wogears

Why should this be a "wake up call" to anyone? My Nikons still work. Fujis too. Also Olympus OM.

I find that exposing ColorPlus 200 at 100--not to cover metering errors--works best because of the film's "soft shoulder" (ability to handle highlights). Using ColorPerfect to invert a linear TIFF gives me the opportunity to "monitor" and control the highlights to a considerable degree.

Ed: I had that scanner--in fact two of them--long ago. It was the best-built of all Epsons, IMO, and could scan a full roll for a contact sheet, but I never really got sharp scans, even from 4x5.

What software are you printing from? How have you set it up?

Break the Rules, 2018 F3, Sam Yang 85mm f1.4, Portra 160

I have ordered a Moskva-5 from a well rated dealer in Ukraine. Let's see how that works out.

Kodak Retina IIc, T-Max 100

I have a Retina IIc, and it still takes excellent pictures. Well, it doesn't, but you know...

I must confess to also being tempted by the Zeiss Ikon 6x9 RF (Super Ikonta C). One is available at a reasonable price.

Hideous Fetish Idol Fuji X-E1, Nikkor 55 f1.2

I want to keep looking at it, because I am trying to figure out what it says to me. Technical aspects are tools to this end, but there is no requirement for sharpness, bokey, or any other thing. Craft is necessary.

Thanks for the nice example shots. Cool aircraft too.

Thanks. I was aware of some of this, but not all.

Just curious if anyone has knowledge of these Soviet pro cameras. Can I get decent negs out of one, and are there any particular warnings? I like the idea of the huge negatives and the "wow that's cool" reactions I get from older cameras (in contrast to the "what are you, a pervert" comments I hear).

Example from test roll.

I have a Mamiya C330f that I’ve used for quite a few years. I had to re-foam the viewing screen and add light seals, but otherwise it worked well except that one of the focusing knobs was bent. This made focusing difficult because my fingers kept getting stuck. After a while, I found a parts C330 body for $35 from KEH via eBay. The original plan was to take a knob from the parts cam. and sell the focusing screen from same for $35. Then I started playing with the parts body, and all of the mechanical stuff worked. I then took the bent knob and banged on it until it was mostly fixed. I stuck it on the parts camera, put a lens on and the waist-level from the 330f and shot a test roll. Perfect. No light leaks, advance correct, etc. In fact. my negs somehow looked sharper—maybe the split-image on the new body worked better for my aging eyes. I’ve bought a chimney finder from eBay, so each body will be ready for use. “Les, why do you have two Mamiya TLRs?” “They just grew.”

I found that Ronsonol and very fine steel wool got rid of the Sticky Gunk in a hurry.

Problems like this are often due to dust in the calibration area of the scanner.

My limited "research" indicates that a LOT of the scanners being offered on eBay, etc, are lacking their film holders. I believe this is because the holders now have very high value and are offered separately. The price of older scanner models is also absurdly high at present. I would suggest, if you can't find the holders, that you sell your scanner for USD 650 or so, and buy a Pacific Image/Reflecta scanner which will have similar resolution (don't believe the manuf. specs) and holders and a warranty.

Uh, you need to keep all of your chemicals and wash water at the same temperature to avoid reticulation.

I've always been impressed with William Albert Allard (a/k/a "Bill") His "Five Decades" is a book I come back to often, to remind me of what is possible.

The 'orange mask' is the clear, unexposed area of the film, such as the leader or the space between frames. My current scanner does not include these areas--I would have to deliberately scan a frame from the leader/tail of the roll. As I am satisfied with my current technique (although I am always trying to get better at it), I won't mess with NL Pro. The attached file is (more or less) what I get after inverting in Color Perfect.

Just downloaded Negative Lab Pro. It seems to want me to "scan" with a DSLR or a flatbed--I use neither. It wants me to sample the orange mask, which I don't have on my scans (cropped by film holder). No dice on that one...

Have not tried Negative Lab Pro--might give the trial version a shot. ColorPerfect does a better job than VueScan or SilverFast alone.

I used VueScan with my LS-50 to generate a linear TIFF (VScan calls it 'RAW') and I then invert it in ColorPerfect. No workflow is perfect, but this is the closest I've found. The latest SilverFast (8.8.x) is very good, I must admit.