leo_grillo

THE WORLD'S WILD PLACES: I just got my copy yesterday and realized that if I had gotten it last year I

could have saved a lot of money! If you ever want to see comparison repros -- this is the book. Then at

the end of each section of the book there are thumbnails that print the fuller caption and the camera/

exposure data.

You can trace Prior's evolution into high end digital, from film. He is such a great photographer I almost

want to call him and tell him to look at his own book! The Canon 1DSII landscape stuff is the weakest in

the book, but that's where he is headed these days. Meanwhile his older 617 pictures are breathtaking

-- and I don't say that lightly.

I have been testing FILM stocks in order to decide whether to dump the 1DSII idea (that originated with

others) for a low profile landscape project. I had come to my own conclusion that film was way better,

but I was still hanging onto digital by a thread -- maybe we could fix this or that -- like depth of field

bracketting, etc.

Then I read Prior's book and saw the difference myself: 617, 4x5, Xpan, 1DSII -- and the winner is ....

Hint: I loaded my Fuji 617 with film last night.

Thanks, I guess I put my foot in my mouth again. Thinking about the glass, I have Fuji

lesnes for my high def video stuff -- and I know the Fuji people personally. When "the

Germans" wanted to get into the same business, they measured the Fuji lenses and were

so impressed they initially decided not to enter the market (I met them at this point). A

year later they decided to enter the market, but to match the glass (which is all they could

hope for) and completely reinvent the lens' "packaging" making them unlike 35mm film

lenses, but more like futuristic video lenses.

So there may be no difference, even on the bench, in still photogrgaphy -- but man, that

Hasse glass is soooo different to my eyes. Too bad I hate the format!

Thanks guys, been on the phone a lot this morning. I didn't like the Mamiya 6 for the same

reason I don't like my Hasselblad: the square format. Ernst says it's not that you crop the

square but that you reformat the photo to suit the subject -- but I still see only an

approximation in the square when I want exact.

Turns out - I guess memory fails - the Mamiya does have the VF I want, as opposed to the

old ones that blacked out anything outside the lens you chose.

Well, we live to learn! Thanks again.

Thanks Ellis,

(I had and ditched a Mamiya 6), but the main thing is the VF: what you see is larger than

the frame lines of the lens used on the Leica. Do any of these have that (newly discovered)

"asset?"

BTW, in the beginning of my SLR vs RF decisions, in childhood, if someone had told me

about the Leica frame lines vs the SLR's WYSIWYG, my life in art would have been different!

Why not ask since this is an international board ....

In MF I have the Hasselblad, GREAT glass but I still don't like the square. I have the Pentax 67, not great

glass but I love the format. But I wish for the "perfect" MF camera and it's 6x7 and built like a 35mm

Leica M.

That's because I am fascinated by the Leica RF lines in that the VF shows MORE than what's in the

frame. Now I truly "get" what HCB meant by the "decisive moment." You can see it in the Leica VF and

you can watch it come into the frame lines -- on any other system you ultimately see only what the lens

sees. Then there's the glass.

Has there EVER been a Leica-like MF camera? Great German glass and a roomy-but-guided viewfinder?

I've learned every camera format from 110 (remember the '50's?) up to 8x10. I shoot high

end digital as well as film. I am STILL waiting for delivery on my first Leica (M7) from ebay.

This will be something new to "learn" and now I will dream of a fat Leica in MF -- from

ANY country. But this is NOT how to learn photography, this is how to learn EQUIPMENT.

My best tool for learning to "see" -- and the one I give to every young relative who asks

me to teach them "how to take pictures" -- is almost without cost. It is the black mat

board with the format frame cut out of the center. Holding this up to FEEL the picture

thatis there is how I learned photography.

To this day, all my different formats have cutouts in their packs. I even carry a couple in

my car to see photos when I am not shooting. The picture seen through that card is the

most exciting part of it all for me -- the discovery, the treasure!

The rest is making that equipment deliver on the promise.

Leo

PIERS, I WAS GOING THROUGH an old photography book with my 8-year-old daughter and

I found a polaroid test shot I took with my 8x10 camera 15 years ago OUTSIDE her current

bedroom window. That room WAS my camera room. Of course it looked quite different,

especially to her. Watching her "wow!" that picture was worth everything. And the polaroid

was magnificent, even stuck in between the pages of a book for a decade and a half!

So I ordered up a bunch of Polaroid/Fuji for all my formats and now I have fun shooting

"test" shots of what will someday be memories.

I bought an 8x10 polaroid processor from ebay for $400 a few months ago, and it was

broken internally. No refund, no recourse from PayPal -- nothing.

Then I heard about the Calumet processor (for $800+) and I found a Brand NEW one on

AMAZON for UNDER $400! It's light and the whole package fits in a large Domke bag.

Now I respectfully save those polaroids.

Incidentally, yesterday I dug out my 20-year-old Hasselblad outfit and ran some Fuji

instant through the cameras. All these years later I can truly appreciate that Zeiss glass --

these are by far the best "polaroids" I have ever seen, though the smallest too.

Now I'm dreaming about a medium format Leica (I have to un-hate the square format for

the glass!).

I vote GET ONE Piers!

Leo

Here's one I do quickly with a reflex hood on my 4x5 field camera: focus on the NEAR and

tilt for the far. Backwards, but much quicker, for me anyway.

I know some of the digital printers for fine art (Nash Editions, etc) in the Los Angeles area, but now that

I am happily returning to film for my fine art work, can anyone recommend a lab with truly personal

attention? I want my negs to be processed safely and properly, and my prints to be archival quality and

any darkroom work to be top notch.

Thanks.

Update: I bought the Cokin X-pro holder and two rings, 95 & 105. Also the Lee

130mmx170mm filters. This covers everything I currently own in 8x10 lenses. Again,

thanks Sunil.

How's this ... carry both a backpack and the Domke. I have many backpacks and bags,

always reloading them as a solution to the current problem. My solution to your premise is

to load the outfit in one or another of the LowePro AWs and to carry the Domke (F-3ish) as

the walking bag (with few sundry items) when my camera is in my hands, shooting.

I just drove the boards crazy with a number of posts about out-of-the-box Nikon and

Canon point and shoots looking better than my Nikon D200 and Canon 5D out-of-the-

box until someone pointed out that both C&N allowed for Photoshop to sharpen my

images and the P&S would do it for me.

Using that logic I "set" my N&C cameras in custom modes to emulate "more fully realized"

processed images and they hit the mark and were obviously better than the P&S's. Color

was another matter. Nikon color is not as saturated as Canon color. Period. That's in P&S

all the way up to the D2X and 1DSII.

Perhaps the color thing is the same here with Leica looking more like Canon. The rest, I

truly believe, is a matter of customizing the D200.

Thanks Sunil, I just ordered them from White! I didnt know the Cokin system held this

large size filter but they are on the way! Much apprecited info.

Leo

Thanks Ellis, but four of five of my lenses are 105mm ring size, the Lee only goes up to

100mm width so that would bring me to the edge of vignetting I would think. Have you

had a different experience?

I'm sorry if you've answered this a millions times before, but I am relatively new to this board and can't

find the answer in the archives.

My Rodenstock lenses have filter ring sizes up to 105mm (155, 210, 240). I now use the Wisner 8x10

field camera. Singh Ray NDGs are my filter of choice for smaller formats, but they're not wide enough

for the 105 filter thread lenses I have.

What is anybody using to solve the NDG problem with larger lenses?

BTW -- I use my hat as a lens shade because you can't attach a compendium to the Wisner.

Thanks in advance,

Leo

I hardly ever check this section, but thanks for the link. Yes, the story sounds interesting

-- I keep wondering why there is no "photography" channel on satellite!

DI is very common out here. Better yet is shooting HD to begin with. Ultimately both

systems can opt to have the digital output to 35mm film, or to stay on HD tape. With the

former, you have the whole film lab process to go through. I call it "two bites of the apple"

since you get color correction in DI and then color timing in the film world.

With the high end HD cameras (SONY HD CAM) , you can fairly easily reproduce the look of

film and even the film stock during production. It's a combination of glass and electronics

-- the menus are there to be finessed but very few camera crews know HOW to do that!

The Panavised Sonys and their attendant crews are NOT typically used to their fullest, so

Super 16 looks like an innovation!

Years ago I dropped a Hasse and a long lens, once. It tipped over inside a van and fell four

feet. After that my prints were out of focus, but the lens was fine, I am told. The lens

mount on camera? The back? I retired the outfit and never had the problem with anything

else since. I would suggest trying a rented combo duplicating yours to see if it's

mechanical. To this day there is no clear answer in my case -- nor the urge to find one. It

did sour me on the field use of Hasses, and for 20 years my medium format system has

happily been the Pentax 67.

If you're in Los Angeles you can borrow my 500 c/m and those two lenses to check it out.

My problem camera/lens combo was not that one.

PS Stephan,

I fixed the light leak -- see my post on that subject. This is going to be fun! I keep the

fstop at 22 and adjust only the Shutter Speed. With the 155 lens I use a center filter so my

ISO is 20 or 25 depending on film stock. The polaroids so far are magnificent!

Thanks Michael! I followed your advice and felt my way around the camera with my

fingertips. I found that there is a metal spacer between the cone and the body and that

even though it is square, each side has subtle machining (hand made) that makes it fit on

only one side. Therein was the light leak!

I am a happy camper -- these images are great even on polaroids! This will be a fun shoot.

I own a new one -- see my latest post on a mysterious light leak. Stay tuned for answers

from Badger and Fotoman. What city are you in? I'm in L.A.

It looks pretty straight forward. It's like having a fixes lens camera though -- you need a

new cone for each lens, so I dedicated a 155 to it.

My plan is to use it with a bean bag for quick stuff. I CAN hand hold it, but my heart beat

adds a camera shake! I don't think I will ever NOT use a resting area for it. Not a tripod

though -- if I did that, the field camera would be almost as fast and is more useful.

I carry a Canon G7 around my neck "pretending to be a tourist" for P&S shots that are

superb. I never leave it in the hot car so I wear it. This has taught me (at this late stage)

the value of having the camera IN YOUR HANDS when you need it. Hence the Fotoman.

As an aside, I ordered a 4x5 for my 75mm lens. I like the Fuji QuickLoad and polaroids are

fun to hand my daughter. This one WILL ride with me on non-photo op days, just in case.

I got my new Fotoman 810 point and shoot (I know, I know!) and tested it with polaroids. I am getting a

pair of angel-wings burning out half of my surface area. There is a light leak SOMEWHERE. I put my

head inside the cone (like wearing a lamp shade) and beamed the capped lens -- no leaks apparent in

the mounting.

It's impossible to tell if the leak is in the camera bottom from where the holder sits. Or if it's

supernatural!

I then put the holder and polas into my field camera and it was all fine. Definitely a Fotoman system

leak.

Any ideas? Anyone have one of these?

Thanks in advance.

If memory serves (and sometimes it doesn't) Jan Kesner of the gallery with her name, in

Los Angeles, studied with him and even has his cameras. She would be a great resource on

your quest -- and she even has some of his prints to see first hand. Not an answer on the

book search, but an alternative.

I bought a Polaroid 8x10 processor to replace mine (that was thrown out by an overzealous laborer

during a remodel). I tried it yesterday and the rollers misfire when anything tries to pass between them

-- the rollers jump off track, upward, and there is this horrendous grinding sound of gears eating

gears.

There are two screws in the macahine top, above the bottom gears, and they are loose, stripped, and

they move when I push on the winder-handle. In other words, the bottom gears are loose enough to

miss the roller gears when any pressure is applied to the rollers.

Does anyone have any experience taking this machine apart? The Ebay seller won't respond, even under

threat of a bad post. Thanks in advance.