Need a psychoanalyst/detective for my Calumet....

[Leszek Vogt]

Howdy All,

I took my Calumet 45NX for a spin into the mountains. Basically, I used two B&W sheets of Acros 100 as an initial test. Got the results back and both exposures were heavily fogged. Mind you, my technique is not exactly polished since I just started, but I doubt it's the dark bag that I'm using, as a potential culprit. So far I have no idea where to start ? The image of the mountain was there...along with serious fogging. Naturally it could be anywhere between the film holder-camera-bellows-lens seat. What else could I look at and correct it in this mystery process. Oh, the joys of purchasing used items. Thanks much in advance.

Les

[Vaughn]

Make sure that the bellows are locked in properly.

Time to put a film holder in, take the lensboard off, stretch the bellows out and then in a totally dark room stick a flashlight in from the lens end. A Minimag with the top off (the lens part) works best. See if any light leaks out anywhere.

Can't find any leaks? -- take a piece of film out of the box and develop it with out exposing it to check the film out.

[sgutterman]

Was the film fogged beyond the borders of the film holder? If the outline of the film carrier border is clear you can probably rule out the changing bag / photo finisher / film itself.

[sgutterman]

Another thought: (although my first suspect would be the bellows, either improperly attached or with a pinhole / tear) - was the mountain image clearly in focus despite the fogging? If not that would point to an improperly seated film holder.

Just thinking of more things to consider before doing testing (with the flashlight as mentioned or more film).

(But it's probably the bellows).

[John Kasaian]

Did you remember to close the preview lever after focusing before inserting the film holder?
Was the film holder inserted and locked in all the way into the camera back?
Was the back properly installed? The last fogged image I got was after reversing the back from landscape to portrait orientation and I got a little too much of a hurry, missing one of the pins that lock the back in place Of course this was on the last sheet of film I had with me

[joselsgil]

Les,

Could you possibly scan the negative and post it? That might help to see the fogging.

Jose

[Leszek Vogt]

Thanks for your suggestions.

The lab didn't even bother to run a scan...the woman there told me that this time it's on them 'no charge'. I was grateful and since then I re-seated the GG holder/back and re-seated and checked the bellows (as per Vaughn suggestion), as well. Bellows show no pinholes.

John, I'm afraid, you may have a good point, I may have not closed the preview lever. I was second guessing myself afterwards....and that was all that I could come up as a culprit (?).

Yes, the film holder was in there and properly in place (all the way). The actual switching from landscape to portrait (at least on this camera) is incredibly smooth....so I know that could not be an issue...though I never tried after pulling a slide out (not sure I would want to do that).

The mountain was in focus (clearly), but the fog was overbearing. While on the subject of perhaps posting photos here....what sorts of hoops and loops do I need to jump through to do that ?

Anyway, I've shot two more tests (after all the checks) and I shall have results on Monday.....Tues, the latest.

Grateful for your assistance.

Les

[rdenney]

While on the subject of perhaps posting photos here....what sorts of hoops and loops do I need to jump through to do that ?

Two methods. One is to scan the picture and host it somewhere on the internet. Then, use the "Insert Image" button, which will give you a place to enter the URL for the image.

The easier way is to take the scanned image and down-sample it to a maximum of 650 pixels in the long dimension and 150K file size (jpeg). Then, down at the bottom of the edit screen, click the "Manage Attachments" button. That will bring up a window that allows you to select the downsampled file and then upload it. A thumbnail will appear in your post that people can click to see the file you uploaded. This is the easy way if you haven't had a chance to get the image hosted somewhere, and it's perfect for images like this one that you probably don't want to put anywhere else.

Rick "either method works" Denney

[cpercy]

Rick I don't understand how you get the url for the image you have posted, lets say on flikr can you explain that?

[Peter Mounier]

Rick I don't understand how you get the url for the image you have posted, lets say on flikr can you explain that?

Here's a helpful post with instructions for posting pics ...
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...32-Posting-pix

Peter