phillip_p._dimor

I've used jet dry before. I'd rather use that than a commercial dish soap. 1 drop in about 2 liters of water works for me. You know, the stuff that you can find at the supermarket, for use in dish washers and the like. Blue stuff in a bottle. It's pretty cheap.

 

How are you drying your negatives?

If you have a spring back, it might not fit. If you have a Graflok-style back it should definitely fit.<br><br>

The Quickchange comes loaded with some Fuji emulsion. You can reload whatever you wish afterwards.<br><br>

 

Check out; <a href="http://www.f32.net/Services/Equipment/Accessories/quickchange.html">F32 Fuji Quickchange HowTo</a><br>

and <a href="http://www.uglx.org/quickchange">Fuji Quickchange on a Speed Graphic Primer</a><br><br>

 

I don't have a Quickchange nor have I ever handled one in person.<br>

I was considering the purchase of one though..

No Plus-X in 4x5 sheets?! I had no idea. I loved the stuff in 35mm.

Great in Microdol-X, Rodinal and PMK.

I tried TXT but I didn't like it nearly as much..

I bought two used 4x5 holders from KEH for about $25. They are Fidelity Elite's. The holders arrived in what I consider to be Mint- condition. No leaks and very very nice looking. I think that atleast starting with some known good holders is a great idea. It's one less variable to deal with if something goes wrong.

 

That being said, I recently purchased 19 holders on E*ay. The total price per holder came down to $5 and change. The holders are a little beaten but I'm pleased. I couldn't afford $90 for 4 new holders.. That $90 could be better spent on several barrel lenses :)

Sorry, I didn't see Dave's reply above! Good advice though!

I have a Graflex sliding split-back (used mostly by Police stations for lineups and the like) which does the same thing I believe.<br><br>

 

I'm just curious, you want two 2x5 images on the same sheet of film, right? How are you planning on cutting the darkslide?

Either way it sounds like a neat idea!<br><br>

 

The following link might give you some good ideas, if you haven't already seen it; <a href="http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/text-mattebox.html">Andrew Davidhazy's 'Matte-Box Photography</a><br>

You might be able to use a carbide scribe. Score the plastic just like glass and crack. Either way, if you score it first, your second cut will be cleaner and straigher.

 

Sears and other hardware stores have cheap carbide scribes that are fine. I remember paying around $4 for mine.

I'm not sure if they are being manufactured anymore, but Fuji made a Grafmatic-like holder, the Quickchange. It's plastic and holds 6 sheets, also reloadable. Robert White in the UK has/had them for sale.

I have a 135mm Optar that looks like it was cleaned with steel wool. Surprisingly, the images from it are still quite good. More susceptible to flare and a slight lack of contrast perhaps. Only the three slowest speeds work on the shutter.. It's still quite usable, for me atleast.<br><br>

 

You can pretty much fit anything into a homemade lensboard.<br>

Check out; <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0085ZR">Barrel Lenses for Speed Graphics-- Lens Boards?</a><br><br>

Does your focal plane shutter work?<br><br>

 

I have a pdf of the service manual if you want it. It's about 6MB though so I can't email it.

Perhaps the folks over at Graflex.org would want it? I don't think it's right for people to charge upwards of $20 for a reprint..

Joe, perhaps you'd be interested in an electronic thermocouple.

The response time is nearly instantaneous and these things are built to withstand heavy lab usage. Nice digital readout and every type of replacable probe known to man..

 

Just search for 'thermocouple' on the auction site. Omega and Cooper-Atkins make very nice ones.

 

This is kind of overkill for B&W but mine was a one time purchase, and it cost less used than some of the new stainless steel dial thermometers that i've seen. It's more accurate than I am, to say the least. Plus I can always use it for other things, too.

Ken, really? Perhaps my 645 is broken because I only get 15.

Charles, thanks for the heads up! For some reason I figured that they were all like that. Thanks!

The Pentax 645NII squeezes 16 per 120 roll, whereas the original 645 fits 15. I have the original 645 but have no complaints over film flatness whatsoever.<br>

 

The Pentax 67 lineup is more rounded, you might consider getting a Pentax 67 to 645 Adapter and using the Pentax 67 lenses. Your focal length will increase slightly but how much, I'm not sure.<br>

 

The MF and AF versions should be very similiar, I wouldn't imagine being able to really tell the difference between either, aside from cosmetic issues.<br>

Lithium and rechargables are okay for the 645N and 645NII, not the original 645. (according to the manual)<br>

There is an example of the film recording on the link below.<br>

 

Check this review, it's one of the better ones;<br><br>

<a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/645nii.shtml">Luminous Landscapes: 645NII Review</a>

I have a late 6x7 120 Singer Graflex back, the RH-10.<br>

I didn't pay much for it but the spacing is all off.<br>

None of the frames overlap, but in the middle of the roll and near the end,<br>

the frames practically touch each other.<br>

It works reasonably well though. <br>

If you do go for a Graflex roll film back,<br>

you want the lever-wind one instead of the knob-wind one.<br>

The lever-wind ones (generally) have two metal rollers<br>

that help keep the film flat, whereas the knob-wind ones lack those.<br>

Also, check out the Linhof Super Rollex. Very nice.

Perhaps you could locate some 5" wide aerial film and slice it.

Make it easier on yourself.

Your tank will hold 300ml of water.

Rodinal 1+25 is 1ml of Rodinal concentrate per 25ml of water.

300ml divided by 25ml is 12ml. Use 12ml of rodinal in 300ml of water. Get it?

I'd put the 120 rolls in a ziploc bag first, but I don't see why not. I do this too sometimes, just because my fridge has no food, just film. It's easier to keep track of stuff in the fridge for me.

 

I keep paper in there too, but if you pull the paper out to use without letting it warm up to room temperature, you might get condensation on the inside of the box. If that happens with RC paper, they might stick together and that's no good.

 

As for the developers, I'd avoid it. I used to keep PMK in there until the 'B' solution pretty much 'fell out'. It never really redissolved. Same thing with D76, too.

 

Stop bath and fixer probably wouldn't benefit either. I'd stick to just film and stockpiles of paper but that's just me.. A nice cupboard works wonders for developers and whatnot though.

Perhaps it's the quality of your water? I have a private well and the water is pretty good but.. Just a thought, atleast. I've premixed photo-flo before with tap water and it ended up turning into a bacteria swamp.. You could see the 'snot' floating around in it, it was pretty gross looking.

Notice how the edges fit under the lensboard sliders. When you push the slider down, it holds the board in pretty well. Surprisingly, there are no light leaks.<div></div>

I use scrap pieces of plastic from old computer bezels, among other things. Place the original lensboard over the plastic and trace an outline onto the plastic, then use a hacksaw and cut the square plastic board out. I use a power grinder, it's like a dremel on steroids. Anyhow, I bevel (?) the top and bottom edges so that the board can slip under the lensboard sliders on the front standard of the Speed Graphic.

 

Also, if you don't have a retaining ring/flange.. I'm a little ashamed to say this, but i've had decent enough success cutting the hole a little tightly, and just threading the lens into the hole. When you pick up a Kodak Anastigmat for $10, including shipping and it doesn't come with a flange.. You probably won't mind doing this so much.<div></div>

I use a Speed Graphic as my sole 4x5 camera. I'm looking and saving up for a monorail but for the time being my Speed gets things done just fine.

 

I own and have used the 15" Tele-Optar. With the bellows racked all the way out, focusing on closer objects can be a pain. The lens is pretty bulky and has a lot of weight. The only time I've gotten noticeable shutter shake was with the 15" tele-optar. Also note that the lensboard didn't have the extension on it so that may very well

have something to do with it.

 

On the other hand, I use a 10" Kodak Anastigmat pretty regularly and get great results from that. It's not a telephoto so your front standard will be at the end of the rail, but it isn't as bulky as the tele-optar. It doesn't shake nearly as much.

Not to make things more confusing, but a while back I managed to buy a used Jobo tank and plastic 120 reel. It's the kind with no bearings, and it doesn't ratchet or swing at all. You just push the film into the spiral. It was actually pretty easy to load, provided that the reel was bone dry.

Wow, you guys are quick. Jeesh! :)

You'll get used to separating the film from the paper. You _are_ separating the film from the paper backing, right? :)

 

Are you using plastic reels? When I used to use plastic reels for 120, I would pull the film past the ball bearings by and inch and a half or so.. And pretty much ratchet the reel back and forth just like 35mm film but would apply a little bit of pressure with two fingers on one edge of the film to 'help it along'.

 

Some people also keep the piece of tape on the end of the film, and just fold it back onto the film and load that end into the reel first for added stability or something.

 

After a while of kinking/scraping and goofing up rolls, I switched to stainless steel reels. If you learn on a Hewes or a Kindermann stainless reel you could probably load any stainlees steel reel.

Wow, 25 gallons would last me quite a while. And for that price?!

I like the idea of that. Now all I need is some glacial acetic acid and I can hole myself up inside my house for a few years, without ever having to go out or order anything.

 

Some people prepare for nuclear warfare with bomb shelters and supplies..

I'm not too sure about the small metal rollers. I always thought that they helped thread the film into the takeup spool by applying pressure.. It could be that but i'm really not too sure.

 

There are also 3 other small metal contacts on the film back itself, they are round and chrome.. You could try cleaning those as well. And make sure that the contacts on the camera body are both springy and clean.

 

It could be the body, in which case the previous poster was pretty right about trying another back. Perhaps you can rent one for a day in your area? Or even bring it to a shop that carries Pentax 645's and see if they have any used ones you can look at?

 

You can also take a new roll of film and without removing the film and tape from the paper, just roll it back up on another spool so it looks like new.

 

Perhaps running through the roll a few times might give you a better indication of the source..