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    "Run on Rodinal"

    I ran preliminary tests on Calbe R09 a year or two ago, but have been holding back waiting for someone with more extensive objective data to join in.

    My general conclusion was that Rodinal and R09...
  2. Who has tried Pt/Pd printing and didn't like it?

    As a teenager in the 1950's I fell hopelessly head over heels in love with a brand new British racing green MG-TD sports car. It was even prettier than girls. Made me cry, just to look at it in the...
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    Relative cost of film compared to...

    Oh, and I drove a 1958 Porsche Cabriolet which I had purchased used in 1960 for $2495. on my $5000 per year salary.
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    Relative cost of film compared to...

    When I was in art school in 1967, a brand new Toyota Tercel could be had for $1350.

    Pan Pacific Camera on LaBrea Blvd in Hollywood sold 4x5 Riteway holders in a box of three for $9.99

    A Calumet...
  5. Thread: Film choice

    by John Cook
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    Film choice

    Aaron, I must come down somewhere in the middle, but closer to your side.

    It is true, I believe, that from now on as the consumer market shrinks, we are all going to be forced to pay a lot more...
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    4x5 contact printing

    Rather than printing frames and other devices which I find clumsy, I have for years used just an oversized piece of glass as you do.

    In order to achieve sufficient weight for good contact, I get...
  7. Thread: Film choice

    by John Cook
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    Film choice

    My suggestion would be to shop around for mail order prices on FP4 from (let me emphasize) reliable firms.

    A local supplier used to be a wonderful thing. But there is so little business in...
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    Daylight tank

    Then again, while rotating drums solve the problems of inverting square boxes and pouring through teeny-tiny cover holes, they introduce the restriction against stand development.

    The original 1/2...
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    Daylight tank

    I agree with Mike about Eugene's method. Dipping and dunking has always been preferable to daylight methods.
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    Rodinal Alternatives?

    A few years back, a German photographer who sounded like a crotchety old chemist who really knew his business did a thorough critique of the manufacturing history and chemical properties of Calbe R09...
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    Depth of Focus - Wide Angle

    This is the sort of technical thing my art school avoided teaching. Not sufficiently emotional. I recall, during a first-term State-mandated math class, someone saying that the answer to the problem...
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    Rodinal Alternatives?

    Various online discussions about the pending demise of Agfa and in particular the loss of Rodinal have mentioned Photographers Formulary’s version of that developer as an alternative.

    My...
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    Where is Infinity?

    I asked my pal, the Southern Baptist preacher, about the location of infinity.

    He said it’s right by the place he likes to go fishing in Northwestern Maine, about “seventy miles beyond the Great...
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    Kentmere papers

    Sorry, Jason, no experience yet with their VC RC.

    But I have recently put in a stock of Kentmere textured-surface fiber-based art papers with which to experiment this winter. They seem to be...
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    Agfa: another one bites the dust

    How very sad, despite the fact that it has been many moons since I could get their sheet film. Thanks for the "heads up", Philippe.

    On another note, related to the “Pipe Dreams” post, I shall...
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    Cognitive Dissonance= Crummy Photos

    Perhaps it is a matter of emphasis.

    I freely confess that I am congenitally unable to make a b&w photograph which is devoid of technical spit and polish. I admire a shapely H&D Curve (at this...
  17. Shooting Zone System or not-------Majority--Non Ma

    Having been forced by market pressures to use color most of my professional career, I adopted standard methods to achieve “perfect” lighting conditions since color transparency film could not easily...
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    4x5 vs 8x10 print quality

    Mark, I’m kinda sorry I read your post. It’s discouraging.

    For thirty years I have been kicking myself for stupidly selling my brand new personal 8x10 Deardorff, 300 amd 360 Symmars, dozen...
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    Cart before the 'Horseblanket'?

    I began art school right in the middle of the Viet Nam War. It was The Age of Aquarius in Southern California. Free love, beads, pot and paisley microbuses.

    And here I was, just released from...
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    Tiffen soft contrast filters

    Philippe, I think our disconnect problem is that you and I are talking about two entirely different ways of working.

    The first week of art school, I met a real cute uninhibited blonde hippie who...
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    Wise to keep box of film in fridge?

    From the horse's mouth:

    http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/support/h1/storageP.shtml

    Their motion picture data sheets seem to do a better job on this subject than those intended for...
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    Tiffen soft contrast filters

    Philippe, let me answer you, point by point.

    What are your options? A small hand-held reflector card and a flashgun.

    You don’t enjoy the benefit of a lighting crew? Neither did I as an art...
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    Tiffen soft contrast filters

    The only “real world” situation in which ignoring the main component of your photo-graph (light-picture) is acceptable is in the midst of a frantic fire fight in a war zone with a 35mm motor-drive.
    ...
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    Tiffen soft contrast filters

    Gosh, I do hate to always be the one to tell folks that there really is no Santa Claus. It just breaks my heart. ;0)

    But the cold hard fact is that we are recording light, which has character....
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    Protecting lenses while backpacking

    Ronald, I also use home-sewn ultrasuede pouches. Also have a large black piece for a focus cloth.

    Just one quick tip: Should you decide to wash this material, DO NOT put it in the clothes dryer....
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    Protecting lenses while backpacking

    Here is just the offering from one brand. Others, like Opti-Pro (or something like that) make them as well. The only trick is figuring out which size to purchase for each lens:
    ...
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    Help please....my first 4x5 shots

    Looks to me as though a tiny amount of raw light (not coming through the lens) is fogging the image. Since the image is upside down in the camera, I'd look for something on the right-hand side as you...
  28. Thread: clouds

    by John Cook
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    clouds

    Just a thought: it may not entirely be an exposure problem.

    Really well-defined clouds should be cross-lit with hard sunlight to create highlights and shadows in them. You really need to have...
  29. Architectureal Photography Exhibit, Hollywood

    Neat, Kirk! Congratulations!

    Wish I could be there. But, alas, I'm stuck on the other Coast these days.

    Incidently, whilst he is there, any bonafide architectural freak shoud not miss the...
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    marking film holders

    Notching holders is certainly a time-tested common solution. Just be careful you don’t file too deeply. The more anal among us file notches only on the inside rail of the bottom flap.

    Riteway...
  31. A Question to the Commercial Photographers...

    I hate to play the Dutch Uncle again, but...

    Arrive at a mutual understanding with your friend as to the difference between gross fee quoted to the client and net profit after expenses, as the...
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    Sharpness of Sheet Film vs Roll Film

    I have always maintained that b&w sheet film presents many operational drawbacks. No sound nor motion of video, no color, no fast and zoom lenses nor motor drives of 35mm, etc.

    The major, if not...
  33. Do you use your longer lenses much for landscapes

    For me, it all depends upon the subject matter and where in the frame the emphasis should lie (or is it lay?).

    A perspective expert will tell you to select the best point of view, plant your...
  34. Is b&w still acceptable by the general public?

    David, that is very interesting, indeed.

    I have always thought of studio b&w photography as a matter of intricate light and shadow, achieved through the skillful manipulation of Fresnel spot...
  35. Is b&w still acceptable by the general public?

    As I travel the road of life, I am struck by how quickly and how many things change. And no longer a student in a large school nor employee in a large corporation, I have no daily contact with crowds...
  36. Is b&w still acceptable by the general public?

    We are probably not the most objective group among which to seek an unbiased answer, but here goes.

    In essence, I’m wondering if black & white is, for all intents and purposes, culturally...
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    Metering in a snowstorm?

    Jane, the short professional answer is to keep detailed notes over the years so you can repeat something which worked in the past. There is nothing less productive than re-inventing the wheel with...
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    What's a good grain magnifier?

    Jane, another relevant quote, this time from Bob Hope:

    “All this talk about sex and violence on TV. Sex and violence, violence and sex. At my age, it’s all the same thing.”

    Or, as Dolly Parton...
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    What's a good grain magnifier?

    I have earned my living in many labs (with many grain magnifiers) over the years. For my money, this has always been the easiest to use, although not always the most costly:
    ...
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    studio wals color

    Every Hollywood studio I have worked in has been set up to do modern advertising product photography in color, which requires nearly shadow-less lighting. Everything, including the floor, was painted...
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