8x10
Foma 100
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Deardorffuser, Great work. Lovely images
Hi,
I would appreciate some pointers on how I might improve on this photo, my first using half-plate. I'm not getting the 'crispness' and detail I was hoping for. It's FOMA100 half-plate (6.5 x 4.75"), Taylor Hobson Cooke 5" Primoplane VII A lens, shot at 1/30 sec and f/16. EV 13-14. The camera is about 1900 design, similar to a Thornton-Pickard. The film was in a Mahogany DDS adapted for film using a home made aluminium sheath. It was developed in stock ID11 for 7 mins, diluted vinegar stop for 1 minute then Adofix P11 for 4 mins. All done in a 3" dia. light tight tube with an initial shake then alternating rotation.
Looks like there was some light leakage through the slot for the draw-slide - I think I can fix this. I used about 1" front rise which I expect is the cause of the vignetting. I needed the rise due to the ground being about 30-40 ft below the base of the tower. The centre of the image is the 'crispest' but the top of the tower has blur or lack of resolution. Front and rear standards were parallel. I'm still learning the lens boundaries & it could be that the image isn't sharp at the outer edges of the image circle.
I shot another neg. under similar conditions at 1/4 sec and f/45, but I haven't developed this yet. It will be interesting to see if the smaller aperture makes a difference.
Any thoughts on whether the result is limited by the age of the lens, or might be improved by a different processing technique or timings ?
Thanks,
Nick
Attachment 219925
This was taken with the same equipment, but portrait of course, and less rise. Same development process but less time in the stop. Seems like a better result, but with some appreciable light leaks in this holder. I expect these are from the mitred corners of the mahogany holder.
I'm not printing the negs, but taking a digital photo & inverting the colours in MS Paint.
Nick
Attachment 219971
I’m no expert but I would think the issues you have with sharpness are lens related. Less of an issue when used for portraits where the subject is central but more of an issue for landscape / architectural studies or any shot where age to edge sharpness is sought. Might be an idea to do a few shots of a test card at different apertures too, to let you see at what aperture it works “best” (I,e. Is sharpest across the negative).
I like the result it produces - ignoring light leaks etc. Gives a feeling of antiquity that suits the subject.
Milonian - Thanks for the comments. I did take some test exposures, but using 5x4" film in an adaptor to reduce costs a bit. Obviously those tests didn't go to the edges of a half-plate neg, so it wasn't a full test.
I've now developed the exposure taken at f/45 (& ~1/4 sec using the lens cap). I used way too much rise for this aperture. It looks as though there's just enough coverage without any rise applied. I'll have to tilt the lens in future. This apart, the result is much better than f/16, with fairly good sharpness over all of the negative (the digital photo doesn't do it justice, even at 16MP).
Agreed- the results do have a feeling of antiquity. Perhaps its from the grey tones. I've ordered some Ilford FP4+ for comparison.
Nick
Attachment 220007
Thats good, Nick.
As this thread is about Fomapan film I don’t think your issues are film related - there are enough brilliant, sharp images scattered throughout the thread (including on this page of the thread).
I’ve read here and elsewhere online that Fomapan film benefits from being rated at half box speed, with a 20% reduction in development times. I’m going to try that in my Malefic 3d printed 5x4 camera (my last but lightest LF camera).
Slainthe! from Scotland,
Gordon (aka Milonian - my son is a DJ and House music producer whose stage name is Milton Jackson [in honour of the jazz musician of that name] and I suggested his fans would be called Miltonians. So I used that as my nom-de-plume, but I got the spelling wrong in my haste, and now I’m stuck with Milonian!) 🙃