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<p>People have recently discovered that you can reclaim the negative from the Fuji instant pack films. There's a lot of information on Flickr about this. I've tried it with the FP-3000B and it works great. Just treat it in Heico Perma Wash and scan it. It's similar to the old Pola 665. You can also remove the black coating on the back of the FP-100C with bleach to make it a negative. Give it a try.</p>

I would look at a Fuji GA645 rangefinder. The autoexposure and

autofocus would come in handy for that kind of shooting.

Razzledog (Dean Jones) is selling a CD-Rom on Ebay that gives

information on converting the Polaroid 110B to 4x5. It's about fifty

dollars. It's also available on his website I believe.

If you want 6x9, look into the more recent Fuji 6x9 rangefinders,

the GW690 and GSW690. They are very simple, trouble-free

cameras with excellent optics. Avaliable used at your favorite

auction site.

Just realized the RF645 is not auto focus, it's a coupled rangefinder like early

Fuji's.

You might want to take a look at the RF645 from Tamron (used

to be known as the Bronica RF645). It has auto exposure, auto

focus and a choice of two lenses (a 65mm and a 45mm I

believe). There's also a discontinued 100mm around. The

compactness of a 645 rangefinder and the vertical format might

help in street shooting. There's info on Tamron's website.

Joel,

 

Try DiXactol, the staining developer. it works great with HP5 and many other

films at the recommended speed. For best results, develop it in a Combi tank,

or trays.

Leslie,

 

www.dantastella.com has quite a bit of info on these cameras.

There's really not much difference between the II and III models,

mainly cosmetics. They're both exceptionally fine cameras.

Lars,

 

I have a Bronica S2A with an 80mm 2.4. It's a nice 6x6 SLR that's

built like a tank and can be had for around $350.00 or less in

excellent condition. The 80mm 2.4 is actually from the later

Bronica EC camera, but you can find these for sale on the web

pretty easily. Look for more info on this camera and the Norita at

the Medium Format Megasite.

Both are nice cameras. You might be better off with the GA645

for documentary work since it has autofocus. The focus spot on

the GS645S is kind of small. Of course, you can always

pre-focus. It's also a little hard to see the exposure meter

symbols in the viewfinder of the GS645S in bright light. Also,

remember that both these cameras have a native portrait

orientation in their framing, the opposite of your Leica.

KL IX,

 

A lot of people like to print with just the black cartrdige using

Eboni black from MIS. It gives a really nice look that's similar to a

darkroom print with good Dmax. The Yahoo forum Digital Black

and White The Print has a lot of info on this. With most Epson

printers you can just check "black only" in the driver and then

ignore the warning message and print. The other good thing

about printing this way is that you can switch between color and

B&W without changing cartridges. The Eboni black can also be

used for color. The Epson black isn't bad either, so you can try

this method without ordering anything. The BO prints do look a

little smoother at 2880 dpi. I'm going to try the UT 7 inkset and

make a comparison when I get around to it. Should be

interesting to see the difference.

You don't need a special driver to print with black only since it

just uses the black cartridge. The Epson 1270 is a good printer

for BO printing. The 2200 is also good and it can print at 2880

dpi.

The F3200 scanner has been on sale in Europe for about a

week. Does anyone have an idea of when it will make it to the

USA?

 

Being a film scanner, it should outperform the 4870 in terms of

sharpness. Looks like a nice scanner for medium format

especially. I haven't seen a mention of ICE though.

 

There's a pdf brochure available at:

http://www.epson.de/eng/product/imaging/epson_f-3200/F-3200

_brochure_EN_01.pdf

I had the same problem with the QuadtoneToneRIP on the 2200.

I started printing with black ink only at 2880 dpi and it looks great

on Epson Enhanced Matte. Also, try printing with the new black

and white profiles available on Epson's web site, they work well

for BO printing.

Heliopan makes an excellent polarizer with numerical markings

that makes it easy to use with rangefinder cameras like the Fuji

GW670. It's well worth the money.

Be sure to check out this website on the EC:

 

http://medfmt.8k.com/bronec.html

 

You'll also find the rest of the medium format megasite helpful.

My Fuji GW690 rangefinder has a f/3.5 lens and can be handheld

at 1/30 a second with good technique. 400 speed film works well

with this camera if you're using it handheld. You might want to

look into a monopod, it's a nice compromise between using a

tripod and shooting handheld. This camera is only available

used now, but there's plenty around if you look.

I saw a GSW690 III sell for about $1450 on Ebay a week or so

ago. And the seller had zero feedback. Prices for this camera are

definetly going up. Hope I never have to buy another one.

You can also try Midwest Photo Exchange, KEH,

Camerawest.com and Brooklyncamera. These are all good

used camera dealers. Also B&H and Adorama carry used

medium format cameras.

In response to the post about the Fuji GSW690 shutter problem,

try tripping the shutter with the back open. If that doesn't work

then you've got a problem. The shutter on this camera will not trip

if there is no film and the back is closed. Manuals for the Fuji

might be available on Ebay. There's also a company in CT that

sells old camera manuals, try a search on Google.

It is the self-timer. Slide it down and then push the shutter and it

should work. You may have to have the back open to do this if

you don't have film in the camera.

Since the prosumer digicams now go up to 8 megapixel it would

make sense for the prosumer DSLR's like the 10D to make the

jump to 8 megapixel.

You can find an electronic version of the manual for this camera

on Ebay. Just do a search under Fuji GS645W and it should

come up. It's a download in PDF format.

I love my 35mm breech-lock lens on my FTb. I think it's a great

focal length. (I find the 24mm lens a little too wide for most

situations.) You could easily buy two or three prime lenses

instead of one zoom. Plus the primes would be faster for

shooting early and late in the day when landscapes look best.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Mamiya 645AFD. The D

stands for digital, the camera is designed to communicate with a

digital back. Leaf has teamed up with Mamiya and they are

offering a 6 megapixel back with this camera at a very

reasonable price. Plus there are other backs available, including

of course, the film back. Mamiya is used by a lot of pros and is

well supported.