david_corwin

Samy's Camera in LA has the GSW690II and III.

323-938-2420 www.samys.com

The folding focusing hood is considerably lighter as well. Its

basically a collapsible waist level finder, with a flip-up/flip-down

magnifier on top. With the magnifier flipped-up, it works like a

"focusing cloth" (as the previous poster said, you are looking

directly at the focusing screen), to darken the image a little, by

keeping out some ambient light. So you only see a magnified image when

the magnifier is flipped-down, in its place. I have found that it

works very well with longer lenses in critical focusing, waist level,

tripod situations. It is not really designed for hand-held

I am interested in hearing from those who have experience with the

newer, dual use flatbed scanners: the Epson Expression 800, Agfa

DuoScan T1200, or the not-so-new ScanMaker 4, since I plan to buy one

of these.

 

I plan to scan 6 x 7 chromes (and negs if possible) for web site use,

and for large scale projection work (I print 3"x4" images on acetate

and project on large surfaces such as walls). I realize that if I

want anything decent (for fine art reproduction) that I will have to

get a drum scan done, but I have heard that the flatbed scans will

suffice for web publishing and other multimedia uses.

 

How do the transparency templates compare? Which ones will work for

6x7? Glass vs. glassless?

 

Will the extra 200 dpi offered by Epson make a difference for my

purposes? Or is D-max more important? What about speed?

 

How about links to current reviews or comparisons. I appreciate all

input.

 

David C

How do I go about getting permission to shoot certain subjects, such

as fenced-off buildings, factories and industrial landscapes? Just

when is permission needed?

 

<p>

 

Last month I was shooting on the Santa Monica Pier, when I was

approached by three security men in uniform, informing me that I'd

have to get permission from the "marketing office", because the image

of the pier is copyrighted (copywritten?). Despite the pro-looking

nature of my rig (P67 on tripod), I told them I'm a student (currently

not true- however, I'm strickly amateur-shoot for the sheer love of

it). They said fine, show us a full-time student photo ID. Since I

couldn't produce an ID, and there was no time to go to "the office"

(the light was fading fast), I dejectedly packed up all my gear and

left.

 

<p>

 

Two weeks ago while in New York I was almost arrested for shooting the

exterior of an abandoned GM plant. The place was an amazing subject,

and it being a holiday weekend, there was no way I could get

"permission" to shoot these incredible piles of twisted machinery. I

took a risk and climbed through an opening in the fence (cut by

someone else). Needless to say, an heroic, bored Pinkerton guard was

overjoyed to find me walking around the piles of rusted steel. He

ordered me to open the P67's back and expose the film, or face the

police for trespassing (which, I'll admit I was doing).

 

<p>

 

So, when one is travelling, how and when does one get permission to

shoot certain subjects? What's off limits and how is one to know?

(obviously trespassing is risky) When you chance upon a scene, and the

light is just right, what's the point if you have to go and search out

the proper authority, when the light will be gone...What do you do on

weekends when there are only officious security guards wandering

around...And if I am to seek advance permission, what do I tell them?

That I'm an artist, interested only in the image, or a student working

on a project? Should I have a card printed up that says "artist", or

take a class just to get the student ID? But what if some day I turn

pro and want to sell the image? What about shooting people in street

photography? I would love to hear from anyone who has experience in

shooting buildings, factories, public places (that have copywritten

images). Is there a solution, or is the fun in spontaneous image

creation gone? Or am I just naive in this litigious, fear-filled world? Thanks in advance, David C

Thanks Bill for starting this thread and the others for contributing.

I had wanted to ask the same question, having recently gotten back

into experimenting with Velvia, Provia and other reversal films in my

P67, after teaching myself the zone system and applying it to TMX with

good results. I like the control that it gives me.

 

<p>

 

I would like to grasp an easy to remember system that works for chrome

films. To start off, what is the exposure range of transparency film?

Does it vary from Fuji to Kodak to Agfa, or with the speed of the

film? Is this published somewhere?

 

<p>

 

For Tom it sounds like he gets a range of about 4 stops (zone 3.5 to

zone 7.5) Steve sounds like he gets 5 stops.

 

<p>

 

For my purposes, I'm looking for a "rule of thumb" (ROT) approach.

So, what zone will hold blacks or shadow areas with detail, and what

zone will hold whites with detail? More specifically, what zone will

keep detail in puffy white clouds while keeping them white (still

talking chrome film here); what zone will keep (some) detail in

shadows of buildings or trees or whatever? Keep in mind, looking for

a "ROT" approach, as I know there will be variables.

 

<p>

 

Does a polarizing filter in any way affect exposure range on chromes?

 

<p>

 

Brian-when you say you get dead-on exposures from pulling E110S one

stop- is the intention to reduce contrast by contraction development?

Were you looking to place your whites with detail on zone 7 or 8, for

example, because they had fallen on zone 8 or 9, and would have been

blown out?

 

<p>

 

Are there charts published anywhere that will indicate what kind of

contraction can be achieved with different chrome films by "pulling" a

1/3, 1/2 or full stop? Or is there a "ROT"?

 

<p>

 

I realize I answered a question with many more questions- so thanks to

all of you in advance for res

Thanks Bill for starting this thread and the others for contributing.

I had wanted to ask the same question, having recently gotten back

into experimenting with Velvia, Provia and other reversal films in my

P67, after teaching myself the zone system and applying it to TMX with

good results. I like the control that it gives me.

 

<p>

 

I would like to grasp an easy to remember system that works for chrome

films. To start off, what is the exposure range of transparency film?

Does it vary from Fuji to Kodak to Agfa, or with the speed of the

film? Is this published somewhere?

 

<p>

 

For Tom it sounds like he gets a range of about 4 stops (zone 3.5 to

zone 7.5) Steve sounds like he gets 5 stops.

 

<p>

 

For my purposes, I'm looking for a "rule of thumb" (ROT) approach.

So, what zone will hold blacks or shadow areas with detail, and what

zone will hold whites with detail? More specifically, what zone will

keep detail in puffy white clouds while keeping them white (still

talking chrome film here); what zone will keep (some) detail in

shadows of buildings or trees or whatever? Keep in mind, looking for

a "ROT" approach, as I know there will be variables.

 

<p>

 

Does a polarizing filter in any way affect exposure range on chromes?

 

<p>

 

Brian-when you say you get dead-on exposures from pulling E110S one

stop- is the intention to reduce contrast by contraction development?

Were you looking to place your whites with detail on zone 7 or 8, for

example, because they had fallen on zone 8 or 9, and would have been

blown out?

 

<p>

 

Are there charts published anywhere that will indicate what kind of

contraction can be achieved with different chrome films by "pulling" a

1/3, 1/2 or full stop? Or is there a "ROT"?

 

<p>

 

I realize I answered a question with many more questions- so thanks to

all of you in advance for

Gene-

I'll second what Tony contributed about Andy's Darkroom page, but I

think he has a slightly updated URL at

http://www.open.org/hughesa/w3-01.h

I just recently shot some landscapes on my P67 with Tech Pan 120 at 25 ASA. Using the zone system, I placed the important shadows on zone III. The highlights on one roll fell on zone VIII, and the other roll (a different scene) on Zone IX. First question: will Tech Pan hold the details in Zones VIII and IX? (primarily clouds in bright sun and water highlights) Or do I need to contract the development time? With TMX I would do an N-1 development to get the details I'm looking for, but I don't know if Technidol (or another developer) can be used to that effect. I called Kodak and they don't have any info on whether Technidol can be used to contract development time. He only said try it at 10% less time. The spec sheet with Technidol says 9 minutes at 68 degrees for a contrast index of .64, but contrast indexes and Ansel Adams don't mix. Anybody have success with using Technidol for contraction development, or a tried and true way with another developer for what I'm looking to do? Thanks in advance, David C.

Perhaps we can get a string going here. I am interested in opinions on B&W films for MF.

I recently got a P67 and have shot some T-MAX 100 processed with T-MAX developer, and I'm pretty happy with the results. But I hear of those who swear by Ilford. Any opinions on HP5+? I'm looking for more speed, with finest grain (for 16 x 20 enlargements), high acutance, and max detail in shadow areas. I shoot primarily landscapes. If yes on the HP5, which developer?

Also any comments on B&W paper...looking for rich blacks, luminous highlights and subtle gradation