Search:

If I remember correctly, Dr. Henry's calibration method for spot meters requires use of a particular GE light bulb (output in lumens specified) which hasn't been available for nearly a decade.

Adams didn't use a conventional darkroom timer but instead preferred to count the beats on an electronic metronome as a way of timing his basic exposures and his burning/dodging routines. I have a...

Brian,

I owned one for a short time and ultimately replaced it with a Nikon 90mm f/8 SW. The Ilex 90 is a good but not great lens. The image quality on my sample fell off well before the image...

Is it signed by Ansel Adams on the front of the mount? If not, it is likely one of the "Yosemite Special Edition Prints" made under AA's supervision and sold through the Ansel Adams Gallery in...

As I recall (my reference books are at home), K-1 is "old terminology" for a light yellow filter, perhaps a 6 or an 8 in modern terms. Should be readily available as a 52mm screw-on. I'll look...

Allan,

This was one of a series of lenses manufactured by the Ilex Optical Company for Calumet in the early 1960s. Most were sold as "Ilex- Caltars" by Calumet. A few were badged as "Acutars"...

Where is his daughter's gallery and what is the name of it? I'll be in NYC next week and would like to take a look. Thanks.

Note that the Lois Conner "China" book mentioned above (originally $100.00 US) has recently been remaindered. Photoeye.com has it for $29.95, and EdwardRHamilton.com has it for $19.95.

I was...

Mr. Ctein has no first name! He simply goes by "Ctein". My tests have pretty much confimed his findings regarding optimal stops on enlarging lenses. For my lenses, the results are as follows:
...

Some years ago I had a chance to test the two lenses you mention side- by-side. I had to decide whether to replace my Symmar-S (MC) with the newer APO-Symmar (which was available to me used at an...

Camille,

Are you certain that Sally Mann's pictures of her children involved the use of a "bad" lens? The ones I've seen suggest the use of a modern lens at a relatively large stop to limit...

Aaron,

Keeping in mind that many of the prints reproduced in "Ansel Adams at 100" are early, and in some cases, vintage prints, I feel that they are reproduced with impressive fidelity, even...

It is *rear* tilt that can most effectively make the foreground "loom", especially with wide lenses. I would start with a 75mm lens (on 6x7) and experiment with rear tilt.

You make the...

Andrea,

I'm not sure you're doing anything wrong; the masking stage is thicker than the "non-masking stage" that it replaces. It reduces the clearance available to insert the glass carrier...

I have a Saunders masking stage for use with my universal glass carrier and it works as anticipated *except* that it won't close down nearly far enough to effectively mask a 35mm frame; in fact, it...

Ansel Adams covers this technique for both B&W and color film in one of his technical books. He suggests the use of a diffuser as Kevin mentions above. Color correction during pre-exposure would...

The lens dates from the early-to-mid 1960s when Calumet commissioned Ilex to make several series of lenses to replace the no-longer- available Kodak Ektars and to compete with the European inmorts....

I also own a Burke & James Saturn 75. Please note that backs from other B&J 5x7s (such as the Rembrandt Portrait cameras, which are plentiful) will fit the Saturn 75 with no modifications.

I don't know exactly what B&H means by "critical work", but it's my opinion that with a 90mm lens on 4x5, when using the extreme movements often required by architectural photography, you will...

I believe he uses a Hasselblad "Flex-body" camera which allows the lens stage to be tilted (and swung?) much like a standard view camera, thus achieving the strange focus effects. He's produced...

I've seen the wide model relatively frequently on the used market; they can usually be purchased for less than the cost of a bag bellows for a modern camera.

I have a couple of interviews on file somewhere in which BW discusses his printing techniques. I'll try to find them for you. In the meantime, from memory, he liked Oriental Seagull paper in...

Matt has given you good information above. I would only add that there is a Model I and a Model II. Model II is the one with the hinged focusing track that folds up parallel to the front standard...

You can try used camera shops in your city and in other cities. At least 50% of these drums will have bad gaskets and will leak rather vigorously; be sure to get return privileges. Also, these...

The standard filter recommendation for producing the effect of orthochromatic film on panchromatic film is a Wrattan 44a (medium blue/ green or, as you say, "minus red"). It will reduce exposure by...

The Wista folks in Japan told me recently that the Wista erected lensboards offer ten (10) millimeters [!] of entension. Is this true? If so, it hardly seems worth the trouble.

I believe I have a Schneider lens catalogue (though *not* a price list) from the 1974-78 period. I'll try to dig it up tonight, but you may have to give me a few days.

Back to the film type for a moment. Orthochromatic film is sensitive to blue *and* green light. The great 19th century landscape photographers were using "color blind" plates, that is, an...

My Ilex No. 4 shutter fits into a hole drilled for a Copal No. 3, although it is not an absolutely precise fit. See Mr. Grimes's website; I believe he has all of these shutter specifications...

Marshall,

Yes, it's a 4/3 Tessar, essentially a copy of the Kodak Ektar, made by the Ilex Optical Company and sold by Calumet, Burke & James (as the Acutar), and others. This particular design...

Jock Sturges works with 8x10 negatives and prints onto silver papers. His favorite paper used to be one of the (very slow) Oriental Seagull warmtone FB papers (NLA). "Warm brownish-green"...