dave_flanagan

You guys rock. Vielen Dank!

dave

Hello all,

I moved to Germany, and I'm looking for the equivalent of B&H for buying film and

developing chemicals. (I spent all afternoon in Frankfurt today, but the only store that

might have had Xtol was closed.)

Do any of our German readers have suggestions?

Thanks,

Dave

I thought that the shutter mechanism was the same in the RD-1 as in the Bessa R and R2.

If so, there are always two shutters between the outside world and the sensor-- the outer,

18% grey one, and the actual timing shutter. The sensor should stay relatively dust-free,

given all that protection.

I would suggest reading Ansel Adams' The Negative if you are interested in the reasons

why determining your personal exposure index (EI) is important. There is a lot of

misinformation on the Internet (in particular, I cringe when I read that people have one EI

for indoors, and a second EI for outdoors).

One important reason in particular for determining your EI when you scan film is to reduce

the size of your film grain. By minimizing your exposure, you can produce finer grain with

a given film/developer combination. I was able to appreciably reduce the grain in my

HP5+/Xtol images.

Another misconception is that EI determines contrast (shadow detail, etc.). When you

measure EI, you are determining the minimum amount of exposure that will produce a

measurable density. Film development time determines contrast, and is assessed in a

second

test after you determine your EI for a given film/developer combination.

If you have access to a film scanner, then you have an uncalibrated densitometer. You can

use a step wedge from Stouffer (about $20) to calibrate your scanner to use it as a

densitometer. I performed a film test with HP5/Xtol 1:1, and found that the Calumet

measured densities and my calibrated film scanner densities agreed within +/- 0.02

density units. It also revealed that I could shoot HP5 2/3 of a stop faster.

Cheers,

Dave

It doesn't work on the Dual Scan IV either. But it takes a lot of processing time.

I scan almost exclusively silver halide black & white, so Digital ICE wasn't an option either.

In the end, keeping the negatives clean is the best way to reduce time spent spotting.

Dave

<em>I like doing what they do on TV medical dramas and shooting the syringe up in the

air to get rid of air bubbles from the Rodinal. Not really, but it's easy to measure 6ml this

way and not get 5ml Rodinal and 1ml air.</em><p>

But they're not shooting concentrated NaOH up in the air on TV!

Stephen may have taken the information down because he will not be selling the cameras.

He mentioned on the CVUG list last week that Epson will be using their own network of

distributors for the R-D1.

Dan,

You might want to check Target for the paper. I didn't want to spend $25 at hp.com on a

20 pack of 8x10" glossy, was ready to spend $20 at Office Max, and found it for $15 at

Target. I wasn't looking for the 4x6", but it might be worth investigating.

Dave

Actually, I think the dual-shutter mechanism will go a long way towards preventing dust

on the sensor. On a digital SLR, the only thing between the sensor and the outside world

(when the lens is off) is the mirror-- certainly not a hermetic seal. The two shutters on the

Bessa should prevent dust from getting in, even when changing lenses. An occasional

Dust-Off of the outer shutter may also help.

Additionally, since the Bessa shutters are metal and not cloth, I would anticipate less of a

problem with dust from shutter curtain aging with the Bessa than with a digital M.

Dave

Another vote for the HP 7660 and No. 59 cartridge. At first, I had a problem with a pattern

showing up in flat grey areas (see the comments in the review on this site for an example).

But, switching from the default quality setting of "Best" to "Maximum dpi" improved it

significantly. I'm printing 8"x10" enlargements from 35mm, and the grain from the scan is

larger than any pattern from the printer (ie, you can't see it). Wonderful, deep blacks, and

bright white from the paper. I'm going through my old negatives and reprinting many of

my favorites.

Dave

I got this error as well, after it hung in the middle of a scan. But, restarting the computer

worked for me. Try unplugging both the USB and the power cable to the scanner-- it may

still be drawing power and telling the computer it's there, even when the front light is off.

(My printer does that.)

Deleting the Dual Scan preferences file may help. Search for "minolta" in your ~/Library/Preferences folder.

Hope you can fix it,

Dave

<a href="http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?

url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.itmedia.co.jp%2Fpcupdate%2Farticles%2F0402%2F13%2Fnews003

.html&lp=ja_en&tt=url">Link</a></p>

Looks definitely like a prototype, and no info on resolution etc. But something about

announcing (or shipping?) by March.<p>

Dave

I use a current Summicron 50/2 on a Bessa R2, it's a very nice combination. I get the

benefits of Leica glass, and I can upgrade the body if I want to later. Don't let all the

"pale comparison," "cheaply made" BS get you down-- I would be defensive if I

dropped big $$ on a camera, too.

And if one more Leica M body user says that the Bessa is overpriced for what you get,

I may be forced to point out kettles and pots and shades of black. 8)

What can you do with the Highlight/Shadow feature that you can't do with Curves?

Dave

The R2 may feel cheap next to an M3, but not so compared to most of the cameras

out

there. (My other camera is a Rolleiflex, so I do know how "not-cheap" feels.) Stephen

Gandy will repair them, so yes, there is a US repair facility. I don't think the body is

light-weight, but I do have the triggerwinder mounted on the bottom which may

increase the mass. I also don't think the finish is delicate-- I take care of my cameras,

but the paint hasn't worn off after using it for about a year now.

I use it with a Summicron 50 and a CV 28/3.5, and it handles and shoots well with

both lenses. The viewfinder is nice and bright, and comfortable with glasses. I don't

notice any shutter lag. The shutter may be louder than a Leica, but it has a distinctive,

higher-pitched "click" which exaberates the problem. The tradeoff: higher sync speed.

(Again, when I want to be quiet, I use the Rollei.)

Overall, I've been satisfied with the R2, and would recommend it to anybody who

wants a new (or newish) camera with a meter that takes M-mount lenses and doesn't

want to drop more than $1000.

Cheers,

Dave

I disagree with Donald. The R2 is a fine camera compared with 95% of the cameras out

there. Unfortunately (for some people), it is in the same category of the highest-

quality, and most expensive, 35 mm camera, the Leica M.

If you do photography for a living and can deduct it as a business expense, buy the

Leica. If you have the means to buy other luxury goods, like Louis Vuitton bags and

Rolexes, buy a Leica.

If you're getting started with your first rangefinder, and aren't sure if it is for you, and

you don't want to be one of those people posting "FS: Leica MP, 35/1.4 Summilux

ASPH, only used for two rolls" in three months, buy the Bessa. It is a very user-friendly

system.

Cheers,

Dave

Class: no-par value shares<p>

Subscribed capital: �11.504 million<p>

Number of shares admitted: 4.5 million<p>

Shareholders (as of June 24, 2003):<br>

- Free float: 40.9%<br>

- Hermès International SCA: 31.5%<br>

- Deutsche Steinindustrie AG: 14.0%<br>

- Lancet Holding B.V.: 13.6%<p>

Lenswork magazine uses this process to make their <a href="http://

www.lenswork.com/lwsprimer1.htm">Special Editions</a>.<p>

I found it interesting that they chose to use a (very, very fine) halftone screen (rows of

dots, like in a newspaper or magazine) rather than a stochastic screen (random

placement of dots, like the output your inkjet printer makes). The rationale behind

this is to prevent misrepresentation of their prints as originals. Both screens produce

faithful reproductions of the original to the naked eye, but you can use a loupe to see

the halftone screen of the reproduction. They say that the stochastic screen would be

indistinguishable, since silver grain is essentially random

dots.<P>

Dave

While you're in Pasadena, check out the <a href="http://www.huntington.org/

LibraryDiv/Westonexhibit.html">Edward Weston exhibit</a> at the Huntington.<p>

Cheers,<br>

Dave (of Pasadena)

I've gone ahead and read Dan Burkholder's <a href="http://www.danburkholder.com/

Pages/main_pages/book_info_main_page1.htm">Digital Negatives for Contact

Printing,</a> and now I'm looking for a service bureau with a 4800 dpi imagesetter

that has

some experience with printing digital negatives. Does anybody have

recommendations for bureaus they have used besides the ones Dan mentions on his

site? They appear to be limited to 3600 dpi, and I'd like to find an imagesetter with

the higher resolution.<p>

Thanks,<br>

Dave

One thing to be careful of is the Digital ICE feature on the Coolscan. It needs to be

turned off if you're scanning silver halide (ie, regular) B&W film, because it interprets

the silver crystals as dust to be fixed. It's fine with chromogenic B&W film (XP2, etc.)

that uses dye clouds, though.<p>

The file size, and thus the resolution, will depend on the resolution of your output

device. Whether it will be equivalent to wet darkroom results, well, I don't know. I've

recently started reading about the "digital negatives" that LensWork uses to make

their prints. You might want to do a search on that as well.<p>

Good Luck,<br>

Dave