Hi
My brother bought me a F-line 10x8" conversion set in January, and I've only jus t gone to use it with my M-line 5x4" camera - it's taken that long for my 10x8" film to arrive! I've built up quite a collection of Arca bits over the years, a nd have a number of function carriers, etc.
However, I found that I couldn't load the darkslide into the camera - the bail b ar is positioned at the bottom of the groundglass frame, and when you pull the b ail bar out slightly, it hits the large screw that secures the format frame to t he function carrier. I emailed Arca about this last week, but they haven't resp onded yet. However, tonight I reversed the function carrier so that the focus k nob was on the left, and the afore-mentioned securing screw was to the front of the camera. I thought I was in business. How wrong could I be?
Anyway, I took a couple of shots, then tried processing the film in a Jobo CPE p rint drum. I was expecting the anti-halation layer to cause a problem, and sure enough, there were a few blobs left. I wasn't sure how to get rid of them, but seemed to remember reading about re-soaking in fixer, so I turned the film so t hat the emulsion was to the drum wall, probably scratching it in the process, an d sloshed some fixer around for five minutes - it seemed to get rid of the anti- halation layer, anyhow, and probably a bit more....
Then I noticed that the picture wasn't how I had framed it (the top had been cho pped off!), rendering it unusable. I'd used a bit of front rise, and the Arca a uto-locks aren't stiff enough - it must have slipped when I was securing the com pendium hood or setting the exposure.
Then to top it all, I absent-mindedly pulled back on the bail bar a bit too much . Now the springs seem to have locked-up, and I can't get the bail bar back to its correct position. Can someone explain how to fix this?
Maybe I ought to give up on this large format nonsense, and buy myself an APS ca mera.
David Nash
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