tom_perkins

Paul,

I tried an 8x10 one of those for contact printing and found it more trouble than it was worth. Within two months the fittings failed. A good quality contact printing frame would be useful for alternative processes, but for printing on AZO or enlarging paper, I ended up using a piece of plate glass lain over some black mount board or similar surface. There are probably better surfaces to use for the bottom but the plate glass works great. They will grind the edges for you at the glass store, and you can expect to be out about $15 for a couple of suitably sized pieces. You may be able to find some more information on the options in the archives here or at largeformatphotography.info. Good luck. Tom Perkins

I have a Symmar-S multi-coated 180mm as you describe. It was my first large format lens and is still my most used. For my use, it would be difficult to improve on it. I also have a 135, and I can run out of coverage with it, but not with the 180. They are both terrific lenses. No visible aberrations that would lead me to upgrade to the APO, although I did get something one time by making a picture with just the rear element. They are excellent for color and I have used them for that, but mostly black and white. I have found the 135 to be more useful for 1:1, no coverage problems or unmanageable distortion at the increased focal length. You may be out 270 mm with the 135 in a close up situation. Although I do not doubt that the modern versions are probably better, due to engineering and manufacturing control, I believe the Symmar-S is also APO corrected; I have heard that it was just not such an important selling point at the time they were made and released. Good luck. I don't think you can go wrong either way, but you could probably save a few bucks.

I have had this problem on the Walker Titan with after market boards. Since there is no place on there to fix it with bailing wire, I ended up putting a line of gaffer's or electrical tape along the top side of the lens board, careful to make sure that it did not allow a light leak. It seems to keep it from floating around.

Tough to have that many kids in the darkroom, but when my kids were that age we made some photograms. Put some RC paper in the easel and then place objects on it, then make the exposure with the enlarger and develop the paper. Things like sticks and feathers and Barbie clothes, little toys. They will like watching the images come up in the developer and have something they can take home. Good luck.

Robin Kanta in Lompoc carries filters and lens caps. He's at www.photofilter.com, 805-735-3938. He will treat you good and turn it around fast. Good luck.

Curtis,

There is a nice walk through meadows to Nevada Beach, just into Nevada past the Casinos. Turn left on Kahle Drive and park. You can also take a right at Kahle drive and go up the hill to the county park. There's a trail on the North side of the soccer field that leads into a stream environment with groves of aspens, some rock, and a few peeks at the Lake. Also, try the Zephyr Cove area, another 5 miles North (or East) on 50. Watch out for the no parking parking lot next to the diner, they tow. There's a bunch of boats in the cove that are interesting, and reach out into the Lake a bit.If you look on the maps for the Tahoe Rim trail it's really not too hard to get on; access on all the highways leading out of the basin, some, like Kingsbury Grade and Luther Pass, are probably pretty close to where you will be staying. Have a good stay.

Roberto,

The original screen on your Wista is a fresnel. If you like it better, you can put it back on.

You can also take the enlarger film carrier to a machinist and get the inside edges milled out to the corrrespond with the edges of a typical exposed negative.

Tim, I started working with pyro about a year ago. First, I used up a supply of ABC+ from the Photographer's formulary. It and rollo pyro are supposed to be similar and were developed for use in the jobo. I liked the negatives pretty good, but the stain does tend to reduce contrast. ABC, which I am trying now, would not work in a rotary processor without some fiddling because it oxidizes too fast. It is simple to use, in trays. If you are going to stick with the jobo, I would recommend ABC+ or rollo pyro, and get enough to really figure it out before you try something else. Good luck.

Rick, it goes on the outside, as you have supposed. Check out the article on this subject by Ron Wisner at Wisner.com.

I agree with Art Haykin. Process for a minute. There's also a good article by George DeWolfe in View Camera within the last year. Good luck.

Thanks very much to all of you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I have learned far more than I could ever repay from this forum. Best wishes for a warm and safe holiday.

Fred--I live in Western Nevada, which is among the driest places around. This is a legitimate question, and I have seen the same kinds of problems with furniture as are described here. The materials in field cameras are small and dense, compared to furniture, and I believe that practical care is all that is needed. I sweated the same thing, but found no real worries with a Wista that came to me from Hawaii. More problems with dust. You should check out the Walker Titan at Walkercameras.com, or the metal field cameras from Wista, Toyo and Linhof if you think it will be a problem over the long run. Good luck.

They're just commodities. But, I do have a Rolleiflex 2.8E with a Xenotar lens and a Maxwell focusing screen. I'd hate to see it buried; I think I'll just leave it to Eugene. Also a nifty little dental mirror for checking out the f-stop and shutter speed on a large format lens when the camera is in a precarious position. I learned that idea here. Lenses are magic and I banged up my g-claron, so I may as well take it with me. I like my Alladin thermos and my prescription magnifiers. A box of film and some developer; I don't know if B&H will ship to where I'm going.

David

I have used this under similar circumstances to yours, so my comments are not based on year in and year out use. A dilution of 1:10 works good. Two minutes or 3 times the time it takes for the image to start to appear, to vary on your experience. No difference whether contact printing versus enlarging, as the reaction of the chemicals on the paper is the same. I don't think you would get contrast control from the developer within standard dilutions of 1:10 to 1:15, although I have done that with full strength dektol for half the time, and you could try it. Good luck.

To Bill Mitchell--it will clear when you mix it with water.

Andrew--

I assume it is the 2500 series drum, and I had the same problem with Delta 400 before they quit making it. The flaps are to keep the sheets on the reel. The instructions also say to develop no more than 5 sheets, even though the reel takes six. I finally switched to a 3006 drum, pricey but even to the edges. Try the 5 minute pre-soak and more solution. Good luck. Tom Perkins

Chris-

This is exactly how I got started on my own darkroom. I couldn't find anybody to process it, and did not think I was smart enough to do it myself. In fact, it is a relatively inexpensive and simple process, although I am still not very smart. The bonus is that processing and printing your own negatives teaches you more about exposure and composition than any book. If you read through the archives here and the primer on the former large format home page, you can get an idea how to do it, and at least consider it as an alternative to sending it out. Good luck.

Sagebrush. Rocks and trees and water (nobody told me it was old hat until I was already committed. Besides, I was looking at this stuff for a long time before I had a camera). People. Wood. Windows, roads and the spaces between roofs.

The department of transportation (highways) in Nevada still uses this kind of equipment, and I imagine that other states and large cities have highway agencies which either still use it or know the names of the people who operated the equipment in the recent past when it was in service. Good luck.

Western Nevada/Eastern California

I live in Minden, Nevada, and people are friendly. The farmers and ranchers are very open and generous if you take the time to ask for permission. Tourists are curious, and here they also want to know if it's a Hasselblad. They assume I am a professional (I'm not), and some have seemed disappointed that I do not have a web site. The locals who don't already know me and assume I'm daft are relieved when they find I'm not from California, although most of them are, and from what I have seen it is an extraordinary place. Take lots of polaroids and hand them out freely. By the way, I snuck through Tonopah the other day and Jim Galli did not see me, that is, unless he is the one who tried to direct me to an open mine shaft.

Chris-- In my mind there are a number of possibities that should be considered. Most of the writers I have read caution the student from striving to develop a personal style when learning the craft. There is a difference between the situation where the worker's hand shows from lack of experience or attention to craft, and the times where it shows from intention, with some knowledge of the materials and processes, as there is also a difference between the worker who draws attention to the work and the the one who directs attention to the subject. Allowing for all of the potential of expression, if the work has some truth to it, and some interest, it may be successful; if not, it will likely fail. When I look at prints I made when I started out, I often shudder at at the artifacts, but they all have lessons in them. Like you, my own values favor transparency in darkroom manipulation, but I can see the merit in the work of others who do not.

Neil

I have tried a form of compensating development with large dilutions; Xtol 1:3 in my case, a single sheet per tray. Agitate for the first 30 seconds and then 5 seconds every 2 minutes for up to 20 minutes, depending on results. There is a tray insert called the slosher which was designed for processing up to 6 sheets in a large tray in this manner and I recall reading about it on the old large format forum. It is my understanding that any standard developer will work with this method, as it is based on the same theory as the water bath, that development continues in the shadows and is exhausted in the highlights because of the dilution and the minimal agitation. I have not used it a lot, having only learned it in February, but I believe that a few practice runs could nail it down pretty good. Good luck. Tom Perkins

The plane of focus is altered by the use of tilt. The objects in the middle ground are now beyond the plane of focus. Imagine that you lay a piece of glass down on top of the objects in the foreground and background which you have chosen to focus on. The stuff underneath the glass doesn't touch it. The stuff way above the glass doesn't touch it either. (When you stop way down, the wind finds out and comes along and starts blowing the flowers around so you can't come up with an acceptable shutter speed.) Sometimes you can move the plane a little further into the scene and then capture the foreground and middle ground within the area of acceptable sharpness by stopping down without compromising as much on shutter speed. There are more sophisticated explanations and ways of managing this phenomenon, and I believe they are very helpful, but experience and experimentation are probably going to be the best teachers.

You may also want to consider a Walker Titan. No wood to shrink. You can find the specifications and some reviews at walkercameras.com. Good luck.