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I like film...(open thread)


Doc Henry

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This is probably the wrong place for this, but I wanted film shooters to see it.

I'm using an Epson 4870 scanner. I scanned some stuff at 300dpi, but it didn't look good. So, I scanned it at 3200. It looked great, but it takes an hour and a half to scan a roll of film.

I'm only scanning for internet use. If I want wall hangers, I'll get the scan and print done professionally.

So,how are you all scanning?

Advice?

 

Sorry if this is an inappropriate post for this thread,

Matt

 

I have 3 scanning setups, but the one that gets most use is the Pakon F135+. Why? Quick, easy and has Kodak's own colour tables for their film (it reads the DX info to select the colour tables). Produces 6Mp TIFF's and scans a whole roll automatically without user intervention in a couple of minutes.

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FP4 question:

 

Received my Rolleiflex A, 2.8 Tessar from CLA yesterday. Camera has one significant restriction as it has a top shutter speed setting of 1/200; otherwise, a great camera. As FP4 is significantly more economical, in 120 size, than PanF I would like to shoot FP4 at 50 ISO. I see Ilford gives processing information for processing FP4 at ISO 50. Does the film do well at 50 ISO? For any whom may have shot it at that speed, what developer and times do you use?

 

Thanks,

 

Wayne

Many years ago I used FP4 and all manner of films, but recently, within the last year I ran a roll of FP4+, and processed it in my standard soup, R09. Right or wrong, R09 is simple, economical, and keeps. I'm sure it is suited to some and not suited to others, but right niow it keeps, like it's namesake Rodinal, and that is a big plus for me.

 

The negs were stunning looking, if anything a tad too contrasty, but when I was printing that's how I liked them. They were via the SWC, and had heaps of bite.

 

Exposure would have been box speed, possibly guessed or at worst with a hand held meter, and processed 1:50 in the R09.

 

Gary

.

 

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Thanks for the response. I have taken to heart an earlier comment you made about slower films. It seems the slower I go, the better the result.

 

Svema 32, shot at 32 with Canon F1, Canon FD 35/2, Thorium, Chrome nose. I believe you are familiar with this great lens. :)

 

With the help and inspiration of you, Phil, and everyone else, I gain confidence. It feels good to take a shot, look at the results, and think of the value you may have created for others.......Like for this young lady's loved ones.

 

attachicon.gifimg787-2.jpg

 

Thank you sincerely, Wayne. I agree, the support and the confidence received here is second to none. So, so glad you are bonding with that gorgeous chrome nose Canon lens - I think it really is one of the unsung treasures. And I completely agree, too, that there is value intrinsic to some of the shots we take. Often this takes a hard to define, esoteric direction, but sometimes, as with your lovely shot here, it has palpable value - at least to someone. And that is not always easy to achieve in other ways.

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Very lovely, Steve.  Has your signature all over it.  :)  Glad to see you posting again, btw.  In my quest for the right 6x17 I have your review of the Fuji GX617 superb and one of the treasure troves of information and analysis on the internet on this rare camera.  I can't say that I fell in love with the build quality in my first test drive.  I am on the fence b/n the fuji and linhof.  Probably will grab the first good copy that comes along of either.  But the 6x17 format is something that I am very excited about for New York.

Both the Fuji and the Linhofs are ruggedly, brutally, industrial strength durable. In favour of Linhof is continued support where, for example, if you lose or break a Fuji viewfinder or centre filter, you have a problem. There are workarounds, though,and I have occasionally seen Fuji GX617’s with Linhof and odd Chinese viewfinders attached.

 

The main thing to think about is that square filter systems are only usable on the Fuji if you remove the ‘crash bars’, which is easy enough to do. I’ve had my Fuji for years, it’s been hauled all over the place, up mountains on flights and backpacked in a rucksack with camping gear thrown on top of it. Unbelievably, after over 20 years, it’s still looks like new. I like the Fuji detachable viewfinders, I carry them separately and use them to previsualise a composition before setting the camera up. If ever the ‘rule of thirds’ was applicable to composition, it is frequently applicable to 6x17 format with the 3:1 aspect ratio.

 

For yourself, you’ll probably be happiest with a Linhof. Go for it, 6x17 is a stand-out format.

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A couple more Monterosso.

First with the 35 Summicron on the R6

Portra 400

Plustek 8100.

Gary

 

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And the 50 Summicron.

Gary

 

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This is just great, Wayne. I like the unusual composition a lot with the bee at the far left about to leave the frame. It should make the image feel unbalanced but somehow that little insect at the edge manages to counterbalance the right-hand side.

 

attachicon.gifimg871h-2.jpg

 

Topcon Super DM (U.S. Navy,) Topcor 50/1.8, Holga 400 film

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Looks pretty good to me Chris. A bit of flare?

Gary

 

Yes, about 4/5 of the way from left to right. There is a 43.5mm lens hood on the way. In other news, I found a black Trip 35 that has not been used. Despite the seller's assurances, the shutter was stuck. So I managed to take it apart, clean the two shutter blades with isopropanol and lubricate them with a soft pencil (ie graphite) and put it all back together. There will be more scale-focused goodness from the offspring of Maitani-san in the future.

 

Oh, and talking of scale focus - here is a link to an online calculator that lets you print a card using your own interpupillary distance and the focal length of your scale-focused camera, with which you can hold the card at arm's length using one eye to align it with one edge of the subject, then swapping to the other eye to read the distance off the card: The Human Rangefinder. It actually works!

 

Here's another:

42542418624_483697f675_c.jpg

Cape John by chrism229, on Flickr

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This is just great, Wayne. I like the unusual composition a lot with the bee at the far left about to leave the frame. It should make the image feel unbalanced but somehow that little insect at the edge manages to counterbalance the right-hand side.

Thanks for the compliment. I was trying to include the bee.  They are a difficult subject. I was pretty sure he had escaped the frame. I do like the shot. I think it sort of captures the "busy" in bee.

 

Best,

 

Wayne

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Thanks very much for the additional insights.  So why won't the square filters work on the Linhof?  My only square LEE filter is the 6-stop ND filter.  My ND grads are all 100x150, which I assume are ok with he Linhof?  

 

 

 

Both the Fuji and the Linhofs are ruggedly, brutally, industrial strength durable. In favour of Linhof is continued support where, for example, if you lose or break a Fuji viewfinder or centre filter, you have a problem. There are workarounds, though,and I have occasionally seen Fuji GX617’s with Linhof and odd Chinese viewfinders attached.

The main thing to think about is that square filter systems are only usable on the Fuji if you remove the ‘crash bars’, which is easy enough to do. I’ve had my Fuji for years, it’s been hauled all over the place, up mountains on flights and backpacked in a rucksack with camping gear thrown on top of it. Unbelievably, after over 20 years, it’s still looks like new. I like the Fuji detachable viewfinders, I carry them separately and use them to previsualise a composition before setting the camera up. If ever the ‘rule of thirds’ was applicable to composition, it is frequently applicable to 6x17 format with the 3:1 aspect ratio.

For yourself, you’ll probably be happiest with a Linhof. Go for it, 6x17 is a stand-out format.

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Another picture I've reworked in an otherwise period of inactivity:

 

p2958793835-5.jpg

 

Swoosh 2012

Canon A1, FDn 35mm f2, Portra 400

Cut to chase: thumbs up and a lot of enthusiastic finger snapping in the back of the room over this photograph!

 

The question is whether a photograph can evoke emotion. Is the photograph a mirror or reflection, realistic or abstract? Does it elicit empathy? Is it allegorical, metaphoric, literal, or do we simply run out of adjectives? Considering the construction of the question using text, there is a fault in using strict either/or propositions, simplifying the view to black or white that risks marginalizing gradations of yet other colors or perspectives. We may take a photograph at face value, literally, whatever that means, and this in itself opens never-ending hallways of discussion that define yet other never-ending hallways.

 

This photograph, to illustrate the point, is simultaneously realistic, literal, and abstract. It is the visualization of a static interior. Yet, the stability of this static view is undermined by the title of the work, “Swoosh.” Looking at the photograph first, then reading the title is not the same as reading the title first, then looking at the photograph. Reading the title first privileges the thought of motion, which is open for interpretation; the motion implied by the arc composition or the motion of an imagined object in transit. Additionally, the idea of motion implies a feeling of centrifugal force “riding the curve.“

 

One could argue that this is abstract realism. Initially, we don’t realize that the yellow line is actually a curb. So there is the push and pull of simultaneously looking at it as a realistic setting and an abstract yellow line. The movement implied by the composition arcs from left to right, which for Western society is the way text is read, left to right, and subliminally has the connotation of correctness, whereas movement from right to left is associated with conflict. Yellow, it should be noted, is often a color associated with caution. This seemingly straightforward, minimalist composition is surprisingly multi-layered and complex, not easily dismissed. Yet, your subject is so commonplace that it reaffirms your ability to validate dynamic compositions of the often overlooked, the ordinary.

 

I always appreciate visiting your inspiring work on your website.

 

Recently Googling the galaxy, I tripped over this YouTube link that reminded me of your photograph “Sydney.“ This calls to mind Elizabeth Streb’s “Sky Walk, One Extraordinary Day in London,” Extreme Action Company.

 

Cheers,

Rog

 

As photographers, we are influenced by the photographs of others and, at the same time, want to erase those photographs by replacing them with our own. It’s like Rauschenberg erasing de Kooning‘s drawing, then signing the erased work as his own statement. Even so, there is always a residue of other artists’ work in the present. Residue is always a challenge.

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When the feeling of photographic atrophy gets to you, radically change your film format!!!

This morning with a rented - try before you buy - 6x17 :)

Oddly enough, I keep coming back to this, not because it appears to be intended as simply technical information, your shift to a Linhof Technorama 617, but because I realize it's such a "self-reflexive photograph." It's a photograph of the photograph that will be taken by the camera pictured, although the camera taking the picture of the equipment isn't seen. So from this shard of information, we can only imagine what in the future tense the Technorama will produce. A camera takes a photograph of a camera that promises to take a photograph. I know, it's back to Starbucks to get my level adjusted.

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Manarola Italy - June 2018

Portra 160 - Summicron 50 - M6

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Blue/White/Red

M-A Thambar-M CS ND6 ADOX Color Implosion

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Thanks very much for the additional insights. So why won't the square filters work on the Linhof? My only square LEE filter is the 6-stop ND filter. My ND grads are all 100x150, which I assume are ok with he Linhof?

 

Read again: the crash bars on the Fujinon 180mm and 300mm lenses are too narrow to accommodate a Lee or similar holder. You can just about mount a Lee holder with one filter slot on the 90mm SWD lens but it will impede infinity focus. If you want to use Lee or similar square filters on the Fuji, you’d need to remove the crash bars from the lenses. Obviously this is not an issue with some Linhof, and those Fotoman and Widepan 6x17 cameras that do not have crash bars fitted to the lens cones.

 

If you are considering a Fuji GX617 and have seen one for sale with a 90 or 105mm lens, make absolutely sure the original Fuji centre nd filter is included. Also check the battery compartment for signs of corrosion. The batteries only power the electromagnetic release on the camera body, which is useful for hand holding the camera. As most photographers use these cameras mounted on a tripod, the batteries can easily be forgotten about and eventually leak. I have never inserted batteries in my camera, but it’s something you need to be aware of.

 

ETA: To clarify, by ‘square’ filter systems I’m referring to Lee or similar 100mm wide filters which also includes 100x150mm graduated filters. These filter systems will all work perfectly well on lens cones that are not fitted with crash bars.

Edited by Ouroboros
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