tim_curry

Perhaps CJ can help shed some light on this one for us if he is listening. My understanding is that you can do anything you wish with a Polaroid 110 yourself, but you may have a problem with the sale and marketing of the item after it is done. If you want to do it yourself, then go right ahead, just don't try to sell it on ebay.

 

Much depends on the nature of the patent, what was actually patented? Was it the conversion to 4x5 or some procedure which makes it possible? If this was the first person who actually applied to have a patent granted (regardless of how long the conversion has gone on), then the only other person who may have a shot at breaking up this chain of events is the person whose idea has been used wrongfully by another.

 

I am not a lawyer, I have never played one on television.

One thing which seems to work well with most people is to keep posts as simple "I" messages. "I think that...." or "I see it as......" This tends to not anger people as much as.....

 

A sure way to P.O. someone is to start taking their inventory for them. This usually begins with a "you" message. For example, "You stinking pool of dribbling excrement......." is a great way to start donning the Nomex skivvies.

 

I think the impersonal nature of the internet can lead people astray and allow them to not suffer the same consequences of behavior as a face to face interaction can lead to (i.e. a good ass whuppin')

 

Group hug now.

One mistake I made when starting out this year was with the filter settings on a used Omega D5X with dichroic head. I read the book on it and decided that since the filter setting for 0-0-0 was grade 2, I could use it to print.

 

It did give grade 2, but the times were down around 3 seconds. Once I dialed in the correct filter settings for a grade 2 print, I was getting more reasonable times which allowed for more work with each print. Perhaps this may help?

If you have a local lumber yard, you can "special order" 5' X 9' plywood. It is sold as a "ping pong table" size material. They are specially made and a good distributor has acces to them. It might take a couple of days to get and check the corners for dings before you accept it. Good luck.

This is with 4x5 film and a Yankee type (agitank) development with 15 second agitation cycles. Will work well also with 35mm in an inversion tank.

 

Note: Fill tank first and then load film into the tank all at once. I tried pouring the PMK into the tank for a while but got some uneven streaks until I dropped the film in place in one motion, better. tim

Steve,

 

I was under the impression that the second bath of depleted PMK was necessary as a "normal" part of the PMK development process, guess I need to read that section in the book again as I have had it wrong all year. I've been using it with good results, but do not have acid in any of my steps. I use a water stop and TF4 for fixing. All this time I've been adding too much stain and reducing contrast? Arrgh! Will have to do film tests again and see where I am. Perhaps I'm not getting good results yet, but they do print easily on grade 2 VC and sure look right in the print. I must be missing contrast at some level in my prints. Will retest and post again when the smoke clears for Efke 25.

 

Many thanks for sharing your experience with us.

 

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Efke 25: asa 12, 7:00 @ 68f with PMK and adjust from there if highlights aren't bright enough. (Note: this is with the -SECOND- PMK bath as a normal step, but all bets may be off on these numbers after reading the above posts)

 

1) Be sure to use distilled water for development or times will vary wildly.

 

2) I use minimum exposure for maximum black based on the unexposed film edge as my baseline.

I have used my 545i with both Kodak & Fuji films. It works well with both film types of pre-packaged single-sheet film. I don't know if there is any functional difference between the 545 and 545i back. Anyone?

Hi Dizzy,

 

I would recommend a Fujinon 125mm CM-W lens from Midwest Photo Exchange as a good starter lens (http://mpex.com/current_index.htm). If you like to use about a 40mm lens in 35mm format, this is an excellent value for the money, $599 new. It will give ample movement for shifts, tilts, swings, etc. and has excellent depth of field for a large format lens. I find this to be the first lens I pick when out in the desert tromping around, I just see that way I guess. It is multi-coated and does very well with all of the modern lens requirments.

 

A new Shen-Hao or Tachihara will set you back about $625 so you will have to decide on a used lens and spot meter or something else??? I also think $2,000 is a bit optimistic for a new LF setup with two lenses. A rail camera has more movements, but I wonder if it will be necessary. A field camera is very compact, handy and small for just out shooting. I assume you have an adequate tripod already capable of handling the extra weight?

 

I suggest one camera, one lens, one spot meter, one dark cloth, some film holders and some film to start your shooting. Use one lens until you are familiar with all the movements and just do a bit more walking to get the composition you need.

If the wood has not been gouged and it is strictly a repair to the finish itself, remember to use a flat sanding block when doing the Danish Oil repair technique. The sandpaper will work better to sand the entire area if it is wrapped around a flat surface and kept flat against the finish. Use a flat sanding block to sand a flat surface. If you use a finger (the digit of your choice) to wet-sand the Danish Oil and not a flat block, you will be making a nice groove in the finish and wood. This will accentuate the used look.

 

Answer #4: "Get over it" seems to be relevant here.

I have a friend who buys a new SUV every few years (we like to guzzle gas out here in the west, drive up prices, pollute the air, increase global warming, etc.) As soon as he leaves the show room, he looks for brush to drive against to scratch up the sides. His reasoning is that it will happen anyway in "normal" use, so he "gets over it" right away. Works for him.

Gabriel,

 

This is my method for working out night shots. If possible, get the same film in a 35mm version and do a roll using various exposures and times. 35 exposures will give you a lot of information. I use f11 in 35mm as a baseline and vary times from 10 seconds out to 6 minutes or so, depends on the lighting. Try to stay in some sort of sequence where you have full stop increments between shots.

 

In any event, if you take good notes for that one roll, you will have a very valuable amount of shot data with a simple contact sheet of that roll. I use PMK for developer, so it deals with highlights fairly well. Use normal development for your personal e.i. and you will end up with a feel for the various light conditions. Print a shot or two to see about highlights and blocking, but this one test roll will certainly get you close and give you a very good idea about times in varying light conditions. With good notes (please take the best ones you can about light sources and distances or intensities, ie. street lamp @ 50', headlights at one block, building lighting @ 300' etc.) you will see what is best and be able to build on existing shots to fine tune exposures very rapidly.

 

Once the contact sheet is done, look at values and make a few more notes on what worked well and what to try in a similar shot next time. You will still end up bracketing around a "favorite" exposure for given conditions, but you should have some very good shots after the first roll is looked at and evaluated. Works for me.

Polaroid 545i will accept both types of film also. I agree with the comment about Kodak film in a Quickload holder, binds and ruins shots.

Michael,

 

I've been out in the heat a bit lately to take advantage of the rains which are finally here. Some of the film I have in my pack has gone through more than a few heating & cooling cycles during the course of hiking and shooting over vacation. Some sits in the camera with sunlight heating it in the holder for a while before the shot. At this point, I'm not seeing any fog or problems compared to shooting in the winter. This has been the Efke 25, so I can't speak for a "fast" film like Tri-x or HP5.

 

I was very concerned about it when I came home one day and opened the pack in my living room to get the exposed film and take it to the darkroom for unloading. Everything in the pack was HOT (well over 38c or 100f). Not too hot to touch, but hot enough to be a real concern. My pack is black and does soak up a lot of heat in the sun. I've had several sheets of Velvia in there for 6 months and it was going through the heating and cooling for longer than the B&W. Finally got around to using the Velvia on a cactus in bloom, it is fine also. I know color is more prone to problems with color-shift from heating, but I think there may be more concern about heating than is necessary.

 

I have some Tri-x in 8X10 from 1968 that had been sitting on a shelf for unknown temperature cycles (its acting like it sat in the sun for a few years with lots of cosmic rays running merrily along for the duration). This stuff is very dense now. I'm still trying to get enough contrast out of it to make a good print. Having to run it at asa 100, process at 85f in PMK and run up the times to nearly 18 minutes to get enough contrast for decent highlights. This stuff is so fogged that an unexposed sheet takes nearly 4 times as much light to get a nice dense black as my "normal" films. Unexposed, it looks like a normal sky density.

 

I use a freezer for long term storage, fridge for shorter term and the pack for daily use. So far, no trouble from the heat other than the normal increase in beer consumption for "heat compensation."

 

tim, tucson

A few "scotch-brite" pads, gloves, mask, goggles, warm water and lots of elbow grease will go a long way. You may not get all of it at once, but it would be a valuable lesson on prevention when a student is "too busy" to clean up after a session.

There are inexpensive dial calipers out there you can use. If you use the back end of the caliper (the center slide which protrudes out of the back), it is possible to measure the depth of the recess on the back to the glass. In the same manner, you can then measure a film holder with a sheet of film in place.

 

All you need to know is the actual depth of the film relative to the ground glass. A feeler gauge is handy to find out where you are. If a shim is necessary, you may have to get a little creative in where it is located. Remember, the units of measurement are not important, but the relative depth between the two surfaces is what is important.

The only "compensation" I use for movements is to check the corners of the ground glass after composing and stopping down. Very rarely I do need to "compensate" for movements, but this is in the form of adjusting so the image is still complete and not clipped on the corners by vignetting.

One thing to consider when dropping below a 90mm focal lenght is light fall-off at the corners of the image. If you drop down to 65mm or 75mm, you will need to get a good center filter. I think the 90mm is a good lens, and as already stated, they are readily available on the used market at decent prices.

Roux, did you use distilled water when you mixed your developer? This is one variable many people ignore when they mix developers. There may be some minerals in your house water that can affect the developer. If the stain looks the same and you used distilled water, perhaps you have found that the color is from the pyro in the mix.

 

Try printing both sets of negatives in the same contact sheet and see what you get. I think you will find that they both print well, but there may be a difference your eye can not see in the negatives. Please let us know what you have found when you print. A lot of information about pyro has been lost over many years. It is nice to see this information come back to us by these experiments. Thank you for your curiosity and willingness to share with us.

Martin, my one suggestion would be to be certain of the light source you are using. Since you are using B&W most of the time, you don't have to think in terms of color temperature or filtration to make subtle changes in hues.

 

If you will be using transparency film, there are two choices to consider. A tungsten film (like Fuji's 64t for example) is used with an indoor incandescent type of light as a source. If you were to use this film outdoors, everything would be blue. The "normal" films for outdoor light can vary with saturation and color balance. Fuji's Astia may be the best choice for a normal rendering of color tones with daylight. If this film were used indoors, everything would be orange.

 

I'm sure others on the list will have specific lighting suggestions, but these are the basics of light and film you will need to consider to get started. Find out what type of setup is available (reflected light from a white wall outdoors or indoor floods etc.) and go from there. Based on time and money, I would be inclined to use 4X5 and not 8X10 for this project. You can get the resolution you need with a good 4X5 shot and a good scan. This will save time & money on film, developing and scanning in the long run.

I know J&C here in the states carries their "J&C Classic" film in 12X20 size, it is made in europe and imported into the states. Perhaps you could get a box of 12X20 in London and slice it on a paper cutter into 12" X 10"? Just remember to cut it face side up and keep track of which side the emulsion is on, as you will be cutting off the notches on one side.

I have yet to find a better system for me than the "Baggie System." I use ziplock bags to hold different types of film in my pack. Each is clearly marked in black magic marker on the outside of the bag. I keep post-it notes handy to write processing notes to myself for a film holder, if the shot needs different than "normal" developing.

 

When I get back, I put them into similar bags until processing time. The baggies help to keep dust, dirt and humidity out of the film when in the field and at home. This climate is brutal, with a fine dust patina settling on everything unless things are wrapped up. tucson, az.

Tucson is the kidney stone capitol of the world! I use distilled water becuse it is so hard here (like much of the west). Remember to hang film by the top corner if it is a clear blue sky. If there is a drop that dries where it can be seen, put it at the lower corner where there isn't a plain sky or place it shows.

The Weston prints I looked at recently at the CCP were signed in pencil along the lower margin, very simple and none too fluid, a tribute to a man of simple means. I keep thinking back to the recent View Camera with Cole in it (a few other guys you may know of as well, keeping good company as it were). He was the first to graduate high school in his family.

 

What the heck, let it all hang out. Sign in thick, juicy, black magic marker right across the middle of the print, then let the critics do their work. Give them something to comment on, they need it to justify their existence. Perhaps it would change the banal carping and verbal flatulence (sort of like this post, no?).

The Shen Hao lens hood could be adapted to fit on an 8x10 with little trouble, but it would most likely need to be attached to the lens board with the provided metal plate. It will go on a lens with a front element size of up to 4". I tried mine on the "new" 8X10 I have and it would have worked, but the 300mm Symmar-s has a frot element which is larger than 4" (107mm, unfortunately).

 

To get by for just a single shot, you might try an oatmeal container with the inside painted black. Cut to size for "perfect" fit. Crude, but it would work and is cheap. Otherwise, a real shade is necessary, but expect to spend a few $ to get one.

I tried using the new Kodak E100VS Readyloads in my Fuji holder. It would jam either on the way out or during cycling during a shot. They just don't mix well.

 

The only holder I've used which works consistently with both brands of film is the Polaroid 545i. I have never had a failure with this holder. It costs a bit more, but will do Polaroid, Fuji & Kodak. My vote if you only buy one to do all.<div></div>

If you use a drill press and fly cutter, hole saw or other type of bit please use a clamp to hold the part on the table. Too many people think they are "just drilling one hole" and try to hold things by hand. When the part starts spinning with the bit, hunks of skin will go into the mix as well.

 

Check with any local cabinet maker. The bit used for drilling "european style hinges" in the back face of a door is just right for a copal one shutter.