christer_almqvist2

Paris photographers call the Boulevard Beaumarchais Boulevard des Voleurs (thieves). They

refer to the shops then...

I have dealt with Meister (bought and sold) several times and I have always been completely

satisfied.

Why not travel to Tokyo? You may find a second Leica underneath the back seat. Then you

have two.

QUESTION ASKED ABOVE: By the way, how do you carry two cameras at the same time (if any

of you do)? I do not enjoy weighing myself down with a heavy or cumbersome kitbag.

REPLY: Take the lens off one of them and put that one in your pocket. If you need two lenses,

buy a lens holder that fits underneath the (other) camera.

BTW, for me it is 2x M7

For nice grain I would recommend Rodinal developer diluted 1+25. Any film will do. TMX

less than other.

TMZ gives a grainy impression with every developer, some more, some less.

You may wish to try TMX developer. If you read the instructions carefully you will see that

some development time suggestions (Yes, that's what they are) are shown in bold. There

is a reason for this.

Have fun.

Chris

Perhaps your thermometer is of a very slow reacting type. If it takes more than 15 seconds to

indicate a 5 degree C/10 degree F change, then it is probably impractical for film processing.

What type thermometer do you have? Digital? Analogue?

Last year I had a lot of exposed film when going thru CDG and I asked for a hand check.

No problem, they said, but it will take some time. I had plenty of time so I said OK. They

swiped each individual canister and checked the swiped cloth in some sort of analyser.

There is no way in the world they could offer this service except on an exceptional basis.

The staff was polite and corteous.

Still CDG can be a nightmare, there are just too many passengers, and it is too big.

Since a couple of years, there is a new law in France giving people more right to their own

picture and pictures of their property. If the letter of the law is followed, then you can't

photograph anybody anywhere. My experience after having spent six weeks in Paris

recently is that people are very cooperative and don't mind if you include them in their

picture. I am sure there are situations when they would object to having their picture taken

by a stranger. In that case I would not describe them as "nazis"

If in doubt test your fixer. A good way to do this is to put the (35mm) film leader in new

diluted fixer and note the time it takes for it to clear. Do the same test with old diluted fixer

and see how long it takes. If it takes more than twice the time it took with new diluted fixer,

then you better not use the fixer. Safe fixing time is twice the clearing time.

That fixer is cheap is no reason to dump perfectly good fixer. Water is quite cheap where I

live, but I still save rain water and use it for the garden rather than use drinking water.

The minimum amount required is the amount that will prevent drops forming on the film

once you have tapped the reels to knock off water before hanging the film to dry.

We are talking about very small amounts of wetting agent. I use a small bottle used for eye

drops for measuring. Pharmacies sell these bottles for lesss than one dollar. Buy the

smallest size, the little glass tube then holds one milliliter.

I use Mirasol as wetting agent. The recommended strength is 1+100 to 1+200. I have

found that one third milliliter per film in a Paterson tank is sufficient. Paterson tank use

300 ml per film, so my strength is approx 1+1000

Use 1+1000 as a starting point for your test - and you will be amazed by how little you

need.

And, of course, use demineralized water for the last bath.

Chris

Gee guys, I wish I had such top rate equipment and such steady hands and two such good

eyes that I could measure Rodinal in a way that would enable me to notice the difference

between 10 ml and 10.2 ml.

The negative densities will be more affected by other factors than those 2% more or less

Rodinal.

Now let us all go out and take pictures.

And stop worrying.

Chris

that a-tech-pan must be a truly sensational film!

i clicked on the link above and scolled down to the table.

which gives the following density values for zone III

exposure index 25 = density .14

exposure index 32 = density .26

exposure index 50 = density .41

a truly amazing film.

a must-buy

well, perhaps not

chris

quote "Rollei/Maco got the formula for Tech Pan" unquote

as a gift?

from whom?

chris

Larry:

that is interesting. What size negative is it? What EI did you use and how did you develop

in Diafine?

I tried Rodinal with Imagelink using the same dilution and time that gave me good results

with Tech Pan shot at EI 25, but it did not work with Imagelink. Same story with Xtol. I

estimate the EI needed would be around 3 and that is not practical at all ;-(

I got good results with FX-39 and TechPan. Have you tried FX-39 with Imagespeed? I

haven't

Chris

Use a middle of the road developer. If you do not get good result with it, then you are the

problem, not the developer. (D-76, ID11, Xtol, Rodinal to mention a few)

And choose the one that is the easiest to get where you live.

Chris

QUOTE

1. Never understood why there are so many Ervin haters.

2. Never understood why people keep posting links to Ervin articles here when there are so

many Ervin haters.

UNQUOTE

My should people hate Erwin?

He has no influence on their life.

If they do not like him, they can just ignore him.

Have a good day!

Chris

I think there is ample explanaion on the Ilford home page, or is it the Harman home

page? ;-)

Kodak's published development times are way too short, as has been mentioned here

frequently.

In addition to what is said above you need a digital stop watch for 10 dollars.

Then check how long your thermometer takes to indicate the correct temperature when it

has been laying around on a cold desk at 17 degrees C and the developer temperature is

20 degrees C. If it takes more than 20 or 30 secs, then get one that reacts faster.

Then take a series of shots of a greyish surface. One shot at "correct" exposure and four

more shots; each underexposed one stop more than the previous starting with a one stop

underexposure compared to the "correct" exposure. And four shots each overexposed in

the same way.

If the thinnest negative is as thin as the film base (between the sprocket holes if you use

35mm film), then the film speed setting was too high. If the densest negative is so dense

that you can see nothing through it, then you developed too long. (Obviously not your

case!) For a detailed analysis you need a densiometer.

And stay with TMX

Chris

Not many comments to your question "Does either the Summilux or Summicron versions

of the 35mm and 50mm lenses obstruct the viewfinder in any way?"

The reason for the non-comment is that in real life this is not an issue, but the answer is

YES.

I can only speak for Crons, and only for the latest versions. With lenses set to close

distance more is obstructed than when set at medium distance or infinity. For the 35 mm

the square lens hood obstructs more than the round "vented" one.

35 mm lens set to 10ft/3m does not obstuct at all with the lens hood off.

50 mm lens set to 10ft/3m does not obstuct at all with the lens hood pulled out i.e. "on".

That will depend on what film and what developer you use. Some are more responsive to

an increase in development time than other. As an example, TMY is more sensitive to time

change than Tri-X.

In no case would I increase the time by more than 20% unless the first film developed was

awfully thin

Anyway, if you have increased exposure time by one half stop steps you are a bit too exact

until you have an approximately correct development time.

I assume you have got a good densiometer. Otherwise the effort will not be fruitful.

Have you got a good (digital) thermometer? Do you know how long it takes for the

thermometer to settle in and show the real temperature? Otherwise......

Was you living room wall evenly lit?

Etc

And good luck

Chris

Having just put myself through an exhaustive round of testing various film/developer

combinations, searching for a good developer with a long shelf life, I'm back where I started:

Xtol 1+1.

That's true for me too

Hi John

the Summilux 50mm f1.4 is worth the additional costs over the Summicron f2 ONLY if you

need 1.4 - and need it quite often

Chris

QUOTE Forced to use Tmax developer I'd switch from TriX to Tmax 400...specifically because

Massive Development Chart shows more sensible development times (6 minutes is too short

for a beginner, makes fill and drain time as well as agitation too critical) END

Or you can continue using Tmax developer and dilute more to get longer times. (You will

need higher delevoper temperature, like 24C, for higly diluted Tmax, I think I remember.

Chris

jonathan,

don't feel bad about this, it happens once to everybody.

if it happens more than once, then feel really bad.

chris

if your rental darkroom has a densiometer, then make a series of exposures of a grey

evenly lit surface. no pattern on the surface, but it need not be a "grey card". start with an

underexposure of five stops and then move upward in steps of one stop ending with a five

overexposure. ask the lab to measure the densities and compare them to the standard

values.

you can then see if the film speed setting was ok and if the development time was too

short or too long. somebody at the lab can, i am sure, do the density measurements and

the vs standard comprison for you in five minutes.

then you have solid facts to go by.

chris