aslan_ivo

COmputer components are all the same -- doesn't matter if they have a Dell brand on the hood. Could save yourself some bucks there.

Can someone help me wade through the thicket of Polaroid and other

instant films? I find their system of classification confusing.

 

Basically, I have obtained a Polaroid 360 Land Camera. It seems to

work (needs batteries) and I need to know what types of films it

will accept.

 

I understand that it takes pack film, which is being discontinued.

Does that mean that there are no other options for this camera?

 

Ideally, I'd be interested in B&W film that provides a negative.

I gather that the 665 film does provide a negative & would go with

this camera, but has been discontinued.

 

So including color, what are my choices?

I tried shaking the tank more roughly to get better agitation and more even development -- it worked, sorta, but the films started popping out of their slots too!

I have recently tried to develop 4x5 in a Yankee Tank but the film

slots seem to result in uneven development. I assume this is my fault

for not agitating enough to really get the developer swirling around

the film - right?

So, having fixed the sticky shutter problem, I put a roll of film in

the camera to try it out, and discovered another problem -- the

uptake spool is incapable of rotating when it encounters the

slightest resistance, so it can't pull the film out of the film

spool. The winding lever moves fine, and the uptake spool rotates

fine too when there's no film attached to it. But when I attach the

film leader to the uptake spool and turn the winding lever, the spool

doesn't rotate. It just stays motionless as the lever turns.

Hmmm...what could this be caused by? Stripped gears of some?

Well, I think I managed to fix the sticky shutter, sorta.

 

I removed the top chrome part of the camera by removing the three screws that hold it to the rest of the body (two on each side, one under the winding lever) as well as the pleather around the lens assembly on the front of the body. I saw that the lens assembly was attached to the body by four screws -- removing them allowed me to remove the entire lens assembly from the front of the camera body. Then, I removed the three tiny screws holding the focusing ring and then I unscrewed the rear lens element using a simple homemade lens wrench. Then, I dunked the whole assembly minus the lens elements into a bowl of 91% alcohol, shook it around a bit, cocked and fired the shutter a few times etc. then did the same in a second alcohol bath, and then placed it in front of a warm hair dryer on top of some paper towels as I continued to cock and release the shutter and dabbed the shutter and diaphram blades with a q-tip until all the alcohol evaporated and the shutter/diaphram was dry.

 

Then, I cleaned and replaced the element and put the lens assembly back together and attached it onto the body again. Everything sorta just went back together without a problem -- rangefinder seems to be still accurate as before, shutter clicks and doesn't stick at all. The grease around the focusing ring had accumulated some grit, which I cleaned. Having very lightly regreased the bushing, it is now moves silky smooth.

 

The biggest problem I had as with three pins that kinda fell out of lens assembly but I think I got them back in the right places after some fiddling. They seems to be involved in the rangefinder mechanism and the in focusing.

 

I say I was only "sorta" successful because of two problems

 

1- I lost the tiny screw that goes behind the winding lever. The other two screws are holding the top chrome part to the camera body by themselves, so losing one of the screws is not a major catastrophy, but I'll have to get a replacement for that screw -- maybe a watch repair place will have them?

 

2- I wonder whether the shutter mechanism requires some sort of special lubrication, which obviously I removed with the alcohol but did not replace. I'm not sure. Anyway, as long as the shutter doesn't stick anymoe, I think it can survive without lube for the few pictures that I plan on taking with this camera for now. It was fun taking it apart anyway!

I have obtained recently a second Vito CLR that seems to work fine

(even the lightmeter) but has a sticky shutter. It speeds up after a

few clicks, but then goes back to being sticky. So, is this

something that I can repair myself, or can anyone recommend a good

place to send it? Thanks mucho.

My Jobo tanks fits two reels of 4x5, or three Paterson reels set to 120 film size. Indeed, the Patersons fit loosely around the Jobo spindle, but they appear to otherwise appear to be OK. I think the tank will require more chemicals than a normal Paterson but not by much. I guess I'll spend the weekend developing to be sure.

I will be traveling soon, and plan to develop my own bw film (4x5 and

120 roll) Needless to say I want to minimize luggage bulk. I have a

Jobo tank for 4x5 development with 2 reels, and a patterson tank with

reels for 120 film development. So, my question is, can I use the 120

Patterson reels inside the Jobo, so I can use that for developing

both types of film rather than take both types of tanks? I am pretty

sure the reels fit on the Jobo tank spindle.

Analog meters are just fine. Sekonic L-398M Studio Deluxe II is an industry standard, about $140.

Lighting the Nude by Rod Ashford

oh and the picture I posted way above is of Lawrence's railroad camera.

One of the links on my blog is to a longish article on Lawrence's camera that was used to take that photograph of SF post-quake. Apparently, he made some very interesting alterations to the shutter to ensure depth of field to get the horizon sharp: The shutter hole was opened more in the bottom than on the top! The stuff he did --lifting cameras with 17 kits and reloading it in midair?? The man was a real genius.

 

The link's here somewhere

http://aslanivo.wordpress.com/2005/12/22/try-hanging-that-in-your-living-room/

OK, so what was the world's largest photograph ever taken? FILM

photograph, that is. On a SINGLE negative.

 

http://aslanivo.wordpress.com/2005/12/22/try-hanging-that-in-your-living-room/<div></div>

I'll be posting these and more on my new site: http://aslanivo.wordpress.com

 

While one camera-phone image was printed on average per month in 2004, one image is being printed every three months in 2005.

 

The entry megapixel level of new camera purchases has increased, with about half of all digital cameras sold now in the 5-Mpixel range and higher.

 

Women are buying most digital cameras. Women purchased 53% of all digital cameras sold from May to July this year. Women are more than tech savvy. They also demand reliable and intuitive products.

 

Another survey by estimates that 77% of mobile handsets will be camera phones by 2010.

 

Sales of digital cameras increased 25% from January through July this year compared to the same period in 2004. Also, sales of 35-mm cameras declined 32.9% in the same period this year.

According to the British science magazine New Scientist, "Blurry

snaps could be a thing of the past with the development of a digital

camera that refocuses photos after they have been taken. The camera

could be useful for action shots taken by sports photographers or

for CCTV surveillance cameras, which often produce fuzzy shots due

to poor lighting."

US Plastic sells em for about $40 each, which is expensive . . .

http://www.usplastic.com

OK so I plan on taking a lot of portrait shots of people I meet on the

street as I travel in a developing country, and I'd like to be able to

give them a copy of their pictures on the spot. I don't want to haul

my expensive, heavy polaroid-capable cameras around. I was considering

using a Holga with a polaroid back, but I'm not happy with the

quality. So, I was also considering using a portable digital printer

instead. Is there a Canon XT compatible, portable battery-operated

printer which will allow me to take several pictures, hook it up to

the camera, and print out a selected photo, on the spot in a short

amount of time?

I have to decide in a week!

Plain old white vinegar diluted 1:5 in water. Cheap, safe, and good on salad too. Buy a plastic gallon jug, less than $1.50 in my town.

PS instead of marine paint, try using the stuff that is used to cover bar tops. Kleer Koat is one brand name that comes to mind. Just mix well and pour, then spread around with a flat-bladed plastic spatula. Wait a day, repeat.

In general using a single piece is always the best bet, but if that just can't be done, then you don't have much of a choice! People build wooden kayaks out of multiple pieces of wood, covered with fibreglass sheeting and epoxy, and there's no leakage if the joints are tight and the epoxy is done right.

 

My darkroom sink has a single piece bottom, but there's no leakage along the sides where the bottom section connects to the sink walls thanks to the many layers of epoxy I used (no fibre glass sheeting used - just epoxy over wood) The trick was to pour the stuff as the sink was held up at an angle, thus ensuring that the thickest epoxy ooze dried on the cracks between the pieces of wood. I covered the sink in this way, and it has withstood the test of time (for now>>>)

Any one have any experiences with the Polaroid Holga 120s,

particularly and "street" or "people" photography? If I buy one, is

there anything in particular I should look out for?

 

So I was considering taking a Holga Polaroid 120S on a trip involving

a lot of people portraits in a developing country, where getting a

photograph of yourself isn't something that's commonly affordable. I

want to be able to give my subject a picture of themselves after the

shot, but I don't want to haul my other (expensive, delicate)

polaroid-capable cameras with me. I assume this camera is light, easy

and quick to use, not fussy, and produces an instant picture for the

delight of the subject whilst also giving me the negative to use in

my darkroom back at home. I know the quality will suffer greatly but

not quite sure what to expect. I undertand that they take Polaroid 85

film. I have no experience using polaroid film, or a holga.

PS Using superglue worked OK -- just waited for it to dry totally. I saw the same CSI!

PS -- the superglue thing worked -- I just waited for the stuff to totally dry. I saw the same CSI!

Thanks everyone for all the tips. My first roll came out pretty much just fine without a rangefinder.

 

It would be easier to locate on of them gosh-darned EXTERNAL rangefinders (keep up David!) on ebay if there was a way of narrowing the search parameters -- right now I get tons of regular rangefinder cameras! Anyway, a friend has a watameter and I'll be trying it out. I wonder if one of them laser thingies can substitute . . .