matthew_scott

I bought 50 rolls of this stuff. My test roll gave perfect results at ASA 400 with a B+W 023 dark yellow (9) filter (same as Tiffen 15 filter). I was shooting mid day in clear conditions in Southern California. I bracketed 1/2 stop and will most likely shoot this at 1/2 stop under 400 for better shadow detail.

 

As anybody that shoots IR knows the light source makes a big difference as the meter is measuring visible light and the ratio of visible to IR changes depending on the conditions. Since this film sees a lot of visible light it is not as variable as shooting Black and White IR or Digital IR.

 

A standard yellow filter leaves the image too blue, and an orange filter makes it a little green. With the dark yellow filter my white buildings were white.

 

This is a recent emulsion and gave very nice results. I shot it in a Hasselblad back loaded in dim light and had no fog. The film was a little close to the leader on the backing paper so I lost 1/2 the last frame but I will adjust the start point when I load it in the future to prevent this.

 

If you are interested in this film you should get in now. He only had 300 rolls when I bought mine and I think this is a one time deal. With the 35mm stuff going for $40+ a roll on ebay this is a deal. In a non-self-defrosting freezer this stuff will last forever.

Last week I received my custom lightweight 12x20 camera from Wisner after an 18 ½ month wait. I experienced all the �stuff� that others talk about above, and would have as much right to whine and complain as anybody else.

 

The purpose of this posting is not to complain about, nor to defend Ron Wisner. I want to lend a different perspective, and a dose of reality, to the discussion.

 

Most of the trama I experienced during my wait for the camera was a direct result of reading this thread. Although I had spent a week at Ron�s Death Valley workshop, talked with his dealers, and talked with him by phone; reading this thread made me question my judgement and think that maybe I would be cheated. After reading this posting, I bought a plane ticket from California to the east cost to visit the Wisner factory (on short notice) to see first had what was going on with my camera.

 

My worrying was for nothing. I now have a camera that weighs less than two thirds of what the standard 12x20 model weighs. It is solid, easy to use and will work with every lens I have from an extreme wide 5.5 inch to a 42 inch lens. The geared rear axis tilt is a big deal for me in terms of ease of use, especially on a big camera like this. Best of all it is light enough that I can take it more than 20 feet from the car, in spite of my arthritis.

 

So here is the reality folks! There are three people in the world that make super large format cameras. That number is only likely to get smaller, not larger. We are practicing a dying art. If we expect people to support us with equipment and supplies, we need to support them (and some constructive criticism is supporting them). The each have their strengths and weaknesses, if any were perfect, they would not be dumb enough to be in this business. You need to pick the one that has the strengths that are most important to you, and has weeknesses that you can live with.

 

Some Reality about Ron Wisner (this is my opinion only, not necessarily fact):

 

The negatives:

Ron will always over commit him self � If you tell him you need something in six months, he will tell you he can have it in three. You will get it in nine months. If you can't plan around this, find another source.

Every fall the large format camera business is slow and Ron will do what ever he can to bring in cash to be able to pay his employees and keep the doors open. He will not cheat you, change your price once you order, or fail to deliver a quality product, but he may under estimate how long it will take to finish.

Ron has a lot of projects going on at one time. You are competing for his attention, so you have to be patient, yet keep reminding him or your project will get pushed down the priority list.

 

The Positives:

Ron is not a �good businessman� � If he ran his company using �good business� methods, he would not be in this business. Kodak operates like a business, hence does not support large format photographers. Kodak only offers sheet film as long as it provides incremental profit from production of x-ray film. When somebody develops a detector array large enough, or a way to focus the x-ray pattern on a small detector, Kodak will get out of the sheet film business.

Ron will always return your phone calls and emails. He will tell you the truth, as he sees it (usually over optimistic, but let�s face it if he was not an optimist he would not stick with this business).

Ron will make the camera you want, and it will do what you need it to do. It took 18 months to make my camera because he started over three times on the camera, and twice on the bellows. He won�t ship something until he is happy with it, and will gladly make any changes to it after he ships it to make you happy with it (you do have to tell him what you want but he listens willingly and is more than willing to make changes).

 

We are lucky to have three fine manufacturers to chose to buy our very large format cameras from. They all have their positives and negatives. It is important to know what they are and decide what is important to you and what you can live with. My decision was based on several factors. I have never seen the lotus camera except on the internet, although they were responsive to me emails, Austria is just too far to jump on a plane and visit them. The international shipping, customs, etc. was just too much of a barrier should I need to return the camera for repairs or modifications. Canham was pleasant to talk with and I think he makes a good camera, but I had never seen one, and he did not want me to come to Arizona to his facility. He has a reputation for not committing to less than a year to build the camera, then delivering early, but I was not comfortable with his lack of flexibility. I knew Wisner�s reputation for missing delivery dates, and had some knowledge of him as a person, so knew he was an honest person and would deliver a quality product. I was willing to wait 18 months for a camera that I hope to still be enjoying 18 years from now.

 

I would not personally recommend any one of these manufacturers over the other, but I am happy with my decision and if I were to do it over again, the only thing I would do differently is not have taken some of the comments in this thread so seriously.

 

I hope this alternative prospective is useful to others who have ordered or will order a �really big� camera.

 

Matthew

 

I have been using the Fuji TX1 (aka X-PAN) with IR film (Kodak color E6 and B&W) for 2 years now. I haven't had the sensor fog enter the image area enough to bother me yet. It's the only game in town for 24 X 65mm IR. I do find that you need the center filter with the 45mm lens. (I know this posting is old but maybe of interest to some who find it later)

Rolland -

Thank you for the reference. I searched on 70mm before posting and after my computer set there locked up for a long while I gave up and posted the question.

 

I sent Z. Zigric an email pointing him to your generic jobo 70mm reel and tank ads.

Help!

I just bought a 70mm Hasselblad back thinking I would buy some 70mm

Kodak Infrared film #2424 cut it to 15 feet and load it up.

 

I read that the back is for perforated 70mm film and it looks like

the Kodak film is not perforated, actually Kodak dosen't specifiy one

way or the other.

 

Kodak says Tri X is available in 70mm but not perforated.

 

Does anyone know if Fuji Velvia is available in 70mm?

 

These are the only films I use. Any suggestions?

If not, anybody interested in a cheap 70mm Hassie back, (actually 2

but thats another story)?

 

There are lots of smart people in our community, I hope someone can

help. Thanks Matthew