tim_chorlton

I have just bought myself a second hand Bronica ETRS and I have noticed

two things about it. The first is that 8 secs seems to be the longest

setting. Can I use the T setting on the lense to achive longer times?

 

Secondly, when I fire the shutter, it goes with such force that the

camera shakes even when mounted securly on a Bembo Trecker tripod. Can

the shutter be locked up or is there something wrong with the camera?

 

I have no manual with the camera so I'm guessing I'm over looking

something.

I've been messing around with a toy camera I found called a MF-101

(!?!) some of the shots I hope to put on my bit of this site in the

next few weeks. Whilst trying to find out a little more about it in the

web, I discovered and fell in love with the Holga.

 

However no-one in England seems to have heard about it let alone stock

them. Freestyle won't export to the U.K. for less than $100 and ebay

seem to have got the wrong end of the stick ($69!!).

 

Does anyone know of anywhere in England I can buy them from or is

anyone planning to fly to Manchester Airport and would bring me a few

over in exchange for the price of the camera and a lift from the

airport (if you don't ask...)?

 

Please let me know of any leads as this is fast becoming an obsession!

Hi Alex

To digital or not to digital? This is a question that rages in web forums and camera clubs the world over. Here is my pennys worth.

 

1) No scanner can match the quality of printing from a negative. The very best scans you can get are Drum scans. Everything from that point downwards is a decrease in quality. To get everything from a negative takes a skilled scan operator three or so scans followed by some lengthy photoshop work.

 

2) There is nothing much you can do in a dark room that you can't do in Photoshop (hence its name) except when you start to take in textures such as printing onto handmade papers with liquid emulsion.

 

3) You can use none Epson inks in an Epson, but you devalidate your warranty.

 

4). Digital isn't yet archival, but you do have the original file so you can output time and time again with minimum hassle. A good way to test this is to call into your local digital output store and get two identical outputs. Leave one in a sunny window for a couple of weeks and the other in a draw. The results will probably shock you.

 

5). If you learn to use photoshop correctly (and this means learning process printing theory and how to use curve and levels correctly!) You can get truely spectacular black and whites from any input be it colour or other wise. However, when these sorts of Black and Whites are printed in Books and Brochures, they are usually printed with four or more inks.

 

So, should you put down your hard earned cash? Ask yourself one simple question and answer it honestly. Do I want to produce work for myself, friends and family, or, Do I want to aim towards competitions, photo libraries etc and try and make money for yourself?

 

If it's the former, go digital. It's fun, clean and very entertaining.

If it's the later, heed this...

 

...I work in the Graphic Design industry and work hand in hand with photographers and printers alike. The System I am using as an Apple Macintosh G3. In total it's about £3,000 (U.K. Sterling) worth of kit. We have our scans drum scanned at about £16 for an A5 (148x210mm) scan excluding VAT at 17.5%. And, if we are required to proof to a client we usualy use chromalins (about £70 for an A3) or if photo quality is required, a Dye-sublimation on something like a Kodak 2000 at about £45 for an A4. In short, to compete at a professional level and to try and match Darkroom produced photography, it's in short, bloody expensive and if I'm honest, the quality still isn't there yet.

 

If I were you, I would hold out on buying the kit for a few more years. Home digital is still in its infancy and is not of a particularly high standard.

 

Many proclaimers of the "age of digital" tend to be people who don't like or could never master the skills of the Dark Room. I have yet to be impressed by any digital system which could possibly be targeted at the home user.

 

This probably hasn't made your mind up any which way. Buy your computer system for surfing the web, home accounts and playing games on, just over spec it so it will run photoshop, that way you won't be as dissapointed if it turns out to be an anticlimax.

Hello everyone

I'm currently searching for the ideal camera. 90% of my pictures are

Landscape and Travel. I am planning on trying to make some money from

my hobby and want to invest in a camera system which will meet the

following requirements.

 

1: SLR

2: Lightweight

3: High quality lenses with a broad range.

4: Robust

 

I currently use a Rolliecord Vb and mostly shoot black and white

landscapes. I tend to favour poor weather conditions (stormy seas,

mist, fog, snow) usualy experienced by hiking and camping in the middle

of knowhere. I must confess that I do like the 6x6 format, but usually

crop panoramics out and seldom print larger than 12x16.

I am currently being drawn towards the Bronica ETR and ETR-Si and

settling for the smaller 6x4.5 format. Has anyone out there had to face

this dilema and what did you choose and how where the end results?

As with everything in Photography, no one thing does it all. And to do it well, you usually need to throw time and money at it.

I work in a Design agency and Photoshop is a speciality of mine. At home however, I prefer to use a Darkroom, the reason being as follows.

To get the best quality from digital systems takes years of trial and error, training and an understanding of Process Printing (CMYK printing).

Yes it is true, you can get fantastic results but affordable output devices are currently thin on the ground. Dye Sublimation machines like the Kodak 2000 are near photo quality but cost around £30 for a 8x10 output.

Part of the problem with digital is that you can't get the same information out of a negative as you can in a darkroom (not without several scans at different settings.

If my negative isn't perfect I can dodge and burn, push and pull and more importantly enjoy the experimentation of the Darkroom.

The big question you should be asking yourself is, what do I intend to use my final prints for?

If it is just for personal pleasure and to show family and friends, go digital. It's fun, clean, flexible and fast, but the outputs are a poor quality.

If you are wishing to exhibit your work, enter competitions or prehaps even try and make some money out of your investments, stick with the Dark room.

Get something like a secondhand Durst 670 so you can easily process both colour and B&W. It all seems a bit daunting at first, but believe me, with a little effort and a few mistakes - there is nothing in life you can't achieve and home processing is definately one of life's easier challenges!

I recently acquired an old Rolliecord and used my Cannon for metering. if you are in a controlled environment (indoors or a studio) the grey card method is fine. When used in the the great outdoors it can very soon become the bain of your life. if you are loathed to fork out for a new fangled meter (but they are worth every single penny and more) why not look for an old Weston light meter. They are a little more fiddly to use than a modern meter, but they give almost equal results. They aren't however as sensitive to low light conditions as new meters are.