scott_walton2

Agreeing with everything said here, also if you want to try coating

your own, try liquid emulsion or doing Kallitypes first to get that

part of it down.

In my opinion, the soft edge gives a better transition. With the hard

edge and a tele lens, your transition would be soft also. If you were

to use the hard edge with a wide angle, you would see a hard edge

making it easier to see that you filtered and making the picture not

natural. I think the repositional Lees are a great way to go.

Eventually, you might have a large compliment of filters to do the

things that you want... we as photographers are "collectors" of stuff

so use what you have for the purpose it is made for and save to get

more!

You really need the Calumet type holder. The roll film backs are pretty

large for a spring back and you have no way to lock it in. You should

be able to use an aftermarket ground glass. I recommend stepping up to

a Beattie or Maxwell to brighten your viewing.

I have a Beattie's (http://www.intenscreen.com/) on all my camera and

love them. There are also Maxwell's that I hear people like also.

http://www.benderphoto.com/ for a light weight DIY kind of camera,

Calumet has a real inexpensive model also, the Cadet. As far as

Polaroid... The 545 back is a single sheet holder as is the 545 Pro.

Personally I don't think the extra money on the Pro is worth it for

just a built in timer. Type 55 has a negative in with the print media

that you clear with a sodium Sulfite solution. Type 54 is true 100

speed, Type 59 is color which lends itself to transfers which are

pretty neat. These are all 4x5 (almost) size whereas the pack film is

like a 3.5x4.5" or there abouts. The nice part of pack film is that you

have less bulk with 10 shots in the pack vs individual sheets. The pack

film is less expensive also but they do crop alot of the 4x5 frame.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers

Go to www.digitaltruth.com, click on the Massive Developing Chart, plug

in PX and scroll down to Ultrafin and then click on Push Processing on

the left hand side. Other than that, Diafine would work beautiful

processed 3 min Bath A and 3 min Bath B and then fix!

In New England, a place called "The Fabric Place" carries raw muslin

with widths up to 102"... I have made 4 using these and 6-10 boxes of

your favorite color Rit Dye. Get some really large rubber bands and

loosely wrap sections in the upper middle and then Dye them. If you

wrap to tight, your going to get a "tye-dye" look but when doing it

loosely, you get nice textures. My first one I used 6 boxes of black

Rit dye and it came out a great almost neutral grey. I bought the 102"x

25' and have a great full length muslin. The next one I bought, same

size, and left it the way it came for a great high key back ground.

Another one is dyed brown (use 10-15 boxes to get a rich brown) and the

other is splattered randomly with different colors of paint. As I

recall, I paid around $65.00/ muslin that size.

As Pete and Keith say, it's really not that hard at all... one piece of

tape, tear it off (the tape will be at the inner most part of the roll)

and load it to the reel. If you are using plastic reels, snip each

corner a little bit so it loads on the reel easier. If you are using SS

reels, just make sure you have a little play (pushing the film back and

forth) as you roll it on the reel. If you stop having a little play you

have a kink and if you don't take care of it by backing out, you will

get over lap and ruin some negs! Just back it out until you have play

again. There again, as others state, practice with a waste roll and

practice until you can do it with your eyes closed. This will help with

keeping the chances of the "ever popular" half moons in your film to a

minimum. If you have trouble getting it on the reel in your hands, once

you clip the film to the center clip of the reel, put the reel down on

a clean tabletop and just roll the reel while holding the film. It

usually does a good job of getting the film on the reel "almost" by

itself.

Goodluck and just take your time.

Sorry, I think I made a mistake... I used to use Solutek in a Hostert

Processor years ago and a hand line and it worked great but I thought

it was from a local company... I found it here:http://

www.surgicalsupplyservice.com/contents/equip.htm#3

There is a company in the Boston area, Solutek, that makes it and also

Sprint's film developer is VERY close to D76. You can get the Sprint in

cubitainers or small bottles.

It is a good, sharp, older (1950's to 60's) tele lens. I have one for

my Tech III and use it a good amount. The shutter is easy to clean and

maintain. Check to see how the shutter speeds are in the 1 sec, 1/2

second range. If they lag it needs to be cleaned. Go to http://

www.skgrimes.com/index.htm and ask Steve.

I like the Tech Pan developed in Divided D76. You can gewt kits from

Photo Formulary or mix it up yourself like I do. If you need the

recipe, I have PDF's I can send.

Cheers

We calibrate everyday for the emulsion and chemistry for the day. The

way we do it is to print a grey card negative and adjust for the grey

card. Our grey card master neg prints at 100y 70M f22. If the print is

off a bit, we adjust to match the master print and then calibrate by

taking the screws out of the bottom and take the plate from the from of

the dials. There is a screw underneath that you unscrew to release the

tension from the wheels and after you have the perfect grey card print,

you set the number wheel back to 100y 70m and 000c. We have 8 enlargers

that have to talk to each other and this is the system that we use.

For you, you might have to undo everything. Dial out ALL the dials and

write those numbers down. Then take off the black plate, unscrew the

number plate like I was saying earlier and undo all the numbers to 000.

If you read the color print boxes with their starting filter pack, alot

of them are 040y and 035M or something like that... my impression is

that is with everything zeroed out. I hope my ramblings have shed a

little light.

I agree with Ed, LFN is great and all you need is a drop or 2. This

should clear up your problem immediately. Also great to use in the pre-

wet because it really breaks the surface tension of the water!

I would surely bring it. Then again, I bring all my lens (90mm-360mm)

just in case I see something I like. I go out with a general idea of

what I'm going to shoot but there are always other things that crop up.

Bring it!

Cheers

I agree with 1/2 the amount of Photoflo but if you have a decent photo

store nearby, get some LFN. It is made by Ethol or Edwal. All you need

is a drop so by the small dropper! It works great in the pre water bath

also. Really breaks the tension in the water.

Cheers

Russell, It occurred to me last night, are you using Photoflo in the

same tank... This sounds like contamination on your reels from the flo.

Wash everything in HOT water and use LFN instead. It comes in a little

squeeze bottle and all you need is a drop or two. Much cleaner than

Photoflo. Hope this helps.

Beattie's are very good as are some others. I have used Beattie

Interscreens for years.

Pretty much agreeing with all that has been said here, not to get you

discouraged! This is one of those "lifestyles" that you really have to

put in your time to get where you want to be in 10 years. I've been at

it for over 25 years, done the assisting route, school, more assisting,

got a corporate position, gone out on my own, had assistants (full and

part time), had the bottom drop out in the late '80's and went back

doing corporate where I am now. It is a definite must to find a

receptive shooter that his/her work is respected by you! Stay with them

as long as your learning the craft (we expect you to move on after a

year - 3 so that you can grow and another assistant will come in and

give us a different view on things). It is a two way learning process

but don't expect to change the shooter. This is why I say... find a

receptive shooter. I think I looked at 12-20 starting portfolios of

assitants everytime I would look for another assistant. The good part

of moving on is that you will learn another style and therefore hone

your own style. Be prepared for some rejection. It's not personal! That

is just the way it is. If you have a shooter that dresses in chinos and

you come in with every part of your face pierced or tatooed, well, the

styles are different and may not be compatable. You are looking for a

job so treat it as such... be on time (if not early) be honest up front

and present yourself well! As another poster stated, it is a great

lifestyle/career and can be ALOT of fun, I know it is what I have and

still love to do!!!

Good Luck and stick to it.

TP is very finicky stuff. If you agitate anywhere near what you do for

regular film, you will get some sever bromide drag! With the small

tank, I put the developer in before starting and in the dark, lower the

film reel in gently. I give it a rap and turn it once. 45 sec later, I

turn it once again, 45 sec... and so on.

It is a GREAT developer. I've been using it for about 25 years. I love

the high acutance for my 4x5 stuff. Couldn't be easier with TXP. I

shoot TXP @ 400 and have excellent negs with my cold light. They just

glow. Coupled with LPD print developer... a thing of beauty! I also use

Divided D76 also. The only thing different is that DD76 seems to be a

finer grain but not as high acutance. Side by side they look great but

if you want the added snap, definitely use Diafine!!! It is one of

those developers that have been around for a LONG time (unchanged) but

is a "quiet" one.

I agree with the smaller focal lengths. A telephoto will also give to

much compression. A few times I have had to do very small diodes on

circuit boards and had to use a 90mm! Try it. It works great. Shooting

a cell phone is nothing for a 110 or a 150.

5.6 isn't that bad when using a good grain magnifier. If you lack

sharpness by all means any upgrade will be a good one.

If you have a film recorder you can do it that way with a digital

file... other than that, you can use TMAX and the Kodak Reversal Kit to

make beautiful B/W slides. All you will get is B/W, stunning, slides so

if the prints are toned, use regular chrome film (tungsten) if you are

using hot lights on your copy stand. That's pretty much it.

Beatties are nice. I have them on all my cameras. Go to:http://

www.intenscreen.com/