Brass Lion Door Knocker (experiment with Ilford Delta 3200)

Unless you were to see it against the same scene with say a 400 film I don't think many would suspect it was D3200. Is this a print of the full negative? I ask that because you seem to have been able to get very close for a "normal" 7cm lens on a 645. . How close to the knocker will a 7cm lens allow you to get? Thanks

No it's not the whole negative. For this crop my enlarger is at the top of the column to get 8"x10" and using a 50mm Rodenstock APO rather than the 80mm WA I would usually use for 6x4.5. The grain is there but the resolution surprised me, even the painter's brush strokes and bubbles in the varnish on the door. This negative was on a roll that I only contact printed last night -I had printed 2 negatives from the roll but it would have been ignored if I hadn't caught up and contact printed about 20 rolls.

I don't know the exact answer but according to the marking on the lens the closest focussing distance is about 1.5 metres (about 5 feet). Close up adapters were available to reduce this. They go on the lens like a filter but unless the rangefinder is also corrected you can no longer focus using the rangefinder and only by measuring the actual distance. I focus as close as I can and then, if too close, move back until in focus. This works with modern lenses as well. The beauty of 6x4.5 is that considerable cropping and enlargement is possible on the negative although Delta 3200 does fall apart sooner than slower films (as expected). However DD-X makes a tremendous difference.

I saw the light on the knocker and had to take the picture. A slower film would have been preferable, FP4 for instance, but this is what I had ready.

Thanks for the reply. As a 8x10 print cropped from the 645 neg this makes the resolution and lack of grain even better, given its a D3200 film. The knocker's face has what is usually called "character".

Yes he has "character" old Lionel the Lion. He is a copy of the knocker at 10 Downing Street. Lion knockers have been around for a long time. The sanctuary knocker at Durham cathedral is a famous medieval one. I've never understood the utter b*llocks about D3200 all over the internet. Every forum trots out the "it's not really EI 3200" etc etc etc to the extent that it is received "wisdom". If the right developer is used (the one designed for it) it is an excellent film though of course it isn't general purpose.

For what it is worth, an APUGer whom I think called himself Rob here and Argentum on a site called FADU ( worth a visit) tested D3200 in various developers and produced what seemed, to a non technical person like me, good evidence that Microphen actually produced a genuine 3200 speed. I can't recall if there was a comparison with DDX nor whether the grain in Microphen fared worst than in DDX should that have been one of the developers. It might be worth comparing the two.

Thanks. That's interesting. I'll have a look. I think D3200 is great fun. There is another frame on this roll (not printed yet) that I took in a kebab shop on the way back from the pub rather the worse for wear. It looks promising on the contact sheet but it may turn out to be out of focus. Not the easiest camera to focus, even more tricky indoors and add alcohol almost impossible!