ben_calwell

In my opinion, too many photographers worry about getting "a good black and a good white" in their prints. It's as if that's the be all and end all of a print. I've seen many excellent photos that don't meet textbook definitions of what supposedly makes a good black and white print. I think many photographers get caught up in the contrast trap, and as a result, their prints, to me, look too contrasty and garish. The emotional appeal and composition of a print matter more to me.

Eugene,

I packed my tripod (a small Bogen 3001) in one of my suitcases. The airline was Delta. Maybe I lucked out on this trip, as I'm sure others might have tales of horror to relate regarding airport security and view camera equipment/film. By the way, I just developed some of the negs I shot in Texas, and they don't appear to be affected at all by the airport X-rays.

Greetings and happy New Year. This is my first post here since the

forum left Tuan's site. I just wanted to relate a travel experience

with my 4x5 kit. For Christmas, we flew to my wife's family's house

near Austin, Texas. I decided to take my Wista 4x5, two lenses, six

film holders and related equipment. I packed it in an old Tundra

satchel-type bag. To my suprise, the camera bag was never opened and

gone through by airport security personnel. It just went through the

X-ray machine and that was it. With all the weird looking things in

there -- spot meter that resembles a pistol, cable releases that look

like wires, etc. -- I thought for sure I would have trouble getting

through security. This was the first time I've taken my large format

gear on a plane, and I must say, it was a piece of cake. My camera

bag even fit perfectly under the seat in front of me. For those of

you who might be reluctant to fly with your large format gear, don't

be. In my case, at least, it was no problem.

 

Ben Calwell

John,

I'm drawn to interiors of abandoned houses and other structures,

often shooting details up close. For several years, I did a personal

project documenting old roadside architecture and other stuff along

U.S. 60, which is one of this country's (United States) original

transcontinental highways. I still like to do that when I get time

away from my day job. I also like to shoot garden variety landscapes

and really anything else where the quality of light catches my eye. I

want to take more large format images of my 5-year-old son, but he

won't sit still long enough for me to do that! Maybe when he's older.

I just turned 52, and I've been shooting large format since 1982. My

interest in photography started with a Pentax Spotmatic in 1968. With

age, I've noticed that my equipment is starting to feel heavier to

me, especially the old Bogen 3051 and C-1 8x10. I'm glad I've got a

light weight wooden Wista 4x5 to fall back on (not literally). I also

have a Linhof 5x7, which I'm starting to use, too.

Robert,

While it doesn't have the cachet of the Ebony name, the Wista DX has

rear shift and zero detents. It's compact and light. The bellows

aren't as long as I would like, but it's not a bad field camera.

Herwig,

I've been tray processing 4x5 sheet film for more than 10 years and

have scratched maybe two in that time period. My method is to always

pre-wet the sheets in water first, which makes them not stick

together. For the developing, I use glass Pyrex bread pans that are

slightly narrower than the width of each sheet. This keeps the sheets

from settling to the bottom, but the pans are deep enough to keep the

sheets submerged in solution. I shuffle emulsion side down, usually

no more than five sheets at a time. The narrow, glass pans keep the

sheets corralled nicely, so that they don't wander around. Just make

sure the sharp corners of each sheet don't dig into the sheet below

it, and you'll be fine. If a life-long klutz like me can do this, you

can too.

P.S. Pyrex bread pans can usually be found in grocery stores or

kitchen supply stores.

Greetings,

I've owned a Bogen 3050 with 3047 quick release head for about 20 years, and it's served me well. However, I'm beginning to think that it's overkill for my light Wista DX and even for my heavier Linhof 5x7. I've been thinking of purchasing a Bogen 3021 (about 6 lbs.) and attaching my 3047 head to it, so that I'll have a lighter package to carry around. I know this combination would be more than adequate for the Wista, but would it be enough for the Linhof, which I think weighs in at about 11 lbs.?

I, too, have an old Calumet C-1 that I purchased, with a Carl Meyer

300mm lens, for about $750 from Midwest a few years back. As I've

mentioned before on this forum, I'm not inclined to use it much

because of its weight. I think I bought it because I saw a Ries

tripod ad in a magazine that showed Cole Weston using a C-1, and he

looked pretty cool with it, and I wanted to look cool, too. Big

mistake -- too heavy for me.

About three years ago, I purchased a used Calumet C-1 8x10 camera and

have used it a grand total of one time. The reason? It's just so

heavy! As a man deep into middle age, the weight and bulk of the

camera make my muscles ache. After using it, I feel as if I've gone

10 rounds with Mike Tyson. It's a great camera, solid and well-made.

If I were 30 again, I'd be out there with it everyday. But for me,

it's not the best match. I should go for a lighter wooden 8x10.

I tried a 300 watt bulb about 2.5 to 3 feet above the Azo

and "burned" them to a crisp in under 5 seconds. I now use a 25 watt

bulb in a reflector like Brian referred to, and it works fine.

"Shouldn't the sun be behind your back."

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. This forum is always a great

help to me.

I was contact printing some 4x5 negs on Azo the other night and one print, of an old chair and flower pot in sunflight (admittedly boring)looked to me like the greatest thing since "Moonrise, Hernandez," when I turned on the white lights. But looking at the print for a second time several days later, I thought to myself 'what was I thinking? This is a terrible print.' Even taking into account dry-down effects, it's incredibly dark, heavy and crappy looking. How could my judgement change so radically? Are the chemicals clouding my judgement? How could the print look so good to me one minute, and so terrible the next? Has anyone else experienced premature darkroom euphoria?

Can unmixed Dektol (in its powdered form) go bad. I brought home some Dektol from a newspaper darkroom (they went digital), but when I mixed it in the 90-100 degree water, it turned more brown than I'm used to seeing. I'm used to fresh Dektol having a sort of very light copper color to it. What happened? Also, how should Ethol LPD paper developer look when it's mixed? The batch I mixed this evening looks brown. Is this normal? Thanks in advance for your comments.

Years ago I made a lens shade from an empty box (100 sheets) of 4x5

Tri-X. Using the inner and outer boxes, you cut the bottom out of the

larger outer lid and then insert the inner boxes into the rectangular

hole, making a sort of bellows shade. Then I cut a hole into the

bottom of the box and used an adapter ring to screw it onto my lens.

I still use my cardboard shade to this day.

Never mind, my friends, I figured out what is wrong. I forgot to

adjust the focus on my loupe for my eyeglasses! Once I did that,

everything came into nice focus on the groundglass. What a dummy I am!

Hi all,

I recently acquired an old Linhof 5x7 Tech III (I think it's a III: serial no. 25354). Packaged with the camera is an older Schneider/Linhof 180mm Symmar S, which I think is a single-coated lens. I've not shot any film yet, but I noticed that I can't get a sharply focussed image on the ground glass. I made sure that the camera is zeroed out on all the movements, but I still can't get a sharp image on the glass (checked with a loupe). I noticed that the lens has some sort of metal washer or spacer stacked with it on the board. Could this somehow be affecting the focus? There's no evidence of this Linhof ever having any rangefinder mechanism on it. Could the back be out of alignment? I'm stumped.

Matt,

I'm like you -- I can't stand to draw attention to myself.

Unfortunately, using a big camera is like carrying a neon sign that

says "Look at me!" To avoid people, I try to shoot during weekdays

(if I have the day off from my job), when most people are at work or

in school. I also try to shoot very early in the morning, especially

on Sundays. Most people aren't early birds.

Sorry to still be obsessing/agonizing over this, but I have yet another 5x7 question before I fork over my hard earned dollars. Given a choice, would you grizzled LF veterans go for a used Linhof 5x7 (assuming it is in good, workable shape) or a NEW Tachihara 5x7? Your valued comments are appreciated.

I've already corresponded with a few of my fellow enthusiasts off-forum on this, but I want to seek some other opinions. I want to try 5x7, but without a lot of money (my target is $800 to $1000) to spend (Wisner, Canham, Ebony out of the question) my options seem to be the following: a used 5x7 Linhof Tech III or IV (these can still be pretty pricey), Burke & James, Ansco, Seneca, Deardorff (still a little costly). I would also consider a monorail 5x7. Tachihara makes new 5x7s at about $1400 a piece, but that's still champagne on a beer budget for me. I've got a Calumet C-1 8x10 that would accept a 5x7 back, but I don't like to lug that thing around very much. Of the above mentioned 5x7 cameras, which one should I go for, based on ease of use and durability? Are there other 5x7 cameras that I don't know about? Thank you for your replies.

I tell ya, I think I need a cold shower after reading some of these

Ebony descriptions. A cold shower, followed by a bank heist so that I

could afford to buy one of those babys.

"you were asking service related questions on a very old Linhof"

 

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My question wasn't service related. Not being familiar with Linhofs,

I simply asked if I could focus on the ground glass of an old 5x7

Linhof using my existing LF lenses, or if I would have to have cams

to use them.

As a footnote to Doug's response,I tried contacting Mr. Salomon with

a Linhof question, but he referred me to an outfit called Marflex.

I'm confused about lens use on Linhofs. Is it possible to use my existing LF lenses on an old Linhof 5x7 Super Technica IV, or do they have to be "cammed" lenses specially designed for that camera? In other words, can I attach my 210mm lens to the Linhof and then simply focus on the ground glass as I would with any other view camera? Thanks in advance for your input.