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scott_kinkade

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Posts posted by scott_kinkade

    Recommendations for Entry-Level MF System

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    I bought a Yashica Mat 124 on ebay (there, I said it) for $89 a few months ago. If you consider a camera in that class, I would go for the 124 rather than the 124G, as they usually go for less and have no disadvantage in performance. Though I am admittedly a know-nothing newbie, I tend to be sceptical about the standard advice to budget for a CLA. That might make sense if you are looking for a professional rig, or if you have exacting technical requirements and the skill to match--but if that's the case you won't be shopping for $100-$200, right? In that range, I'd say look for clean lenses and working mechanics from a seller who will let you return it if not as described.

     

    Final note: if you shop for a Yashica TLR, a package that includes filter(s) is significantly more valuable than one that does not, as those filters can go for $30 or more. Assuming you are interested in filters, of course.

    Any Flash Website savy people here?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    I beg you to offer a "non-Flash" version of your gallery as well. Too often--particularly on photographers' sites, for some reason--the Flash becomes the "show" rather than the photography. While Flash can provide a slick environment for your work, far too many sites are designed such that if Flash doesn't work--not installed, mis-installed, non-traditional browser or OS, etc--the real content is not available at all. You have identified and will probably head off one such problem when this IE issue is fixed. But will you test in ALL browsers under ALL OS's in ALL possible configurations? If not, some users may discover a problem that you did not. What a shame.

    Hot water in Kodak fixer?

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    Hi Folks...

     

    Dumb mistake just now...made up a batch of Kodak powdered fixer, but

    used hot water (out-of-the-tap hot) instead of the recommended room

    temperature. Some of the fixer clumped up and wouldn't dissolve. I

    ended up straining it out when I poured it into my plastic jug. I

    estimate about a teaspoon of undissolved fixer. The resulting

    solution was cloudy, but I can't remember if it's always been that way.

     

    The film I want to develop was shot while travelling, so I want to

    take reasonable care, though the job is far from critical.

     

    Question 1 - Is this fixer good? I don't mind giving it extra time if

    necessary.

     

    Question 2 - If I use it and it doesn't work, can I refix with the

    Ilford Rapid Fixer that I expect to arrive on my doorstep this

    afternoon? Or should I just use the Ilford in the first place? I

    don't have any more Kodak and I don't plan to. The film will be

    processed in D-76.

     

    Thanks for any guidance offered...

     

    Scott

    Best OniLine source for B&W chemicals

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    David...<BR><BR>

     

    I've never bought from Adorama, but I've had great luck with <a href="http://bhphotovideo.com">B&H</a>. I've made about a half dozen orders. When I order in the morning, it's usually shipped that afternoon and I get it either the next day or the day after (they're in New York and I'm in Baltimore...so your time enroute may be different.)<BR><BR>

     

    I can highly recommend them.

    Creating a small darkroom in a home

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    Michael...<BR><BR>

     

    I also recently began processing (and shooting, for that matter) my own BW film. <BR><BR>

     

    You alluded to this fact when you mentioned "lab and darkroom," but you should know that there are two very distinct processes that go on in a darkroom: processing film, and making prints from that film. Are you interested in doing both? I chose to do film processing only, followed by scanning my film to produce digital prints. It's an important distinction because film processing does not require a "darkroom" per se...you can load your film canisters in a changing bag, and everything else can be done in full light. If you are interested in this route, you may want to start where I did, with <a href="http://verba.chromogenic.net/archives/2005/04/become_your_own.html">this online guide.</a> It's a simple set of directions complete with shopping list linked to a vendor (about $50 worth.)<BR><BR>

     

    Whatever your interests, consider settling on a process and materials and sticking with them for a while until you have enough experience to vary your routine for a specific reason.<BR><BR>

     

    I hope you have as much fun as I have. I also hope you have more talent for actually taking photographs than I do.

    Film advice for Prague/Frankfurt

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    Many thanks to everyone for the advice. After reading Juergen and Al, I picked up a few rolls of Delta 3200 as well.

     

    D and Roman...I'll be happy if I end up with two shots like yours for my wall!

     

    Andras...the Pan 400 sounds interesting, but B&H doesn't seem to have any at the moment.

     

    Regards,

    Scott

    Film advice for Prague/Frankfurt

    in Black & White Practice

    Posted

    Hi Folks...

     

    I'm taking a trip to Europe (from Maryland, U.S.) the first half of

    December. Rather than ask the traditional "which film" question, I'll

    tell you that I've selected HP5+ (400 ISO), to be processed upon

    return in D76.

     

    My situation: I just started with medium format, B&W, and

    home-processing a few months ago. My skill level and knowledge are

    solidly so-so. I don't consider this trip to be a once-in-a-lifetime,

    so I'm not worried about blowing a bunch of frames if something isn't

    quite right, plus my wife will have the trusty digital that reliably

    catches decent shots a half second too late. I plan to do mostly

    outdoor, handheld "location" shots of interesting architecture,

    people, or situations. My camera is a Yashica Mat-124.

     

    So my question: am I missing an opportunity with my film choice?

    Should I augment my selection with some other speeds or emulsions?

    I have been using HP5+/D-76 and am sticking with that because I don't

    feel my skill level has reached a point where I can intelligently

    change to something else for a particular reason. I have 15 rolls in

    my shopping cart at B&H, but wanted to check if anyone would advise

    maybe switching a few to this or that alternative.

     

    Thanks!

    yashica mat and ebay

    in Medium Format

    Posted

    Jon...

     

    Your lenses looked like the ones I got, described as "clear and without scratches." It was an old Mat, and I only paid $25 including shipping, so I didn't even bother trying to return it (time, effort, etc...) I wrote a note to the buyer but didn't ding her 100% feedback because I don't think she knew any better...the lenses looked OK from the front I guess, if you didn't check too closely. That may have been weak of me. The camera is now sitting on the shelf where I left it the day I bid on a Mat-124 that I was happy with for $85.

     

    Richard...

     

    Can you tell me which specific spanner wrench you used? I bought one from microtools, but it didn't fit (the blades presumably would have fit the retainer ring, but the tool itself wouldn't fit far enough into the camera.) Thanks...

     

    Regards, Scott

    Negative Vs Print Scanning

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    I think the billboard analogy is excellent. Another way to put it is this: blowing up an image and then taking a picture of it cannot possibly give you more detail than the original, any more than turning up the volume on your CD player and recording it can give you more audio detail.

     

    Of course, this assumes some relationship between the resolution of your scanner and the resolution of your enlarger...computations that I'm not qualified to make.

     

    Also: David Indech...I did notice a perceptible loss of detail in BOTH of your samples, in the area above your subject's shoulders.

    SilverFast versus Vuescan

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    OK, here's a related newbie question: I've been scanning B&W negatives for about a month now, and I've juggled a few pieces of scanning software (I use Linux...no SilverFast available as far as I know.) So here's something in my minus column for Vuescan: unless I'm missing something, I can't view my image while working with levels/curves. They're on different tabs. Maybe someone with more experience would be comfortable making those adjustments based solely on histograms, but at this early stage I really want to watch the image change so I get a feel for what's going on. Levels are workable for me with just the histogram...curves, not so much.

     

    Am I missing something?

    How easy to set up a Windows/Mac OSX network?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    Peter...<BR><BR>

     

    <i>where would I 'look' to 'see' the other computer(s) wirelessly? I am really rather useless when it comes to these things.</i><BR><BR>

     

    Just from memory--some details may be wrong--but here's how I do it:

    <BR><BR>

    1. Share a folder on your Windows box (right click, select 'sharing'.) For this example the name of the Windows box is "fred" and the name of the shared folder is "share". Put everything you want to transfer into the shared folder.

    <BR><BR>2. Go to 'Finder' on your imac (easiest way: click a blank area of the desktop.)

    <BR><BR>3. From the Finder menu, select 'Go' then 'Connect to Server'

    <BR><BR>4. For server name, use "smb://fred/share"

    <BR><BR>5. Enter name and password if you set one up for that folder

    <BR><BR>

    The shared folder should show up in your finder just like a hard drive. Note that this works for either "pushing" or "pulling," i.e. you can transfer files either way through that folder. Except for sharing the folder, you'll be doing all this from the mac. I use a version of Windows from last century, so some of my Windows descriptions might have changed a little. Note that XP might have some default security settings that prevent sharing...if you have trouble come back here.

    jpg vs. tiff

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    I'm not an expert by a long shot, but I don't think this tech is right. JPEG is a "lossy" compression...it DOES lose information. I'm guessing that what he really means is that the first generation jpg will look the same as the tiff to the human eye. He may be right about that...but that's not the same as maintaining more information, as is your stated goal.

     

    I look forward to someone with a computer science degree backing me up in later posts...

    Moving Between Win & Mac With A Portable Drive

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    You might also consider a USB stick, though you might fill one up quickly depending on the type of work you are transferring. I've used various sticks between Windows, Mac, and Linux with no special preparation required of the sticks or the computers. I've never used a portable hard drive, but my hunch is that you'd be more likely to encounter problems with one of those than with a simple USB device. Plus, driving home is more difficult with the hard drive hanging from your key chain.
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