6x6 trouble

removed account4 · Nov 2, 2011

a few years ago i had trouble with the ground glass on my 11x14 camera being upside down.
i thought my ground glass was broken, but everyone here was so helpful telling me otherwise.

i am used to my upside down image in my "broken" 6x6 tlr. i am having trouble though ...
after i see my negatives figuring out which ones i took horizontal format and vertical format.

does anyone have suggestions?

thanks!

guitstik · Nov 2, 2011

Turn it backwards then invert it so that the top is now the bottom and when you turn it sideways, first to the left then to the right you should be able to flip it over and see the horizon or a cute fuzzy kitten.

If it was developed in caffenol the process will be reversed.

lxdude · Nov 2, 2011

Your TLR is unfixable. Send it to me and I will make sure it is dealt with properly.

BTW John, what's with the Silver Magnet thing? I checked, and it doesn't seem like silver is magnetic.

lxdude · Nov 2, 2011

guitstik said:
Turn it backwards then invert it so that the top is now the bottom and when you turn it sideways, first to the left then to the right you should be able to flip it over and see the horizon or a cute fuzzy kitten.

If it was developed in caffenol the process will be reversed.

It's 6:25 AM here and soaking in caffenol sounds like a good way to develop a better attitude than I have right now. A cute fuzzy kitten wouldn't hurt either, but I no longer have a girlfriend.

Rick A · Nov 2, 2011

You may have to live with holding your camera upside down and pointing it backwards. The image inversion correction adaptors are backordered, and I don't know when my supplier will start making them again. I may have to wait until he sobers up and gets out of the local hoosgow or his dumba$$ brother-in-law bails him out. Follow lxdudes suggestion for now, and I'll try to figure out an easy solution for you.

Rick A · Nov 2, 2011

I've got it! Suspend your enlarger from the ceiling, and then mount a pivoting mirror to it to direct the image either to the right, left front or back, then you can choose whichever image looks best to you. Then you will have to buy the new image correction paper from Forte(marketed by me of course), to print properly. Since you are an Apug advertiser, I will offer it at discount, only twice the price of everyone else.

erikg · Nov 2, 2011

Depends on how you loaded the film on the reels.

removed account4 · Nov 2, 2011

i can live with the broken backwards ground glass
but not knowing which images are horizontal or vertical is the worst ...
you would have thought that rollei would have made it simpler to figure this stuff out ...

erik ... i tried to load the film in differently, but
the horizontal and vertical images still look the same !

lxdude · Nov 2, 2011

I think if you turn the Rollei on its side it becomes a stereo camera.

bdial · Nov 2, 2011

You need the official Rollei rectangle converter. Not made anymore, you have to locate one on Ebay. When they show up, they are usually many $$$$'s.
I think Hasselblad made one too, but the Rollei one is better because it rotates and you can do horizontal or vertical with the same gadget. On the Hasselblad you have to buy either a horizontal one or a vertical one, and carry both. Those are really hard to find, especially the vertical ones.

I've heard that you can accomplish almost the same thing by just using a rectangular easel when printing, haven't tried it though. It seems like you'd get excess light all over the place, and I can't find my photon duster.

Ottrdaemmerung · Nov 2, 2011

Well, you know what large-format photographers say about composing on ground glass: if the composition seems to aesthetically work upside-down, then it will work rightside up too. Of course if you're shooting square format like 6x6, you suddenly have four orientation choices instead of two. The composition should work any of four ways. So why not print and display your images completely randomly? By all means flip a coin (or two) to let the prevailing artistic spirits decide.

If a viewer gets puzzled by the results, simply turn up your nose, declaim with righteous indignation that they obviously know nothing about true art, and move on to someone more appreciative.

dnjl · Nov 2, 2011

Take your pocket knife and carve a large arrow on all your lenses. The arrow on the negative will tell you the direction. Satisfaction guaranteed!

MDR · Nov 2, 2011

Just out of curiousity what are you photographing if it's abstracts it doesn't matter which side is up. The writing on the paper or the edge markings on the negative should be able to help you figure out which side is up.

Dominik

Worker 11811 · Nov 2, 2011

waltereegho said:
Take your pocket knife and carve a large arrow on all your lenses. The arrow on the negative will tell you the direction. Satisfaction guaranteed!

Well, first, I would use a Sharpie marker to make the arrow. What if you used a different camera that wasn't broken? Then you would have to remember that the arrow is pointing the wrong way.

Also, don't forget that making the arrow on the glass that is in front of the nodal point of the lens will make it upside down but, if you mark in on the glass that's behind the nodal point it will be right side up.

Always remember: Upside down is really right side up and left is always right except when right is really right... which means that upside down is really upside down and upright is really right side up.

If you don't remember, you're likely to get everything bass ackwards and upside wrong!

lxdude · Nov 2, 2011

If left is right then right is all that's left.

Worker 11811 · Nov 2, 2011

Unless you get it wrong. Then you never can be sure whether right is wrong or left is right.

I usually just wright it down.

lxdude · Nov 2, 2011

Right.

rrankin · Nov 2, 2011

Before you shoot a frame, pop the back in bright sunshine, and mark the middle of the film with a Sharpie. Put a large V for vertical and H for horizontal. Then replace the back, take your shot, and advance the film.

I suspect you have stored your camera on its side and the glass has flowed over time to one side of the lens mount to the other, making vertical and horizontal difficult to identify...

Isn't this question 7 months late, John?

Richard

removed account4 · Nov 2, 2011

i thought about etching or writing on the lens with a marker
but im kind fo sydlecix too and it might confuse me even more
especially if the ground glass is broken too ...
i even thought of writing on the ground glass so i would know
but unfortunately after the 2nd or 3rd roll, i realized the marker
didn't appear on the negative :confused:
i tried writing on the film before each shot too ..
but all my shots came out white/ negatives black ...
maybe its my developer ?

i never had this trouble
when i used a yashica 124G, or a mamiya 6iv
so i thought getting a rolleicord would be a piece of cake ...

i hopethe the adapter / accessory bdial mentioned
won't cost more than i paid for the camera ...

thanks for your help .
i'm starting to think i got a hassle-bad instead of a rolleichord

MattKing · Nov 2, 2011

John:

My motto is:

"Now, if 6 turned up to be 9,
I don't mind, I don't mind."

"Sing on brother,
Play on brother . . ."

rrankin · Nov 2, 2011

jnanian said:
but all my shots came out white/ negatives black ...
maybe its my developer ?

Yeah, it might be. How long are you dipping the camera in the developer?

mbsmith · Nov 2, 2011

Thanks to all who have posted. This is all very helpful.

What I did with my SQ-A, since I can't seem to get my poorly designed manfrotto head to tilt more than 90 deg, is mount the tripod on the ceiling (or use a crane if shooting outdoors) and compose while laying on the floor on my back (a pillow is handy). Then, for printing, I took an angle grinder and a jack to my 6x6 neg carrier so I could rotate it 45 deg for printing. After getting the print mounted and hung (using a mirror, of course), I then have people view while laying on their side using the same aforementioned pillow and bingo! it looks great!

Steve Smith · Nov 2, 2011

Sometimes I find myself turning a 6x6 folder 90 degrees for a better composition.

Steve.

rrankin · Nov 2, 2011

Steve Smith said:
Sometimes I find myself turning a 6x6 folder 90 degrees for a better composition.

Steve.

That might be because you are in Europe. I know when I'm back in Australia, I have to hold mine upside down or else the focus lens becomes the taking lens and misses part of the film.

Do the tones change if you rotate it clockwise as opposed to anti-clockwise?

Richard

Worker 11811 · Nov 2, 2011

See! Now, this is getting really confusing!

I often hear people in Europe who quote paper and film sizes say the width first, then the height. In other words, where I might say a photograph is 8x10, a person from across the pond might say 10x8.

When I'm talking about the frame of my Rolleiflex, should I call it a 6x6 or should I call it a 6x6?

Inquiring minds want to know!

6x6 trouble

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