michael_radika

Yeah I've got a lot of dark room experience I love printing in the darkroom here where I'm living now I definitely don't have room to set up a dark room I'd have to drive about 30 minutes to a place that rent out dark room space which takes a lot of time and a lot of effort I don't know if I want to do that. I just got my Canon Pixma pro-100 and I'm playing around with it I'm notI'm not so sure it's the printer. I don't have a scanner I paid someone to scan my 120 negatives on a Epson v700 I'm thinking it's the scans they're not high quality scans. I think I'm going to send one off to have it drum scanned just so I can see the comparison see what a good drum scan negative looks like and print from that.

I shoot 6x7 mostly black and white. I love film and I love the process of shoes and film I love developing the film but...... I'm scanning my negatives or having them scanned processing them in Lightroom and I'm printing them out on my Canon Pixma pro-100. What I'm questioning is is it worth all the effort because something's still lacking it's not the same as going in a dark room and looking at a dark room print on ilford paper coming out of the chemicals. For me personally I'm I'in love with the process of shooting at developing the film. I question the scanning and putting it in Lightroom process it comes out looking different than a digital camera but still I'm not getting that solid film look it's like somewhere in the middle. Maybe I just don't have enough experience in Lightroom which I admit I don't have a lot and I don't have a lot with wi with my new printer. Is it just a learning curve that I'm going to have to get past or am I never going to achieve the look that I'm after wil I have to go back to printing in the darkroom. Unsure at this point.

Wow I am so jealous 33 in that's one of the drawbacks to my camera that's probably the biggest drawback is the focusing distance of the lenses are not good adding the extension tube definitely helps but it's kind of hassle. Guess I just have to live with it for now and make the best of it

Yeah I think it will be a little loose with the 200 mm it won't be a tight headshot I think if you add the extension tube then and get closer I don't know how much the G18 how much closer it would allow you to get butt from my reading around the internet most people that are using this camera for portraits 10 to use the G18 extension tube. I thought the RB in the RZ what allow you to get closer than 4.5 ft with the Bellows I don't feel so bad at 6 feet.

Thanks guys I appreciate all the input I'm definitely going for the 200 mm thanks again for all the input. The fact that Mamiya rz67 Pro 2 focuses way closer than mine does cuz it has bellows is awfully tempting. The RZ has a rotating back bellows to focus closer I'm just in too deep into my bronica gs-1 to turn back at this point.

That's what I thought the only benefit I see to having the 250 would be if I'm trying to compress the landscape scene or something like that. 200mm it is, but I have heard from other people that the 200 millimeter lens will not fill the frame with a head and shoulder shot you cannot get close enough to the person you need a extension tube. With a 2-meter focusing distance on a 200 mm you can't get close enough to fill the frame.

Hey guys I've got the bronica gs-1 medium format camera. I'm looking to add a lens for portraits. There is a 200 mm F4 lens that has a focusing distance of 6 feet or 2 meters. There is a 250 mm lens F 5.6 with a minimum focusing distance of 10 feet. My question is if I'm trying to fill the frame up for like a headshot am I gaining anything by getting the 250 mm lens versus the 200 ?. Since one has a minimum of 60 and one has a minimum of 10 ft don't they kind of just wipe each other out aren't I better off with a 200 mm ? Thank you

I'm not looking for real backgrounds I'm looking for virtual backgrounds I heard there are plugins or different apps you can add to Lightroom that make it look like you're using a textured backdrop.

Nobody??

I want to know if anybody has a link or somewhere that I can get textured backgrounds for portraits that I can use in Lightroom not Photoshop. One of my favorite photographers is Sean Archer I'm I'm looking for his type of backgrounds that kind of look. Any help would be greatly appreciated I'm working with Lightroom 6 so I need something that would I can put into Lightroom.

Yeah my Beattie is good like I said the grid lines are very defined but the Split Image in the center is not as the fine but it's still very easy to focus on something with. And make it all just comes down to Personal Taste what works for one may not work for the other.

I gave Bill Maxwell my stock matte bronica screen he did some Hilux process to it that he told me would make it about 5 times brighter I paid him $150. When I received it it did seem better then I was in my local camera store showing a guy I know my camera and he has a bronica gs-1 in the glass case for sale so we compared the screens which his camera had a stock screen might have the enhanced Maxwell scream and he could barely tell the difference and I could barely tell the difference there's definitely a difference but not a whole lot not a $150 worth. I mean his process definitely makes a difference it's a better screen and it was. I bought the Beattie screen because my other screen is just a plain matte screen I been looking for a Split Image Screen because when I spoke with Bill Maxwell he says one screen is not going to do everything it's not going to be great for landscape great good for portraits you need a couple different screens depending on what you're doing. Trying to find a stock bronica screen with a split image it's easier to win the lottery then to find one of those I did find one but it had a lot of scratches on it and the seller refunded my. Then I ran into a guy in the UK that have a Beattie Split Image with the gridlines not a mark on it basically brand spanking new I thought okay I did a little research on it some people like the Beattie most people prefer the Maxwell. For Bill Maxwell to give me a brilliant matte screen that he's well-known for and that I read nothing but very good reviews on its $400 I'm not dropping $400 on a screen. Bill Maxwell told me that my stock bronica screen enhanced with his Hilux process is probably better for my particular camera then His Brilliant matte. So I took a shot ordered the Beattie from the guy in the UK I absolutely love it it's two to three times brighter than my enhanced bronica screen by Bill Maxwell it's got to Split Image in the middle which I wanted I'm I'm happy with both screens if I have to choose one I would take the Beattie hands down. Now I can do landscape portraits whatever I want to do between the two screens like Bill Maxwell told me one screen is not good for everything different particular screens do something better than the other screen so I agree with him on that point. So then there is nothing wrong with my Beattie screen the grid lines are all black the Split Image in the middle is not black around it so it's perfectly fine I can mail focus with it I'm happy as can be. I've mentioned to Bill Maxwell we had several conversations on the phone very good guy help me tremendously I had mentioned to him in an email that I looked through the other bronica camera and I don't think his screen is 5 times brighter like he claims it's maybe twice as bright definitely not five times. He did not take kindly to that I thought he was a great guy we got along great we had a lot of great conversation but soon as I gave a little constructive criticism about what he did to my screen we basically we don't talk anymore any more and he refunded my $150 that I paid him to enhance my screen and I never even asked him to all I said to him was I just didn't think the process was as good as he told me it was going to be now if I had never look through that other screen I probably never would have thought anything different but once I looked through that other screen and I have them side-by-side it's not worth $150. So he obviously took offense to me stating my opinion on his screen I told him that I liked it I'm happy with it I just don't think it's as good as he claimed so we've on. I much prefer the Beattie screen over the enhanced bronica screen all day long the Beattie is much better.

I bought a beattBe focusing screen with gridlines in a Split Image in the middle for my Bronica gs1.. Very beautiful screen in his vertical and horizontal grid lines in a Split Image in the middle but there's a problem. There are no scratches or nothing it's in wonderful shape for how old it is but I noticed the horizontal Split Image line seems very faint like I can hardly see it then there's a prism around it a circle that seemed it's not well-defined where the horizontal and vertical lines are black. One I'm wondering are these lines attached into the glass or plastic whatever it's made out of or are they marked with some kind of ink. Like I said the vertical and horizontal grid lines are very strong you can see them but when you get into the center where the split images it's very faint line like it's almost like it's been cleaned and it's over the years it's kind of washed away but that couldn't be the case if it was etched because it would be in the glass permanently and when you look through the camera that's what makes the lines look black so I don't know what to think I'm wondering if anybody else out there has a screen from beattie can tell me. Michael

I'm completely happy with my plastic reels and plastic tank I'm not going to even mess with stainless steel I find plastic ones very easy to load.

Doesn't ilford make presets for that paper and I believe the Canon Pixma 1000 is listed on their website.

Looks a lot darker than it did on my computer I don't think my monitor is calibrated correctly.

My version

There's a ton of them on eBay for cheap you'll have no problem replacing it.

Well I'm kind of reporting back I've been playing around with my screen and I think I'm just going to roll with it I shot a couple rolls of black and white develop them and I pretty much nailed 18 maybe 17 out of the 20 shots of the two rolls which is not bad it makes a pretty significant difference since I've played around with it. I think it was worth $150 that I spent to have the screen fixed by Maxwell Optics he does a very good job is a very nice guy and I think I'm just going to roll with it and start taking pictures it's been i long frustrating Journey for all of this but I'm ready to enjoy my camera.

Well I received my Maxwell screen today. It's actually my bronica screen but I sent it to Maxwell and he did a Hilux enhancement of the screen. It's definitely brighter it's definitely a couple Subs right it is definitely more light coming in it's a pretty good Improvement. It's kind of late in the evening so I'm going to play around with it for a couple days and then I'll really report back what my final analysis of it is. But after talking to Bill Maxwell on the phone basically I don't think there's one single screen that's good for everything I don't have a Split Image I kind of prefer a Split Image in the middle but that's not particularly good for everything mine is just a matte screen that you just focus which is good for other things so I have to decide if I really want a split image or if I'm just going to be happy with the matte screen that I have that's been enhanced by Maxwell Optics. Give me a couple days to play around with it shoot a roll develop a roll of film still get the focus comes out and I'll give you my final opinion but it's definitely a pretty good Improvement so far.

My Maxwell screen is actually arriving today I will let you know later today what I think of it.

I wouldn't personally buy it I would buy an SQ or a or gs1 they're very inexpensive and can be found all over eBay for very cheap. I believe the bronica SQ and gs-1 have better Optics than the S2.

Well no one's taking my Buy It Now price and my auctions not going near as well as I had planned I'm not going to get what I want to get for the camera so I've actually ended the auction because there's still a couple of days left but it's not going to go where I needed to go so I've been to the auction I've decided to keep the bronica and I've actually and I'v ordered a Maxwell bright screen for my bronica and that's the way I'm going to go and however it turns out that's what I'm going to live with. I'm really not in the mood to keep relisting it and then taking a loss on the camera and then having to find another new Mamiya and go through all of that and order it from Japan and then I've got to order lenses it's just too much trouble I just want to enjoy and start shooting film and get busy instead of wasting my time doing all that I will just make this camera work. Thank you for all of your input that you guys have given me I appreciate everything and I'll let you know how my Maxwell screen turns out.

It's currently on eBay and I've got people bidding on it hopefully I'll get what I would like to get for it and then I'm going to be moving on to the Mamiya RZ Pro 2 if I don't get enough for it I'll probably be keeping it and going with the Maxwell bright screen.

Very very well said very good point to make it may end up costing me actually a little bit more to buy the RZ Pro 2. I wish I could look through that Maxwell screen I hear nothing but good things about those screens and I spoke with Bill Maxwell on the phone for 2 hours and he says it's just night and day difference like basically he's telling me it'll be 4 to 5 times brighter than my current screen which is pretty significant it is a steep price tag and that's obviously what holding me back you're right and when I go to sell if I ever do go to sell the system I'll never recoup that money from that you're right I have to decide that's it I'm a bronica guy for at least the next 5 years. If the bill Maxwell screen made a significant difference like he says it will that solves that portion of it the only thing I see where the Mamiya RZ Pro II has an advantages is the rotating back other than that I don't see an advantage over my bronica if I get the screen issue. My bronica will actually sink faster at one five hundreds of a second vs 1/400 of the Mamiya.. There are things I don't like about the Mamiya it is not that much heavier but it's like bulky it's like a big tank and I don't like the way the back goes on the 120 back you basically have to push the two buttons in to get it to click the door closed after you load the film mine you just shut the door and it automatically and gauges so there's pros and cons to both systems. Do I invest $385 in roll the dice and hopefully that solves my issue I can always buy a really stuff or promediagear L bracket and put an L bracket on the bottom of my camera so when I want to flip to portrait mode I just slip it on the bracket in the Tripod not a big deal. I have a tough choice to make basically$385 could solve mostly all my problems, really going to have to think about this one. There is one other advantage that the Mamiya has it has Bellows focusing so you can basically Focus precisely and very close to your subject. The bronica gs-1 the clothes closest you can get with some of these lenses is sort of ridiculous it's very hard to fill the 150 lens with a person's face you just can't get close enough you need to put on the GS 18 extension tube which I have and makes it a tremendous difference but you lose focusing to Infinity. But I guess when you're shooting portraits you don't really need to focus to Infinity so I don't think it's that big of a deal but it's just something else you have to put on the camera it's an extra step.