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View Full Version : Grain and Focus with Efke 100



Lenny Eiger
25-Oct-2005, 15:38
Greetings, all. Having a little problem here. Trying to get more educated. Been using Efke 100 in PyroPMK with a Jobo - generally works fine. (Going to move back to the 25, however, and maybe back to 8x10 from 4x5, as much as I love that little Ebony.) However, in testing I noticed that the areas that were in sharp focus had nice, tight grain. Areas in the backgroun, out of focus had lots of grain. I seem to remember that this was a known effect - does anyone remember?

I just came back from a trip to Pt. Lobos and the film was a mess - very grainy. I am thinking maybe there was a little wind action and instead of being out of focus, it was moving and this created the same effect. The other possibility is that my Nikon convertible 360/500 is slightly jarred and things are out of focus in general - just a smidge 'cuz I can't see it - and so it is all grainifying.

Can anyone shed some light on this so I can make sure it never happens again? Does anyone notice that it works well is bright sun thru N light, but has problems in N+1 and N+2 lighting?

TIA

Lenny

ronald moravec
25-Oct-2005, 19:40
Areas without detail will show more grain. Of you are out of focus or have movement, detail is lost and grain shows. It does not increase in size.

Lenny Eiger
28-Oct-2005, 16:52
Answer is too pat. I am looking at the image now, on the scanner. The difference in missing grain in the areas of lesser focus is quite substantial. Approx three times the distance between grains. Looks awful. Using Efke 25 in PMK. I have contacted the manufacturer and will see what they say. If anyone has any real info on this, I would be happy to chase after it...

I need to figure this out, see if it is the same across medium format thru 8x10. I used mostly 8x10 and am curious to see if this is an artifact of the 4x5....

Is there film that does this more or less? A developer - is this a reason to try PyroCat vs the PMK? Can anyone shed any light on this at all? It is a problem I would like to solve, if that is possible.

John_4185
28-Oct-2005, 17:30
Lenny: Can you post a sample of the image or mail it? I would be happy to put it on a server for all of us to examine.