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Enrique,

I'm afraid you will never truly understand "blind dedication to the craft" until you've stubbed your unshod toe on a dry mount press in the dark. And spilled your drink.

Others may...

Dan,

I find the test sheets from the process useful for determining starting points in the dodging and burning. I have even made a third sheet, like the second, but keeping the 5 filter constant...

I've only been printing seriously in my home darkroom for two years. I took classes in high school, but then took a 15 year break from the darkroom. So I'm still very much a beginner.

I started...

Thanks for the link Eric.

I can see why many would yawn at all this. The digital vs film debate can be a great big yawn.

However, I'm pretty concerned about large format film and traditional...

Jane,

I can't help with laser printers, but I can offer my experience with the Epson 2200 inkjet.

I live in an extremely dry climate. The high desert of Central Oregon. Furthermore, the house...

I only have a year of experience with 4x5, but it's been a busy year. I just ordered my second set of 100 film sleeves, four sheets to a sleeve. Not all were filled, but I figure it's somewhere...

woke up to half a foot of snow on the ground here in Central Oregon. Wet weather predicted out here for the next week plus. It won't fix the problem, but it sure is nice. Just last week it was mid...

I'm over here in Sisters, Oregon. Near Bend in the high desert. I'm pretty concerned for a number of reasons. First is fire risk. Too many trees around me, dry pine needles, that sort of thing. ...

Pretty new here, but I check in all the time. I'd post more, but nobody wants to hear about how eight 16x20s fell into the tub after the drying racks (window screens) slipped off the top of the...

I have only been using large format for about a year and am still quite a beginner, so listen to the more experienced folks here first.

I started out with Tmax 100 and Ilford Fp 4 125 and HP 5...

confirms Eric's test, off only by .01.

Suprised this doesn't come up more in threads on the wedge. I think I've read every one on the internet by now. Though maybe I missed it before.

Thanks...

I will probably open up a rough 1/6 stop to zone X and 1/6 for my next testing though.

Joe, good points there and thanks for sharing again.

I was perhaps being simplistic. It's just that 1/6 of a stop is half the smallest increment on my spotmeter or lenses. My developing time and...

Thanks Eric. Answers my question perfectly. Not worth worrying about.

Love this place!

Mac

I've been testing film speed and development times with a Stoeffer (sp?) step wedge. Expose for zone X with the wedge sandwiched in the holder just above the film.

Does the clear section of the...

Just an aside. I managed to vignette with my camera just the other day. 300mm Nikon lens, vertical back orientation, lots of front fall. A straight line cut off the bottom 1/8 or so of three...

I moved a pine needle the other day. Just a boring amateur black and white 4x5 of a mini waterfall and some ice. I pulled on that floppy needle in the current (long exposure, worried about blur)...

I have been shooting 4x5 for about a year now. The articles here about using a view camera are what got me really interested in trying it out, and they also gave me the confidence before buying that...

Ellis,

Your assumptions may well be right, but your method is flawed. What in the world makes you think I'd tell you what I spent on LF gear this year? How many people aren't responding, for a...

Don't mind at all. But there is a thread from a week or two ago on here that describes it all in detail.

In short, the Wisner Technical that I purchased from B+H had several problems. Two of...

DJ, you were not at all unclear, I just did a poor job reading. Thanks for the clarification.

When I've checked the corners in the past with my old camera I found that with say moderate rise I...

Why is there no edit feature on this board? Why must I post, review, and send off stupid responses?

I now understand your suggestion of removing the back, not the ground glass. Intersting idea. ...

DJ, I can't really imagine taking out the ground glass with a screwdriver ever time I want to take a picture.

I'm more interested in this looking through the lens approach. I've used a camera for...

sorry, just found the lens and it's a Rodenstock f 6.3 for a copal 0. And when I say "cheapo" I just mean it isn't some incredible piece of glass that would cover 8x10, it's just a regular entry...

I'm using a new camera that does not have cut corners in the ground glass. I remember reading recently that an alternative way to check for vignetting is to look through the lens. I've tried this...

B+H was quick and helpful in providing return info. I've done a lot more research since this started and talked to a number of people and have come up with a couple options that should work better...

Eugene,

I'll do that. I looked at that Toyo and almost went that route. Something more "romantic" about the wood camera got me.

I practically live on the Metolius. I'm in Sisters, off in the...

Picking on me? Not at all. I'm truly grateful that people here took the time to work through this problem with me. I probably deserve a lot of flack for many of the questions I asked, but nothing...

Thanks. I've tested and retested the leak around the filmholder. No amount of fiddling with position changes it.

The holes in the lens boards are just bizarre, but not something that would cause...

Thanks Eugene. Either somebody sabotaged these boards, or else a worm got em. They are very smooth holes with no splintering on either end. Easy to plug up so I wouldn't even have to send them...

And...as I closed the camera up the screws that hold down one of the brass springy strips popped out. The camera was carefully aligned for closing (I'm being very careful with it given the problems...

Just completed developing four test sheets from today. They were landscapes with mountains. Imagine my surprise when I saw a light duplicated mountain hovering in the clouds, a little out of focus....

Thanks for the responses. It probably saved me hours of fiddling. I will test the filmholder seating a bit later today and let everyone know how it turns out.

Rick, sorry forgot to answer you. It was a 150mm lens on a 4x5. I did use some movements, but they didn't seem all that extreme to me. And I shot one of these at F64. The rest at 45. But who...

I'm going to post the link to the scan of the neg just so anybody who is interested can see what I'm talking about better.

Hope that's ok. It's just a photo.net portfolio, and you'll see I'm an...

I uploaded a small scan of this to another site. I can provide a link but I haven't seen anybody here link to photos in the past and don't know if that is violating board rules in any way.

I've been using a toyo 45cf for about a year and decided recently to upgrade. I bought a new Wisner technical mohagany. I liked the handmade wood design and the improved movements.

I just...

I used the Zone System by Brian Lav to do testing for myself.

Real zone system testing requires a densitometer. There are places that will test your developed negatives for you with one of these...

More excellent advice, and also some good tales. Thanks to all of you.

There is a dryer in the room and it's something I had never considered. It is vented to the outside, but I'm sure it could...

You know this is going to turn out to be something like my light meter (dedicated old film slr) has the exposure comp set to -2. I almost can't bring myself to look.

What a way to introduce...