Buckshot’s Blog

I’ve had this lens for a few months now, but have not had a chance to try it out. I’ve got some bungee straps to help hold up the weight of the lens for a few test shots.  I will work out a better more permanent mounting solution.

And here’s the test shots!  I think this lens will make for some interesting photographs for sure.

And the case that I’m putting this beast into, an old Aviator’s night vision metal case that I picked up from a military surplus store, finally putting it to use!  Complete with foam and pressure valve, hah!  Probably overkill for sure, but it makes carrying this guy around simple, and don’t have to worry about where I put the lens, I know it’s not going anywhere.  (soda can for size comparison!)  Will also put a few other necessary items in the case, since there’s left over space.

One of my old lenses, a test subject for a new flash I just received, to replace the one of my older ones that kind of blew up a few weeks ago

Here’s my ‘first’ run of the speedgraphic with the stroboflash, also my test run with the grafmatic film holder (which seems to be working perfectly!).  These were shot f5.6 at 1/200th, with Adox 25ISO Orthochromatic film (not sensitive to reds).

I’ll be hauling this combo around to some vintage auto races as well as other events/gatherings/projects in the near future!  I haven’t weighed the entire setup yet, but it’ll probably build some nice forearmes    I’m still waiting on the correct clamps for the flash handle and a way to securly mount the flash head to the flash handle, I should have both of those worked out in a week or so, provided I get over my cold soon!

For anyone interested in the flash setup, it’s been modified by Al over at stroboflash.com to take modern rechargable batteries (which go inside of that thing  next to the camera sitting on the floor, the powerpack and electronics are 1/2 the size of a car battery!)

This is my second 4×5″ speedgraphic.  This one appears to be one of the later models, as best I can tell (I haven’t really gotten to much into the history of these things).  It’s got some nicer features to it compaired to my other speed. Shutter trigger on the camera body, focal plane shutter is easier to adjust, more sturdy viewing hood, flash sync on the lens instead of the lens solinoid, a working shutter on the lens, and overall a camera that looks to be in a cleaner shape.  Hopfully I’ll be giving it a good new lease on life!  They are so cheap to come by, I bought a 2nd one!  My first one is reserved for shooting barrel lenses (and as such, I’ve stripped off the rangefinder, and some of the other features) and now I have this model to use for my vintage flash shooting

Should have some results soon!

And here’s my first two exposure tests, f8 at 1/4 power on the first shot, and 1/2 power on the 2nd shot.   The negatives were a little thin, but that might have something to do with my developing since I haven’t yet nailed down my developing times for the Adox ISO25 Orthochromatic film, developed in Rodinal.   I’ll do some more tests later, for now I’ve just got the flash head taped onto the handle…. hah!

*update*

Here’s the flash head with the PVC mount onto the flash handle.  It’s not pretty, but it’ll do until I find the real mount.  In the mean time, I may paint the PVC black just so it doesn’t look like pumbing… hah!

So my latest direction in photography is off-camera flash photography!  This is starting out just with digital, but I will probably use some of the techniques on my film work as well.

Here’s a few of my test subjects, small subjects done for the ease of learning the settings, I’ll move up to larger test subjects soon

In an effort to find the 8×10 camera that is ‘perfect’ for me, I’ve ended up back with Chamonix.  For my 4×5 camera, I tried a few different cameras and ended up with a Chamonix 4×5 that has been serving me very well for close to a year now!  For my 8×10 camera, I’ve tried and owned a few, but have never been quite satisfied all around.  The Chamonix 8×10 just arrived this week, and it feels like a winner!  Light weight (though not quite as light as the Ritter 8×10), remarkably ridged, sturdy, and well made.   It is very easy to open, close, adjust, and use in general just like the 4×5 Chamonix that I have become accustom to.  By trial and error, once again I managed to end up with a Chamonix brand camera, I guess the design of these cameras (both of which, the 4×5 and 8×10 are very similar) just really fit me best, and satisfies the needs and wants for what I have been looking for in large format cameras!

Here are some photos of the camera, with a 450mm fujinon-c mounted.  Scanned negatives from the camera to come very soon!

Not the most elegant solution, but it works!  A barrel lens with a cardboard ‘lens board’ snugly fit to the back of the lens.  Then with 4 rubber bands, I ‘mount’ the barrel lens & cardboard onto the front of the Betax shutter.  With these small lenses, I get no loss of coverage, and use of the betax shutter speeds!

here is a video of the shutter working:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke9zehk2sfw

The Ritter 8×10 went on it’s maiden flight this past weekend, and it was great! The weight savings was very noticable, I didn’t have to take my pack off until I reached my destination! Same with the return trip, wonderful! It does seem to pick up a little vibration in the wind, though I guess this is to be expected with a large camera that doesn’t have much mass. I’ll be rigging up (or purchasing) a stabilizing rod to connect the front and rear standards together, see if that helps out in windy condition. I’ll develop the negatives tonight!

A lens for my speedgraphic arrived today, I don’t know much about it, but according to the person I purchased it from, it’s a “Bausch & Lomb Theater lens”, about 145mm f2. I’ll be using this lens to see how I like the odd effects that this type of old lens can produce. First negatives from this lens are going to be developed tonight!

Here’s the first two shots from the Bausch & Lomb:

And the first 3 shots from the Ritter 8×10!

In an effort to make my 8×10 hiking photography easier on the back, I’ve picked up some light weight items to replace some of my current items.

First up is the lens 450mm Fujinon-C f12.5 weighing .6 pounds to replace my monster 360mm Sironar-N f6.8 weighing 3.4 pounds! And give me some extra length that I was wanting as well. Next up, the 8×10 camera made by Richard Ritter to replace my Tachihara 8×10. The Ritter comes in at about 1/2 as much weight as the 12lb Tachihara, and gives me room to store a lens inside the front standard while it’s closed up. This is a feature I really grew to like while learning on my uncle’s 4×5 Wista. The addition of front and rear lateral shift, as well as more rear swing and longer belows extension are a welcomed upgrade from the Tachihara as well.

The design of the Ritter is very different from the Tachihara! It folds up mostly the same, front standard supports fold backwards and the standard flips facing down, the rear standard folds forward on top of everything. However, the workings of the camera are quite different, most of which I assume are done out of the desire to save weight. It seems to be a very ingenious design, and seems simple to operate once I gave it a good look over. I’ve noticed the camera to be a bit less ridged than the Tachihara (which was very solid) However, I haven’t had a chance to securely lock down the Ritter camera to a tripods because my tripod screw isn’t short enough, so I haven’t been able to really evaluate it’s rigidity.

I hope to be out and shooting very soon, as soon as the shorter tripod screw arrives!

And some obligatory “pretzel” shots, showing off movements to the extreme that I’ll probably never do! But it’s a cool way to show the camera, haha!

Here is something nifty, Efke makes a positive paper! http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?pid=1000002925

Sticking normal photographic paper into a camera (may shoot pinhole cameras this way) and shooting the paper instead of film will give you a negative image on the paper. Well, this positive paper gives a positive image! A positive print straight from the camera! This could make pinhole cameras much more fun! Here’s my first test shot of my kitchen, on an 8×10 inch sheet of the Efke positive paper. Shot at ISO 6, developed in Dektol. The print came out very dark, so I’m going to try metering for a lower ISO next time to get a brighter image. I’ve brought up the brightness in the scan a bit so that the photograph can be seen better, but the actual print is darker, way to dark. More tests on this to come soon!

(edit) ok, here’s a better test! I did two identical exposures (this time at ISO1 instead of ISO6) that got my image much brighter now! I developed the first paper in Dektol at 1:3 dilution from working solution for 3 minutes. The second exposure I developed at 1:6 for 6 minutes. Both came out identical, very high contrast. I’ll have to see if there is something I can add to dektol to reduce the contrast, or maybe dilute it alot more than 1:6, if it will make any difference.

I’m going to be trying my hand at shooting 8×10! Here’s the Tachihara 8×10 next to a Wista and Chamonix 4×5, as well as an SLR.  The 8×10 is big, but I think it’ll be manageable.  the 4×5 will still be my usual hiking camera, I’ll reserve the 8×10 for locations that I know would provide relatively easy hiking and shorter distances.

This arrived at the very end of December, a Chamonix 4×5. So far I like it quite alot, it’s got simple features, ample movements, great bellows range and is quite sturdy.