stephen t

<p>I'd second John Shriver's comments: Rodinal for slow to medium, HC110 for faster films. Get both - they last a LONG time. BUT get the earlier formula of Rodinal: Adox APH-09 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1085020-REG/adox_12055_adolux_aph_09_black.html</p>

<p>I'll be watching this thread.............I have a few myself.</p>

<p>"Not feel that artists are the only ones that matter."</p> <p>I don't think I implied that.</p>

<p>It's been said that only artists truly appreciate other artists. You have to create your art for your own spirit. I seem to remember that Van Gogh painted 83, sold 1. <br> The "magic" of photography is why I shoot film for my own enjoyment. If I only needed an image of something for some particular reason, I would use my digital Nikons, upload it to the computer, put it in the "cloud," etc. My poor little D's haven't been out of their bags in years. Boo hoo. So much for paid wedding photography gigs. Now everybody is an expert photographer with their digital slr's. And the bride and groom don't know what they are missing when Uncle Louie shoots their wedding with his brand new fancy wancy D-something he got on sale for $399. But of course, 50% of those marriages will fail, so they say, so why waste the money on professional photography? Why pay for a 16 piece big band when they can get a dj to play all new gangsta rap?<br> <br />Such is the march of technology. Remember the bag phones? Now the Star Trek communicator is in most of our pockets! That's fine. Wonder what antique bag phones are going for on eBay? Maybe I shouldn't have thrown out all those old giant phones! But I kept ALL of my old film cameras, and am still buying more. A Sinar, RB67, RZ67, Hasselblads, all used to be unobtainium in the earlier days. Now you can get 'em for a song. An offkey song, nonetheless.</p> <p>Oh well......keep shooting.......don't worry about the masses, or even your neighbors, just create your art.</p>

<p>Lex or others: Have you tried the rolls that screw together? I haven't but am considering it. After many uses, the snap caps seem to get a bit loose. Had a few frames get fogged from one popping open when unloading from the camera.</p>

<p>Howard, wouldn't Sunny Sixteen at his ISO be f16 at 1/1600, without compensation, rather than 1/3200? f22 would then be 1/800 second. Filter adding two stops would be 1/200. Sunny with clouds would be 1/100 second??</p> <p>Craig, with B&W film I bracket two stops either side of the "calculated" exposure. With color film, I would only bracket 1 stop, and with slides only 1/2 stop. By bracketing 2 stops either side with the latitude of B&W film, one of those exposures should give you a usable negative.</p>

<p>Lex, great idea re the aquarium filter. I was thinking about pitching my unused Emperor systems, but think I will hold on to them just for this purpose.</p> <p>When you use the aquarium filter for washing fiber based prints, do you use an activated charcoal filter for the filter material, or what? You may have changed my whole outlook on washing fiber prints. The thought of using umpteen gallons of water to wash a print just bugs me a bit, so I have been using RC papers for years. I don't find RC prints to have the "character" that fiber paper has.</p>

<p>John S, GREAT link! Thanks!</p>

<p>Thinking somewhere in the $2-3000 range. Don't think I remember them being under $2000. But I could be way off.</p>

<p>Making enlarged negatives is also on my future experimental to do list. The Arista film is not notched? If not, can you tell by "feel," like with RC paper?</p>

<p>Honestly, I would get the 75 AND either the 90 or the 105, since they are so reasonably priced as compared to their (in my opinion) intrinsic worth. Between the 90 and the 105, the 105 will give you a slighter greater "compression" effect that may be more pleasing in portrait type scenarios. </p> <p>If you only want to get one at a time, I would get the 90, and put the 75 next on the want list, then followed by the 105.</p>

<p>What was the problem with it? Looked promising from the picture.</p>

<p>Some say that leaving the lens out in bright sunlight for as long as you can will kill the fungus and prevent further growth. Or use a grow light if it has significant UV content.</p> <p>I believe that even if you remove the fungus, there will be a "scar" in the coating that remains. </p> <p>If there is not much of it, it probably won't affect your pics. But don't keep it with your other equipment until the fungus is dead dead dead. </p>

<p>Actually, that sounds like what seems to happen with my RB67 when there is a strong sidelight. My leak shows itself primarily in the space between frames.</p> <p>It can't be coming from the felt/foam seals, since I replaced them some time ago. Since it hasn't really adversely affected the images, I haven't "done" anything about it, but now I think I will carry a small amount of black Gorilla Tape in the bag - wouldn't hurt to tape up the darkslide slot, I don't think.</p> <p>I'll be interested to read other users' posts about this.</p>

<p>Mark, Lee sells a "snap" filter holder that holds gels. I have one along with the yellow, orange, red, and green gels that fit into the frames. Works well on my medium format and large format gear for which I don't have a dedicated filter.<br> <br />I've not noticed a difference (not to say there isn't one) in the results from the dedicated filters, but may be something you could consider for the time being.</p> <p>Here's a link<br> <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/186726-REG/LEE_Filters_Gel_Snap_3x3_4x4_Filter.html/prm/alsVwDtl">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/186726-REG/LEE_Filters_Gel_Snap_3x3_4x4_Filter.html/prm/alsVwDtl</a></p>

<p>Why use Photo Flo BEFORE rinsing? I always use afterwards. I never squeegee for fear of scratching. Should I reconsider?</p>

<p>I've heard that Rodinal is better used with faster, conventional emulsion films. Thus, would HC110 be a better choice for the APX100??</p> <p>But I've not seen grain quite like that image either from a 100 speed film. Maybe an issue with those rolls of film?</p>

<p>Larry, how do you use the butane? It seems like I recall seeing some small butane cylinders using in silver soldering, but I don't recall the hardware............do you attach a flexible hose?</p>

<p>I also would vote for the normal room temperature, ASSUMING air conditioning in the hot, humid areas. Need to keep the air moving a bit wherever you store your materials - a closet may not be the best solution.</p>

<p>Is a small cylinder of propane carefully used inherently more dangerous in a darkroom than natural gas is to a house that uses it for heating, cooking, heating water, or for drying clothes? Frankly, I think not.</p> <p>Perhaps more so than electrical wiring may be, but even wiring can cause quite a commotion under some circumstances. </p> <p>I think judicious use of "stuff" may mitigate somewhat it's inherent dangers.</p>

<p>I've heard that the wine vacuum do-dads don't produce enought of a vacuum to be effective.</p> <p>Bruce, have you tried it with chems other than XTOL? </p>

<p>I also use a small propane cylinder with a clear plastic hose attached to the burner and SLOWLY add the gas to the amber glass boston rounds that I use. Get your chemicals out of the plastic containers.<br> One of the RV propane gas detectors mounted at floor level will be added to the darkroom in the near future. Cheap insurance.</p>

<p>Question for all:</p> <p>I have been using Ilford Rapid Fixer at 1:4 (one-shot use) for 5 minutes following a 10 sec. stop. The developer is Ilfosol 3. I use both TMax and Ilford films. Small tank development.</p> <p>I haven't noticed any problems, but should I increase my fix time as a preventative measure?</p> <p>Is Lubos' stop time excessive at a minute and a half? I can't see how it could hurt??</p>

<p>It's very easy to replace the light seals - I use black wool yarn of the appropriate diameter and it lay in the grooves in the camera back; it usually sticks by itself to the old seals. If not, Pliobond (easy to find at an Ace Hardware).<br> Larger areas require self adhesive black felt found in small sheets at any hobby store.<br> Give it a try and run a test roll - it has always worked for me.</p>