rich long

PDF file sent.

I guess I should read you post, not just skim it. I'll see if I can't email the pdf to you.

Calumet has the instuction sheet on their website. Do a search for it on their site, and it should show up as a pdf file. Unless you load that back frequently, it will pay to keep a copy of the instructions in your bag.

 

/or maybe I'm just a slow learner

I used the 5-degree attachment on mine until I found enough money for a Sekonic. 5-degrees is not exactly a small "spot", but it's certainly usable. If money is tight, then $45 or so for a used attachment will work just fine for quite a while.

Kirk, yes afternoons in the fall have been my preference. Although after seeing Michael's photo, I'm thinking that I should investigate other possibilities also. That's a very unique view of the mill!

I take along an empty box and a changing tent if I expect to change film in the field. I'm generally car-camping when I'm out, and a changing tent seems to work well.

Trying that link again. TopoZone map of Crystal Mill location is <a href="http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=13&n=4325430&e=317899&s=50&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25" >here</a>. I wouldn't attempt a Jetta on this road, although I'm sure it's been done before. You don't really need 4WD if the road is dry, but you do need a good bit of clearance to get over rocks. From Marble, take the road around the lake, and watch for the turn to the right about a mile or so farther on.

The Crystal Mill (aka Crystal Power House, aka Dead Horse Mill) is just outside the tiny village of Crystal, Colorado. Right about here.

 

 

It's on the Crystal River, east of Marble. The marble quarry is on the Yule River, south of Marble. There's definitely a road there, at least there has been for the last 120 years or so. It was still there 2 months ago when I was there last.

You should be able to get a decent composition with the 135. As far as the road, it's very rocky and rough, mostly narrow. It will take you 45 minutes to drive the 5 miles from Marble to the mill. Like many FS roads in the mountains, you have to keep track of 'pullouts' and any spot that's wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass. You may need to back up to the nearest one at any time. Although uphill traffic has the ROW, the tourist in the rented Jeep coming at you may not know that.

Call them and ask.

 

From their website: If you want to talk to us in person, call us at (303) 698-2962. Our Customer Service Department is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm MST. Our FAX number is (303) 778-7353. If you want to visit us in person our street address is:

 

The Slideprinter

145 W. Alameda Ave.

Denver, CO 80223.

Dave, thanks for that clarification. I had one of the 250 W's (not CM) a while back, and I recall that it was difficult for a LF novice like me to determine exactly which configuration it really was. Too bad Fuji doesn't make the specs available as Schneider does.

If you poke around on Kerry Thalman's page, you'll find scans of Fuji brochures with lens specs. Fuji lists the coverage of the 250 W f/6.3 as 312mm at f/22.

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If it works for the 8x10, it will also cover the 4x5. You might study the lens comparison charts over at http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

Jim -

 

Dave's right. You should be OK pretty much anytime in July. That being said, my experience is that it can be fairly crowded (by Colorado standards) around the 4th of July. This year, I'll probably try to get there after the festival rather than before. I'm assuming that the substantial snowpack will push the normal peak back by a week, and I'm assuming that fewer people will be around then. But I'm probably wrong on both counts.

 

If the road is open, you can drive right up to Emerald Lake. If it's still snowed in, there's an area about 1/2 mile below the lake where a number of cars will be parked.

 

There are a couple of books on "Colorado Wildflower Hikes" and Andy Cook has a CD on Colorado scenic photography that includes a fair amount about wildflowers in the CB area. A search on Google and/or Amazon should come up with those and more options.

Kerry Thalmann's page has copy of the Fuji brochure The 250 NWS f/6.3 is the last column on the right here:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/ws-nws.htm

 

I had one of these a year or so ago. It was a good performer.

I'm not sure what bridge you're referring to. Perhaps one of these answers the question.

 

a) The avalanches I saw didn't wipe anything out, just blocked the road with snow well into July.

 

b) There's a new-ish (8-10 years?) concrete bridge just a couple miles up from Gothic - maybe halfway between Gothic and Emerald Lake. I'm not sure if the old bridge was wiped out at some point or what.

 

c) There's a ford at the top of the Crystal River section of the Schofield Pass road (beyond the pass traveling from Gothic), but I doubt if it ever had a bridge.

The avalanche has been past Gothic, maybe 100 yards below Emerald Lake. But you can get around it by going over Paradise Divide instead. Kind of a long back-track if you're not aware of the blockage, though.

The CB area has almost twice as much snow this year as it has for the past several years. In two of the last four years, the road over Schofield Pass has been blocked by the remnants of an avalanche until sometime in July. You can still get there (go over the Paradise Divide instead), but be aware that the most direct route may not be an option. It's also likely that the 4WD road along the Crystal River won't be open until very late in the summer. That road has a pretty high pucker factor anyway, so even without snow it's questionable.

 

"Off the beaten path" is relative. Compared to the middle of Nevada, the Crested Butte area is overrun with mountain bikers, hikers, four-wheelers, and photographers. Compared to New Jersey, it ain't half-bad. If you're looking for solitude, you'll have to hike into the wilderness area. If you're just looking for 'purty pitchers', you'll have lots of opportunities near the car.

I read somewhere that the new 100 (not 100F) will be available around June or so, and that 50 production will continue through 2005.

 

Fuji announced the new 100 almost a month ago:

http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/PREventDetailPage.jsp?DBID=NEWS_825274

 

Ken Rockwell has a review of the new 100 on his website. I believe he's reviewing the version that's been available in Japan for a while now. I would post a link, but I get some annoying pop-ups every time I visit that page. Browse at your own risk, I suppose....

For some reason I was thinking this was a local deal.

 

Chances are, even if it's not quite right you can re-sell for about the same price on Ebay. I bought 2 6x7s there, one was great, one needed a repair. I split the cost of repair with the seller, and everything was fine. Personally, I'd hold out for one with MLU, but I'm always shooting from a tripod at slow-moving objects like rocks and trees. If the price is right, go for it!

This may or may not be a factor for you, but FYI: The Pentax factory service center will not work on non-MLU P67s. So if yours ends up needing repair, you'll have to find a shop that will take it. They will repair any 6x7 with MLU, however.

 

If the seller will let you, run a roll of 120 and a roll of 220 through the camera before you fork over the cash. If both film types work fine, and spacing between frames is fine, then you're probably OK. If one works, but the other doesn't, then the film advance needs a repair. I believe that to be the most common problem with the older 6x7s.

Here's a discussion of the topic from a few month ago.

<a href="http://forums.naturephotographers.net/eve/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=8306088241&f=25110141&m=5460068462&p=1">CNP discussion</a>

I should add that in 15 years of travelling in the US, I've never asked for a hand check of my film, and I've never seen any evidence that the security scanner affected my film in any way.

 

The first time I flew with 4x5 film in my carry-on, I brought along my changing tent just in case they wanted to open the box. As it turns it, the rings on the changing tent showed up in the scanner and got the security officer's attention. I had to open my bag, show them the tent, and explain what it was for. They didn't give a rat's patootie about my boxes of film. I put the tent in my suitcase for the return trip.

"It will get fogged" means that the high-powered X-ray machine that scans you luggage will partially expose your film. The low-power scanner at the security checkpoint shouldn't be a problem.

 

From what I've read, if you put unexposed film in your luggage and it goes through the X-ray machine, it's no longer unexposed. It may not be fully exposed, but if you use it and develop it, your images will look "foggy" due to overexposure. Fortunately, I have no real experience with this. If I'm mistaken, I'm sure someone will correct me in a minute or two.