john_latta

The large format forum is the only internet forum I have found where the large majority of people who contribute are willing to use their names rather than an alias. I greatly appreciate the forum and believe the people who contribute are some of the most thoughtful around.

This tread has drifted in a surprising direction. Perhaps the range of contributions have given us a look at ourselves? ANWR, a place of beauty and wonder, like a photo, can generate a wide range of emotions, some of them disturbing. Do we need to consider the consequences of our choices more carefully?

After exposing some more sheets, which were tapped to ensure proper seating of the film in the sleeve, no additional problems were encountered. My hypothesis is that the gremlins got into the film when I was backpacking with the Q/L's in my pack. All the jiggling and wiggling must have occurred while hiking up and down several hilly trails out here in the west.

Thanks for your ideas. Case closed for now.

I heard this story on NPR yesterday:

>http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1269389.html<

It is about Subhankar Banerjee's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

photo exhibit being moved to a less prominent location in the

Smithsonian because the topic is politically charged. With the

current administration, it is somewhat surprising that the images

weren't removed entirely.

Sad times!

Perhaps some of you have experience using a Wista 45 DX II. Do you

know of lenses in the 120 to 135 focal length that will definitely

fit mounted in the folded camera without using a recessed lens board?

As far as using a 120 or 135 for backpacking mainly for landscapes

and some close-up photography of flowers, plants, rocks etc, do you

have any thoughts on preferences?

Thanks for any knowledge you would like to share!

Ellis - The holder is less than a year old and hasn't seen that much use. I have been careful to pull the sleeve without pulling it out at an angle.

Michael - The Quickloads have been carried in my pack quite a bit so it's possible the jostling that has occurred might have caused the misalignment. I have tried tapping the base of the 4 suspect Quickloads just now to hopefully realign the film. I'll repost later to let you know the outcome.

Thanks for your postings. In the meantime it would be good to know if anyone else has experienced a similar problem.

This forum is one of the best sources of information I have found on

the web.

I have experienced misalingned exposures recently when using Fuji

Quickloads. Does anyone know what the cause is? Or the cure?

Attached is an example. A picture is worth a thousand words.<div></div>

Hi Dave,

Yes, we went to Mt. Athabaska together a few years back. It's a small e-world! What are you shooting? Check my profile on photo.net and send an email.

Wow this forum is fantastic. I am really enjoying reading everyone's ideas. Thanks again.

Maybe it takes a little more thought/effort to compose with a 75mm as compared with a 90mm.

My area of interest is backpacking and hiking in order to do mountain

landscape photography. I had been considering getting into 4x5 and

after buying Jack Dykinga's book I was sold. Because weight and bulk

are concerns, I purchased a Wista DXII and a Nikkor 210/f8 lense last

August. After my research I decided that I could handle backpacking

with my 4x5 and 2 lenses. With my 35mm photography I really like the

24mm wide angle lens's ability to take in the foreground (in focus)

and a background subject. So I purchased a Nikkor 75mm because most

people compare it with a 24mm lens in 35mm format. I was

dissappointed to find out however that it's images "feel" more like

that of a 20 or 17 mm in the 35mm format. It seems like there is

just too much film to "fill up". It's probably because the 4x5

format is more like a square than 35mm films 1.5:1 aspect ratio which

is almost like a strip.

If you want to get a good foreground in with the 75mm do you have to

almost be right on top of what ever it is you want in the

foreground...sometimes working on your hands and knees?

Now I am considering my options since I am somewhat dissappointed

with the 75. One option would be to replace the 75 with a 90.

Another option would be to keep the 75 and purchase a 110 or 120.

I was hoping that some of you might have some suggestions that might

help me with my decision. Thanks in advance!

So far it looks like you can confidently use Fuji Quickloads in the Polaroid and Kodak holders. If you're thinking about being able to use Velvia and 100VS and want to buy only one holder it would be best to buy Kodaks new holder.

Does anyone disagree?

I bought a Hoya HMC center filter because it was cheap, ahem I mean inexpensive. After cleaning it once the optical coating was streaked to the point that it appears to be ruined. Cost about $140. You get what you pay for!

Reading carefully Jack Dykinga's book...apparently he doesn't use a center filter on his 75mm Schneider.

I have owned one F100 body (ser 2093xxx)for almost 3 years. It has

been used for approximately 250 rolls of film. It is used year

around in the mountains, skiing and backpacking. The camera has been

great except for the fact that it has required service 2 times (both

out of the one year warrenty period).

The first problem occurred about a year ago, the self timer was stuck

in the "on" position requiring replacement of the front bayonet mount

and focus mode selector. Now the camera is in the Nikon shop in

Torrence again. This time the focus area selector isn't working. So

I am faced with my 2nd +$200 repair. Let me recap....that's one

payment per year of $200 to $300 to keep this body functioning.

I am trying to decide what to do. (In retrospect maybe I should have

purchased an extended service warrenty...but it's too late now.)

What is the reasonable life expectancy of the F100? Is it worth

repairing? Should the body be replaced?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Has anyone had experience scanning 4x5 transparencies using the

Polaroid Sprintscan 45 Ultra? It would be great to know what people

who have used this scanner think with regard to the resulting print

quality and any comparison to results produced from other scanners.

Now that Kodak has had their single sheet Readyloads on the market

for a while what is the general consensus on using Kodak Readyloads

in Fuji Quickload holders? Reading the past posts left me confused

as there were lots of conflicting opinions.

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your help. Yes the problem was because the foreground object that was focused on was a shrub that was somewhat higher than the surrounding ground and the middle ground was an upward sloping hillside. The background was a line of trees and the far background was the mountian. So the plane of focus that I created passed thru the foreground shrub and the top of the mountain...too high to catch the middle ground and background trees.

So I am imagining that the plane of focus is about 1/3 of the way from the near side and 2/3 of the way from the far side of a wedge-shaped area that will be in focus and that the smaller the aperature the thicker the wedge will be.

I am new to large format photography. I appreceate this forum and am

grateful to everyone who provides the benefits of their experience.

I have recently gotten excited about the large format and purchased a

Wista 45DXII this summer.

Yesterday, after getting some transparencies that I shot outdoors at

Mt. Rainier National Park back from the lab, I was dissappointed to

see many of my shots were out of focus in the middle distance while

the foreground and distant background were focused sharply. I was

using Nikkor 75 and 210 lenses at f/22 and 32 and some back tilt.

There is good information in this forum and Tuan's site about

focusing methods, which I have read. So with this information in

mind I focused the foreground and background without checking the

middle distance and assumed that as with 35mm if the two extremes are

sharp the middle distance will be sharp too.

What do you do to get sharp focus all the way from the foreground to

infinity? Thank you for your help.

I am not offering an answer here however Ross's original question relates to something I have been wondering about since I got my Wista this past summer.

The left-hand focusing knob on my Wista was loose when I purchased it. The knob would either fall off or tighten up depending upon which way the right-hand knob (which was well-attached) was turned. Thinking this was not normal I tightend the cap nut with a socket driver while holding the knob.

That took care of the loose knob problem, now both knobs can be used to focus. However, now I wonder, was the knob supposed to be loose? Was it intended to be used as a focus lock? And if so how would I keep from loosing the knob and cap nut?

I am new to the world of 4x5. I use transparency film. When the

film is processed by my local lab it comes back with a mark near the

edge of each corner where clips were attached during the processing.

Is this normal or are there other types of processing? How is this

viewed when 4x5 work is submitted professionally? Thanks.

I am considering purchasing a Canon 500D close up lens (77mm screw on

attachment) for use on my 35mm system. Has anyone had experience

using close up lenses on their large format camera? My camera is a

4x5 and I was wondering if the attachement lens could be used on my

210mm lens. What type of metering problems would such a lens pose?