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gwebster

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Posts posted by gwebster

    Olympus OMD

    in Olympus

    Posted

    <p>As a long time user of the FourThirds and these days, Micro FourThirds systems, I have to say I am very excited to see how they have evolved. I am currently using the Olympus OMD as one of my principal cameras for digital work. I really enjoy enjoy using this excellent little camera and I have been delighted by the results that can be obtained from it.</p>

    <p>Here are a couple of examples that I shot as RAW images and subsequently converted to black and white. These pictures were both taken on a boat trip from Boston, Massachusetts where I live.</p>

    <p><img src="http://g.virbcdn.com/_f/cdn_images/resize_1280x2400/75/PageImage-513841-3793121-P9070282Edit.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><br>

    Boston Harbor, © 2012, Gordon Webster</p>

    <p><img src="http://g.virbcdn.com/_f/cdn_images/resize_1280x2400/d9/PageImage-513841-3808917-P9070255Edit.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="600" /><br>

    Boston Skyline, © 2012, Gordon Webster</p>

    <p> </p>

    My new photography web site

    in Member's Photo News

    Posted

    <p><img src="http://g.virbcdn.com/_f/cdn_images/resize_1280x2400/9f/PageImage-513841-3780535-200810121811Edit.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" /></p>

    <p>Hi Everybody,<br>

    I just wanted to announce the launch of my new photography web site at http://gordonwebster.net. There's also a Facebook page for it at http://www.facebook.com/gordonwebsterphoto.<br>

    Please check it out and (if you feel so inclined) give it your vote with a "like" or "+1" (depending upon whether you're a Facebook or Google+ afficianado).<br>

    Thanks.<br>

    Gordon</p>

    Choice of first wide angle lens for LF

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>I have a Rodenstock 135mm Sironar-N as my very first LF lens that I use on my Tachihara field camera and so far so good, I'm very happy with it. I would however like to think about adding a wide angle lens and I would appreciate some advice on which one to choose.<br>

    For 35mm use, I love my Leica 21/2.8 for the sweeping vistas that it can yield and this makes me tend towards something like a 75mm for LF. The 90mm however seems to be something of a standard for wide angle LF. I recognize that these shorter focal lengths will also limit the degree of movement that I can take advantage of with my standard bellows, so I would love to hear what you guys think ...<br>

    Is the 75mm too difficult a beast for a Tachihara with standard bellows? Should I stick with the 90mm?<br>

    Should I be considering a recessed lens board for either a 75mm or 90mm lens?<br>

    What are your favorites?<br>

    I would like to find a lens that will become a real workhorse for me for wide-angle landscape photography.<br>

    Thanks<br>

    Gordon</p>

    First Piccies

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>I wamt to thank everybody on this forum for their help in getting me started in LF. I am sure I will have lots more questions, but for now, I'm very happy to have my first shots from my Tachihara. Here's one of them ... a B&W taken at Walden Pond in Massachusetts. It's just a first pass with default settings on the scanner and then the levels set using LightZone.<br>

    <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/8897951-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="524" /></p>

     

    Stray light on my 4x5s

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>Aha .... I just spent some time playing my Tachihara and the film back and I think I realize what my blunder was. I was pushing the film holder <em><strong>too far</strong> </em> into the camera back. The Fuji QuickLoad holder has a kind of bulge on the end where the film goes in and viewing it from the rear and slightly above, it seems at first glance, like the natural "stop" when you insert the film holder. When I examine it carefully from the front however, it clearly isn't sitting tight against the camera body. There are a couple of fine plastic lips a little further to the left of the bulge and when I insert the film holder up to that point, it sits very nicely against the back of the camera. If I had examined the holder more closely from the front as I was practicing inserting it, I would have seen this for myself.<br>

    Anyway, it looks to me like this was entirely my blunder and if posting it on this forum saves somebody the few bucks worth of film and processing that I lost learning my lesson the hard way, then something good has come of it.<br>

    Having apparently got the actual focusing and exposure right however, I am now very encouraged and more eager than ever to get out there and take the next steps in my LF adventure!<br>

    Gordon</p>

     

    Stray light on my 4x5s

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>CORRECTION - I meant the OTHER "left"!<br /> So when I look at each frame, holding them in front of me so that they're correctly oriented with the "FUJIFILM" brand mark just LEFT of center at the top, there is a strong black border about a quarter inch thick around the exposed frame that gradually disappears towards the RIGHT hand end of the frame where the light is coming from (the end with the notch).<br>

    I seem to be directionally challenged tonight.</p>

    Stray light on my 4x5s

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>So when I look at each frame, holding them in front of me so that they're correctly oriented with the "FUJIFILM" brand mark just right of center at the top, there is a strong black border about a quarter inch thick around the exposed frame that gradually disappears towards the left hand end of the frame where the light is coming from.</p>

    Stray light on my 4x5s

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>Hi Everybody<br>

    Thanks in no small part to the great advice I received on this forum, I took the plunge and invested in a Tachihara field camera. My first set of exposures however show a nicely exposed and detailed image at the end of the film farthest from the notch, which then gets progressively washed in out in a gradient of light that reaches a total white-out at the end of the film with the notch. The correctly exposed part of the film looks very nice, good exposure and nicely focused, but it looks like light is flooding in from the other end of the film.<br>

    I'm using Fuji QuickLoad films and the Fuji QuickLoad holder, both of which seem to work together flawlessly and intuitively. The film snaps into place in the holder with a nice click, the envelope slides out smoothly revealing the markings, smoothly in again after the exposure and by using the release button, I am able to easily retract the entire thing from the holder at the end. Where I feel I might have a problem is in the way that I'm loading the holder into the back of my camera underneath the sprung plate. Is there a special trick to this using the Fuji QuickLoad holder with the Tachihara? There does seem to be a little "jiggle" which makes me wonder if I'm positioning it correctly.<br>

    I made 4 exposures and the problem is <em>exactly</em> the same on every one of them.<br>

    Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.<br>

    Gordon</p>

    <p> </p>

    Tachihara 4x5

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>Thank you everybody for the generous amounts of information you have shared. I purchased and read large chunks of Steve Simmons' book "Using The View Camera" and this has also helped me a great deal. A few follower questions if nobody minds ...<br>

    How do you send your 4x5 sheets to the lab without exposing them to the light? I assume that you don't send them in the film holder and that you must have to take them out in a light bag and put them into something else. If so, what is the "something else"?<br>

    What lens boards are compatible with the Tachihara ? I don't seem to be able to find this information anywhere.<br>

    What backs do I need for regular film I load myself and for QuickLoads. It seems that the QuickLoad backs are different from the regular ones. Will the Tachihara work with all 4x5 backs?<br>

    I like to develop my own 35mm even though I don't have a darkroom (I use a light bag, Patterson tanks and then scan). For somebody like me who is relatively experienced developing film, but new to LF, what is the best way to develop 4x5 (without a darkroom)? I obviously like to save money where possible, but I care more about consistent results than cost since I figure that the time and effort that goes into each exposure makes a similar degree of care/cost worthwhile in the developing. What is the most consistent method for even, predictable development with a minimum of risk for dust, scratches etc.? I will probably use a lab in the beginning as Dan advises and for all my E6, but it seems from what I'm hearing, that it definitely is worth developing your own 4x5 B&W at home. Is this the case?<br>

    Again - many thanks for the generosity of everybody on this forum.<br>

    Gordon</p>

     

    Tachihara 4x5

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>Greetings,<br>

    I am also considering my first foray into LF, but unlike another poster who was looking at a Toyo camera, I am very interested in the Tachihara 4x5. I have a number of newbie questions, so I hope you'll bear with me ...<br>

    What do people recommend as a couple of starter lenses? I am aiming to shoot mostly landcsapes, but if I could find a pair of (preferably) second hand lenses that would give me some latitude in what I shoot, what would a versatile combination of focal lengths be?<br>

    I do not have a darkroom. I have been processing my own 35mm B&W using a light bag and Patterson tanks, but processing 4x5 is obviously a whole other thing. I figure I am almost certainly going to depend on commercial labs for processing (especially for E6) and then I will scan myself. How difficult is 4x5 B&W developing by comparison with 35mm - is it even possible/worthwhile without a darkroom?<br>

    Are there any good labs for 4x5 processing in the Boston/New England area?<br>

    Are the Quickload pre-packaged sheets worth it? Without a darkroom, it seems like they might be.<br>

    Aside from the camera, what else might I need to get that doesn't come with the camera body? (e.g. film holders, lensboards, darkcloths etc.)<br>

    Any other advice from experienced 4x5 users (especially Tachihara users) for a newbie to LF woul be very welcome.<br>

    With thanks in advance.<br>

    Gordon</p>

     

    Panasonic G1 Test shot(s)

    in Olympus

    Posted

    Just FYI - B&H sold out of their first batch of G1s almost immediately. It seems to be a pretty hot ticket item

    at the moment.

     

    Other than on that popular internet auction site that we all know however, nobody seems to be selling the 4/3

    lens adapter. I am looking forward to playing with my Summilux 25/1.4 on this camera while I'm waiting for a nice

    range of lenses to evolve for m4/3 as it has for 4/3. I'm sure this will happen, and that we'll see adapters for

    other lenses as well (so who knows, I might even be able to use my M glass on it at some point soon) and in light

    of all of this, I see enormous potential for this system.

     

    While considering an $800 G1 against a $5000 M8 may not be a very fair comparison, we should not forget that the

    G1 does have a few things going for it that the M8 does not ... more accurate framing, image stabilization, no

    need for IR filters on the lens etc.. I'll be interested to see how much less (if any) I end up using my M8 going

    forward.

    Panasonic G1 Test shot(s)

    in Olympus

    Posted

    This whole m4/3 thing is so exciting and I see really enormous potential in it. The more I hear about the live view system and the fast contrast AF, the more it seems to me like the days of pentaprisms and flip-up mirrors might be numbered. Small, quiet unobtrusive cameras that offer the best that the new technology has to offer - what's not to like?

     

    BTW: I ordered mine from B&H a couple of days ago after getting the "now in stock" email and it shipped yesterday for delivery on Monday ... I just can't wait to get my sweaty mitts on it :-)

    Pictures no words Pansonic G1 vs. M8 side by side.

    in Leica and Rangefinders

    Posted

    I'm with Orville - the micro 4/3 format is the most exciting thing that has happened in camera technology in recent years and I can't wait to get my hands on one. From what I've read, the images that its 12MP sensor can produce, even at some of the higher ISO values could be quite superb. The EVF is reportedly crisp and smooth, offering 100% coverage and even the contrast AF is as fast as some dSLRs.

     

    And best of all - all of this comes in a small package!

    Night photography with the Digilux 3

    in Leica and Rangefinders

    Posted

    Thanks for the kind words.

     

    This image was captured with a 40 second exposure at f5.6, during which time I used a red hand-held light source to "paint" the foreground. Given that the light painting part of the process is less controlled than using a fixed, constant light source during the exposure I'll typically try several attempts until I get what I'm looking for.

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