The Worst Advice (in ANY format)

[domenico Foschi]

"What is with all those fuzzy,wuzzy artsy pictures? A good photograph should be sharp all over"
Translating: There is only one way to use a lens....

[cyrus]

"Real pros use the metal reels and developing tanks - not the plastic ones."

This bit of sage advice cost a friend of mine many, many hours of frustration and almost scared her out of photography.

[Richard Kelham]

"Real pros use the metal reels and developing tanks - not the plastic ones."

This bit of sage advice cost a friend of mine many, many hours of frustration and almost scared her out of photography.

It's probably true though....

[MIke Sherck]

"Film is dead. Get a digital camera."

Mike

[claudiocambon]

"If you get developer or stop on your hands, make sure to dip them in fixer as well to neutralize it."

And I did it!

[Vaughn]

"If you get developer or stop on your hands, make sure to dip them in fixer as well to neutralize it."

And I did it!

No, it is just if you get developer on your hands, dip them in the stop bath. Forget the fix!

(Regular hand soap, being alkaline, is not very good for getting off developer.)

"The world is a very good teacher, but one must be a very good student." old Chinese saying.

I like the camera store clerk's advice about grabbing a big box of paper and locking oneself in the darkroom. Good advice...but it does assumes one is a good student...that one takes a good look at one's print and thinks hard about the next step. I think Kevin's problem was the application of the advice, not the advice itself.

Reminds me to what the Elves say in The Lord of the Rings -- basically, elves don't like to give advice...what is done with the advice is out of their hands and they end up getting blamed for the results.

Vaughn

[cyrus]

It's probably true though....

Why? The only benefit I can think of for metal over plastic is that metal conducts heat better so perhaps the temp of the developing solution can be regulated by placing it in a water jacket. But then again, plastic is a good insulator and so there's no need for a water jacket, and also plastic reels don't affect the temp of the liquid... those thick metal reels are real heat sinks.

Oh, and if you drop a metal reel and it gets bent, forget it! Not to mention the metal lids that jam up...
I guess you can load a metal reel while it is still wet though, unlike a plastic one, thought I have never tried it.

[poco]

Plus you can load two 120's onto plastic without taping the ends. I fell for the "real men only use metal" line once, bought the thing and wrestled with it for a few hours. Now I use the metal tank to steam milk for lattes. Haven't found use for the reels themselves -- maybe to mash potatoes?

[Ken Schroeder]

David, Wasn't it Fred Picker who advocated " expose for the highlights and the other values including the shadows will fall into place. "

Barry, I believe Fred Picker advocated placing the highest value on Zone VIII and taking any shadow value one could get. At the same time, he was advocating developing a negative for normal development and one at plus one and a half. This is not as crazy as it might seem. Fred was very comfortable in softer light. He "avoided backlight like the plague" borrowing the phrase from Edward Weston. The technique worked very well for him. It also allowed him to concentrate on other matters in the field. The two negatives gave him (the printer), a choice of negatives. I consider it very solid advice, in most cases. Most is a key word, but distinguishing between the cases comes with experience.

Before the Zone System, Dr Paul Wolff, the great apostle of the Leica, wrote in his 1935 book, My First Ten Years with the Leica, " give full exposure and abbreviate the development. For those of us who still like luminesscent shadows and delicate highlights, the advice remains solid. (in all formats)

[Bruce Barlow]

[QUOTE=David Walker

"I think you are right. Somewhere down the line Picker changed his tiechnique based on his experiences. He could probably do that based on repeatable metering and processing technique. I was really referring to setting film speed (base exposure) at the low end and setting development time to fit printing and paper contrast at the high values. That he did not change that."

Fred tested ISO (for low values), development time (for high values), and Proper Proof time (minimum exposure of paper for maximum black thru clear film). Once he had that, his materials were calibrated and he could - and did - set the lightest part of the scene on Zone VIII and expose accordingly ("expose for the high value and take what you get in the shadows"). If he wanted more contrast in the negative, he placed the high value on Zone VI 1/2 and developed N+1 1/2 (1/2 gave him more flecibility with graded papers). Having two standard development times kept things really simple in the field.

I've followed that sysem for over 20 years and never missed. I make one negative each way, even numbered holder for N, odd for N+.

Worst advice I ever got: my first photo teacher advocated leaving enlarger exposure time constant and closing and opening the aperture on the enlarger lens. Ouch. Without precision or repeatability.