RB Design

All Things Photography

1. Michael 06.22.09 / 11am

   RB
   That’s a really nice result for Polachrome B&W.
   You KNOW I had to have one of those when they came out!
   I think I threw the whole contraption away about 2 years ago,but I missed the little back-lit film cutter / slide mounter gizmo. I found that when,prompted by all your film talk, I did an archiological dig in the nether regions of my languishing darkroom. It was in a bin of improperly stored, and long forgotten negatives. I put batteries in it, and used it to view a glassine sleve of negatives marked:
   1969 The Who, Filmore East, 2475 Recording Film
   The grain was so big that I really didn’t need the magnifier & back-light to see it, but the little Polaroid gizmo did bring back memories.
   Looking at the negatives did make me want to fire up the darkroom.
   Now see what you’ve started.
2. Michael 06.22.09 / 12pm

   RB
   Now I’m waiting for a post on the Polaroid 4x 5 Speed Magny for your Nikons.
   I DIDN’T have one of those.
3. RB 06.22.09 / 2pm

   Michael,

   I am assuming that you have some experience with the stuff from your comment on the results. Definitely not a film for someone that does not have a good deal of tenacity (aka stubbornness to the point of being really annoying). Definitely not my first roll through the little machine.

   I never found a good use for the stuff beyond effect.

   As for your darkroom archeology – I would highly advise you fire up the enlarger and make some prints of things that you have not seen in over 20 years. You may want to use a hybrid approach as I have done – not in a while but found it useful a couple of years ago.

   I uses scans and Photoshop to plan the way I am going to print negatives – saves me a ton of time money and lets me try things that I can reproduce in a darkroom but probably would not have bothered trying. I actually can develop a silver printing plan much better in photoshop than in a real darkroom down to what contrast grade to start out with, selecting a base exposure and deciding the most efficient plan to dodge/burn. I guess you have to have some darkroom experience for the translation but it helps me out a lot.

   As for the 4×5 device that you are waiting for – you will be waiting a long time, I heard of them but never acquired one – or even saw one in person. I shot maybe 100-200 sheets of 4×5 polaroid type 55, the rest where print only exposure and lighting tests (polaroid prints only) most of which ended up in the trash.

   Funny thing is I never owned a 4×5 camera my LF was a 5×7 Deardorff field camera that was older than the hills. I cobbled together a more modern way of dealing with 4×5 film on the back of it unless I was contact printing where I occasionally used real 5×7 film and even more care when focusing and selecting apertures, tilts, etc. every up in film size is a whole different level of carefulness. It always astounded me how much bigger 5×7 was than 4×5. Same goes for the jump to 8×10 for the rare occasions that I shot with a borrowed even more ancient camera.

   RB

   RB
4. Michael 06.22.09 / 5pm

   RB
   5 x 7 is the forgotten format. I have always loved it for two reasons:
   the aspect ratio is very similar to 35mm (35mm=1.5:1, 5×7=1.4:1, whereas 4×5 & 8×10=1.25:1)which appeals to me.
   And the weight penalty of 5/7 over 4/5 is not very big.
   In fact while Deardorf did make a “Baby” 4/5, the vast majority of their “smaller” cameras were 5/7 cameras with a 4/5 reducing back –so they were identical.
   Additionally 5/7 is the first practical size for contact prints as final prints. Anyone who has seen a Paul Strand contact print (complete with Pyro induced edge effects) will not soon forget it.
   Another advantage was film area. 35mm=1.5 sq.in., 2 1/4=5+,4/5=20, 5/7=35, and 8/10=80.
   So if 4/5 & 5/7 were similar in weight,(light weight 4×5′s are a relatively recent development) the 5×7 provided 75% more film area.
   5×7′s problem was enlargement. 4×5 enlargers if not exactly cheap, were plentiful and accessory color heads were available. 5×7 enlargers were another matter, they were often built on the same chasis as 8×10 and could be very large and pricey.
   I still reccomend 5×7 to people who want to try Large Format because used 5/7 is often cheaper than 4/5,you can make beautiful contact prints with a piece of window glass and 15 watt bulb in a bare socket in your bathroom, and 5×7 is big enough to get a decent scan on a flatbed scanner.

   The convenience and quality of Digital has made me lazy. I should be ashamed of myself, but I must not be, because I have the darkroom, film (in a cool dark place) and cameras in every size including 11×14, and 8×20, yet I haven’t exposed a sheet in 4 years.
   I better stop here, because my opinion of myself is going down with every word.
   Michael
5. RB 06.22.09 / 5pm

   Michael,

   Don’t feel bad – I can’t even find my 5×7 camera because I haven’t seen it in 2 house moves. I know where my 4×5 and 5×7 film is but the camera, who knows.

   Want to feel even better – see my follow up to Silver Efex I just posted. 20 years ago I would have probably broken out the tripod, LF, and shot 20 sheets of film on a day like this.

   You don’t get many good clouds around the Chesapeake in June, July, and August. Shoot with out good clouds around here and you end up with not much. At least not from a landscape standpoint. Even me, a not-a-landscape-guy would have broken out the LF on any day with good clouds. Today I spent exactly 4 minutes walking across my front lawn. That’s it.

   RB

   Ps. I am in the market for a cheap 5×7 if you know anyone selling, I have $1000 dollars worth of film I need to shoot,
6. Michael 06.23.09 / 6pm

   A Sad Note
   While we’re speaking about long discontinued Polachrome,
   Eastman Kodak recently announced that The one that started it all, Kodachrome will cease production.
7. RB 06.24.09 / 1pm

   Michael,

   Yep – I got your email, it is sort of sad but I am not freaking out. I haven’t shot Kodachrome in so many years I can’t even remember. I shot it mainly for travel and never ever shot it for a commercial job.

   What amazed me was that the announcement was even on CNN yesterday.

   RB

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