Dustin McAmera

<p>I think the <em>idea</em> is at least half the point of this. The guy had an interesting idea, starting from the availability of long strips of paper, and has found a way to make it work. It seems to me that the process is a lot less worthwhile when it's not your own idea; far better to come up with your own wacky procedure.<br> It also seems to me that you could avoid processing large sheets of paper. You could print the image piecewise on 5x8 sheets, and 'weave' those after developing them. Each sheet has to show a 5x5 inch piece of the image. You'd have to mount them on a backing sheet; the woven assembly would have no strength.</p>

<p>My own enlarger (not used in some years) is a very common Durst M670, but you can turn the head to project onto a wall for bigger enlargements.<br> My guess is he just brushed the chemicals on with a paintbrush. From the look of the pictures, he wasn't too concerned about uniformity. You'd want to keep brushing fresh solution over each area as often as possible. <br> I bet you could get trays to accommodate a 4x4 foot sheet if you preferred; maybe as greenhouse plant-pot trays. It would still be careful work to rock the tray without spilling the solution, and you'd need quite a lot of it.</p>

<p><a href="http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Mamiya_645_AF_and_645_AFD_series">http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Mamiya_645_AF_and_645_AFD_series</a></p> <p> </p>

<p>Getting the film out of the camera while keeping the roll nice and tight is a bit of a knack; easier with some cameras than with others. Loading the film is tricky with some cameras too. Certainly, when you've shot the last frame (say frame 12, if your camera is square format) you need to wind on until the backing paper disappears from the red window (assuming your camera <em>has</em> a red window), and only open the camera then. It will help a little if you load and unload indoors or in the shade.<br> As the others have already said, this problem isn't to do with your developing, so assess how well you did from the successful frames! </p>

<p>I use Tetenal kits and use the longer times for 30 deg C. I do one inversion every thirty seconds; any more than this and the tank is out of its warm water-bath more than it's in it; and my results aren't bad. There may be some useful discussions in the <a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/diy_color/">Flickr 'Do it yourself colour' group</a>.</p>

<p>The scanner will get warmer once it's been powered up for a while, and so the film will curl more, and be more likely to touch the glass. Also, some types of film curl more badly than others.<br> I find I can lessen the film's tendency to curl by breathing on the emulsion side before scanning (I guess the condensed moisture expands the emulsion a tiny bit; anyhow, the effect doesn't last for long). Scanning goes better on cool days, or in the evening. I don't even try when it's hot.</p>

<p>I have a (broken) LTL. The chrome button in the centre of the self-timer's hub starts the countdown. The black collar surrounding it, though, has four flats cut in it at the back. They don't extend far up the depth of the collar; you'd need quite a slim spanner to get into the flats. Also, the shutter release, the lens mount and the end of the self-timer lever itself are all likely to get in the way of the spanner. I think you may have to make your own spanner from a scrap of sheet metal, and bend the handle end up to give it room to turn. Just by eye, I'd say it's <em>about</em> six mm across the flats.</p>

<p>The only folding 35 mm RF camera I have is a Super Dollina II, made by Certo. I'm not here to champion my camera against the Retina in the contest for 'best'; the VF and RF are separate eyepieces, and I find the VF a bit small. It was made for many years, but you don't see a lot of them around (at least not here in the UK). It's a horizontal folder, unlike the Retina IIa. Mine has a coated f/2.8 Tessar and a Synchro-Compur shutter.<br /> Another one you might look at is the Super Baldinette: that can come with an f/2 lens (it also comes with Balda's odd winder-lock button).<br /> Although the OP wanted not to have scale focus, I agree with Charles. I think a wide-aperture lens and a good range of shutter speeds are more important for a user than an RF. I have a Solinette II (mine has an f/3.5 Apotar), and a Balda Jubilette, with Balda's own f/2.9 Baltar triplet (and front-element scale focus down to 0.6 metre!)</p>

<p>I have the metering prism, and use it some of the time. I also have a Sekonic L-308 though (mine's the L-308B; if you buy one now it will be the L-308S, I think, with a few improvements), and I use this with all my cameras. It's small, a battery lasts for ever, and when it does die, it's a AA size you can get anywhere. I use mine as a simple incident meter, but it does flash metering too, if you use flash. It will do a reflected reading too, but not as well as an in-camera meter (just because that's easier to aim), and certainly not as well as the Mamiya prism, with both average and spot modes.<br> The Sekonic will cost you about 140 UK pounds (or about 240 US dollars?).</p>

<p>Here's what we have about <a href="http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Bell_%26_Howell">B&H at Camera-wiki.org</a>;<br> Bell and Howell were a projectionist, and a designer for a maker of projectors, respectively, and formed the company to make an improved projector. Mr Bell left the company after not too long though.<br> There is still a separate company using the B&H name, in the business of mail-sorting machines.</p>

<blockquote> <p>I recently dug up an old Exakta camera after house cleaning.</p> </blockquote> <p>All I ever get is dead spiders and mouse droppings :(<br> ... but now I have to go and get my Exa out. It's been a while since I used it. I seem to recall that the main effect of the 'left-handed' controls was that I was forever switching between focusing with the left and right hands. Fit it with the little WLF; then you <em>can't</em> try to work it like a 'normal' SLR!</p>