Oh dear, I had a sudden realisation...

[Ash]

... I'm sat here counting out my pennies for the Omega 8x10 enlarger I'll be purchasing and picking up tomorrow, and it hit me; I now have the capability to print up to 8x10 negatives.

That leaves a very dangerous 'opportunity' open to me now - no longer can I argue against larger formats (aside from cost of film). And that means... I have even less to argue against owning a whole plate camera!


I'm glad I missed all the cheaper WP cameras that came up for sale, the hole burnt in my wallet is large enough already.

[ericantonio]

... I'm sat here counting out my pennies for the Omega 8x10 enlarger I'll be purchasing and picking up tomorrow, and it hit me; I now have the capability to print up to 8x10 negatives.

That leaves a very dangerous 'opportunity' open to me now - no longer can I argue against larger formats (aside from cost of film). And that means... I have even less to argue against owning a whole plate camera!


I'm glad I missed all the cheaper WP cameras that came up for sale, the hole burnt in my wallet is large enough already.

You'll need to start saving more for:
You know already...film
paper, bigger than 8x10...heck go 16x20 and 20x24
good enlarger alignment tool (if you are going to print large, the enlarger better be squared)
Film holders
Neg holders
extra lenses to print other size negs
bigger trays
more chemicals
r-e-a-l-l-y big easel
big washing tray
and money for h2o washing.

Just thought of reminding you of those things in case you don't have them already

[ic-racer]

Get ready for a real treat enlarging 8x10 negatives.

A 16x20 I did the other night was the most fantastic thing to ever have been created in my darkroom. Not to miff the contact printing people, but since most (all?) printing paper has less resolution than your film, you can't get all the detail on the contact print. The only way to appreciate all the detail in your 8x10 negatives is to view your negatives with a magnifier or do an enlargement!

More good things to realize:
Dust at 2x is still small!
Alignment at 2x is not crucial (don't know what, if anything, is adjustable on the Omega)

Good job! Post pictures if you can.

[Ash]

Thanks

I still need to post some more 5x4 pictures. I'm considering using 5x7, even paper negs to start - I have that half-plate camera just sitting around.

Maybe by the end of the year I'll have produced some negs and enlargements with 5x7, or maybe even whole plate, possibly 10x8. It's only a matter of time

[ditkoofseppala]

I still need to post some more 5x4 pictures. I'm considering using 5x7, even paper negs to start - I have that half-plate camera just sitting around.

Maybe by the end of the year I'll have produced some negs and enlargements with 5x7, or maybe even whole plate, possibly 10x8. It's only a matter of time.

Oh dear . . . you, too, huh? I thought I was the only one telling myself that sort of thing. "Maybe by the end of the year." I got moved, rather harrowingly, in the late late fall; I've spent the winter getting adjusted, but not getting really set up to LIVE, let alone to do LF photography. In the spring, I have a massive job ahead getting an entire new kennel facility set up to accommodate around a hundred sleddogs, so we can get my wife's dogs out of the barn and mine moved from the Yukon where they are still being caretaken by my brother-in-law and his wife -- winter caught us before we could get the place ready. Then I'll have to do new digital record-shots of all those dogs -- a chore that was put off for too long. Now I've got the camera for it there's no longer any excuse. But that's not the kind of photography I really most wanted to do!

I've got a Beseler 45MX still sitting in Quebec until I can arrange either to pick it up or get a friend to bring it down when he visits. My WP Century 2 needs a new bellows; my 5x7 Ansco needs a back (at least I'm working on that one). I can in theory start shooting 4x5, but I'll have to process it. It's all going too slowly to suit me, but one of the big limiting factors is my own energy (that and the weather which has been atrocious this winter).

I've at least got 4x5 film hangers and tanks. If I get some chemicals together and snag a box or two of film, I can at least do a few negs this summer, though the suspense of being unable to print them will kill me. Well, contact prints, I know. Maybe I'll produce some "jewels." More likely I'll barely be able to see what I've got.

Anyway. Good to know I've got company, Ash. Thanks, I needed that!

[neil poulsen]

On the one hand, I can see where you would have the trays and the space set up to enable ULF (ultra-large format). On the other hand, given the improved image quality that you could obtain enlarging 8x10 negatives, there would be less of an advantage in going to ULF. The image quality wouldn't be that much better.

And, this compared to the fact that costs and the trouble to go ULF go up exponentially with increased ULF negative sizes.

[Jim Galli]

Ash, Bad news! Awful! I have a lovely Seneca full plate that takes the modern holders that will be made (hopefully). I will list it with photos later this week. Sorry 'bout that. Perhaps there's a bank or a liquor store near by to rob?

[keeds]

Oh no Ash. What have you started! I'm in fulltime employment and I struggle to fund my urges. You're a student and skinny to start with. It's not like you can starve for a while and save on food costs... Best of luck and have fun. ;-)

[blevblev]

You sound like someone who is trying to convince his wife! "Oh dear, I had a sudden realisation?" Yeah, right. We know better!