des_crofton1

Mark, you could try John Leung Studios in Wanchai. I believe they should be able to do B&W prints for you but you would probably have to supply your own archival paper. Contact details are available through their website:

 

http://www.johnleungstudios.com/

Darren, that link to Nick Hartmann's site and his technique for producing "Digital Tri-X" prints is excellent. I followed his method and reprinted several black-and-white images on my Epson 1270 and what a difference it makes. Thank you.

There's a rundown <a href="http://www.shortcourses.com/how/printingsoftware/printingsoftware.htm#TOP">here</a> of several programs that will do what you want, including Qimage Pro. However, I don't know why you wouldn't be able to print multiple photos on one page with an existing image editor (assuming you have one) such as Photoshop.

I also had this problem with my 1270. I took it into the Epson repair centre and had the print head replaced. Unfortunately, the new head gave out after only a few prints. It was replaced free of charge, but the experience left me wondering about Epson's quality control. If I were you, I'd follow Elliot's advice above and just replace the printer as the warranty has probably run out.

I hope you're not experiencing the same problem I had with my Epson 1270. In not one but two cases, the problem was a defective print head. The first time it cost me about US$150 to have it replaced (the warranty had expired). And although I didn't have to pay for the second print head, which did not work properly right from the first print, it was annoying having to lug the printer twice to and from the Epson service centre.

There's a good tutorial on the Photoshop blended exposure technique at the Luminous Landscape site:

 

www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/blended_exposures.shtml

 

This techique, which makes use of layer masks and the paintbrush tool, is also very useful for selective sharpening and cleaning, as well as a host of other digital corrections.

No, Peter, it does exist. I bought one at the beginning of August here in Hong Kong (apparently it was the first one in the city) and have been using it constantly ever since.

 

I don�t know how comprehensive a review I can provide, though, since this is the first large format camera I�ve owned and really don�t have any basis for comparison. Still, I think that it�s a great camera for my needs. I�m an avid hiker and landscape photographer, so the lightness of the carbon fibre body was a big factor in my purchasing decision. It�s actually lighter than all my SLR gear that I used to take with me hiking the back country of Hong Kong (yes, there is such a thing believe or not). It�s also very compact. Together with the 2 lenses I bought, a light meter, 5 film holders, loupe, cable release and dark cloth, it all fits very neatly into my Lowe Pro Mini Trekker.

 

Some have questioned whether the camera is sturdy enough, given that it only weighs 3.4 lbs. So far, I�ve found that as long as you have a decent tripod stability isn�t an issue. Making adjustments is smooth and straightforward � and I haven�t found the lack of rear movements to be a problem either, but then for landscape photography it shouldn�t be a real drawback. Again, I�m just a novice so you can take all of this with the grain of salt it deserves. On the other hand, our staff photographer where I work has a lot of large format experience and he�s quite taken with the Toyo.

 

By the way, David/Elias � those are stunning images on your website. I would love to be able to get results half as impressive as yours in 4x5.

 

Cheers

This may be a bit late, but in response to your question about the Toyo 4x5 CFL, the "L" stands for Linhof as in the type of lensboard it accepts. I just bought one a few weeks ago and I'm very happy with it so far.