1st images with Linhof III v5 not that sharp...

[Liquid Artist]

Following the above advice should give you good results.

Plus I'll add my own and say start processing your own film asap.
You would not believe how many labs reuse the chemistry until there is just nothing left. I used to work in 1, and had to wait almost a year after I started before I would process my own.

Plus like everyone says, Don't get discouraged.

I blew my first 4 frames by just rushing. (I took the dark slide out twice before closing the shutter, the dark slide once pealed the film out of the holder, and I set the shutter speed once but left the aperture wide open)
Since I only had 2 film holders and drove 2 hours for the shots it was a little heartbreaking.
However now I rarely pull out anything smaller than 4x5, and also rarely completely blow shots. If I do I have enough loaded film with me.

[Lenny Eiger]

If you are doing a sharpness test, wouldn't you want to keep the aperture closer to wide open? Shooting at f22 wouldn't tell you if what you focused on is actually in focus. But Vinny's advice is right on...

The effects of diffusion are extremely minimal. This has been discussed many times here. The difference between f22 and f45 is pretty much non-existent, with current technology, and large format lenses.

Enjoy the depth of field!


Lenny

[DLee]

Alright, not giving up yet... Made four exposures today. With camera on tripod I was happy to see a very sharp image on the ground glass. I made two exposures at f 4.5, one 4x5 and one Rollex 6x9. Checked focus after each and then shot two more frames similarly at f11.

Checked the GG after and still had a sharp image... now to process.

Checking the rangefinder against the ground glass I found that there was a bit of variation of focus alignment determined by the angle of view into the rangefinder. I was focusing at about six feet and eventually determined that with the proper angle the rangefinder was dead on. Focusing at thirty feet though didn't achieve the same affect right off the bat. After moving my eye around the finder again I did come up with a pretty accurate rangefinder/GG comparison. So I guess there is a little bit of learning curve to the rangefinder as well.

I'll be surprised if the process of slowing down today does not yield better results. I made sure the tripod was well locked down, used the focus lock, used a cable release and calmly and carefully loaded the different film backs.

I'll report back when I see the results. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

Fingers crossed,

Dennis

[StoneNYC]

Just know, if you are scanning, the difference between a drum scan and a flatbed scan is tremendous and you will most likely be disappointed in the sharpness if you are looking at a flatbed scan and used to high quality digital. Also keep in mind it depends on the development process, type of developer used, technique, film used, etc, B&W grain structure and contrast will all change greatly depending on your process.