Recent content by tokam

John Finch of Pictorial Planet had some guidelines where your developer may change temperature while processing. At the halfway point of your initial time period check the developer temp. If your developer temp drops by 1 C then increase your remaining dev time by 10%. (Or something like that)...

I bought a T90 / 300TL combo in 1987. Just noticed recently that the lower rubber bumper on the shutter curtains is starting to degrade. Tiny amounts of rubber appearing on the shutter curtains. Will see if a Q-tip and Isopropyl alcohol gently applied will clean it off. Still have a collection...

Definitely yummo to the bacon, pancakes and maple syrup!! Back on topic, John Finch of Pictorial Planet released a video on making an indicator stop bath using vinegar and bromcresol green dye.

Is this the FD 35-70 f2.8-3.5 SSC lens? I have had mine since 1981 and it is a cracker lens. I saw a reference a while ago where a Canon engineer reckoned that Canon should have put a red line around the lens denoting its superior performance. Alas, about 4 years ago it developed faults in the...

Nearly 50 years ago I used a Paterson CDS enlarger meter quite successfully on single grade papers. Just had to calibrate with test strips for each box of paper. Can buy these on the big auction site starting at about $10 each.

I think I'll do the 122 negs last and I have some black paper to cut a mask and then scan them directly on the glass. Just have to figure out settings in Epson scan software, or I also have Vuescan so I have a few choices. When finished I'll start a gallery entry for any people interested for a...

I've already started on the 116 negatives, very hard to guess the time period but I would reckon 1915 -1925 from the look of the cars I've seen so far. I thought that the other negative sizes were 122 and 120. I was going to start with the 120 using standard Epson holders in the scanner. Turns...

I've just been out and bought a sheet of thin black plastic which I plan to cut out to fit a 4 x 5 inch film holder and then cut out to fit 116, 122 negs. There are a couple of paper envelopes from the film processors in the day, one is from McCutchon's in Edmonton which was for develop and...

I've recently come into possession of an envelope of negatives from the mother of a friend. From what we could determine the photos were taken in Canada in the early part of 20th century. Maybe 100 negs in total. By measuring the frame sizes and the overall negative widths the films appear to...

I had a V35 about 12 years ago which wouldn't fire up. Turned out they have a slow-blow fuse in the power supply which had died. A new fuse and it was up and running again. I lost access to my darkroom space so I sold it on. Not sure what the situation is for the enlarger bulb they used as it...

At one stage Paterson used to make texture screens, at least in 35mm, which were sandwiched with the negative before exposure in the enlarger. Probably just as easy to photograph textured surfaces per @AnselMortensen's advice above.

No, it was an old PET jar that contained peanut butter that had been washed / dried before storing NaOH. See vlog on Pictorial Planet - John Finch 'Making You Own Sodium Metaborate' for comments on NaOH storage. My PET jar dissolved when storing dry NaOH. (If you have a PET soda bottle wash and...

Do not store sodium hydroxide in PET containers. A number of years back now a friend gave me a small PET jar with maybe 100g of NaOH crystals and I left it on a shelf in my laundry. A few months later I found that the bottom of the jar had disintegrated and the NaOH had spilled and, of course...

A quick tip for spanner wrenches from another poster a while back . To prevent scratching, cover the tips with some adhesive tape.

That FD 35-70 f2.8/3.5 lens is a cracker. Bought an nFD example over 40 years ago and it was an excellent performer. Canon should have put a red ring on the lens. Mine has developed a fault where I think the the pins that engage the zoom helical may have failed as when I tilt the lens it feels...