Interesting idea, but I'm not sure where to find x-ray film in the EU.Originally Posted by maltfalc
With Formapan selling for less than the equivalent of 1 US$ pr. 4x5 sheet (including VAT) I guess it is cheap enough to allow for mistakes.
Interesting idea, but I'm not sure where to find x-ray film in the EU.
With Formapan selling for less than the equivalent of 1 US$ pr. 4x5 sheet (including VAT) I guess it is cheap enough to allow for mistakes.
----
Niels
As a slow edit-before-I-set-up-the-camera sort of guy, all day with 6 holders works with 4x5 up to 8x10. More like four with 11x14.
I have come home with unexposed film, and have returned home without my usual second sheet back-up for each image in order to stretch my supply of film out.
I have gone backpacking with only five (and up to to nine) 5x7 holders for a three-day backpack and have come home with unexposed film.
Car trips (week or two or three) I might take 30 loaded 8x10 holders, a dozen 5x7s loaded, and six 11x14 holders ready to go...no changing bag...photograph until time to go home or out of film (might play with the Rolleicord).
When I was bike-touring with a 4x5 for several months, I had 5 holders. If I were to do it again, I'd leave some other stuff at home and take another five holders.
Enjoy your LF experiences! Time will let you know.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Typically six 5x7 or 13x18 cm film holders will easily last an entire day. One sheet of two film holder per image or two sheets of film per image set up.
Multi of six works for the Jobo drums as they hold six sheets. six holders produces twelve sheets of film or two Jobo drum runs with about 1000mL of developer for two Jobo drum runs at about 500mL each run.
Side note, recently been using the Linhof Technikardan 23s aka 6x9 view camera with 120 roll film. The Linhof 6x7 Rapid Rollex gets 10 exposures per 120 roll, turns out frames used are identical to sheet film or two frames of 120 per image, or a single roll of 120 roll film goes a while. Time to set up and make images with the 5x7 Sinar Norma or Linhof Technikardan 23s is about identical, only size-weight and related are different.
Bernice
I miss the days of Readyloads/Quickloads. For a day out, I'd have at least 20 packets along. These days, for a photo trip sort of thing, one where getting to and from the location is a chore, I take 10 film holders for 4x5, and 6-10 for 8x10. If I'm hiking, I wouldn't put that many 8x10 holders in my pack, but it's rare that I'm on a hike that lasts all day. I'm more likely to move to multiple places. So I'd have 10-20 holders in the car, talking out what I expected to need for each excursion away from the car. Having limited film can help you focus your attention, but it can also lead to missed shots. We all have different photographing styles. I tend to shot fairly quickly, and I'm unlikely to camp at a spot for a long time waiting for the right conditions. My first photo is rarely the best from a given location. My last one often is.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
The medical kind you can find it on eBay, just search for “hru film”, for example. Ships everywhere, of course shipping cost to the EU may not be small and… you’ll have to cut it as I don’t think there’s medical X-ray in 4x5. There’s in 8x10 and larger (not many medical uses for X-rays in “smaller” formats). But given how scratch prone it is, I’d be nervous to add a trimming step to the already delicate handling process X-ray film needs.
Film photography project (FPP) does sell X-ray in 4x5, at about $1 per sheet (plus shipping).
So cost wise I think you’re doing well using Fomapan already. Which I think it’s also a better film to use for most applications than x-ray (my opinion).
Where x-ray becomes really appealing is in “larger” formats. For example X-ray in 11x14 costs about $0.80 per sheet….
It really depends on what I am shooting. I have a separate bag that holds about 15 holders plus my lesser used filters and back up bits and pieces. If I am shooting portraits I carry it with me. I might shoot all 30 sheets, two or four sheets per set up at various locations. If I am shooting landscapes 5-6 holders is more my speed which I fit into my main pack. I keep the other holders in my car so I still have extra film if I need it. Most of the locations near me are not too remote so this works well most of the time.
Three good holders minimum will get you going, six is better but three will work.
Twelve is even better, especially if you're working out of the trunk of the car, but that's quite an investment for someone just starting out.
Any number less than three will likely invite frustration for a new shooter
My 2-cents anyway.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I’d say start with 2-4 holders.
While I’m giving my two cents, as much as this will irk some people, do yourself a favour and don’t mess with x-ray film. Use proper general purpose film.
https://www.ebay.nl/sch/i.html?_from...0x12&_osacat=0
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...10x12&_sacat=0
I've never used X-ray film, but this 2020 Mat Marrash video has a demonstration and discusses pros and cons. He says that there is a very long thread about X-ray film on this forum.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks