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maris_rusis

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Everything posted by maris_rusis

  1. Yes! I have an air-conditioner and I set it at 24c (75F) and let the film processing chemistry and wash water stabilise at that temperature. For example my Xtol-R developing time of 11m 15s at 68F goes to 7m 40s at 75F. Easy to do, stable, and reproducible. And the air-con is also very nice for the photographer especially on a day like today topping out at 39C.
  2. In my darkroom one litre of working strength Dektol mixed at 1+2 from the concentrate will develop 12 Ilford Multigrade Classic FB prints in the 11X14 inch size. In theory the use of the factorial development technique could extend this number of prints. In practice I get too tired after making a dozen good 11X14s so I call it a day and discard the used Dektol.
  3. I use replenished Xtol stock solution for all films. Replenishment rate for me is 90ml per film which gives a cost of about 30 cents per film. This batch of Xtol was first started in November 2021 and is still working perfectly. I find developing time for medium contrast with nearly all films is 11 minutes 15 seconds at 20 Celcius.
  4. Just checked out Shanghai GP3 film to find it is available in 127 format. The listing I saw offered a brick of 10 rolls for $140. I've shot this film in 220 format and it is not bad when exposed at EI = 25 according to my tests.
  5. Here's an example of Ilford Delta 3200 shot at E.I. 1000 and given 3 stops extra to compensate for the red filter. The high speed film was needed for hand held work while maintaining good detail and permitting small f-stops for adequate depth of field. Near Cardrona, NZ Gelatin-silver photograph on Ilford Classic VC FB photographic paper, image size 16.3cm X 21.5cm, from a 68 format Ilford Delta 3200 negative exposed in a Fuji GSW680 camera fitted with a #25 red filter.
  6. To get good head and shoulders portraits out of the Rolleiflex system without being too close to the subject and thereby avoiding big noses and small ears: The best way ($$$) is to use a Tele-Rollei with its 135mm lenses. Second best ($$$) is to attach the Mutar 1.5X equipment. Third best ($$$) is to install the Rolleikin 35mm equipment. The standard Rolleiflex lens becomes a portrait focal length on the 35mm format. Fourth best and cheapest is photograph from 1.5 metres away and just crop. The negative will be more than good enough. Those portraits of Jacob Israel Avedon were controversial at the time for their harshness and sadness and do include some distortion because of the close camera position.
  7. I've shot hundreds of sheets of Fomapan 100 in 4x5 and 8x10 formats and faced with your scene my exposure would have been 1/30 @ f16. No need to use a light meter for this very familiar lighting arrangement. In difficult lighting where I do use a spot meter I set Fomapan 100 at an exposure index of 50, read the darkest shadow where a trace of detail is wanted, and give two stops less than the meter reading. This enables the darkest shadow detail to fall on Zone III where it should be, I think. My developer is Xtol replenished but it's activity is not radically different to Rodinal. Adequate exposure (or a trace more) is good for Fomapan 100.
  8. I've had this with Paterson reels and tanks and beat it by increasing the volume of developer and fixer so that foam layer that forms on processing solutions during agitation is well above the top edge of film. It's those little bubbles that hold back developer contact with the film that cause the spots. Reels contaminated with a trace of wetting agent (eg PhotoFlo) are often the thing that provokes bubble formation. The developer volume for a 120 format roll film is specified as 500ml but I'll give 550ml at least. I use XTOL replenished so the extra developer volume returns to the stock bottle not down the drain. Curiously, I found that putting a loaded reel down into a tank with my right hand inverts the film with respect to the way the film went through the camera. Hence the spots at the top of the picture. With the left hand the spots were at the bottom of the picture. Problem solved years ago and never to recur. I hope.
  9. The classic and best bellows repair tape is 3M type 850 Black Polyester Tape. It's very black, very thin, with a strong non-creep, non-bleed adhesive. It is is expensive.
  10. I've tried several variable neutral density filters based on the principle of contra-rotating polarisers and they all have limitations: Polarisation efficiency is not the same for all wavelengths of light. As the filter is adjusted to maximum density colour casts appear. Polarisation efficiency is compromised by oblique rays not being polarised the same as normal (straight through) rays. Fully crossed polarisers seen from a distance might look uniformly dark but up close, like when screwed onto a lens, the dreaded "dark cross effect" appears. The ND effect is not uniform over the field of view. The slightest strain, mechanical or thermal for example, introduces a twist in the plane of polarisation somewhere in the filter (usually near the edge) and again non-uniform ND is the result. All of these problems are most severe at or near maximum ND. For example I tested a Variable ND filter marketed as a ND1000 (about 10 stops) and it was useable up to about 5 stops. That's when I bought a solid 10 stop ND filter...works perfectly.
  11. It could be a valid proposition that the picture was never a photograph; merely looked like one. Except for the visually naive, and I fear the judges of the "prestigious photo award" may be (unfairly?) counted among their number, it takes about 2 seconds to see the picture is a product of AI. Look at the hand of the figure at the back. That hand is impossibly distorted and is a signal that AI was at work. AI just doesn't do hands properly for a number of reasons including too small a data base, "hands are complicated", and human sensitivity to "wrong hands". AI may be entertaining but it is just the latest gotcha that will deceive a cohort of victims who work on the basis "looks like" means "same as".
  12. I agree with c_watson1 that Henri Cartier-Bresson was the scion of a very rich family. He never had to work and lived an indulged and privileged life. How does a young man who has never done a tap of paid employment start photography with an expensive Leica camera that would cost a labourer half a years wages? One precaution in studying the career of Henri Cartier-Bresson is to cautiously discount everything he said or wrote about himself or his activities. I see the hagiography by je ne regrette rien as not a convincing guide to the real Henri Cartier-Bresson.
  13. Yes, the Lubitel is simple but the triplet lens is ok. I've shot my Lubitel against my Rolleicord IV and image quality is basically the same at f16 and f22. Not because the Lubitel is good or the Rollei bad but because both are diffraction limited at those apertures. At the Lubitel maximum aperture of f4.5 the image is soft/sharp sometimes called "butter smooth" and possibly good for portraits or experiments if nothing else.
  14. I've shot a lot of Ilford SFX 200 in the 120 format through a IR720 filter. The filter came from China via eBay at a remarkably cheap price compared to the famous brands. I selected a 82mm diameter screw-in filter with a variety of inexpensive step-down adapter rings so that I can securely attach it to any of my lenses. Because this filter blocks nearly 100% of visible light and transmits wavelengths of 720 nanometres and longer it enables SFX to display infrared image with a visible Wood effect for most green vegetation. Skies and water surfaces tend to go black and clouds stand out dramatically. The filter factor I use is 5 stops which means SFX has an effective infrared speed of E.I. = 6. SFX is sensitive to wavelengths only up to about 760nm so it cannot see through a IR850 filter and no images will result however long the exposure.
  15. I reckon the lightest medium format camera that can deliver good image quality is the Lubitel 166. My example weighs 587g (1 pound 4.8 ounces American). It shoots both 6X4.5 and 6X6 formats. They have not been made for some years but there are a lot out there. Prices vary up and down from $100 or thereabouts.
  16. HC-110 has a legendary long shelf life. My original bottle of HC-110 dates from 1996, is half full, and works as it should. I use it one-shot style to develop strange, unusual, or unknown films that people sometimes bring me. All other films get developed in a seasoned batch of Replenished Xtol which I wouldn't risk with an unknown film.
  17. I like photographic prints with a full tonal scale from black to white but the "beating heart" of the photograph is the run of mid-tones. Maximum black is reserved for tiny areas like bare twigs against a sky or deep hollows in wood. Similarly maximum white is reserved for tiny specular highlights where the eye would not expect to see detail. Hinging a printing strategy on these mini black/white details surrenders creative control of the most important part of the photograph - those mid-tones. Or so I reckon. As for film exposure I try to give maximum useable exposure. Film is a reservoir of spatial and luminance information and more exposure means more information until the highlights get blocked. I know where this limit is and work just below it. And at the printing stage any lower negative density can be rendered as black, any higher density as white. With modern variable contrast enlarging papers and a bit of practice in burning and dodging I find negative densities don't necessarily mandate particular tone values in the positive.
  18. I shoot a lot of 120 format Delta 3200 rated at E.I. = 1000 which is about its true "non-pushed" speed. Development in my darkroom is via Replenished Xtol. Development time is adjusted according to the temperature of the developer, fixer, and wash water which should be all the same. Recent examples that worked well here include: 4 minutes 10 seconds at 30 Celcius 11 minutes 15 seconds at 20 Celcius 18 minutes at 15 Celcius I must say that the development of Delta 3200, a low contrast film, is not particularly critical, say +/- 10%. What is critical is adequate exposure or even a bit more. Delta 3200 is often used for dark subjects which tend to be ungenerous in delivering useful shadow detail.
  19. It is possible to use a Mamiya RB67 Pro back on a Pro-S or Pro-SD camera. The catch is that the old Pro backs had no mechanical link with the camera body except for the double exposure warning window at the left/top of the film back. In effect the Pro back doesn't "know" that an exposure has been made and therefore the wind lever stays locked until the film wind-stop release lever is pushed in the direction of the little arrow. After this is done wind the film advance lever to go to the next frame. The newer Pro-S and Pro-SD backs do have a mechanical link with their respective camera bodies so the film wind-stop release lever is only useful if it necessary to wind the film on without firing the camera.
  20. I've used Paterson tanks, old style System 4 and new style Super System 4, since the 1970s and have never seen a light leak. But out of the thousands of 120 films developed over the years maybe a hundred or so show a bit of edge fogging on one or both sides. The cause for me has been the so called "fat roll" problem. Some cameras don't put enough tension on the film which means the take-up spool isn't wound tightly enough and some light can sneak past the edges of the backing paper and touch the film. The light strike happens when unloading the camera.
  21. Getting my second eye done day after tomorrow. First eye was a month ago and I went for clear distance vision supplemented with ordinary reading glasses for close work. The main reason for me was optic free night vision while car driving in traffic. The absence of flare, glare, and light haloes just feels, and probably is, safer.
  22. I was detained at Canberra airport, believe it or not, over a cable release. The X-ray guy said "Sir, there is a suspicious thing in your bag". The bag was emptied and X-rayed again but the thing was still there. Finally the cable release was discovered nestled in the curved seam of the bag. He asked what it does and I demonstrated its operation. What he saw was: "You press a button at one end and a sharp thing jumps out at the other end." Definitely maybe possibly dangerous! A security officer wearing elbow length thick leather gloves came and took the cable release and carried it at arm's length down the corridor behind the X-ray station. People coming up the corridor flattened themselves against the opposite wall as he went past. About a half hour later the cable release was handed back to me and I was told I was free to go. I didn't miss the connecting flight. When you are not in control of what happens next it is good that things end well.
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