linas_kudzma

Nathan,

Welcome to the club! I shouldn't really comment on the platinum vs.

silver question, because I'm one of the few oddballs who have

actually made more Pd/Pt prints than silver prints. However, my

results with Pd/Pt have been very satisfying after a short learning

period. Short, mainly because of the excellent Weese/Sullivan book!

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I'm not too enamored with the POP Ziatype, because the contrast can

be too low for my taste. Although, this may be due to lack of

experience with Zia contrast control and is very subjective. I saw

fantastic Ziatypes at this year's APIS meeting that far exceeded what

I�ve accomplished with Zia. I�m happiest with my traditional develop-

out Pd/Pt prints and most recently have switched to the Pt+4 approach

for contrast control. Bostick & Sullivan call their Pt+4 salt "Na2

Platinum". Lately, I�ve started to develop my negatives using Sandy

King's Pyrocat-HD (see: unblinkingeye.com) and have found it to be a

very good developer for Pd/Pt negatives.

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I shoot 8x10 and very recently 8x20 on a crude, but functional,

homebuilt 8x20 back. Best of luck with your Pd/Pt printing and Happy

New Year!

Todd,

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Many good descriptions of how people work. Let me add mine. If

shooting 4x5, I pack my Wista SP a few lenses and Readyload holder,

film, etc. in a backpack and hike (hand carrying my tripod) as many

miles as I care to. I�m in decent shape so this is no problem. My

8x10 gear is another story. I have local areas in New Jersey that I

shoot where a car ride and short walk does the trick. Far-flung spots

are scouted before hand and I return at the right time with my gear

in any way that�s possible. My most extreme case was climbing a steep

mile long trail in Puerto Rico with 30+ pounds of gear in the dark to

get to a spot before sunrise and focusing at the instant when there

was just enough light to see the image on the ground glass. I got a

tremendously gratifying image that I had to shoot before the sun

fully cleared the horizon to avoid my own shadow in the picture. What

you do is only a matter of how motivated (or insane) you are.

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Good shooting.

Sharon,

The calculator at the below site will be useful.

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http://www.frii.com/~mbaltuch/HyperFocal.html

My Wista SP metal field camera is incredibly fast to set up. Pop it

open and go. A big plus is that it�s more stable than ANY wood field

camera I've ever seen, and costs less than a Linhof. The Wista metal

fields are much under appreciated.

Update: For anyone that might be interested, my homebrew 8x20 camera

back is built and this particular 480 Ronar (details above) does

indeed cover 8x20" at small f-stops focused to about 50 feet or so.

All published specs seemed to imply that it would not cover, but it

does.

Oren,

As everyone has said, I think you have to measure your specific

camera. I just finished building a 8x20" camera back for a single

vintage 8x20" holder I found for a very reasonable price.

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I'm assuming that my holder is a Korona (no markings, can anyone

confirm this?). I say this because to my knowledge only Korona made a

8x20 banquet camera. My holder is 9.5" wide and the aforementioned

3/8" deep to the film. Actually, a bit deeper on one side ... I hope

DOF will compensate, because I split the difference on my ground

glass frame.

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My first "test drive" of this camera will hopefully be this weekend.

I can fully understand some people not wanting to pay ~$60 for a

Darkroom Innovations darkcloth. However, if money is not in very

short suppy, do yourself a favor and get one. IMO it's be best, if

not the most frugal, solution.

Thanks to all who have answered! In fact, I do have a lens that I

know will cover 8x20 (14� Dagor). I was specifically interested in

the limits of coverage with the 480 Ronar from anyone with >personal

experience<. I love the Ronar on my 8x10, it�s an amazingly sharp and

contrasty lens even stopped way down to f90 and even f128 (I contact

print so I get away with such stuff). As for the Fuji lens

recommendation, I�m sure you are right. I have several Fuji lenses

for 4x5 and they are fantastic. I saw the Fuji 600 this weekend at

PhotoPlus in NYC on a Wisner built monster sized Polaroid camera.

That 600mm lens is one big hunk of glass!!

Alex,

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Thanks for the answer and the Rodenstock link. The 46-degree angle

stated in that link confirms what I�ve seen elsewhere. The thing that

confuses me is that 19� Atars are reputed to cover 8x20 but have the

same angle. The Atars shouldn�t cover, but supposedly do. Do they?

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Is it true that the APO Ronar and Atars are a similar optical design?

Well now I'm really disappointed. I have a 14� Dagor with no bubbles.

Apparently I have a crappy one ;).

Seriously, I have other older lenses, like a 207mm Ektar with some

bubbles. Let me tell you, there is no problem with sharpness there.

Don�t worry, just go shoot and enjoy.

Hello folks,

Anyone know from personal experience if a 480 mm Ronar would cover 8x20 inches stopped way down? Shooting at f90 (or smaller) won�t be a problem, I already do this with 8x10 and contact print in Pd/Pt. Any diffraction issues are a non-problem to my eye. The exact lens in question is a barrel Rodenstock-chemco-Apo-Ronar 1:9 f=480/19in. serial# 5 982 151. I was told this lens came from a scrapped newspaper copy camera. I don�t know what the �chemco� indicates, I�m assuming the lens is the same design as a �normal� APO Ronar. Is this correct?

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I�m hoping to use this lens with an as yet unfinished homebuilt 8x20 camera. I�ll answer my own coverage question eventually, however was wondering�.

Hey, at least you know that it's a bellows. There's a guy who often

posts on ebay (I think he buys and resells restored view cameras) who

CONSISTENTLY calls them "billows". I find this quite funny. Yeah, I

know, I'm easily amused.

Sandy,

Late last year I saw the first woman in the field with a view camera.

It was in a place called Ken Lockwood Gorge in New Jersey. I was going

to stop over and saw hello, but she was busily setting up a shot so I

didn't want to bother her (like everyone does me). Later she was gone.

Not many females lugging around all this gear. They may indeed have

more sense :)

Nathan,

I've never tried Palladio paper, but there really is no need to use

precoated paper. Buy Richard Sullivan and Carl Weese's book "The New

Platinum Print" and buy some chemicals from www.bostick-sullivan.com.

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I found it remarkably easy to start making Pd/Pt prints on handcoated

paper, and the contrast and color control you have when coating your

own is fantastic. Bostick & Sullivan sell Cranes Cover paper (they

call it "Platinotype") which coats consistently and reproducibly. When

you get more experience, try other papers. I recommend that you start

with what Sullivan/Weese call the "Ziatype". It's a print out process

that allows you to fine-tune the UV exposure by inspection as you

print. Very convenient if you use sunlight!

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Linas

Saulius,

Lois Conner in her book "China" said something along the lines of:

photography gives us an excuse to look closer. I feel this is very

true. Like you, I feel that the process of LF photography is akin to

meditation. The doing is the thing. If you actually capture the image

you wanted, that's a plus.

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Kur jus givenat?

Don,

Wisner 4x5 boards are EXACTLY the same dimensions as original B&J

Press boards. Years ago I began shooting LF on a B&J Press camera and

found the very showy Wisner boards look really nice on the B&J Press!

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Linas