lawrence_smithers

I have attached a copy from my Bronica Guide giving data on the 75 mm MC lens. I have been well satisfied with these older lenses.by E mail

Most of the good areas have been mentioned,however you might wish to visit Kananaskis Country about 20 miles south of the eastern Banff gate. I worked there 30 years ago at the Kananaskis Forest Experiment Station.Mount Kidd, Mt Lorette, Barrier, Wedge Mountain,are all accesible and have excellent trails for walking or biking. The East Slope Conservation area has a good gravel road which takes you down the east ridge of the Rockies from the Highwood summit to Cranbrook where you can cross the rockies into kootnay Lake country. You might want to visit Fort Steele a preserved Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost ,many old log buildings with interesting artifacts.The old paddle wheel ferry stored at Kootnay Lake is picturesque.

While at Lake Louise you might want to hike up from the lodge on the right side of the lake to the Plaine of the 6 glaciers and on up to Abbots Pass under the glacier on the east peak of Mt Washington >There are great ice slides comming off this glacier all day long in July falling 2000 feet into Abotts Pass.It is advisable to take a mountaneering guide for this hike. You can descend into the Valley of the Seven Peaks by this route. Dont attempt this hike unless you are prepared for a thirty mile hike with about a 3000foot climb.<div></div>

I have used 120 film in a 220 back with a 220insert.It does cause some variation in the spacing between frames but does not cause overlap. It does not appear to cause film plane problems. The paper backing on a 220 film includes a leader and a trailer but does not run the full length of the film.This difference however does not seem to cause problems in the first 15 frames.You do have to be careful in winding the film and of couse in keeping track of the frames exposed .there is a difference in the markings on the frame counter of the 220 insert.

Back in the archives I described an oldtime device for steadying a camera without tripod.It consists of a plasic chain with a foot loop which screws into the camera socket.Simply increasing tension on the chain steadies the camera down and permits resonably good images down to shutter speed equal to lens focal length in MM`s

Hi Keith: You already know that I regard your work very highly. To an ecologist" nature is a series of compensating catastrophies("Hugh Raup Harvard 1965"). Nature creates extremes which inevitably are reduced by catastrophic events. The spruce budworm,scourge of north eastern america survives for decades in refugia only to become the epicentre of a new population explosion which eventually so consumes its food supply that it is infected by virus and the population crashes.Similar extravagences occur daily within nature.While one can learn to understand the processes at work it is virtually impossible to bring pictorial order to these phenomena. But order or not nature is beautiful and we seek to display this beauty. You have succeeded.

Hi Paul: As you suspected I`m just trying to stir the pot here but why not give us both solutions

Hi QC: You wrote

Having swing/tilt capability of course does not change DOF itself. It "only" gives you the opportunity to change the location of the DOF-zone. ;-)

How right you are but what a wonderful change it could be;everything from a flower 12 inches from the lens to infinity in apparently sharp focus.I found the back bellows of the Linhof particularly valuable since the front movements were somewhat limited.Toyo used to make a beatiful little wood frame field view camera ;Are they still in business?

The variations in light quality and kelvin rating in nature macros is

the bugbear of my existance. The light falling on such small subjects

varies from full sun with blue skies,to cloudy overcast. The overhead

shade turns the shadows blue and to add to the complexity the

transmitted light through the canopy, varying from strong blue under

conifers,to light green under desciduous trees but sometimes when the

leaves have turned to yellow or red ,a much warmer effect. One can go

with the natural effect,and hope for corrections in PS,use CC filters

an expensive proposition,or use combinations of electronic light and

reflectors to modify colour temperature.I would be interested to know

just how you deal with this problem.

Hi Nick: I`m confusedP:<0) I always thought that hyperfocal distance was the distance focused upon at a given f stop which resulted in all objects from half the distance from the hyperfocal point to infinity are in focus.Where did I go wrong.? I`ve been doing nature macros for seventy years now and still find it the most rewarding and the most difficult phase of photography. go Figure

Hi : I suggest that the dof limitation is not really a function of format but is due to the design of the medium format camera or indeed any camera which does not have front and rear mounts which permit full swings and tilts of the lens board and film plane. If Bronica for example had developed a rear bellows with a ground glass back which could be attached with the film back locks and if they had developed a front bellows with swings and tilts ,all of these dof problems would be solved.My model bronica would need a removable ground glass mount which could be replaced with the film back. What I would have is a baby baby Linhof. If the film back could also be a digital one I would have the best of all worlds

My thanks to all who have contributed to this thread,I think in retrospect that I have learned a great deal. I have concluded that composition is at the heart of solving this problem of depth of field.I believe that our eyes reject lack of sharpness in foreground objects but will tolerate some softness in the background. I believe that in the future I will try to insure that the center of intrest is placed as close to the foreground as possible and that strong leading lines enter the frame from the upper left corner and lead to the center of intrest .Sharpest focus will be on that C of I .Since dof is 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the point of focus this should give an acceptable overall sharpness. It may be desirable to refrain from the impulse to get closer and to crop the image to give the best overall quality.

Hi Keith: Many thanks for your informative reply to my questions. My visit to your web site was most enlightening and pleasant. I was particularly impressed with the Bluebells Portfolio and also with the Trees and Fungi images.As a professional forest ecologist but merely an enthusiastic amateur photographer ;your images achieved exactly what I would like to be able to do. Your earlier comment on squinting to view images is I think a recommended approach to accentuating the shape and form of the masses in the image. I have known some photographers to use an underexposed b&w negative to view scenes in a similar fashion.

For many years I traveled on foot or by canoe in Canadas nothern forests studying and recording forest conditions. In those days I had two items at the ready, a suvival weapon and a camera.My camera of choice was a rangefinder Leica with a folding mount Elmar lens shoulder slung. In todays world I have found a better solution ;a Nikon cp5000 digital. It gives me a zoom lens,manual operation,and fits easily in a shirt pocket. My film is replaced by 128 meg cards and my format is jpeg I can carry 2000 frames in a small waterproof box.The big problem is charging batteries to operate the system.I am currently in pursuit of a small hand crank generator or a solar generator which will do the job. The secret lies in using a minimum of power.Close off the lcd screen,use programmed auto,and cut off the flash. You would be surprise just how many things you dont really need if you are backpacking.Forget the tent,carry a light axe,a nylon sheet makes a fine leanto, Cut down on heavy foods.I am amazed that native people have not capitalized on their basic travel food pemican;a mixture of dried powdered meat,and dried berries.it makes a soup or a stew when suplimented by powdered potatoes. A length of fishing line a couple of hooks and natural baits will give you a varied diet. Have you ever eaten porcupine or marmot;delicious. Find yourself a friendly northern Cree companion ;you will learn more about forest travel from him than you will ever learn from any book.

Previously using a baby Linhof Teknica I used front and rear swings

and tilts to achieve great DOF over most of any image.Now with a

Bronica system even at smallest apperatures I cant get this depth and

have to select a point of sharpest focus. Sometimes the decision is

clear I focus on the center of intrest, but in some situations such

as images of forest mosses, lichens or vascular plants associations;

there is no clear center of intrest. Where do you focus in such

situations.

Just so you dont think all serious amateurs make huge prints;my standard practise with an epson 2450 and 6X4.5 Bronica system and Provia is to print 8 1/2 x11 after cropping to perhaps 1/2 neg for filing in a loose leaf binder,copy to cd for filing and use gepe glass slides for projection. I dont want to decorate my home with pseudo art and couldent sell my output.

Many thanks for a variety of interesting replies. The consensus seems to be use your eyes and use your photographic judgement,and enjoy the look of the image on a ground glass sceen. I heartily endorse the latter particularly after trying to use the lcd screen of a digital camera.There is a world of difference.

Many photographers use a variety of tools to aid in previsualizing

an image. Unlimbering a medium format camera system before you know

how the image should be cropped,what lens gives the best

presentation,and where the center or centers of intrest should be

placed is a waste of time.Cinimatographers use a variable focal

length viewer to compose their shots,others may use their fingers to

make a frame,some use two L shaped pieces of cardboard to frame the

image.For many years I used a leica variable focal length viewfinder

for both still and movie images however someone relieved me of this

item so now I am reduced to using a 35mm slide mount.I would be

interested to hear what equipment and techniques you use to

previsualize your images and how regularly you resort to this approach

As you have noted the inserts are labeled 120 or 220.The backs will acommodate either 120 or 220 inserts since the counter is located on the insert not on the back. The difference in the film itself ,in addition to the number of exposures 15 on 120 30 on 220,lies in the paper backing. in 120 the paper runs the full length of the film.This is a carryover from verichrome films where a red shield over the observation window allowed you to see the exposure numbers printed on the back of the paper backing. In a 220 film the paper backing is only attached to the leader to the film and does not run full length.

as a result the insert mechanism is different allowing the correct spacing for the exposures on the film. It is possible however to load and expose a 120 film in a 220 insert but you cannot use a 220 film in a 120 insert. Exposing 120 film in a 220 mechanism may result in some variations in the space between exposures but not enough to cause overlapping. The clips which hold the back to the body differ between the etr models which have one one cam clip release and those which have two slideing clips which are for the etr S model. however both types of back will work on either model of body. I think that the grey slide is some form of replacement. I would check to make sure that it has a safty lock which prevents making an exposure with the slide fully inserted. You just need to press the shutter release with the slide fully inserted . If the shutter fires then there is no lock present. Just remember when you change backs part way through a roll make sure that after engaging the new back you partly remove the slide and then reinsert it so the back is securly engaged and the shutter lock is in place.

I`m sure you are right Bruce. His studio camera was of course a large 8x10 wooden view camera,and when he dissapeared under the black cloth you could be certain that magic would appear. There was a sad followup to Karshes purchase of a summer cottage. In the early dirty thirties people were suffering;in Ottawa many had lost their jobs with the federal government. Many blamed this economic downturn on the Jewish presence. As you no doubt know Jousef had emigrated from Armenia and to suspicious locals of Tenaga he was considered to be Jewish and was not welcome in a WASP environment. As a result Malek purchased a cottage on the opposite side of the Gatineau River at the mouth of Blackburns Creek and Jousef could be seen there on weekends I made a point of paddling over to the creek frequently just to wave hello and on occasion was invited to come ashore. It is a sad commentary on the social order at the turn of the century.

Someone asked about how Karsh lighted his portraits and the camera

he used. Well on one occasion he used a brownie camera and outdoor

lighting. My family had given me a box brownie for my birthday in

1933. I was having difficulty getting good exposures and it was

suggested that I go and see Mr. Karsh who had recently purchased a

summer cottage in our community at Tenaga Quebec. I duly arrived and

knocked on the door of the cottage and was greeted by Jousefs brother

Malak .When I told him my problem he asked if I had film in the

camera and I replied yes verichrome. Fine he said I`ll get Yousef and

we`ll go outside and take some pictures. At this date neither of the

Karshes had any sort of reputation as photographers.Indeed Yousef had

been working as a darkroom assistant at a relatives shop .Out we went

and Jousef took a number of pictures of Malak and myself and

described what he was doing . Returning the camera to me he told me

to get the film p[rocessed and bring it back to show him the results.

This i did and recieved more friendly instruction.

It was only a few years before Jousef became the toast of the

photographic world but I remember him best as a nice fellow who

helped a yougstr get started in photography.

Those Graphmatic film holders were excellent.I had 3, 6X9 cm each holding 8 shots. They had foolproof clips to prevent double exposures and to prevent the dark slide from being accidentally opened as well as an exposure counter. All could be worked in full darkness.

Since this size is no longer avaiable commercially it would be helpful if someone with experience would put up a tutorial on equipment and proceedure for cutting 4X5 " sheets to yield 2 6X9 cm films

There is an excellent site which gives information on the compatability of various Bronica components at http://www.tamron.com/bron/btech/etrcompa.htm

The baby Linhof Tecknica 6X9cm was a wonderful camera when cut film in that size was widely available. Now you must cut 4x5 inch into two 6X9 films to use your cut film and speed inserts. You can use the roll backs but you must change from ground glass back to roll back which is a major nuisance or content yourself with a rangefinder and inadequate optical viewfinder.In order to get the best features of the 6X9 ,the swings and tilts of both the lens board and the film back you must be using a tripod. It is a heavy camera and you also need a heavy solid tripod. If your landscape work involves walking to remote locations you will be better off with an alternative mf camera.

Copy films are of course very thin emulsion ,high contrast films. One of the best oldies (circa 1950) was adox KB14 (din 14). You needed special processing with a very dillute solution of Neofin Blue 100/1 .Exposure for the deepest shadows at 2x and develop for the highlights. This used to produce oustanding landscape photos on 35mm capable of enlargement to 20 x24.

I dont think one can duplicate these materials today but Neofine blue is now called Beutlers#2 and is available on the web.

I think that this is the most important statement made on this forum since I joined :"I am posting this to hopefully start a debate about what I find seriously absent from this forum: the discussion of content and composition, how we are attracted to certain subject matter and why we are compelled to photograph these images".

I am convinced that our best images are identified by the subconcious.We are walking along and suddenly something makes us stop and look carefully at the scene before us. Its a involuntary reaction.

As a photographer we can now begin to examine the details of the subject. How can we enhance the image so that our feeling will be expressed to others. Is the center of intrest well placed ,are there leading lines which will draw the eye into the frame and towards the center of intrest. Do the principle lines prevent the eye from being lead out of the frame. Do the principle masses in the image contribute to balance. Does the existing light condition contribute to the image or would a different light condition enhance it.

But the first and most important step is recognition ,composition is really only the analysis which we go through to convey our feelings to others.