andrew_brown7

<p>How anyone could be so insensitive as to post up a question about this is beyond me.<br> When you consider that he does not even have the dignity of a name, the picture is casually disrespectful.<br> When you consider a little further and learn that the debris from the WTC site was shipped off to China, you may wonder further, why, at a place where 3000 people were murdered, no DNA was gathered or respect shown to the victims by the US authorities. This forum is obviously not the right one for going further, but I am a lot more paranoid now than when I was young and most things seemed quite simple to understand.<br> The WTC attacks were on a whole new level of complexity and it's not enough to just raise points on the aesthetics of this photo without thinking of it's much darker meaning.</p>

<p>Over the last few years I have bought 3 F cameras and an F2. Each had a metering head and all were cheap because the shops said the meters didn't work. I use the hearing aid batteries and the brass insert and all the meters are fine!<br> My suggestion is therefore to buy one if you see one you like the look of, and not worry too much if you're told the meter doesn't work...see if you can get a discount.<br> The F is the most wonderful piece of engineering.</p>

<p>Well, I like the Photomic heads....in fact I prefer them to the plain head. There, I said it. In for a penny as for a Pound, I have 4 altogether, all with Photomic heads!</p>

<p>Well, Canon know enough to copy a beautiful camera when they see it...the Nex 7 !</p>

<p>Beautiful pictures, Rick; I would say that lens was a very good buy. The Maple is very atmospheric.</p>

<p>If it's not on the film ( and you've definitely made sure the negatives are clean), then it must be on/in the scanner. You seem to have ignored Bob Tilden's point about the scratch remover thingy.<br> So, my suspicions aren't confirmed at all, as I think it's the scanner!<br> Andy.</p>

<p>I've bought 3 extra Duracell batteries for my Nex 6 and 7; they have been perfectly adequate so far, 2 years now,and are a lot cheaper.</p>

<p>Looks a bit like the paper is fogged- by stray light perhaps as you were taking it out of the box. All work should really be done under a red light, and even that at least a yard away from the paper; another thing you might be doing is checking the development under a red light too soon after putting the paper in the tray. You should aim to leave the print at least 2 and a half minutes before putting it near any sort of light, and you should aim in the exposing of the paper to allow it at least the 2+ minutes in the 20deg C developer. Pulling a print before a reasonable time won't lead to a result you want.<br> It is very difficult to offer any sensible advice however with so many variables! Good Luck.</p>

<p><em>(short chubby guy with red goatee)</em><br> <em>Sounds more like TooLoose Lotrek than Sony's secret photographer wandering about in the park<br /></em></p>

<p>Fix is so cheap, it is not worth reusing it. I never do anyway. If I'm doing a few films together then I'll just use the same fix all day and extend the time by 10% each time, and that seems to work. I have films going back to the Seventies and none of them has faded yet.</p>

<p>...and to add, which I forgot before, that's been the same 'system' I've used for the last 35 years!</p>

<p>That's really interesting about Photoflo and the bubbling. I've never used anything but a couple of drops of washing up liquid in the drum, after the wash, and just before hanging the film up to dry.<br> Swirl the film about in the drum to make plenty of bubbles, take it out, unload it from the reel--I use Paterson stuff-- use my 1st and 2nd fingers as a squeegee thingy to get most of the water etc off it and then hang the film up to dry. I use a clothes peg at the bottom to help keep it fairly straight.</p>

<p>Whatever camera you buy, you have to get used to the menu on it..and, of course, to like it as well and get to know it's quirks.<br> I must admit I find a lot of chat about not being able to get a grip on a cameras menu system a bit twee; I mean, what are we looking at here..aperture, shutter speed and ISO. That's all to make a start. That's all the big boys ever needed. All the other guff comes later on. If you like the camera, buy it or save up if you want to waste your money on a Leica; I've owned 3 over the years and thought they were awful; give me my old F and F2 cameras and my Sony Nex 6 and 7 and I'm a happy bunny; awkward menus and all, to me they are perfect.</p>

<p>Hi,<br> just a paterson tank and reel, a bottle of Rodinal, some fixer, a dark bag, a timer and a flask of tea and after an hour and a half you will have a Stand Developed roll of FP4 which you will look at, and if there are any images on the film, say to yourself Ha, that was OK.<br> Of course there will be images on the film and the magic feeling of that moment never goes away, not even after 50 years.</p>

<p>I think SRB Photo (here in the UK) very good with adapters and so on.I've been using them for years and recommend them.</p>

<p>Everything to develop B and W film can be done in daylight, apart from loading the film into the drum.<br> The first thing to buy therefore is a large dark bag, the larger the better to allow for scissors to get lost and the pesky top of the drum to hide itself in the corner. In fact my reason for a large bag is to not generate too much heat and stickiness as the film is loaded. <br> Once the film is safely in the container you can do everything else in the kitchen. I now Stand Develop and that is such a strain free way of working I wish I'd started using it years ago...just let it sit there for an hour or so...very simple!</p>

<p>Hi,<br> I have a few other lenses for my Nex cameras, a 6 and 7. but I never use them! The Sigma 19/2.8 lives on the 6 and the 30/2.8 on the 7; the old Nikkors and adapters live in the cupboard.<br> That said, it will be a worry to wonder whether you have enough lenses with you, but I seriously doubt that you will use the extra one(s) you take with you very much; thinking back to film days, I would use a 50mm most of the time and a 35mm for a few shots, and the 19 and 30 cover those 2 focal lengths with the Nexes. I always find it really difficult to make a nice image with a short telephoto, portraits yes, but other stuff, awkward. <br> So, my suggestion is to take the 50, the 85, and the 35 and the 85 taken under protest.<br> Have a great holiday with whatever you take!<br> Andy.</p>

<p>Hi,<br> You say, short of Leica, you do not have a cost limit, so I would suggest a second hand Leica.. the M Monochrom will get the pictures you imply you ought to be getting, as a perfectionist. It's full frame too.<br> As for lenses, just take a standard one.....if you kindof analyse pictures using other focal lengths, they can get and seem gimmicky after looking at a few, whereas the standard lens forces you to really look at the scene. A question I pose (to myself) is, did Eugene Smith use other lenses?, did Vivian Maier?, did Cartier Bresson?, and perhaps the greatest and most interestingly odd of them all, did Eugene Atget?<br> My 2 pence worth.</p>

<p>With Stand Developing you don't need to worry about the twisting business as the reels just sit quietly after a couple of shakes and do it all themselves, so as long as you have enough developer to cover what you have in the tank, and can make it lightproof, of course. I think you could be good to go with what you have and no additional expense.</p>

<p>Hi,<br> Where film touches during development you get definite edges...as I know to my cost...so I would say this is not that.<br> The similarity in the shape of the fault, shown on the left side in the pictures, leads me to suspect a light leak into the cassette as the film was being loaded of removed from the camera.</p>

<p>Cut a couple of feet of it and try it out, then your friend will have a real idea of it's value. If the seller is genuine he will be glad to get the proper price for it; if he's not, he'll say oooh, can't do that, and you will have your answer.</p>

<p>Hi,<br> The Big Minolta is a beauty as well..I think it might have been the XM on this side of the water. </p>

<p>Hi Les,<br> Both the Nikon F and original Canon F1 had Titanium shutters and interchangeable heads. They also were built to succeed in a market that had only just been thought of- the professional one, and so were built to outperform and outlast anything from Leica and other German makers.<br> Another wonderful idea about these early heavyweight beauties is that they were in all essentials, hand built by teams of dedicated and highly skilled craftsmen and women who cared deeply that that they were producing was the best it could be. I love that seriousness of endeavour.</p>

<p>My impression would be that every sensor is the same as it leaves the factory, whereas every lens and film and chemical interaction with the film and paper and the temperature of the solutions etc create a new world each time you take a picture .<br> I love both mediums, but film is the magic side of things. To see the picture come swimming up through the developer and becoming roughly what you were hoping for is magic; since you might ask, Photoshopping is not the same as dodging or burning.<br> With film, of course, you cannot see what you've just done or even if you've developed it right until after the event, so every part of the process can generate surprise, tension and happiness. And if you mucked it all up, the opposite emotions.</p>

<p>No-one has yet mentioned the Nikon F; it's siblings and offspring, yes, but not the Grand-daddy and King of the Hill!<br> Loaded with the Photomic FTN finder and a 50/1.4 Nikkor you will have a camera that will last at least another 60 years and help you develop plenty of good muscle tone as you stride about. The 3 I have, I bought very cheaply and all had non working meter heads, but new batteries solved that in all of them. I am a bit biased I know, but when you hold an F you understand that your photography needs have come home and your dreams are finally realizable.<br> The F2 is also a beautiful camera and worth considering. The F3 has a red line on it for some obscure reason and is from the House of Giugiaro and that would qualify for instant dismissal from a camera list.<br> The FM2 and FM2n are also very good, and the Minolta SRT series are also interesting and worth checking out as well as the OM1 or OM2 from Olympus; this list is getting too long....choose a camera you like the look of and the chances are it will give many years of enjoyment, regardless of make!</p>