keirst

Hi Ron et al,

I'll check pH tomorrow and post the answer next week.

Hi,<br><br>

For those of you who are interested in home brew RA-4, I have just posted a new formula

(10/2005). See <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/

technical.html">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical.html </a>. This

version has three stable concentrates (Part A, B and C) is slightly more basic to give deeper

blacks and has a very small amount of sulfite added to Part B. To keep activity consistent

from batch to batch, I wait until just before use to mix CD-3 into the Part B, and I make

enough of the three parts for ten batches of developer. Working strength solutions seem

to work at least one week after mixing. I have not tried keeping them longer, but if well

sealed the developer should keep fairly well.<br><br>

Since this formula lacks the optical brighteners of commercial formulas, the whites are not

quite so pure, but I think the deeper blacks are more desirable. And prints I have made

have excellent color and dynamic range.

I think Alan, Mike and Tom are giving you a bum steer Steve. I have this exact setup and it

works as it should. The Metz website at www.metz.de lists the SCA3502 M2 as the correct

adapter for the Leica M7, and there is no need to upgrade it. The MZ 54-4 is a VERY

complicated flash with lots of features, many of which are not intuitive in how they modes

are turned on and off. I think your customer needs to re-read the manual, particularly the

troubleshooting section.

I think the customer's problem with the flashing ready light is that he has accidentally

activated the "Modeling Light" mode under TTL. You have to cancel this using the Select

button and scroll wheel on the MZ54, because it will not deactivate by itself upon turning

the flash or camera of and on. Audible alarms can also be turned on and off, but I forget

how, so see the manual.

For the reported shutter speed problem, this can't be accurate as a description of the

problem because the MZ54 flash cannot display the M7's shutter speeds. I suspect that

the ISO speed of the film is what is causing confusion here. The MZ54 displays the ISO

speed dynamically, including exposure compensation set on the camera, and changes

when the camera is on and meter active. If you set positive exposure compensation on the

M7 back, then the MZ54 displays a lower effective ISO. For example if you have 400 ISO

print film loaded, and set +2 stops of exposure compensation on the camera body, then

the flash displays 100 ISO for the film speed. If you change the speed or exposure

compensation on the body, the flash will update the ISO display the next time the meter is

turned on on the body, as the camera has to be active to communicate with the flash.

Despite all the complexity of the MZ54 it is a good flash for the M7, if you take the time to

learn the modes you want to use. It is the only flash that supports the HSS flash mode for

the M7 (though only for shutter speeds over 1/125s under Manual flash and camera

shutter speed modes). And the MZ54 has a good flash zoom range of 24mm-105mm, a

good guide number, and rear curtain sync available

The film grain in your scans does not appear to be in focus, which probaly makes both lenses

appear to be worse than they really are. I have used my 50mm/2 Planar ZM on both Hexar RF

and Leica M7. With 8.75"x13" image prints made in my own darkroom I have found the lens

to be very sharp with negatives on both bodies. I cannot compare the ZI 50mm to a

Summicron, but it is subjectively comparable to the image quality of Leica 35mm Summilux

and 28mm Summicrons, with a smoother rendition of out of focus areas than those lenses.

Just curious if a color version would be possible using 3 colors of LEDs? For 4x5" or 8X10"

negatives this could be an economical alternative to dichro heads.

You really should use two 1/3N Lithium batteries, which are the kind of batteries the M7 is

designed to use. Four LR44 alkalines are NOT equivalent in Power, even if they have

nominally the same Voltage.

I agree that decimal showing up is a different issue. If you have no film, or use a differnt ISO

from the DX code on the cassette, or use exposure compensation the camera shows the

flashing decimal. Ignore it. If your M7's batteries get weak, "b c" will show in the display.

Pretty Cool, but on 4x5" and 8X10" setting the view cameras still looks like a Leica!

In the field I use the rear-focus spread measurement method for LF landscape stuff. This

method was

outlined in Photo Techniques a few years ago and is a fast and effective method of finding

the optimum aperture for a scenic shot.

Don't trust the cheap batteries that Leica gives you in the M7 box, get new high quality 1/3N

lithiums. Several people have had similar complaints with new M7s. As for me, I had trouble

with "bc" error lights intermittently until getting Duracell replacements. I have not seen it

since in many months of use. It does sound like your first body had something out of whack,

because the symptoms were more severe, and new batteries did not fix the problems. Happy

shooting with the new one!

I second Jerry Lehrer's opinion, for critical close wide-aperture work I use the 1.25X Leica M

Eyepiece magnifier for a 0.58X M body. At middle and far distances the 90mm/2 AA+0.58X

Body (or Hexar RF with 0.6X finder) is fine without a magnifier. That said, I now prefer the

75mm/2 AA lens as my carry-around telephoto. It is shorter, lighter, and optically wonderful.

I sometimes use the magnifier on my 0.58X with the 75mm, but rarely.

Yaron Kidron , sep 08, 2005; 04:38 p.m. wrote: <br> <br> <i> If you don't want to

splurge on a Leica body, Cosina makes cheaper M-Mount that are compatible with your

lens. So does Zeiss, although theirs isn't shipping to date.</i> <br> <br>

There is also the Konica Hexar RF, which is available used at good prices, but some are not

built

to Leica tolerances on the lens mount, and the RF isn't as robust. Get a late serial # one, if

possible. See <a href="http://www.dantestella.com/technical/hexarrf.html"> http://

www.dantestella.com/technical/hexarrf.html </a> for info. I have one that works well

with

Leica 90mm lenses, now that I learned how to adjust the RF (the design gets off calibration

at infinity rather easily). The plus side for the Hexar RF is the availability of shutter speeds

to 1/4000s and built in motor advance. <br> <br>

The new Zeiss Ikon will have 85mm framelines, not 90mm, so it is

not a good choice for 90mm lens owners, and Zeiss's plannned 85mm Sonnar is large and

expensive (though doubtless great). The best finder/RF combo in a M-mount body for

accuracy on a 90mm lens would be a 0.9X

Magnification Leica M3 or 0.85X on an M7 or M6 TTL.

Are the new Fujufilm C41 Pro 160S & Pro 160C going to be available in 4x5" and 8X10" sizes?

I have only seen these available in roll films so far in the US. Ctein's review of the new films in

the current Photo Techniques looks very promising.<br> <br> I have used Kodak Portra

400NC and Portra 160VC in 8x10" and think the 160 VC looks better contact printed, with

more realistic color. The 400NC looks a bit flat unless you print it on Kodak Ultra Endura

paper.

Even without the macro-adapter, the 90mm Macro-Elmar looks to be Leicas closest focusing

90mm with 0.77 meter closest focus distance compared to 1 meter for the other 90mm's.

The Zeiss Biogon 25mm/2.8 ZM lens is really terrific. The lens is not as heavy or wide as

the Leica 24mm/2.8 ASPH, but is longer. It takes the 46mm filters that many RF users

already have, and is sharp even wide open. Stopped to f/5.6 or f/8 the becomes quite

incredible. You really need a tripod to get the

full resolution which it can provide. Flare control is superb. I've taken some stunning night

shots with

the Biogon at f/5.6. Look at the MTF curves, and you will see that the 24mm Elmarit lens

may

be a bit better at f/2.8 in the center, but the 25mm Biogon is better in the corners at f/

2.8, and better everywhere at f/5.6. The Zeiss is a better bargain right now. <br><br>

Mechanically the lens is better than my Leica 28mm/2 but not as smooth focusing as my

Leica

35mm/1.4. I like the aperture control rings on the new Zeiss lenses better than the Leica

ones. Zeiss put the ring far forward, right behind the hood bayonet, and the action is not

as loose as Leica lenses tend to be. So it is harder to inadvertently change apertures on the

Zeiss ZM lenses.

See <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical.html">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical.html</a> for a newer formula that provides

good results. I probably will be working on it some more in the fall when it coold down

enough for me to get in the darkroom. I may be adding 1g/L potassium sulfite to the new

mix.

Hi Anders et al,<br><br>

For daylight pictures I usually rate color negative films 1/3 to 1 stop below their

designated ISO speed because I like to have more detail in the shadows and lower

midtones. C41 films have tremendous exposure lattitude (unlike slide films) and slight

overexposure decreases apparent film grain because the dye clouds begin to overlap a bit,

with a tradeoff being a slight loss of detail in highlights.<br><br>

For my night photography, I like to expose 2 stops over the ISO film speed, rating ISO 160

film at 40 Exposure Index, for instance. Since night cityscapes have tremendous dynamic

range of 10 stops or more, overexposure compresses the dynamic range of the scene as

recorded to C41 film. If you expose the film at the manufacturer's rated speed, you will

lose a tremendous amount of shadow detail. The highlights get saturated to near the

maximum that the film can record, while the midtones and shadows get pushed up toward

them, resulting in an image that is closer to what the human eye sees. Your eyes and brain

do a tremendous amount of contrast processing, to reduce the dynamic between bright

lights and shadow, better than any film yet made. For example, the round sign in my

Tremont Street scene did not appear as washed out when I was standing there taking

pictures, and when I print it again on 11X14" paper, I'll probably make a mask to butn it in

more.<br><br>

PS. I think the light on the manhole cover was just reflecting off the streetlight that was

out of frame on the right side. This one had no car drive through it, unlike some before

and after it. Unfortunately the City of Boston has been putting in ultra-bright street lamps

on all the side streets in our neighborhood, creating a huge increase in light pollution so

that Bostonians can hardly see the stars anymore. It does make it easier to photograph the

buildings though!

I shot these with the 50mm/2 Planar ZM:<br><br>

<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston13.html">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston13.html</a>. Fuji NPC 160 rated at

about 40 ISO, Tripod Mounted M7, f/5.6, 15 sec.<br><br>

<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston16.html">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston16.html</a>. Fuji NPC 160 rated at

125 ISO, Handheld M7, f/5.6.<br><br>

<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston17.html">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston17.html</a>. Kodak Portra 800, rated

at 500 ISO, Handheld Hexar RF, f/5.6.<br><br>

<a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston21.html">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/boston/boston21.html</a>. Fuji NPC 160 rated at

125 ISO, Handheld Hexar RF, f/2.8, 1/4000s.

OK Ron, I'm not a chemist. What two more ingrdients are needed to make my RA4

developer "complete". What is their function and what adverse affects are caused be

leaving them out? As my webpage says, I do not use CD4, and I included Dr. Jonas Palm's

formula to indicate where I started from.

Hi to those who are fellow color darkroom enthusiasts,

I added a couple new technical pages to my site. The first has formulae for RA4 roller

transport compatible Developer and Blix. If you are tired of having commercial kits go bad

in storage, or simply having a hard time getting kits because your local camera store has

become a computer and peripheral shop, see: <a href="http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical.html">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/

~keirst/technical.html</a><br><br>

Also I have a second page for Jonas Palm's Room Temp RA4 developer from which I

derived my formula. See: <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical-

jp-dev.html">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/technical-jp-dev.html</a> for

his original recipe. I have not actually tried it because I have a roller transport processor,

and so I don't do any development at room temp.<br><br>

Most of the chemicals are available from <a href="http://

www.artcraftchemicals.com/">Artcraft Chemicals</a>. I get Etidronic acid,

Diethylhydroxylamine and Triethanolamine from <a href="http://

www.sigmaaldrich.com/">Sigma-Aldrich Chemicals</a>.<br><br>

Please take some time to look at newly posted photos on my revised site at: <a

href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/

~keirst/</a><div></div>

Hi Leica Forum Readers

See: <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/">http://

www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/</a> for a new revision of my

website.<br><br>Many of the new images are Leica or Hexar RF shot and are in the <a

href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~keirst/

photojournalism.html">photojournalism section</a>. I plan to add more pictures to the

other sections soon. <br><br>Let me know what you think.