skip_roessel

I've gone 5x7 for a year or two, never found such a tank, look tho' I

might. Tried dip and dunk with stainless steel racks in open tanks. I

had trouble managing more than a few, scratching negs, etc.

<p>

Wound up with a Jobo 3005 (five exposures) tank, rotated on an old

motorized Unicolor base. This works like a charm, even with pyro.

You don't need the whole Jobo machine. Just a funnel with a 30-degree

bend in the snout (plastic funnel, reshaped in boiling water.)

<p>

Before I found my Unicolor roller on eBay ($20) I rolled the tank to

and fro in my bathtub. That was tedious, though.

It's nice to see how digital is advancing, and it's obvious that

silver-based photography is in retreat for commercial/industrial

applications. I'm a cinematographer, and video has eaten my lunch

too.

<p>

In my opinion, these days, if you're setting up a view camera, you're

not doing it to make money. It's an avocation, maybe a passion. I

shoot tape as well as film to make a living, and budget constaints

force us to shoot more tape, less film. Not just tape, but DV instead

of Betacam, then not just DV but miniDV!

<p>

I just finished a job shot with a handicam miniDV and a fine time and

much money was had by all. My response to this experience was to rush

out and get a 7x17 camera... 5x7 wasn't big enough! Call me a

Luddite, I guess.

<p>

As a publisher Steve Simmons has a business to run. But if it

develops that digital is where View Camera is going, hopefully classic

large-format will find another magazine venue. Maybe seven bucks an

issue won't be enough...

I've had my MQC for a year and found the tilts were easy to use; a

little experience was necessary to learn how much to load the locks

when tightening them.

<p>

But I have found the swings difficult to keep sufficiently tight, as

it's tough to get purchase on the knurled thumbscrew. I was horsing

around with this on a shoot last week and was pondering whether to

introduce something in there that would grab better: perhaps a tiny

ring of fine sandpaper or maybe a bit of honey or corn syrup. Dancers'

rosin? Bubble gum, dissolved in gasoline and painted on?

<p>

But my wife thinks if I put gum or sugar in the joint I'll wind up

dunking the camera in boiling water to reset the controls.

<p>

Skip

200 counts of gamma a minute! Almost makes me think twice about

flying in commercial aircraft (at least above 35,000 feet).

Wait! No problem! I'll just book flights that last less than two

hours (One per year in normal latitudes, or .2 per year over the South

Pole).

<p>

Radon in the basement, on the other hand...

As noted on another thread, this back is currently forecast for

September 2001, due to military work Ken's machinist is obliged to

complete first.

skip roessel

I called Keith last week for a minor part and he mentioned than his

machine shop subcontractor had received a directive (an order they

couldn't refuse, legally) from the Pentagon to fabricate parts for

some military system: ABM prototype, or a spy satellite, or some such

malarkey. Naturally if true these people would have no incentive not

to re-order parts remade 'til the cows come home. I wish I was a

machinist.

<p>

For the moment I'll shoot 5x7 and crop the top and bottom.

You're looking for Graflex film holders, used on the old reflex

Graflexes with focal plane shutters. They're around. But you could

modify ungrooved wooden holders if you had access to a good table saw.