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Cacator posted:Welp I just pulled the trigger on an Autocord. Pretty much everything I've read about them has been glowing with the very major exception of the fragile focusing lever so here's hoping I can keep from breaking it! The trick there is don't force it. The focus should be smooth with some resistance but not stiff. They're easy cameras to service if you're inclined and a stiff focus leather is an easy fix. I was in one of mine over the weekend cleaning up a spot of haze on the taking lens and took some video of the shutter cocking action. https://i.imgur.com/fwDxB9A.gifv
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Sep 9, 2020 01:23
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6x12 crop of some 4x5 portra 400 from this morning, I was there late and missed the best light so it was getting a bit harsh and I should probably have shielded the lens a little better, but overall happy.
Blackhawk fucked around with this message at 06:53 on Sep 12, 2020 |
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Sep 12, 2020 06:43
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Blackhawk posted:6x12 crop of some 4x5 portra 400 from this morning, I was there late and missed the best light so it was getting a bit harsh and I should probably have shielded the lens a little better, but overall happy. That looks great.
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Sep 13, 2020 20:13
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Blackhawk posted:6x12 crop of some 4x5 portra 400 from this morning, I was there late and missed the best light so it was getting a bit harsh and I should probably have shielded the lens a little better, but overall happy. Awesome! How did you get it developed and scanned so fast, home development?
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Sep 14, 2020 19:22
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frogbs posted:Awesome! How did you get it developed and scanned so fast, home development? Yeah I got home around 11am, developed my two C-41 shots and hung them to try, then DSLR 'scanned' them in the afternoon. I developed a single frame of E6 the next day but it wasn't a good shot (too tight around the subject, needed a slightly shorter lens or to move but I was on a cliff so I couldn't go anywhere). spookygonk posted:That looks great. Cheers, I took three shots that morning and that was the only one that was any good. I really want to print one of these properly large one day, there's so much detail in large format it's such a waste to never look at it.
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Sep 14, 2020 20:05
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I know I have no business posting here yet, but I figured if I was a curious newbie lurking this thread, there might be others, and this is for them. A few months ago I got serious about MF. After a few probing questions, I boiled it down to the RZ67 Pro II, a Hasselblad, a Rolleiflex 6008af, or a version of the Pentax 67. I really wanted a WLF, so the Pentax was out. The Hasselblad's square format was too intimidating, and I read reports that the Rollei can be finicky, so I got the RZ67 Pro II along with a 110 mm and some portra 400. Megabound's recommendation was spot on: Megabound posted:From that criteria my choice would be a Mamiya RB67. I was worried about light leaks, the shutter timer being off, metering, and achieving critical focus with a WLF, so I just focused on those things. Well, the first roll of film came back, and it's not complete garbage.    Conclusions for far: - I love the WLF while shooting. I never cared for the discussions about viewfinders - they all seemed the same. But the WLF is a mind-blowing experience (on a fast lens). Having said that, I did miss focus on a few shots, so there is still work to be done. - I do pay more attention to what I am doing (rather than taking 25 shots with digital and seeing what comes out ok), and I make an effort to "make it count". - Carrying a digital camera for metering is a decent solution for now, although I look like the dorkiest of dorks. - Portra 400 film grain is grainier than I had hoped. Fingers crossed that I am happier with the ISO 100/160 films. One question: I used thedarkroom.com for developing/scanning, and they supplied jpgs. Is that normal? I was expecting tifs.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:28
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Unless you specifically ask for it (and probably get charged extra) most labs will supply JPEGs.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:31
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theHUNGERian posted:One question: I used thedarkroom.com for developing/scanning, and they supplied jpgs. Is that normal? I was expecting tifs. Very, very few places are equipped to supply TIFF, even if you ask for it. Generally that's a premium and per-frame service.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:34
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Cool! I am still sucking, so it doesn't matter. If anything it helps me speed up my work flow and reduce disc space.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:42
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If you're going to be shooting a lot of film and you want more control over your results I'd recommend getting a scanner or scanning with a DSLR and a light table (there has been plenty said about each option). Also welcome to reasonable sized formats chat!
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Sep 15, 2020 02:55
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Blackhawk posted:If you're going to be shooting a lot of film and you want more control over your results I'd recommend getting a scanner or scanning with a DSLR and a light table (there has been plenty said about each option). Also welcome to reasonable sized formats chat! A scanner (one way or another) is definitely on my radar, but I wanted to focus on basics first.
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Sep 15, 2020 03:04
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Glad it was a good recommendation and great to hear you're enjoying medium format so far. The more you shoot the more control you'll want so I'm sure a scanner won't be far off. Your comment about Portra 400 is a strange point as it should be a very fine grained film, especially when you're viewing full medium format. I think the quality of scans you're getting from the lab might have something to do apparent graininess. Your flower there seems a lot grainier than it should be, or it was scanned with some ANR glass for the backing and that texture is coming through. This is Portra 400 off 6x6.
Megabound fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Sep 15, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 04:19
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If you aren't doing your own scans you're getting terrible scans.
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Sep 15, 2020 04:59
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They could be over-sharpening too, that might look like excessive graniness?
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Sep 15, 2020 07:52
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VelociBacon posted:If you aren't doing your own scans you're getting terrible scans.
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Sep 15, 2020 09:54
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Got my first batch of Ektar 100 4x5s back! Cody835 by Cody P, on Flickr Cody836-1 by Cody P, on FlickrI think my lab hosed up on the first one, there's a weird splotch in those trees on the bottom right. I haven't picked up the negs yet (these were uploaded on dropbox by the lab) so I'll check them out in person tomorrow to see if it's there too.
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Sep 17, 2020 05:02
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Sep 19, 2020 14:43
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CodfishCartographer posted:Got my first batch of Ektar 100 4x5s back! I kinda like the effect it gives on the first picture though. It looks like the lens has some field curvature going on and it really gives a lot of depth and pop to the trees in the foreground.
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Sep 20, 2020 10:36
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 Also Ektar100, although it probably made no difference for this shot. Home dev with the Arista C-41 kit.
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Sep 20, 2020 17:34
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Two x velvia 50 4x5, when great location and perfect conditions collide it's kinda hard to gently caress up.  EDIT: Two more shots from the same trip just processed, these two were both Ektar.  
Blackhawk fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 21, 2020 05:22
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Lovely! More sucking from me - only my second roll and my first BW roll.    I've also ordered a refurbished scanner, so with any luck I can make some of these less crunchy. But they were shot on HP5+, so I am not expecting much of an improvement.
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Sep 22, 2020 02:58
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I like this one
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Sep 22, 2020 03:13
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A noob's journey continues: The scans from the lab looked very grainy, and a couple of goons recommended that I do my own scans. So I got a scanner (Epson V850), and sure enough, the grain is practically gone. The scans from the lab were simply over-sharpened. But I ran into another issue. Silverfast has two options for color cast removal - one in Negafix and one in the histogram tool. When I enable the one in Negafix, I get a decent result. But when I also enable the one in the histogram, it appears to impact the black and white levels of the output image. Is this normal? Since I am happy with the results from just Negafix, I'm thinking of just leaving the CCR in the histogram unchecked. Or am I using it wrong? Here is an example: https://imgur.com/a/8otSr47 Top image with CCR just in Negafix. Bottom has CCR in Negafix and Histogram. Notice the difference in how the sun is displayed in the lower right.
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Sep 27, 2020 01:05
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I'm not an expert in scanning or in Silverfast but yeah I would not do that histogram levels adjustment in the scanning software. Seems like the best practice is to get the flattest, widest range image possible out of the scanner and then ruin it later in your image editor of choice. That's what I do.
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Sep 27, 2020 02:08
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For black and white especially the inversion and editing process is so straightforward that I'd recommend doing it yourself in Photoshop, or your editor of choice, manually. Most posters doing their own scanning here will vouch for a more hands on approach. The basic workflow is to scan as positive using 16bit raw with no corrections in scan, invert, use levels or curves to set your black and white points, then use curves to get the contrast you like. You may be leaving a lot of information on the table letting the software do it for you.
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Sep 27, 2020 02:15
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don't use negafix, scan as positive, 48 bit tiff, and invert yourself in photoshop. set b/w points for each channel (clipping right where the negative's blacks and whites start) and then either manually pull the curves to get colors close or use the middle grey dropper tool
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Sep 27, 2020 03:12
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Megabound posted:The basic workflow is to scan as positive using 16bit raw with no corrections in scan, invert, use levels or curves to set your black and white points, then use curves to get the contrast you like. You may be leaving a lot of information on the table letting the software do it for you. yeah this (48 bit = 16 bit per channel, i forget what silverfast says)
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Sep 27, 2020 03:13
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Cool, thanks.
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Sep 27, 2020 03:34
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Did anyone manage to save a YouTube link to the goon-explains-scanning-video that was all the rage like 10 years ago?
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Sep 27, 2020 15:09
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"Explains" is a strong word but yeah I did LOL https://youtu.be/u_qeZOWqchM
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Sep 27, 2020 17:02
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My Autocord arrived last week so I quickly put a roll of Tri-X through it. So far I'm satisfied.  It's too slow and awkward to use as a travel camera but the shooting experience is unique enough that it's definitely a keeper. Mine came with an original case and strap but I wish there were some third party options, stupid Minolta decided this needed a proprietary strap system.
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Sep 27, 2020 20:47
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Sep 28, 2020 14:13
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Very cool, feels significantly different from a lot of your other stuff but retains much of the same character.
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Sep 28, 2020 14:20
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Of course I took a photo of my cat to test out my new Mamiya C220. This was HP5+ 400 in Rodinal.
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Oct 3, 2020 15:46
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That very neatly shows just how narrow depth of field is on the 6x6 wide open.
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Oct 3, 2020 17:08
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PolishPandaBear posted:Of course I took a photo of my cat to test out my new Mamiya C220. This was HP5+ 400 in Rodinal. Glad to see it's working great!
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Oct 3, 2020 17:46
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It's what made me fall in love with MF. That was taken with the 135mm which only stops down to 4.5 too. I'm looking on eBay for the 80mm 2.8 and I'd love to get the 55mm too. Codfish, I'm super happy with it. Thanks again! Edit: Actually looked at a DOF calc and it seems the 135 is shallower than the 80 when both are wide open and focusing at the same distance. PolishPandaBear fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Oct 4, 2020 |
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Oct 3, 2020 21:59
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So today I finally got around to mixing up a batch of fixer and developing some rolls of 120 I loaded in the tank ~4 months ago. They're from 6-7 years ago when I lived in Japan... naturally it turns out the Patterson tank I picked up secondhand has a crack in the side that leaked fixer all over the kitchen bench before I realised it wasn't a leaky seal around the top. Once I realised what was happening and agitated with exaggerated care it was OK, but definitely retiring that one.  Film seems to have come out largely fine, but unfortunately my negative scanner is on the other side of the world. I've got an A7 and a macro lens - what's a good DIY setup for digitising in the meantime? Actually do have a 6x6 enlarger I am planning to try out, but need a new bulb and darkroom needs a bit of work (ventillation and lightproofing). Blackhawk posted:Two x velvia 50 4x5, when great location and perfect conditions collide it's kinda hard to gently caress up. Am I the only one getting big magenta energy in the first couple frames? Regardless they are nice shots. My partner and I were driving through a rainy mountain pass yesterday and were passing a hatchback parked on the side of the road. Guy was going through his boot with an umbrella and as I passed I saw he was setting up a 4x5 field camera. Was really tempted to go back and talk shop and then realised that I am becoming the greybeard  PolishPandaBear posted:Of course I took a photo of my cat to test out my new Mamiya C220. This was HP5+ 400 in Rodinal. Taking cat pictures with MF/LF is a definite power move. I've found TLRs are great for shooting street if you are interested in that. It's recognisably a camera but people seem to be completely disarmed by it. I also got good results with my Speed Graphic - it's easy to forget those things were working press cameras, and with the Kalart dialed in you can shoot handheld with good results. Sadly I sold both ages ago, but keeping an eye out for another Speed (or just a monorail - looking to get into wet plate with something simple).
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Oct 5, 2020 05:49
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Ethics_Gradient posted:Am I the only one getting big magenta energy in the first couple frames? Most definitely, but it's a plausible color cast - it is plausible that the sky had a magenta cast which resulted in whites showing up as magenta. Fixing this type of color balance would take away from the mood of the pictures imo, so I like the way it is. Edit: Newbie update: My third and fourth roll came back. First roll of Ilford Delta 400 and I am happy to have more keepers than last time.    While I am bonding with the camera very quickly, I am less enthusiastic about scanning film*, but I think I just need to find a way to do other poo poo while scanning. The roll of Fuji Pro 400H looks more challenging to process. Fingers crossed I don't drive myself insane as I try to find a decent color balance. I am also looking forward to shooting some XP2 Super so I can let the software remove the dust spots more efficiently. *But my own scans are infinitely better than the scans that the lab supplied for my first two rolls. theHUNGERian fucked around with this message at 05:42 on Oct 6, 2020 |
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Oct 6, 2020 01:49
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Ethics_Gradient posted:Am I the only one getting big magenta energy in the first couple frames? Regardless they are nice shots. My partner and I were driving through a rainy mountain pass yesterday and were passing a hatchback parked on the side of the road. Guy was going through his boot with an umbrella and as I passed I saw he was setting up a 4x5 field camera. Was really tempted to go back and talk shop and then realised that I am becoming the greybeard Yep, Velvia tends to boost magenta quite a bit and I debated reducing it a bit in post but I feel like that actually was an accurate representation of the light at the time. The sun was just coming up over the horizon but there was a thick layer of low cloud just above the peaks which lit up a very lurid pink colour, so everything was a mix of blue hour and hot pink light. The second shot of the same scene on Ektar was a few minutes later after the sun had properly risen and there was direct orange light on the peaks.
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Oct 6, 2020 18:56
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