allan_f.

Mary - from a print there is generally no benefit from scanning at more than 300dpi. The paper doesn't hold more detail.

A 10MP or higher DSLR will also give you enough resolution to capture most or all of the information in the print.

Good luck with the restoration.

Nick, after losing local options for E6 processing I have started using agx imaging. They specialize in E6 and have done good work at a

reasonable price. It's clear that the owner knows what he is doing. Consider them recommended.

That doesn't help for C41 but there are more labs still processing color negatives.

If you don't have much invested, why not try taking the lens apart? One or more of the elements or groups might be much closer to your

requirements. The lens looks like it has at least a few larger glass lens elements that could be reused. For example I have a loupe made

from the front element and barrel of on obsolete TV camera lens.

Kent,

I have tried a number of c mount lenses on a V1 using a cheap adapter. Most lenses didn't cover, or sometimes even illuminate, the cx

sensor. A couple did work OK, but weren't great. It was one way to try a fast f1.4 lens before Nikon came out with the 18.5mm. You

might be fine using interesting antiques to get a special look.

Another problem was that the c mount adapter has to recess the lenses a little bit into the body. Several lenses wouldn't screw all the

way in if the back or the lens barrel was too large. Opening up the recess a little bit on a lathe helped. The V1 only operates in manual

exposure mode with the adapter.

If you hold the c mount lens in front of the lens mount, the LCD on the camera will give you an idea of what the lens will do. Think of it as

a completely manual lens baby.

The adapters are cheap. Have fun experimenting.

Allan

<p>Hi David,</p>

<p>I visited Venice a few years ago with a small Hasselblad kit (one body, WL finder, one back, 50mm, 80mm, and a smaller portable tripod). Everything except for the tripod fit into a small shoulder bag meant for a medium sized video camcorder. This was part of a business trip so the amount of camera equipment was limited. You will spend plenty of time walking with your equipment, so plan accordingly. The 50mm was probably used most. If you have a 100mm lens it might be more useful than the 150mm. </p>

<p>Almost everything is packed tightly in Venice so there are less opportunities to use a longer-than-normal lens. Interesting light often happens early and late in the day. The narrow canals and sidewalks between buildings can be almost like shooting in a narrow canyon sometimes. A portable tripod is essential for some of these situations. A cable release plus mirror lockup helps keep things steady if your lightweight tripod is marginally stable for the Hasselblad.</p>

<p>Enjoy your trip, and make sure to go out shooting late in the day. Visit some side streets away from the main tourist attractions. Venice is a wonderful city to photograph.</p>

<p> Allan</p>

<p>Emily,</p>

<p>As lots of other people have recommended, a 35mm form factor camera in film or digital is probably a better choice for this project. So far no-one has recommended an older (non Leica) 35mm rangefinder camera. Most of these cameras have a moderate wide angle lens (35mm to 40mm) which would be a good choice for photos in a dark, crowded environment. Canon made several Canonet models with lenses as fast as f1.7. These have somewhat collectible but a working camera should be available for around 70 Pounds in the U.S. (maybe a bit more in the U.K.). Rangefinders are reasonably compact, sturdy, have manual controls, and may be easier to focus in low light than an SLR. The leaf shutter doesn't make much vibration and syncs at any speed if you use flash. You may also be able to pre-focus at about 2 or 3 meters as recommended earlier. Of course you have to shoot film which has some disadvantages compared to newer digital SLRs. Considering the environment, and risks to your equipment, it's another choice to look at.</p>

<p>Whatever camera you choose, consider carrying a small tabletop tripod. These can be pressed against walls, columns, vehicles, or other objects. If the vibration from the bass speakers isn't too bad they will help with sharp pictures at slower shutter speeds.</p>

<p>Good luck with your project. The initial images look promising.</p>

<p>Allan</p>

<p>Jacob,<br>

Field cameras are often used like a large format view camera for slow deliberate photos on a tripod, not like other medium format cameras that can be used more easily hand held. Accurately focusing on the ground glass back is harder with 6x9 than with larger formats. On the other hand, roll film is much cheaper for 6x9 images than in 4x5 or larger sheets. If the camera comes with a separate viewfinder/rangefinder and lenses with a focusing cam you can use it for hand held photos. Using a field or view camera is a very different experience. Take a look at the large format forum to get a better idea of how to work with a field camera.<br>

For landscape photos a field camera is a wonderful tool. It makes you slow down and think. Tilt and swing movements give you much more control over the plane of focus. For example, this can allow a close foreground and distant background to both be sharp at a moderate aperture. You should be able to get nice detailed images from 6x9 film. Polaroid 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 film is still available from Fuji. This gives you quick feedback and makes it much easier to learn how to use a view camera.<br>

I haven't used this model and can't comment on the specific features to look for or specific problems it might have. Definitely make sure the bellows are light tight or you will need to repair or replace them before using the camera. Also make sure that all the camera adjustments work, and the roll film back is in good mechanical shape. The lenses should be free from fungus on the glass elements and the shutters shoud work at all speeds. The shutters probably need a CLA if the camera is pristine and hasn't been used for a long time. If there's a range finder, make sure the lenses and focusing cams match if you plan to shoot hand held. For serious landscape photography you probably won't use the viewfinder of rangefinder. Hopefully you will get specific advice from someone familiar with this camera.<br>

Good luck - working with a field or view camera is a real experience. If you like it, you'll be hooked for life.<br>

Allan</p>

John,

The Mamiya 645e is also a good choice. It's one of the newest manual focus medium format bodies, designed as an

entry level camera and built with more plastic than the older bodies. It won't take heavy professional use like the

older metal cameras will, but it does have a few advantages. The body is light weight and comes with a useable

light meter and aperture priority automation. Because the M645 family has been popular for so long there are

lots of lenses available at great prices. Even the older M645 glass is high quality and bargain priced.

The 645e viewfinder is definitely different. It's built into the camera so the finder and focusing screen are

not removable. It does give a good image and has built in diopter correction. While it looks odd, like a snout

sticking out the top of the camera, it works pretty well in practice.

I ended up buying an m645e body after an older M645J died. The Mamiya lenses were too good to leave sitting

in a closet. It's light enough to travel well with two lenses in a case designed for camcorders.

If you want to try out medium format photography inexpensively, look at bargain grade equipment from KEH. I picked up a 645J body, 80mm lens, 120 insert, and non-metered prism for about $100 a few months ago. Equipment and prices do vary depending on what is currently in stock. My goal was to have an inexpensive medium format for travel to places where the camera might be stolen or damaged. A similar setup with a M645 or 645J body, older 80mm lens (may be in poor cosmetic condition or have dents), and prism finder without a meter is sturdy and lets you experiment with medium format at a low cost. If you like medium format, the first equipment you bought can be expanded into a nice system.

The prism finder lets you see the image through the lens by holding the camera up to your eye before taking a photo. Many medium format cameras have a waist level finder where you hold the camera near your waist and look down into the camera instead of looking through an eyepiece like your 35mm SLR. Waist level finders show the image reversed left to right, which can take some time to get used to. The prism finder is held up to your eye and makes it easier to rotate the M645 camera for vertical shots. Most of the older M645 prism finders with a meter will be much more expensive and many of the light meters have stopped working reliably in the last 15 or 20 years. Use your 35mm camera as a light meter and purchase an inexpensive non-metered prism finder to get started. Waist level finders are also availble for the M645 cameras if you want to try one.

Graham,

I use an Epson 4990 flatbed scanner and don't have any experience with your Canon. The Epson was bought for 4x5 inch sheet film but also works reasonably well with 6x6 cm (2 1/4" square) roll film. None of the consumer grade flatbed scanners are capable of getting all the information out of a sharp, well exposed, modern film.

There are plenty of opinions and discussion threads about flatbed scanners but my personal experience seems to be similar to many other posters. With the Epson 4990, a 6x to 7x enlargement done carefully is a reasonable maximum. A 6x6 cm slide makes a nice 10" by 10" print from a Fuji Frontier minilab at almost 5x enlargement. An 11x14 inch print from a 6x4.5 cm image would be about 7x. With the new Epson V700 scanner now shipping, new, used, or refurbished 4990 scanners should be available at an attractive price if you're interested. The 4990 comes with reasonably good software that can handle slides or negatives, and gives you a range of color and contrast adjustments.

A dedicated film scanner like Nikon 8000, Nikon 9000, Scitex, or drum scanner is needed to get all the information out of medium format film. For the occasional photo where you want a big enlargement plan to pay for a good quality scan with a proper film scanner. This is much cheaper than investing in an expensive piece of equipment.

Medium format film still holds a lot more information than most current digital sensors. Some of the current slide films also have a lot longer life expectancy (50+ years) than most digital images. Have you tried to read data from a 10 or 15 year old computer disk or tape recently?

Enjoy your Pentax camera. Go out and take photos of things that interest you. Remember to enjoy your new hobby and don't get too bogged down in technical trivia. Your film images will probably be around long enough for new scanners to do a better job on the film than is possible today. Digital images from a digital camera won't improve over time.

Allan

Graham,

If your photos were taken with Kodak Portra color negative film, how did you get the digital images? If you scanned a commercial lab print, the colors in the print are determined when the negative was printed. Automatic color correction, or incorrect manual color correction, can take a scene like a sunset which has strong colors and try to make them more "neutral". This can give you really strange colors in the final print that look very little like the original image.

If you scanned an original negative, the scanner software has to reverse the colors (negative to positive image) and remove any masking color bult into the film. Again, automatic color correction can give you bad results when the original image had very strong colors.

Shooting slide film instead of print film has advantages and disadvantages when scanning. You get to see the real colors in the developed film which is an advantage when matching the colors of the scan to the colors of the film. One disadvantage is that slide film normally has higher contrast and density which makes it harder to get good shadow detail in the scan.

Allan

Charles,

The easiest way to use two flashes is with an inexpensive ($30) optical flash slave. Connect the first flash to the camera using the lens shutter sync for the widest range of shutter speeds. Connect the second flash to the optical slave. Set both flashes on manual, not automatic, or their automatic exposure controls will get confused. Measure the exposure using a flash meter, or calculate the exposure using the flash guide numbers or exposure dial on older flash units.

For portraits, set one flash to be twice as bright (one stop smaller aperture) than the other and set them at about 45 degree angles left and right of the camera. For print film, set the aperture to the smaller f stop. For slide film, set the aperture to one half stop smaller than the smaller f stop. For example, set one flash for an exposure of f8, the other for f5.6, and set the the aperture to f8 for print film or halfway between f8 and f16 for slide film. This will give you a 2:1 flash ratio which is a good starting point for portrait use. This is just a quick explanation of a simple setup, more detailed information should be available in the lighting forum.

Allan

Another suggestion for cheap and relatively light lenses to build into the airplane body is to look for old Polaroid cameras. The MP4 copy camera in 4x5 used a Fuji lens around 135mm. Other Polaroid models could also be used as cheap lens donors. Pack film camera lenses may not quite cover 4x5 but you may be pleasantly surprised.

To get short exposure times you need a relatively fast lens. Shorter focal length lenses will be much faster for the same weight than longer focal lengths. Also the magnification factor will be lower, requiring a slower shutter speed for sharp images.

Look at online resources for building pinhole cameras for ideas on holding the film in the airplane without a standard film holder. This will help keep the weight and cost down. Also remember that you need a way to load and unload film from the airplane in complete darkness.

Good luck with your project, and let us know how it works out.

Marci,

In Mass, try Hunt's Photo and Video. They have multiple stores plus a web site at http://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/. Hunt's carries medium format (roll film) and sheet film for large format. You may be able to get a roll or two of 120 film easily if they have a store near you.

Brent,

This is a bit different than the typical large format answer, but have you considered a 6x7cm or 6x9cm camera? Mamiya rangefinder cameras are often used for travel and landscape photography. They are much more portable for multi-day backpack trips that large format and feel much more like a large 35mm camera. They will be harder to use with gradient filters since you are not viewing through the camera lens.

Consider scanning 2 medium format images and combine into a single panorama if you want the wide format of 6x17. This will work better with static landscape scenes, even wind in the trees may be a problem when assembling a panorama.

I enjoy shooting both large format (lately 4x5) and medium format images. Shooting large format is much slower and more contemplative. Medium format does not give as much control (swings, tilt, and shifts are missing from most cameras), or as large an original image (for lower enlargement ratios at any print size) but the cameras are much faster to operate. The total equipment weight you need to carry for large format is often around 20 pounds unless you select the very lightest equipment and give up some stability in the camera and tripod.

If you are interested in learning about large format photography try to find someone local to you that shoots LF. It's possible to learn from reading but easier to learn form another photographer by seeing and doing. Try day hikes with a large format camera before considering longer backpacking trips. Large format landscape is a whole new world compared to 35mm. It will be easier to separate large format photography from backpacking until you are comfortable with the equipment and new ways of working. Combining LF photography with backpacking requires weight tradeoffs for both camera and camping equipment to keep the total weight and size reasonable.

Good luck with your new adventure.

Allan

Venkat,

I have visited the Pittsburg area for work a couple of times. Travelling east from the city, Pennsylvania becomes hilly and you should be able to find some mountain/stream/trees/river areas to photograph. This is an old coal mining area so some of the landscape has been altered over time. Talk to people locally when you arrive to search out better photo locations. Plan on driving out to take photos on the weekends.

Hopefully you will get more detailed ideas from local photographers.

Edwin,

<p>

Welcome to your first experience with large format photography. The Multiphot system originally came with a special flipping mirror arangement for 4x5 phogotraphy that allowed the user to view and focus from the front, not the top, of the Mulitphot. If you don't have this assembly you can still use large format film but will need to focus from above the instrument. There are a wide variety of web sites dedicated to large format photography. One non-commercial site with a beginners guide is at <a href=http://www.largeformatphotography.info/>http://www.largeformatphotography.info/</a>

<p>

Graflock backs use a standard pair of hooks to quicky attach and remove backs from a 4x5 camera. Standard film backs commonly take sheet film holders (usually holding 2 sheets of film, one on each side of the holder) and Polaroid 545 or 545i family holders for instant sheet film (nominally 4x5 inches but actually more like 3.5 x 4.5 inches). There are two spring loaded hooks on the side of the back that hold it to the camera using 2 dedicated pins. After focusing on the ground glass, insert the film holder. With the shutter <b>closed</b> after focusing remove the dark slide, take the photo, then reinsert the dark slide before removing the film holder. There are no safety interlocks so you can easily expose the film if you aren't paying attention.

<p>

Polaroid has a nice PDF file online describing how to use their 4x5 film holders at <a href=http://www.polaroid.com/service/userguides/photographic/4x5filmguide.pdf> http://www.polaroid.com/service/userguides/photographic/4x5filmguide.pdf </a>.

<p>

Graflock backs are available for other smaller sheet film sizes (now much less available that 4x5),120 roll film, and probably other formats like 70mm motion picture film. The most popular roll film backs take 6x9cm images which uses more of the 4x5 area than a 6x6 square image.

<p>

Generally the terms Graflock and International Standard are used interchangeably. Early press cameras like the Crown Graphic had Graflock backs which were adopted by other manufacturers as the International Standard for 4x5 cameras.

<p>

I don't use the quickload films but believe they give an image close to 4x5.

<p>

Without using the meter on your F3 you will need to compensate with longer exposures due to the extended bellows used for macro photographs. For example if 120mm lens marked f8 is used with a total bellows extension (distance from the lens to film plane) of 240mm, it provides the same amount of light but spreads it over 4 times the area. The effective aperture is therefore f16 instead of f8. See <a href=http://www.largeformatphotography.info/bellows-factor.html> http://www.largeformatphotography.info/bellows-factor.html </a> for an explanation and mathematical formulas. Long exposures can also be affected by film recriprocity failure that can require extra exposure time and may result in color shifts depending on the film used. Look for data on your particular film at the manufacturer's web site.

<p>

This answer might be a bit long winded, but hopefully it will help you get started.