OFFICIAL I HAVE A NEW (FILM RELATED) TOY THREAD!!

StephenM said:
If a book can be counted as a toy, I bought "Experimental Photography A Handbook of Techniques" on Friday. Given that two pages are devoted to converting a Polaroid camera to wet collodion, and another two pages to converting a 35mm SLR similarly, I think it might appeal to a few here.
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That sounds fun! Also far beyond any time I'd have available at the moment! You tempted to try it?
 
With a 35mm camera, it's no more involved than removing the pressure plate and substituting an adhesive strip to hold the coated slide in place, so as conversions/customisations go it hardly counts alongside some of the highly sophisticated work people here do. The book covers a host of things you can do based on older processes (fancy making your own printing frame?) and these have always interested me. As a pessimist, (or is that "realist"? :D) I always anticiapte the worst; and photographically that would be no longer being able to get film. Hence an interest in making sure that I can continue if film disappears.

I wasn't thinking of using collodion in such a small size, but as the book says, coating a small plate is easier than a large one and it would be a simple means of trying the process. And as the shutter speeds would be long, it only needs a camera that can operate on B or T (or remove the shutter and use a lens cap!) so a working camera isn't needed. So perhaps not tempted, but certainly very interested.

In passing, as a camera obscura demonstator, I've long admired Abelardo Morrell's photographs using a room converted to a camera, but I'd only seen black and white images in a book of his. This book contains a number of stunning colour photographs by him, and it's worth the price of the book (£20, hardback) just for them.
 
I've often thought of contact printing 6x6 negatives, now i'm thinking of converting one of my old Ikonta's to a wet plate for those little images.
 
desf said:
Also seen recently on Tokyo camera style main site.
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Ahh, right. That's probably a better picture of it.

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http://40.media.tumblr.com/24b06598d2598e790fc893a59d5d9fa5/tumblr_ntikcpxkJA1qzpwppo1_1280.jpg
 
desf said:
Carl, this better be good .. my breath is suitably bated.

It better not be a T70. :)
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Well I might have some more astonishing results from the T70 for all the closeted admirers here...over the weekend went into WW2 bunker tunnels (narrow) in Holland and all the guide gave out to the small group were a few small LED torches (no electric lighting), well I had flash but hadn't a clue setting manually for correct exposure in pitch black tunnels (except for one or two torches lighting the way)...so set the T70 on programme and of course if nothing comes out, you wont be hearing from me :D
 
Carl Hall said:
Always had a hankering for a folder and I saw this Ensign Pocket Twenty pop up on eBay nearby. Not too clued up on it but from what I've read so far it's from the mid 30's. Can't wait to put some film through it and see what it's like.

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Forgotten the Hasselblad already?
 
kendo1 said:
Forgotten the Hasselblad already?
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Haha nope, put five rolls through the hassie so far and it's incredible. Just bought one of these for fun and to see what they're like really. I suspect I'll put a roll of B&W through it and then it'll sit on my shelf for a few years
 
Hmm, anyone got an idea what ISO film I should use for the Ensign? I know the exposure is going to be a bit hit or miss seeing there are two apertures and one proper shutter speed, but if I can get a rough idea of ISO then that's one less thing to screw it up haha. I'm assuming something pretty slow such as 100 as it's an old camera? @Andysnap you're a lover of these types of camera aren't you, what do you usually use?
 
Probably a 100 would be fine. Use something compensating like rodinal and if you're in really contrasty light try stand developing.
 
Carl Hall said:
Hmm, anyone got an idea what ISO film I should use for the Ensign? I know the exposure is going to be a bit hit or miss seeing there are two apertures and one proper shutter speed, but if I can get a rough idea of ISO then that's one less thing to screw it up haha. I'm assuming something pretty slow such as 100 as it's an old camera? @Andysnap you're a lover of these types of camera aren't you, what do you usually use?
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My old folder has f/11 and f/16, and I think the shutter is 1/60th. I used 100 ISO B&W on the basis that it was designed for slow films, which is mostly all they had Back In t'Day, but I ended up with some underexposed shots on a crappy overcast day. I think I'd be better off using ISO 400, on the basis that it has plenty of latitude for overexposure anyway.

If yours is f/8 and f/11, or whatever, then that might change the decision.
 
Not sure... I have the option of "ordinary light" and "brilliant light" :LOL:

The little manual that came with it (which is in crazy good condition for an 80 year old camera) doesn't make any reference to aperture value, and I've not managed to find much out online. Guess I'll have to have a go with it this afternoon and see how they turn out! I only have FP4 and PanF at the moment so it's a choice of 125 or 50, so I'll have a stab with the 125.

I don't tend to use many faster films as I tend to shoot wide open when hand held or on a tripod for landscapes etc. Plus I mainly use Rodinal which I think sucks with faster films like HP5.
 
Rodinal and HP5 are not friends, generally. I've put Foma 400 through a box camera and my white bicycle is totally blown in a couple of shots under less than "brilliant light". 125 and trust to latitude.
 
Carl Hall said:
Hmm, anyone got an idea what ISO film I should use for the Ensign? I know the exposure is going to be a bit hit or miss seeing there are two apertures and one proper shutter speed, but if I can get a rough idea of ISO then that's one less thing to screw it up haha. I'm assuming something pretty slow such as 100 as it's an old camera? @Andysnap you're a lover of these types of camera aren't you, what do you usually use?
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stevelmx5 said:
Depends on what apertures are available really, same as any other camera :0)
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Errr... Surely this depends on the light more than anything?
 
stevelmx5 said:
The camera only has two available apertures and one shutter speed so he's limited by that as well as the available light.
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Yes, so that means that the choice of ISO will depend almost exclusively on the light, as shutter speed and aperture are virtually fixed.
 
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I think we're getting at the same thing. Carl can't control the light and his choice of aperture/shutter speed is limited so the film will be determined by them. If it's overcast and his only shutter speed is 1/100th he's going to need fast film. If it's the height of summer (both days) he's going to need a slow film.
 
Well I just got home and got the vernier out. The aperture is roughly 6.3mm in dia for ordinary light, and 4.7mm for brilliant light. If the lens is 100/105mm which seems to be the case for many cameras like this, then that puts my apertures at f/16 & f/22!

I've also tried the shutter speed app out on my smartphone, and that measures almost at exactly (well, as exactly as a smartphone app can measure the shutter speed of an 80 year old camera) 1/25 sec.

If I use the sunny 16 rule then ISO 25 would be my target, but as f/22 is "brilliant", not f/16, I guess that makes my target ISO 50?
 
100 ISO film would have been very fast back in the day. A lot of cameras from the time had a sticker inside with a film recommendation speed was very ofter 25 ISO or ASA or DIN or elephants.
 
stevelmx5 said:
I think we're getting at the same thing. Carl can't control the light and his choice of aperture/shutter speed is limited so the film will be determined by them. If it's overcast and his only shutter speed is 1/100th he's going to need fast film. If it's the height of summer (both days) he's going to need a slow film.
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What you're saying is subtly different... I think.

Even if Carl can't control the light, the light is the only variable that affects the choice of film, as all other factors are fixed.

The only reason that the shutter speed ever becomes a factor in the examples that you've cited is because the light has changed.

At any rate, I hope that Carl enjoys the camera.
 
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As noted in another thread, I bought an OM 16mm lens a couple of days ago. I can't post any sample photos from film (because I haven't yet used it with film) but I did check it out with a full frame digithing and here are some results:

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Holding the camera level, it performs as expected and looks just like a normal photo. The extra sky fools the meter into underexposing the foreground; and you can see the darkening at the top right from light fall off. This is an unadjusted jpg.

DSC00068.JPG

With tall trees at the edge of the frame, there is a visible curvature. The figure on the left was actually almost outside my field of view as I looked at the scene, but the lens included her.

When pointing down towards the ground, you can get the full curved effect:
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That's pretty cool. I've always fancied an ultra wide but the digi guys have made them so expensive for what would be a rare lens.
 
steveo_mcg said:
That's pretty cool. I've always fancied an ultra wide but the digi guys have made them so expensive for what would be a rare lens.
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Steve - I have a manual 17mm Tamron you can have a loan of. Got Nikon, Contax, Olympus and Leica R mounts!!
 
desf said:
Steve - I have a manual 17mm Tamron you can have a loan of. Got Nikon, Contax, Olympus and Leica R mounts!!
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Cheers Des but I doubt I'd get round to using it realistically, I'll just wait till the digirati get board with old lenses then I can go scoop them up before they're scrapped.
 
Simonx said:
Welcome to the 127 club!
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Cheers, had it in bits to clean the mirror and focusing screen and of course I lost a bloody screw. But I can now see far better and nothing wobbles with just the three.

I presume Germany is still the best place to get rera pan?
 
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