ed_sawyer

IT's still current, yes. But you can get one foolishly cheap on the secondary market vs. buying it new. New it's about $2k, but if you shop carefully you can easily find it in the $500-700 range.

 

-Ed

It's not really a lost art per-se, any more than any other film process. RA4 printing is indeed a great way to make prints. I used to make tons of them that way, and am setting up another darkroom to do so soon. I previously used a JOBO and then later Cibachrome drums, both worked well. Lately I have a Fuji CP-31 processor with dryer so I can automate it even more. It's not toxic really, nothing to worry about. Continue to enjoy it and have fun! I know I will. (I am not too far away, in NH). BTW, even with manual processing, you can definitely get prints out in less than 20 minutes. Even using drums, I could do a single 8x10, dry to dry, in well under 10 minutes, more like 5 if you are hauling ass on it. (blow dryer is a must, of course)

 

-Ed

"Ektar 25 is way too expensive." WTF? It's way cheaper than $15/roll to process it, that's for sure. Maybe the film stock is cheaper with the MP film but the hassles/development cost sure aren't. With careful searching, Ektar/RG 25 can be had for less than it was when it was new. I've averaged under $5/roll on Epay and elsewhere.

 

FWIW

-Ed

Honestly, easier to just find Ektar 25/Royal Gold 25 and shoot that - it's out there. no fancy processing needed.

 

-Ed

Ektar 25 / Royal gold 25 is great. It's still out there,and I have had good success using old rolls of this too. I've managed to put together about 5-6 bricks of this (Pro Ektar 25, RG 25, Ektar 25 pro in 120 size, etc) in the last year or so, mainly from Ebay and elsewhere. The only caveats so far are are that some of it seems to have lost a little speed (Maybe shoot it at 20 instead of 25?), and most minilab printers don't have a channel that will handle the color palette/base film stock color well - they need to be custom printed or else the machines' setup tweaked. Ektar 25 had a different base film color than other kodak films, thus the channel balance on modern machines like Frontiers aren't going to print it well with default settings. But if you are doing your own prints, its' fine and easy to balance.

 

I wish they still made it (and many other films), but at least it seems to keep well.

 

Enjoy!

-Ed

I still use it! Have several rolls in the freezer and still actively seeking more. Great that Dwaynes is still processing it. It's also great to read up on all these rumors and lore about K25 and K-14 process. Keep em coming...

 

thanks

-Ed

They had 320T (tungsten) films in that era. Slide and print I think. They had/have? a Portra 100T also, more currently.

The aldens are definitely the best, I have 4 or 5 of those. The watson, while decent, is not as well made. Either can be had cheaply on epay.

I got them as surplus property from where I work, though it was a deal that was open to the public too. in fact there was a 2nd GS670III that sold for the same price, that someone else snagged. I have yet to try them out but hopefully soon.

I just bought a GSW690 III and a GS670 III in near-new condition (about 30 and 50 on the counters respectively) for a great price (about $300/ea). I have yet to try them out with film, but they look like great cameras. I have a lot of experience in 35mm and some in 4x5. Any recommendations for film besides Portra 160nc? Any recommendations for labs for film developing and printing? Most of the places local to me are crap, with the exception of one or two. (am located in NH). Eventually I will do my own printing but probably not my own C-41 or E-6. Great to find people still using these cameras, btw.

 

-Ed

I think this film you bought is E-4 process color slide infrared film, not B&W infrared. There are still a few labs that do E-4 slide film I think. EIR is the modern E6 color slide film, now discontinued unfortunately. IR was the earlier E4 slide infrared.

HIE is the B&W infrared. IE is the older b&W infrared. You have IR, which to me says it's the E-4 color infrared. I'd shoot some, try yellow and orange filters, and see if you can find someone to process it. It might still be useful. Check the boxes/info inside - it should say what process it is.

 

-Ed

Canon has yet to make a digital body that does all of what the 1V-HS does: 10fps @ full frame. the 1Ds or 1DIII are the closest options but are 10x the price of a 1v and still not it's equal.

 

I'd stick with the film body for the forseeable future if you like what the 1v offers.

 

-Ed

Go for the Canon, you won't be disappointed. It's insanely sharp, and also doubles as a nice medium telephoto (e.g. no need for a 200 2.8 if you have the 180 macro, in most cases). It's probably Canon's 3rd sharpest lens ever built, after the 300 2.8 and 400 2.8 (Check the MTFs). There's a reason it's more money: it's better. Canon glass holds its value better long-term than 3rd party brands also. If you are shopping used, there are some decent deals on the 180 macro, if you wait long enough. I was able to get mine in as-new condition, UT-date code, for $895 here on photo.net. It was truly in as-new condition, and a bargain @ that price. I have seen others in the $900-1000 range pretty often. That's a fairly decent discount off new, vs. most used canon glass which sells for closer to the new price. (not sure why 180macro is cheaper than normal used, maybe since it's a more specialized lens and less of them change hands...?)

 

FWIW

-Ed

I think film is not only cheaper but better. Look at the equipment costs, which are ridiculously cheap now that everyone is getting out of film. You can get an EOS 1V-hs for $450-700, (a $2k @ retail camera) which still kicks the ass of even the $4500 1DIII. (10fps @ full frame, 1DIII can't do that). I recently bought a ~$4k beseler 45-vxl enlarger in mint condition for $250! $600 schneider componon-S 150mm/f4 lens for $90, with a lensboard, new in the box! Darkroom and film camera stuff is being given away practically, it's a GREAT time to be involved with film. The only downside is the really great films are harder to come by now, and have to be procured (expired) on the secondary market. Things like Kodachrome 25, Ektar 25, Royal Gold 25, 100, etc., Kodak Supra, Tech-pan, Pan-X, Konica Impresa, etc.

 

-Ed

The set to get is the Canon set, forget kenko or other manufacturers. Their quality is crap in comparison (plastic vs. metal). the canon's are worth the extra $.

Just use firefox and the adblock-plus Extension, to block all ads from that server. It seems to help (plus, no ads from nearly any site... very handy).

 

probably the only way to separate the page load speed from the adserver load speed would be put the ad in a frame (e.g. a separate page), not really a great idea from a layout/HTML point of view...

They jacked the price on the 24-70L @ B&H too, to match the price pre-rebate. Yeah, thanks a-holes. They also canned the PSJAN deal on that lens (damn I should have bought it a couple days ago) which was about $1070.

 

-Ed