sg_adams

<p>Mint to me would be brand new in the box and never used and showing no signs of aging. <br>

Then there would be as near mint as can be expected for a thirty year old camera etc etc...<br>

"Minty" is just scary. <br>

I just sold a couple very nice lenses described as in excellent used condition. Glass flawless etc... <br>

Just sayin.</p>

<p>Nice presentation. Great photos and info to go along with them. Interesting and informing. <br>

Keep it coming !<br>

SA</p>

<p>OK, wow nice. Significant.</p>

<p>Nice. gotta love those test shots that knock your socks off !!!</p>

<p>Very nice work John. <br>

And yeah, the 3.5 Ektar is a very great lens. I use the 105 version. Both are considered fine lenses. </p>

<p>I kinda like my Graphics, any one of them can be used like any of the others, and I would hang onto my faithful 135mmOptar, one of my Schneider wide angles, and the classic 203mm Ektar. </p><div></div>

<p>Probably still work for paper but perhaps not with the speed a new pack would have. <br>

Might be good for stuff you want slow. But that's a lot of chemicals, and it is always mix the whole thing or get an uneven batch...</p>

<p>5 min wash? I would think 25 to 40 mins more appropriate. <br>

Also, perhaps someone with more experience can expand on this but I'm throwing it out there based on my experience with Maco which if I am not mistaken is very similar. <br>

Maco had a blue anti-halation layer that one would wash off prior to adding developer. The water would litterally run blue when I would pour it out of the tank. It is very much like the simple pre soak, and you will want to make sure that straight water halation layer/presoak water is 68 F or at least the same temp as your developer. <br>

Anyone else?</p>

<p>I haven't had any issues with films when I wash with cold tap water in the winter with Acros or any other film. I would guess my wash temps get as low as 58 degree F but maybe lower at times, nor in the summer when the water warms up a little above my standard of 68 F development temps. If you can adjust the water to get as close as possible even better. But I would suggest sticking to the 68 F temps and try and get the developer dead on not just as close as you can. Modern grain films like Acros are more sensitive to temp and time changes and it effects the contrast. Kodak even has a multiplier contrast table for their Tmax films that might be worth a look on their tech pages. <br>

Have you heard of hypo wash solutions like Perma Wash? These help aid in washing the film and speed up times tremendously and thus save lot of water. The difference is as a much as 2 min compared to 30 min. I use it for fibre paper prints that take an hour without it. With film I tend to extend the recommended times by about double and give a ten minute final rinse as some films have a tenacious magenta halation layer. <br>

Have fun... </p>

<p>I'll 2nd what Michael suggests. Make yourself a tape shutter for the red window. I use black artist masking tape, but gaffer or anything that blocks light will work. </p>

<p>Can I ask one other pertinent question? Weight, how much or do you care how much your camera weighs. Do you intend to lug it around, hike with it etc? I've been using the Crown Graphic 4x5 for years, and I backpack with the Crown Graphic 23 6x9 camera and have no problems getting all I need out of these for landscape, some stills, and other various stuff. I also own a Graphic View II, but that is a heavy camera so I tend to keep that around the shop. Any of these make fine portraits, and none cost me more than a hundred bucks. That does not include the better lenses I use, but the ones they came with were adequate to get started and make a lot of nice images. All have grafloc backs, so I can adapt all sorts of film holders. The Pacemaker Graphic series of cameras has some movements like plenty of rise, a little side shift, a drop bed and tilting front standard which once you figure it out can be more versatile than folks would have you believe. But the one thing it lacks that a true field camera has is a moveable back which tilts, but this can be got around in most cases. On the up side a well running Crown Graphic with a calibrated rangefinder can be used handheld. Not so field camera. The problem I feel for a lot of folks is getting a Crown in decent condition. The lenses I set mine up with are the original semi wide 135mm Optar (awsome tessar with limited coverage with a soft feel wide open and crisp stopped down), a 90mm Angulon wide (very sharp, but also older limited coverage lens with almost no movements), a 150mm Symmar-S (for something offering more movement shorter than normal sharp and contrasty), the formidable Kodak 203mm Ektar (which is insanely sharp, excellent coverage, and light weight though not a fast lens), for portraiture I have a variety of vintage lenses I can use with 2x3 roll backs and go up to the big 15in Tele-Raptar 5.6 lens with 4x5. When I first started out with a Crown 4x5 and a Century Graphic it took me a few months to get my lens boards and filter holders all figured out, but of course I tried to get lenses on boards right off. <br>

I've been looking for a decent price on a good wood field 4x5 for about eight years and don't seem to have one yet, so I must not need one all that bad. And certainly not at the prices I see for something like the Ebony stuff. But I can sure appreciate the quality and longevity I see there. I suppose<br>

I could sell ten of my Graphics and get an Ebony, which would certainly clear some shelf space ! </p>

<p>What Guz suggests sounds like what I would suggest. Wipe in carefully in towards the groove should do it. </p>

 

<p>Lucy got some big teeth ! <br>

I went out with a gal named Lucy for a while, she had bug um...uh, well they were neato. </p>

<p>Nice work Cliff. I just noticed the wood lens board standard. Cool. </p>

<p>Hum, all these Fed, your Zorki, and some other posts have me considering a Russian camera just to fool around with, like I don't have a enough already. <br>

I was suggested once that I shouldn't use shoe polish on my camera bodies. Naturally I had to try it then. It works pretty good on certain coverings. I haven't seen any issues with it. I wonder how many Kiwis it takes to make one can of polish? </p>

<p>I'm not going to actually go inventory, but my list includes not only cameras but should include lens/shutters I've acquired for use and or restoration. <br>

I figure I have currently 20 assorted Century, Crown, and Speed Graphic cameras in various states of suspension that I have not yet used, and perhaps a dozen not yet tried lenses. I also have a few more Graphics that while they have been refurbished and a couple lenses that made a test shot or two, these haven't actually been used per-say. </p>

<p>Graflex made 120 roll film holders for the 34 series cameras. And if you have a Graphic Spring back they also made a nifty replacement spring kit to keep the roll holder in place. I have a couple sets of these and they actually work pretty good, but they require RF focussing. I think the last 34 roll holder I got my hands on was $35.00 and was in very good condition. I was going to get a 34 but decided not to and sold the holder for twice what I paid for it. <br>

They are out there if you look. <br>

And the 45 holder is going to be pretty thin when you hack off the raised lip of the casting. But I don't see that it wouldn't work. You'll have to figure out a way to get the metal chips out of the dark slide area and maybe have to repair the light trap there. In the end you might end up destroying a perfectly good holder plate. Your call. </p>

 

<p>My stuff all goes to Swan Photo in San Clamente CA. </p>

 

<p>Are we talking Neopan SS, 400 or what? <br>

I figure Neopan 400 since you switched to HP5 and not FP4. </p>

 

<p>That sounds right Chuck, and I think he posted not long ago and isn't he the motorcycle enthusiast?</p>

<p>Oh I am much warmed up now Tony. I can go forward now and finish my winter with courage and flip flops...</p>

<p>I use the VHS tape size USPS Priority mail boxes. They are small and have never had a problem. Though I wouldn't do that for one roll. I usually have 6 to 10 rolls after a trip. </p>

<p>H.P.,<br>

I metered these with my little Sekonic L-308 B II. It's been a great light weight meter and has the sliding dome for incident and reflective light for which I use a gray card, and meter the scene, compare dark and light areas etc... Sometimes though having too much information is boggling, so I just guess. For the last couple years I have been using a Pentax analog Spot V which coincidentally jives almost exact with the readings I get from the Sekonic and sometimes use both and keep the Sekonic in my pocket as I like to have all the information I can get. I like being confused sometimes... <br>

The first two shots are 35mm slides from my Nikon. I'll see later if I have the two shots from those set ups. </p>

<p>I have Nikkor, Fuji, and Schneider Lenses and all are very good with slight variations in the look, but that would be personal preference as all make top quality lenses. </p>

 

<p>The Other Side, the view east, what I call the reverse sunset, has had a large print made. 16x24" and really nice; really nice if you like looking at a rock. <br /> All of these were done with the infamous 103mm Trioptar that you are probably tired of. And the film is Provia 100 120 roll. The rock is of a volcanic nature like the welded tuft type I think. It's not granite. It more like ash that was so hot it welded into this neat stuff. The hills in the background are pumice, and very near is obsidian dome, which is volcanic glass, great for making arrow head and hide scrapers if one has a yearning for a little hunting and gathering...</p>