The channel for any analog film photographers, or anyone who wants to get into analog film photography!
As you may have guessed by the name, this channel is mostly about medium format film photography, using 120 film. But I also do a fair bit of 35mm photography, and of course large format. On top of that there will be black and white film developing videos, color film developing, photo printing and darkroom chat... everything and anything related to film photography.
So if you're into your vintage cameras, come along for the ride. Watch some videos, subscribe, drop me some comments!
Nice informative video, but your autofocus is wildly distracting. Also, I use medium format VF and folders which have no functional difference. I use a tape measure for critical focusing and stop down. Thanks for the fine work.
Oh gosh, what a journey. As annoying as it is, “pilot error” is always preferable to “engine malfunction”; hopefully lesson learned and checking those 2 things becomes part of your standard muscle memory checklist and you won’t have that again. I have to admit I’m slightly disappointed you didn’t show us your multi shot collages…. As much as my brain doesn’t cope well with menus and button push routines, it strikes me that these new generation meters should be prime candidates for allowing a setup calibration and then auto adjustment for filters. Any thoughts on that idea?
Dood, I've owned an ETR for 5 years and I still mess up the multiple exposure switch, lol. I have stopped using the speed grip because it helps me remember about the double exposure lever. I also use the AEIII prism. Why? The meter in the prism dies when the main battery dies😁
I was recently given an ETRS and it acts up with a battery that gets low in voltage. It just sucks the juice. I'm honestly thinking of rigging up a mini external battery pack.
Awesome that you corrected the guard. Over zealous guards can be easy to ignore but then they will pull the same bs. on someone else who doesn't know the law.
Oooh, I'm not sure... does the Pinsta allow for the thickness of plates? I confess I've never used one. Aside from the actual holding of the plates, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The developing process is essentially the same.
No doubt Zeiss made some amazing folders, for sure. Even the "lower quality" models like the Nettars are pretty good. I've recently bought a Mamiya 6, I haven't tried one before. So video coming up on that pretty soon. I have a some fungus to clean first though!
Hi. that's how i do it Paper call as direct positive. Call: approx. 6 min. Wash: 30 sec. Bleaching: 30-60 sec. Washing: 5 min. Sunlight or lamp: approx. 5 min. until it appears dimly. Call: usual 30-60 sec Fixation: 5 min. Washing: normal
Thanks! I about to start a lot of experimentation with this process, to see what gets the best results. I'll be trying 6-7 different developers, and 7-8 different papers, to see what combination works best. Video will be on the channel soon.
Love the giraffe pic. It was worth the effort. 4x5 might not be the ideal format for wildlife photography, but I love doing things that are a bit “out there” because the results are so different. I’m currently mulling doing a sports photography project with either large format, or a manual focus Mamiya 645. Sure, I could do it with $5000 worth of digital equipment and the results would be very competent, but it just wouldn’t be as visually interesting as what I would get with a totally inappropriate film camera.
There is definitely something appealing about totally inappropriate film cameras! That's kind of why we're here right? I am still not put off the idea of wildlife (or sports for that matter) on the 4x5. Given the chance again I would approach it differently, of course, but I still think good results are totally achievable.
I just found you yesterday, and I’ve been binge watching. Why do you not have more viewers? Great content! A couple of years ago, I read an article about Abelardo Morrell, the guy who turns entire rooms (usually hotel rooms) into a giant camera obscura, then photographs the resulting image. I tried it in my bedroom. Blacked out the windows with tin foil, used gaffer tape on the doorframes, and used that website to calculate the appropriate size of the pinhole (3mm, for a normal sized bedroom, if you’re interested). Then shot it on bulb with my D800. The project was a blast, and the image I got was one of the most interesting I’ve ever done.
Hey, thanks for watching! I love making camera obscuras in the most unusual places! I discovered quite by accident many years ago that if I close the blinds to my office just the right amount, and block off the sides, I can get a very clear image of the building across the street projected onto the wall behind me. So far it has been the most powerful thing in persuading my young kids that photography is interesting! They're too young for the chemistry and magic of film and paper, but when they can see people walking around on this projected image on the wall, they love it! Small steps!
That cameras have failures is because they were heavily used / didn't had maintenance in the last years. Imo it's not fair to judge a camera on that. I never had failures with my RB67
I totally agree, and I'm not saying that the RB67 is a poor camera, not at all. What I'm saying is that currently, if you're choosing a medium format camera, it's a risky option because there is a high proportion of faulty or malfunctioning RB67s out there. My experience is that the proportion is higher than for some other camera models. But if you get a good one, it's a great camera! On that note, there is another RB67 video coming very soon. With some investigation and some help from viewers on here, it seemed that all my problems were coming from a missing roller in the film back. So I've bought another film back, and I'm heading out in the next few days to give it another go!
The "new" Berlin airport has signs at the control to warn you against passing film through the scanners. You hand them to the agent and they scan them separately in a different device.
I went through Heathrow the other day, and they have the new CT scanners there as well. Good news is though, that the staff are super happy to hand-check your films, and they don't put pressure on you to put them through the scanner. Seems like they're admitting that those new scanners will cook your film!
Hello, thank you for the great video. I want to take off the top deck to clean the viewfinder and will need to remove the wind on nob. Is the centre screw a reverse thread? Thank you.
Hey, sorry for the late reply. I would need to look at my 110 to me sure, but generally camera makers don't use a reverse thread unless they need to. So if the wind on knob turns counter clockwise, ie the same way you would unscrew that screw, then they'll use a reverse thread, so that the act of winding-on doesn't gradually loosen the screw. Thinking about it... if the wind-on knob is on the RHS of the camera, then it must wind-on counter clockwise, and therefore it would be a reverse thread. But I will check for you!
I think the close up's are darker because of bellows greater extension that require either longer exposure or opening the stop. In my experience exposing the bleached paper too long to light will darken the image.
I'm sure you're right. I don't recall now whether I accounted for bellows extension when taking the images. But could well be. Lots more videos coming very soon on the paper reversal process.
I'm very new to the darkroom so it was so nice to see your honest failures in the first part (it's not just me)... forgetting to change the f.stop ... I had worse... exposing a nearly full box of paper.... (omg!). I particlarly found the differences in grain between scan and print of great interest .... I'll be taking note of that. Thanks very much for the videos you upload and your excellent and very practical presentation. In fact some of your videos helped me decide to experiment with pinhole photography which I have come to love. Speaking of which... I have some rolls of Lomography Berlin 400 and Potsdam 100 but can find no information regarding reciprocity failure (neither for Ferrania P30 nor P33)... any advice on that would be more than welcome. Thanks again.
Ohhhh, if honest failures are your thing then you're in the right place!! It's definitely not just you! Really glad you're enjoying pinhole! I come and go with it, some days I love it, some days it's not for me! But I love the experimenting, for sure! Now... reciprocity failure for those films (btw I did q quick google and all I found was you asking the same question on the Flim and Darkroom User forum!). I don't have any figures for them myself. However, there is great speculation that the Lomography films are repackaged versions of other brands. So that might help with the search. Rumour has it that Berlin is repackaged Orwo 74, and Potsdam is Orwo UN54. But I have no info on this, or if it's true!
Well damn... I've just gone back to the video to see what you're talking about, and I can confirm that my brain never even registered that. And this is why I am such a terrible landscape photographer. Making my own teeth itch now. Thanks for pointing it out!!!!
Thank you for the nice review😊 I love my Fujucas GL690, GM670 and GS645pro😊 small, light and amazing rendering... Also, if you can find GL690/GM670 lens barrel without optics, you can adapt Mamiya Press lenses to the GL690/GM670 system, especially famous Press 100mm f2.8😊
I'm curious since doing the reverse on a negative causes a backward image could you expose the paper from the back side to give a proper orientation of the image. This would of course require a longer exposure. I think a single weight paper would work well for that.
More volume!! I built my own pinhole from found parts, it cost me less than 7 dollars! I use coke cans drilled to 40 thousands and epoxied to steel washers and held in place with magnets! I get sharp images with an asa of 100 at 4 inches on 4x5 film or paper negatives. I've enlarged several negatives to 20x24 with excellent results
So I was sitting here trying to check my M645 was still working but having problems with the wind locking and the shutter button locking. Now I hear it needs a battery or it won't work! Hope you are right. Ordered a new one.
My recollection (caveats apply) is that a polarizer imposes a couple of stops reduction in incoming light. So, a 3ND reduction makes sense for the VND combination. I run a 1/8 black diffusion filter on my X100V all the time. It makes the resulting images look quite a bit more "filmic" with a little bloom around bright areas. I like it. Fun stuff!
Around 18:18 I thought the dominant effect of the pro mist was on the shadows, unless I was seeing effects of camera side reflection. Not enough specularity to show it's thing until back in the studio.
I'm afraid I don't. I did the repairs and service on this one myself, but it didn't need much. Do you have a specific problem with yours? Or just need it going over? They built the GX680 to be easily accessible and easily serviced, so I'd be surprised if it was hard to find a camera tech to work on it. There are a couple of GX680 groups on facebook, worth asking the question in there, I'm sure someone will know someone!
Thanks for getting back to me. I'm thinking of getting one. Just wanted to figure out if I should've because if I need to get it repaired, I can thank you for the Facebook. I will definitely ask there. Love the camera. Hopefully, I'll get one soon.
What surprised me was the green filter. It darkened the trees and grass meanwhile yellow filter increased their brightness,which made me wonder, whether the leaf green is made up more of yellow than green itsel. Can Anyone help me to understand better?
Bought an entire collection of several lens, a body, and backs for less than $300. Was an awesome camera with some quirks that needed learning. Sad to have sold it because there were few issues for the price.
Wow! You're definitely not finding one for that money now! It's definitely a nice camera. After thoroughly investigating the issues I was having, I've recently bought a new film back and I think it may solve all my problems. I'll be taking the camera for another spin in the next few days, video coming soon!
No you don't need a dark room. Once you've shot the roll, all the film is tightly wound onto the take up spool, along with the backing paper. So it's light tight. Check out my video on 120 film to see how it all works!
What I don‘t like is the relatively dark viewfinder compared to my other slrs and the missing split-image focusing. Focusing is not easy with this camera.
You know, I don't think I've picked this camera up in three years! But I'm sure you're right. It's definitely not a premium camera buy any means. Not bad for a camer you can pick up nowadays for about 50 bucks, tops. I'm pretty sure I still have it somewhere. I should dig it out!
hey, maybe at 9:01 thats why most plate holders are different, aka like a picture frame, loaded from the back, secured with a pressure plate, and the darkslide works on a separate plane to the plate, so nothing can catch the slide on the way in\out.
You mean the one that popped out? I was using a plate holder, specifically designed for plates, and using an insert to compensate for the thinner metal plates I was using vs the thickness of glass. And you're right of course, the dark slide slots into different channels, and it sits a few mm above the plate, not touching it. The issue I had was that he plate holder, the brand of which I won't mention (!), has dimensions that were incompatible with these Zebra plates. Essentially the opening, the 'picture' bit of the 'picture frame', using your reference, thanks, was wider than the width of these plates. So the plate itself fell through the window, and when I pulled the dark slide it just fell forwards into the camera!
@@the120ist ok, good to know, as you said it was your first or second time; I have experience with LF, and the holder issue {I am aware of the technical side of it}; FYI lost light art does make plate holders himself, to fit his plates, perhaps, due to the variety of dimensions and holder standards that you go with his, so you know they fit, a bit more expensive, granted, but if you decide on one manufacturers system, then best to go whole hog into it, to ensure success; more over it is an old process, and the glass/tin is custom cut, so variance in things is expected, as most modern holders are geared around modern film stocks, and processes.
@@the120ist if this is an issue, perhaps adding a metal spring, like in the graffmatic holders, to secure the plate in the holder, to take up slack is another way to go, to ensure focus plane, and security of the plate in the holder.
My experience with the Harmon direct positive paper was that it is sensitive to UV light, so I would shoot at ISO 2 at mid-afternoon, but ISO 3 or 4 late in the day. If this is true, then the effects of clouds and fog or general atmospheric vapor must affect the amount of UV, which isn't measured by our light meters. As such, it's a guessing game mostly that you must play intuitively. Add in filters and water and the dice are loaded. One trick borrowed from printing paper in the darkroom you can try is to do multiple exposure times on the same paper by using your darkslide. Mark the darkslide into thirds using a permanent marker. Set up a shot that has a two second exposure target. Pull the darkslide to the first mark, and do a two second exposure. Now pull the darkslide to the second mark and expose for one second. Pull the darkslide out altogether and do another one second exposure. Now the paper has three exposures: one second, two seconds and four seconds. If your target was two seconds, your paper shows one exposure at stop, one under a stop and one over a stop (in the order (-1, 0, +1)). This can help you locate the correct ISO and exposure to use more quickly, and eliminates some of the variables while testing.
Great advice. All paper is UV sensitive, I believe, so this process is definitely UV sensitive. And I think doing a sort of test strip, as you describe, is possibly the only way of knowing for sure what the UV is going to do to your sheet. But... in order to do that, I would essentially have to be shooting next to my dark room, so I could process immediately. Otherwise I'd have to be driving back from a location to develop the test strip, then returning.. and the light will have changed! I think intuition and experience are going to be the keys here, and getting out and shooting more regularly. Which I should definitely do anyway!
120ist the reason they are called 'wet plate', is the fact the collodion is a replacement for albumen in the process, aka egg white, so everything up to the fixing and staining in the darkroom has to be done while the collodion is loose and wet, once this 'base' is dry nothing will stick, aka stains, like lacquering a piece of wood, nothing sticks. Dry plates where the next innovation/invention, to make the process a lot slower so one can do things with more thought, and not having to have the "ice-cream truck" with you to develop the tin or glass plates; as the time was so short; rather, you can shoot and go home to develop at your own pace (relatively speaking), it hadn't got to the speed of todays acetate backed 135 120 and 4x5" sheet film stocks, that came later, in the 1950's or so, when Kodak designed it.
The whole wet plate process fascinates me. I had the pleasure of sitting for the amazing Guy Bellingham FRPS (video on the channel somewhere) and watching him go through the whole wet plate process. Amazing to see, and the results are incredible. But I'm not tempted.... not yet anyway!
Certainly not as much fun, but Harmon has a direct positive paper that uses ordinary paper developer (e.g., Dektol), with no bleach, to get a positive print. It's a high contrast look that is very sensitive to exposure levels, and so is difficult to shoot. The Bellini process probably has better mid-tones and the flash procedure has some perks, so both processes have their pros and cons. The Harmon process can be done in the same tank I use to develop 4x5 negatives, so is more convenient but is more expensive. By the Bellini process description, similar to C41, I would guess that the second development should be to completion, assuming the bleach has done its job. Control comes from the camera exposure and first development timing. Pull the paper from the first developer when it looks right, bleach, clarify, and then develop to completion. Developing to completion on the second developer should give you deep blacks and good highlights.
After this video I spent a long time doing more research, and speaking to a few people who do this process regularly. One of the great things about having this channel is that when I make a pigs ear of processes in my videos, knowledgable people often pipe up to help me get better at it! I'm very lucky! So the 'improved' process actually takes both the first and second developments to completion. I have tried many times to control either of the development stages with poor results. Control over exposure is therefore all in-camera. Control over contrast is a different thing! I'm currently experimenting with different papers and developers to see what I can achieve with that. The use of a yellow filter with VC paper does the job, but at the cost of -4 stops of exposure. And with a starting point of ISO 1.8 (ish), the yellow filter is really not going to be much use for portraits, which is where I would like to take this! Lots more experimentation with this process both already on the channel, and coming up soon!
Very interesting video! I’m curious to know how Pliobond 25 would work out. It is available on Amazon. I use it to apply new seals and bumpers on my vintage SLRs’.
Pliobond is often said to be really good for this. I couldn't get hold of at the time of making this video. Are you in the US? I think it may be available in the US, but not in the UK. Not sure!
It really is a great camera. I don't have it any more, I sold it to a film newbie and last i heard he was still getting great pictures from it. I'll likely pick up another one, one day, for nostalgia purposes! But I had a bad falling out with TLRs a few years back, and the bug hasn't hit me again yet!
I've recently purchased an RB67 Pro S with a matte focussing screen and I do wonder how accurate I will be when focussing. I'm tempted to get a split ring focussing screen from brightscreen. I've got one on order for my Bronnie ETRSi so I'll give that one a go first. I've just checked my film back and it doesn't suffer from the problems yours has (phew!). I had already noticed that the mounting of the film back in the shell is simply not good enough for a 'pro' body and I can see how they would get damaged when used in a professional environment (it's fine for a 'once in a blue moon' level of use).
I haven't tried the Brightscreen for the RB, but I have replaced original screens with Brightscreens on many of my cameras. I'm a big fan! So I'm sure their RB replacement will be just as high quality. I've recently replaced the film back, and I think it should solve all the problems I was having. So this RB is going to get a second chance. Video coming very soon!
