corrosion/pitting, but be dented or bent and in

need of repair. The focusing track on one side of mine had a good-

size impression that carried through to the wood on the other side.

While I had it disassembled, I *carefully* pounded out the dent in

the focusing track using a couple pieces of wood (no direct contact

between metal and hammer) and a small hammer. The impression in the

wood was partly remedied by wetting the unfinished wood with water

to get it to swell locally. This helped some, but I ended up using

wood filler to fill it out (only about 1/16" total depth). Depending

on what sort of bellows you have on yours, you may or may not want to

try to restore them. If they're leather and in reasonable shape, go

for it, but if they're synthetic and not looking too well, you're

best bet is going to be to replace them. I've got the later

synthetic crap-ass bellows on mine. Haven't replaced them yet, but a

little bit of tape and a few applications of Armor-All to the

exterior have made them usable for the time being.

<p>

For a lot of it, I think common sense should be enough to get you

through the process successfully- worked for me. Don't rush it, keep

track of everythig, take notes. If you run into a snag, stop and

figure it out before you do something dumb like me and strip a few

screws (3 of the 6 I replaced). Basically, just go about it in an

intelligent manner as I'm sure you would anyway and you'll be fine.

Good luck.

Pharmaceutical recreation? I think that's a varsity sport here at

OU...