06.24.06
Posted in Technical, Articles at 4:02 am by filmwast
Polaroid film it seems, can keep a very long time. While some found packs I have used have dried out entirely, others seem to maintain enough developer to result in some very interesting photographs.
Films I have used to date include some Type-107 ISO3000 B&W from 1970, Type-108 color from 1970, and Type-87 from 1984. These were all dry, with the developer having long ago evaporated.
January & February 1970…
The fixing stick was OK, but the film not…
October 1984…
Others though from the 1980s have resulted in some interesting photographs. This one is from some Type-107 from 1985. On its way to drying out, the developer pod was very hard to burst, and the resulting spread of the thickened goop not covering the whole print.
Nondebeicho. Type-107. Fuji FP-1.
This week though, I purchased some Type-665 ISO75 Pos/Neg from 1979. Total price - JPY800 for four packs.
Knowing this film’s special attributes, I was expecting the usual dry result. I was very surprised then when the pod burst could be felt, and the print did not fall off the neg as is the case with dried films.
Tomigaya. Type-665 (pos). Color Pack III.
Though the goop was a thick, black tar, it still spread over the entire pos and neg, and with double the normal development time, resulted in a good pos and a moderate neg.
Tomigaya. Type-665 (neg). Color Pack III.
The pos lacks a little in the black department, as Polaroids often do anyway, but the soft feel is very pleasant. The neg cleaned off nicely in warm running water, so I was able to leave the sulfite in the cupboard.
All I need now is a suitable subject and some inspiration for the remaining three packs.
For more on Polaroids and their films, click ‘Technical’, top left. Have fun. Skorj.
Permalink
06.13.06
Posted in Technical, Articles at 7:42 am by filmwast
The HCW lens assisted pinhole (LAP) is only available from retrophotographic. It is built around a 5×7 spring-loaded back and is in no way an average run-of-the-mill LF pinhole box.
I got mine a few weeks ago along with 2 double darkslides and a paterson orbital processor to develop the sheet film in. I must admit to being a little bit disappointed when the camera arrived. It didnt look the smartest of things and some of the finish quality was a bit lacking to say the least. And worse than that, an initial inspection of the camera revealed lightleaks where the back is joined to the body. A quick word with Nigel Dear from retrophotographic and the camera was whisked away, mended and returned to me in no time at all, this time sans light leaks.
The LAP has 3 selectable pinhole sizes - f64, f128 and f256. There are also 2 further f64 pinholes , one with a 3x red filter and one with a 3x green filter attached. In addition to these, there is also an integral simple plastic meniscus lens that can be slid into place behind the pinholes turning them into kind of lens stops. The immediate beauty of this idea is, when no pinhole is selected (front wide open), and the lens is in place, the user is able to use the frosted perspex sheet on the sprung back as a groundglass viewing screen to ensure composition is exactly where you want it to be. This is the main thing that prompted me to buy this camera, I really didn’t like the idea of pointing an expensive sheet of film towards something that I couldn’t even be sure would be in the picture.
The LAP has what at first appears to be an ingenious shutter / exposure device. There is a wooden “plunger” that covers the pinhole opening which is attached to a machined metal knob that when you rotate it, the plunger swings away from the exposure hole and allows the light to enter. In use, this is not as clever as it seems - the whole arm swings around freely as the camera is moved and could quite easily get in the way and subsequently broken whilst moving the camera in & out of bags/ storage or swing open when removing a darkslide ruining the sheet of film - some kind of weak spring would have resolved this issue. I have added some light proof foam to the plunger so it fits snugly into the front of the camera and isnt able to swing around.
The camera comes with 2 tripod screws, one for portrait compositions and one for landscape. When attached to my tripod, the camera is still able to move somewhat so care is needed to avoid camera shake - especially when operating the “shutter” plunger, but this isnt really a big problem.
I loaded up some RC paper to use for test negatives at first and immediately discovered that the f64 and f128 pinholes were completely useless without the lens in place. They were a mass of blur with no way of even seeing what the picture was at all. Add the lens and all becomes clear - A sharp image is formed with a pleasant focus fall off around the edges reminiscent of cameras and photogpraphy from the late 1800’s. I find the f256 pinhole still to be a little soft as compared to other modern pinholes I’ve seen but, again, slide the lens in place and away you go.
The camera comes with a comprehensive booklet giving some very technical information on pinhole “lens” resolution as compared to the LAP (most of which went over my head), and also instructions and tips on using the camera. Especially helpfull are some exposure guides for all the pinhole sizes based on 100 ISO film with reciprocity calculations already made. So far I have used these with FP4+ and found them to be quite accurate.
The above image taken on fp4+ using the f256 pinhole (no lens) and is a contact print on Kentmere RC paper.
This version was taken on the same film using the f64 pinhole with the red filter. It’s been contact printed on ilford MGFB warmtone using eukobrom cold tone developer.
Although the pinhole for the top image was 4 stops smaller/slower than the other, the second is much sharper because of the plastic lens. Note the blurry corners - tasty!
When I set out to buy a pinhole camera, I wanted it to be good quality and LF for use in
contact printing. It had to have some kind of viewing screen so I knew what I would be getting, and needed to be at least 5×7 size for the contacts to be worthwhile. The LAP meets all of these requirements, although I must admit to being still a little dissapointed at the finish quality after seeing some of the other finely crafted wooden and brass goodies that are on the market. That said, the LAP is functional, it does what it should and is one of only two made - it has a home-made, almost agricultural feel to it. I am happy with it and look foward to using it a lot more. I may try to get a smaller pinhole made and swap it for one of the other ones that I wont use much.
I set out to buy a pinhole box and ended up buying a large format holga and that is no bad thing!
Permalink