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paulh

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Posts posted by paulh

    Rodinal availability.

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    <p><a href="http://www.apug.org/forums/forum37/58043-rodinal-name-change.html">This thread</a> over on APUG may give some help.<br>

    Your other option is to make some - the ingredients are readily available. Do a search on "Parodinal", there are several articles that will tell you all you need. I'll quote below one article I saved from somewhere:</p>

    <blockquote>

     

    <p ><strong>Parodinal</strong></p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >250 ml water</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >30 tablets @ 500 mg acetaminophen, aka paracetamol -- generic for Tylenol pain reliever</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >50 g sodium sulfite (anhydrous)</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >20 g sodium hydroxide (anhydrous) -- Red Devil Lye works, as long as it's free-flowing and not clumped.</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >Mix in order indicated -- crush tablets (I used a small hammer with the tablets inside a postal envelope) to speed dissolution. Solution will become chalky white with suspended precipitate on adding the sulfite. Add the lye slowly with stirring; solution will get warm, but only gains about 8-10 degrees F. Solution will remain chalky and opaque. Let stand in a sealed container at least 72 hours. Over time, solution will darken from the color of weak tea to as dark as Coca-Cola (just like Rodinal). Mine is currently 6 weeks old, dark as weak coffee, and still going strong; I have no reason to believe it will fail before I use it up (which will probably take six months). Use dilutions and times same as for Agfa Rodinal (as starting points -- may not be identical, but it's very close).</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >After standing for a week or so, clear, needlelike crystals will deposit in the container; be sure to keep these with the liquid if you decant, as they're the excess of p-aminophenol sufonate that ensures against rapid oxidation of the developer by keeping the solution saturated.</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p > </p>

    <p ><strong>Recipe 2</strong></p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >10g Tylenol (20 tabs)</p>

    <p >9g Sodium Metabisulfite (wine bottle cleaner at wine store)</p>

    <p >15g Sodium Hydroxide (Lye from craft soap maker shop)</p>

    <p >water to make 100ml</p>

    <p > </p>

    <p >(why not Sodium Sulfite? Easier for me to get Metabisulfite. With Sodium Hydroxide in water it makes S.Sulfite, with a byproduct of some water, so some of the Sodium Hydroxide is used to make S.Sulfite, the rest is for the PaRodinal formula).</p>

     

    </blockquote>

    Need some advice upon field camera

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>LF is definitely an option, and other have given the pros and cons.</p>

    <p>On the digital front, as has been mentioned, you might want to take a look at a tilt-shift lens. This won't give you the same degree of control a view camera will give, but it may do. Another option on the digital front is to get a panoramic head, and stitch multi-row panoramas. The software will give you your perspective control, and/or you can combine this with your tilt-shift lens. There are a number of suitable packages around, the two I quite like are Hugin (free, open source) and Autopano Pro (commercial).<br>

    The building below is a multi-row panorama, shot handheld, with a 6MP DSLR. At 300dpi, it prints to 33x67cm, or at 240dpi it will print to around 40x83cm. You can easily make a bigger print by using a camera with a higher resolution than my measly 6MP, and by using a longer lens (which will give you more individual frames to stitch).<br>

    <a title="Art Deco Corner (21rs).jpg by mad2cv, on Flickr" href=" Art Deco Corner (21rs).jpg src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3645635075_894ed407b2_o.jpg" alt="Art Deco Corner (21rs).jpg" width="494" height="1000" /></a>,</p>

     

    B&W Negative size and how they came?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>645 (or half the 6x9 frame) cameras have been around for quite some time. The exact frame size can vary a little depending on the camera.</p>

    <p>The numbers on the back of the 120 film weren't there initially for 645 - only for 6x6 and 6x9. To get around this, you had two red windows on the "6x9 track". Wind 1 to the first window, then for the next shot wind 1 to the second window. For the third shot, wind 2 to the first window, and so on. 645 cameras were available from just before WWII.</p>

    <p>BTW, 645 cameras get 15 or 16 shots per 120 roll (depends on the camera).</p>

    nodal point for RZ 65 f4

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>I'm not sure I understand why you think you need to mount the lens on a digital body or use a digital back.</p>

    <p>It doesn't matter that you are using film. Once you find the correct rotation point for this lens, you'll not get parallax errors, film or digital. I've done this for both stitched digital images and stitched film scans.</p>

    6x6 folders: quality and value

    in Classic Manual Film Cameras

    Posted

    <p>The Iskra (or Super Isolette) is certainly a very nice camera with a great lens, assuming you get one that is working properly. Take a sacrificial roll of film along with you so that you can test the film winding mechanism. If you find an Agfa, check the bellows as well.</p>

    <p>There are some other cameras to look out for:<br>

     

    <ul>

    <li>Certo Six - great lens, maybe even better than the Iskra, but the RF mirrors are often in need of replacing. This is fairly easy to check. It can be repaired - I swapped the half-silvered mirror on mine myself. The lens has a 40.5mm filter thread, so filters are easy to find and use. The focus is by a lever, the position of which is not the best - it can cause you problems when using the camera on a tripod, as the lever fouls the tripod head for distances other than infinity or thereabouts</li>

    <li>Super Fujica Six - you'll be lucky to find one of these in Europe, but if you do, it is worth checking out. Nice lens, decent viewfinder and overall a nice camera to use</li>

    <li>Mamiya Six - there are various incarnations, with differing lens & shutter combinations. Make sure the slide in pressure plate is there - these cameras focus by moving the film plane, not the lens</li>

    <li>Mess-Ikonta - these are cheaper than the Super Ikontas, but lighter too. They come with an uncoupled RF</li>

    </ul>

    <br />

    There are others too, but I actually have and use the ones mentioned above (Super Isolette excepted).

    <br />

    Best of luck. I'm somewhat jealous, as I don't think there are any classic camera fairs here in NZ.

    <br />

    <br />

    </p>

    the perfect first 4x5?

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>If the Graphics are too limited in movements for you, but you like the idea of that type of camera, you could look for either a Linhoff Technika or the cheaper, British equivalent, the MPP Microtechnical Camera (the MK VII or MK VIII are best).</p>

    <p>Both are fairly rugged and metal bodied, like the Graphic press cameras, but both have more movements. They can both be had with a coupled RF, so you can shoot them hand held too. Obviously these are going to be second hand.</p>

    <p>I enjoy my MPP, and shoot with its (cammed/coupled) 150mm lens and a 90mm too. The back rotates, and there are rear-movements.</p>

    <p>Good luck!</p>

    Upgrade mac mini or scrap

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>What about a newer refurbished Mac Mini from the Apple store, and still sell your older unit?</p>

    <p>The memory is a cheap upgrade though - check out Other World Computing's site, since I think you can actually install 3GB on these Minis. It's not an Apple supported config, but it does work, and every bit of extra memory helps! </p>

    <p>Apart from the higher spec'ed internal drive, you might want to consider an external, Firewire 800 drive. Use the FW800 drive as your PS scratch disk - I did this with an older Windows laptop and a FW400 drive, and it made a substantial difference over running everything from the internal (slow) laptop drive. When you do get round to upgrading the old Mini, you can at least take the external drive with you.</p>

    <p>You may like to read <a href="http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/05/26/psystar_files_for_chapter_11_bankruptcy/">this article</a> in relation to the Pystar - I'm not sure where things have gone since this article.</p>

    Cheap nice rangefinder

    in Classic Manual Film Cameras

    Posted

    <p>You could look around at the Braun Super Paxette and Agfa Super Sillette camera ranges. Both offer interchangeable lenses, and are relatively cheap. The widest lens though is usually around 35-38mm.</p>

    <p>Another option is to go Russian - something like a Zorki or Fed for a Leica thread mount, or a Kiev 4 for Contax mount. With the Zorki/Fed you get the full range of Russian lenses, plus the Japanese and German LTM lenses. There's a Zorki on TradeMe at the moment.</p>

    <p>For something rarer in LTM, and somewhat more complex and heavy, you have the option of the Leningrad.</p>

    <p>Possibly not appropriate for this forum, but for something more modern you could look at a Voigtlaender Bessa.</p>

    Mamiya Six rear element

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    <p>I think you'd really need to find a complete lens, rather than just a single element.</p>

    <p>Having said that, I'd just clean the lens as best I could, then run a roll or two through the camera. You'll probably notice no ill effects, unless you are shooting into or nearly into the sun, in which case a sun shade may help (personally, I rarely use a shade on my folders).</p>

    Need help with V700

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>They're quite nice aren't they! Results like that should give you plenty of encouragement.</p>

    <p>Don't forget to work out the optimum height for your film holders - you adjust this with the feet.</p>

    <p>For curly negs, you can do one of two things - stick them under something heavy for a couple of days, or get a piece of anti-reflective glass from a picture framer. Get it cut so that it is the same size as the film holder's film channels. Unclip the Epson holder's "clip" from the film holder. Lay the negative in the holder, then lay the glass down on top of the negative. I find it easier if I orientate the negative strip so that it curls up in the middle. You should lay the glass with the "rough" side down, so you don't get newton rings.</p>

    <p>It takes some time to get your scanning technique sorted. Keep going back to the same negatives as you learn new things, try rescanning them and compare them to previous results. Another area to experiment with is your sharpening technique - capture sharpen (from scan), creative and output sharpening.</p>

    <p>BTW, I find EpsonScan just fine.</p>

    Epson 750M Pro Scanner

    in Large Format

    Posted

    <p>The V750 is an excellent scanner, especially for the price. I'm pretty certain there is nothing wrong with the scanner, and it definitely works under Vista.</p>

    <p>Go on to the Epson site, and <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?oid=66134&prodoid=63056500&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows">download</a> the latest drivers. Make sure you are an administrator, or have administrative rights before you try to install the software. Turn off any anti-virus software, and then you should be able to install the software.</p>

    <p>If you are still stuck with the Epson drivers, you can try some alternate software - like Vuescan. It is free to try, and will at least help prove whether the scanner itself is ok. You can download it <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?oid=66134&prodoid=63056500&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows">here</a>.</p>

    Scanning/scanners

    in Classic Manual Film Cameras

    Posted

    <p>Tim</p>

    <p>Unless you are printing bigger than A3, a V700 will do a very good job for MF (& LF) film. It is certainly good enough for commercial work! It does take time and effort to learn how to get the best out of any scanner. Much larger, or if you work a lot with dense slide film, then you would be better with a dedicated film scanner. If you look around, you maybe able to find a Microtek or Polaroid 120 (essentially the same) for a reasonable amount of money.</p>

    <p>For 35mm, at least for any print over 8x10, you'd be better off with a dedicated film scanner. At the lower end, a Minolta Dualscan III or IV would be a good buy.</p>

    B&W Printer Recommendation

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>Apart from those already mentioned, you could also look at any of the HP printers that use a photo grey cartridge. These will print lovely, neutral B+W prints with the minimum of fuss. You are not restricted to HP papers, for example the Ilford range of papers (with the exception of the gold fibre) work very nicely.</p>

    <p>More "professional" level printers like the Epson 2400 and 2880, Canon Pro9500 and HP B9180 all produce excellent B+W output, and can print up to A3+.</p>

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