lanewilson

<p>I normally shoot black and white film with my 4x5, and use the zone system. Developing all of the film myself, I push and pull the development of the sheets as required, to get a good negative. I bought some <strong>Fuji Velvia 100F </strong>to take on a trip with me, just to try it out (some scenes just work better in color after all, and many people seem to recommend this film).</p>

<p>My question is, what is the best way to meter and expose Velvia 100F? In the past I exposed slide film by placing the highlights around zone 8, and letting the shadows fall where they may (hardly a fool-proof approach).</p>

<p>Can I have a lab push or pull Velvia 100F successfully--and if so, how should I meter the highlights and shadows for successful push or pull processing?</p>

<p>Remember, I'm shooting 4x5...so bracketing will burn through my film supply <em>really fast</em>. I'm looking for some best practices to get it right in one sheet.</p>

<p>Thanks for any recommendations.</p>

I took the attached photo with a lens I just purchased--the Schneider 47mm

Super Angulon XL, multicoated--in excellent condition. What is the ring in the

middle of the image? Does anyone have this or a similar wide angle lens, and

seen this before?

This is a 10 minute exposure on FP4+, taken at about f/16. I wouldn't be

surprised to see some minor flare somewhere, but this is a near perfect ring?

I'm also used to seeng flare as a circle (filled in) if I'm photographing into

a strong single-point light source, but not a distinct ring like this?

Any input is appreciated. (No critique on the image or printing is necessary,

since this was just a test print to show the ring.)

Thanks,

Lane<div></div>

Thanks everyone for the info! FYI, the Grafmatic does fit into the back of the Wista Metalfield 45SP, which even includes the sliding locks on the back that keep the Grafmatic in place as you cycle the unit through the sheets. I used 2 Grafmatics in Yosemite last weekend and liked them so much have already bought a few more. Say goodbye to the old Riteway 2 sided holders!

Lane

I have a Wista 45SP and I've been using the standard 2 sided Riteway

film holders for the past 6 months. I wanted to try out Grafmatic

film holders for convenience and I have a question. Do Grafmatics

have the same standard 5mm depth to the film plane that the Riteway

film holders have, or do I have to adjust the depth of my ground

glass to get accurate focusing when using Grafmatics?

Does anyone use both holder types interchangeably with good results?

Thanks,

Lane

Thanks for the advice everyone. I measured the depth of the Ground Glass surface from the front of the Grafloc Back and it was spot on 5mm. I used an aluminum ruler, not calipers, but it was so close that I figure the glass is at least in the right place. I'll get some calipers and check if if needs to be shimmed any later.

My back has the same setup, where the glass is held in place by a small bar with four screws...but without the clear glass in place there's about 3mm of space between the bar and the ground glass (or Fresnel) so its hardly held secure in place. (Take the red lines out of my diagram and you'll see what I mean.) I'll take it apart again and make sure I didn't miss a second optional mounting place for the bars that hold the glass in place.

I took the fresnel out at the recommendation of a pro. He pointed out that once you start tilting the lens to change the focal plane--on the horizontal or vertical axis--the fresnel is not as accurate at focussing as a straight ground glass is. Because the fresnel is a lens, it can give you an inaccurate read on the focus except for dead center on the glass.

I have also found that while a fresnel is brighter, focussing on ground glass seems much easier? I can focus fairly accurately even without using a loupe (though I'll always check with the loupe after an initial shot at focusing without it).

Thanks again everyone for the help!

Lane

I've poked around the archives looking for a direct answer to my

question and can't find one, so I appreciate any help my fellow Wista

owners can afford me.

I have a new Wista Metalfield 45SP and wanted to remove the fresnel

in favor of a standard ground glass. The back had a clear piece of

glass with gridlines on it, and then on the lens-side of the glass,

there was the fresnel, which was held in place by the clear glass.

The clear glass is slightly larger than the fresnel, and sits in a

slightly larger groove in the back, and holds the fresnel in place.

I ordered a Wista groundglass from B&H. When it arived, I found that

the new ground glass was the same sixe as the fresnel(?)...therefore

it fit into the smaller interior groove of the back, not the larger

groove where the clear glass was sitting. The only thing I could do

was to install the new ground glass where the fresnel was, with the

ground side facing the lens, and then put the clear glass back in to

hold the ground glass in place.

Now I have two pieces of glass in my camera and I'm not sure if I am

focusing on the film plane? Can anyone tell me if this is the right

configuration, or did I get the wrong ground glass from B&H (they

only listed one, so I assumed they were standard)? Or can I just

turn the gound glass around with the ground side facing away from the

lens and let the width of the ground glass correct the position of

the focusing surface?

I drew a diagram of the configuration (see below).

Thanks,

Lane Wilson<div></div>

Sorry, this is more of a question than an answer...great thread by the way.

I've been using APX 100 since I started photography about 7 years ago and I love the stuff. Likewise, I still mourn the loss of APX 25 every time I walk into a shop to buy film; and for that matter, I miss Agfa Ultra 50 as well. I mostly shoot 120 in a Hassy now.

Anyway, I always developed in Rodinal 1+25 with great results. What's the benefit of 1+100 dilution? Do I just double the 1+50 time listed for the film and stick to the standard agitation schedule (1 minute continuous, then 5 sec. every 30 sec.)?

I just got back from a weekend trip to Yosemite and tried developing my APX 100 in DDX and the results were...interesting. A little flat actually, but I got a few great shots. BTW, I had some nice results with Fuji Acros in DDX...does anyone have any recommended developers for Acros 100?

Thanks for any info!

Lane

When I first started serious filter shopping I ran across B+W and wasn't familiar with them either. Then I noticed that B+W filters are made by Schneider - Kreuznach, which I was VERY familiar with. Enough said... they're EXCELLENT filters, heads above Hoya/Tiffen/Promaster/yadda-yadda.

I do like my Heliopan filters as well, but you'll be pleased with B+W also.

I just read about Scala for the first time a month ago, so I don't know if its a new formulation. After posting my last reply, I went out to find the developing data where I read that it could be processed in Rodinal...and I couldn't find it. I started to sweat that I posted misinformation. Its not stated on Agfa's site anywhere that you can process Scala in Rodinal. Although, I've found Agfa's site and spec sheets lacking in the past.

Alas, I found what I was looking for, but I did make an unfortunate error:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.html

The instructions state that the devopment times are for making NEGATIVES with Agfa Scala... not transparencies. (I have no idea what the point of that would be...just buy some negative film??)

My sincerest apologies for my sophomoric misdirection.

Lw

Agfa makes a Black & White slide film you can process in Rodinal, just like negative film. Its called "Scala" and its ISO 200.

http://www.agfa.com/photo/products/film/professional/bwrevfilm/

I bought some the other day just to try it out, but haven't shot it yet. It was about $8.50 a roll for 120.