A Sinkhole of Money

[mooseontheloose]

I have a sink. What I dont have is free and clear access to the windows. They are blocked by 3 issues, plumbing, the ceiling cuts across them, and they are recessed.

Could you not black them out from the outside? Back in Canada when I was living in a basement apartment I had to block out several windows across multiple rooms. I used several very heavy duty garbage bags and taped them up on the outside of the house. It wasn't pretty, but it was easy to take down when I wasn't using the darkroom (aka my bedroom).

 

[RattyMouse]

Could you not black them out from the outside? Back in Canada when I was living in a basement apartment I had to block out several windows across multiple rooms. I used several very heavy duty garbage bags and taped them up on the outside of the house. It wasn't pretty, but it was easy to take down when I wasn't using the darkroom (aka my bedroom).

I have thought about that, but not using garbage bags and tape. I dont know how well that will hold up, but I think it is worth trying. My thought was to just spray paint these block windows black. If tape can reliably hold up a plastic covering, then that would be easily removable.

Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Now that I've sold off about 60% of my camera gear (all 35mm cameras and lenses except one)

Blimey Ratty, what have you done with all that Fuji C200 you bought? It was your favourite colour film and you told us you had a few years of stock.

 

[Ste_S]

"For his purposes"?

Sometimes I think I should collect older digital cameras which have a certain look which is good but not too refined: Let's see some grittiness at ISO 400! Sometimes I regret selling my Ricoh GX100 for that very reason. Ditto my Canon Powershot SD1000, one of the very rare cheap compacts which appeared to have weak antialiasing and little noise reduction. It was perhaps the finest photographic purchase I have made from an office-supply store to date.

As it's now cheaper to buy used (quality) digital rather than film, I can see a swing towards older digital in the same way there was towards film a few years back. I've read about a few people now who are shooting at high ISOs to introduce noise on purpose.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

There's been a lot of advancement in sensor technology since 2008. My DSLR is from that period of time or slightly earlier and shooting at ISO1600 is a painful experience. Today's cameras shoot well in excess of ISO6400 without much image degradation at all. I dont see how one can objectively say that a 2008 camera is as good as one today.

My Canon 5D has unbeatable 1600, it was my default ISO. It is 2005 camera. I owned MKII after it shortly and rendering was next to awful. I'm not sure if electronically cleaned high ISO is worth it from current cameras.
My 500D from 2008 is just as capable of 6400 and 12800. I learned very simple rule from P.O.T.N. members.
As long as you provide enough light to the camera it will handle it well. At least it is the rule for many Canon DSLRs.

 

[RattyMouse]

Blimey Ratty, what have you done with all that Fuji C200 you bought? It was your favourite colour film and you told us you had a few years of stock.

I still have my Fuji TX-1. I consider that a medium format camera rather than 35mm even though it uses 35mm film. The final image size falls under the medium format classification IMO.

 

[RattyMouse]

My Canon 5D has unbeatable 1600, it was my default ISO. It is 2005 camera. I owned MKII after it shortly and rendering was next to awful. I'm not sure if electronically cleaned high ISO is worth it from current cameras.
My 500D from 2008 is just as capable of 6400 and 12800. I learned very simple rule from P.O.T.N. members.
As long as you provide enough light to the camera it will handle it well. At least it is the rule for many Canon DSLRs.

Canon today is routinely considered to have the worst high ISO performance. Sony and Nikon are considerably better.

 

[removed account4]

what i really dont like in this thread is the starbucks advertisement!!

no one was advertising anything, mentioned any coffee company by name or logo or hint .. but YOU

 

[RalphLambrecht]

$20,000 on shaving equipment? Good god, I can't even imagine how that is possible.

maybe it's a huge face?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I still have my Fuji TX-1. I consider that a medium format camera rather than 35mm even though it uses 35mm film. The final image size falls under the medium format classification IMO.

Sounds like gearhears without photography myth to me. Canon 6D gives one of the clearest high ISO. But who in real world cares?

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Canon today is routinely considered to have the worst high ISO performance. Sony and Nikon are considerably better.

Sorry this one is myth. I can't comment on Fuji cameras. They are waste of money to me.

 

[chris77]

no one was advertising anything, mentioned any coffee company by name or logo or hint .. but YOU

simply not true.
check posts 14, 15, 16, 17,..
but hey, i was not like intending a big scandal, was more a little side note.
i come from vienna, austria. coffee is in our blood. there are many fairtrade brands,and even little roasting companies coming up again.
starbucks has bought aggressively into the city, people with notebooks and big headphones sucking on ohe free wifi and disgraceful paper cups, served by people who who to me as if we were close friends (worse than ikea)..
its not my culture and i wouldnt mind it to stay away where it came from. sorry..

 

[removed account4]

whew it wasn't me

mmm vienna !
gotta thank those ottoman soldiers for needing to stay up all night
before the long walk home ...

i agree they are kind of aggressive and can be obnoxious .. o well ..
sorry i was blinded by thinking it was moi ..

 

[benjiboy]

My wife was born in rural China, and so had next to nothing for most of her life. She rarely ever buys herself anything. She's quite the miser and only now at 53 years old is learning how to treat herself to anything. She would never buy something like an expensive set of shoes or a designer purse.

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress and set her up in an apartment because it would be cheaper than my photography

 

[RattyMouse]

My wife has been telling me for more than forty years to get myself a mistress and set her up in an apartment because it would be cheaper than my photography

Hilarious!

 

[perkeleellinen]

I still have my Fuji TX-1. I consider that a medium format camera rather than 35mm even though it uses 35mm film. The final image size falls under the medium format classification IMO.

Glad you've got a camera to run the film through.

 

[chris77]

whew it wasn't me

mmm vienna !
gotta thank those ottoman soldiers for needing to stay up all night
before the long walk home ...

i agree they are kind of aggressive and can be obnoxious .. o well ..
sorry i was blinded by thinking it was moi ..

yeah, they tried twice.. but hey. vienna is still standing not even the shitty right/conservative governement we get will destroy this little pearl..
cheers to you

 

[RattyMouse]

Glad you've got a camera to run the film through.

That's my newest camera and would easily be the last to go if it gets that far.

 

[mooseontheloose]

I have thought about that, but not using garbage bags and tape. I dont know how well that will hold up, but I think it is worth trying. My thought was to just spray paint these block windows black. If tape can reliably hold up a plastic covering, then that would be easily removable.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Ratty, I'm sure you might be able to find something better than garbage bags to do the trick - you might need several to do the job properly, depending on how thick they are. If I was doing it again now I would use proper blackout curtains (which is what I am using now in my bedroom darkroom to permanently black out the window). I believe I used painter's tape to hold the bags in place - it wouldn't last forever, but it was enough for a day or two without the need to go reinforce it again. Or, depending on the windows, maybe you could use some kind of foam/insulation board that you could wedge into the frame (my dad did that with one of the doors in my basement apartment that led to the upstairs and that was virtually light tight).

 

[Nodda Duma]

I have thought about that, but not using garbage bags and tape. I dont know how well that will hold up, but I think it is worth trying. My thought was to just spray paint these block windows black. If tape can reliably hold up a plastic covering, then that would be easily removable.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Google black ABS sheet, buy some of appropriate size (you can cut it with a saw) and lean them against your windows from the outside with a section of 2x4 to keep them in place. Position and remove as needed. The abs will hold up outdoors. Just a quick look without searching shows that 2' x 2' sections 0.118" thick are $13 online.

 

[John51]

How about putting Rubylith film on the windows?

Ready made safelight for daytime printing.

 

[Helios 1984]

maybe it's a huge face?

Money can get vacuumed pretty fast if you start collecting "New Old Stock", limited editions, customs, prototypes & all the memorabilia.
The biggest collection I've seen yet is owned by a German gentleman who goes by the nickname "Mr.Razor", he owns about everything made by Gillette from 1905 to the late 80's.

 

[Ces1um]

I have thought about that, but not using garbage bags and tape. I dont know how well that will hold up, but I think it is worth trying. My thought was to just spray paint these block windows black. If tape can reliably hold up a plastic covering, then that would be easily removable.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Not to sound saucy here, but did you think about printing/processing late at night? Very little light at 2am and what may come in from the street lights should be easily blocked with even the most rudimentary efforts. I doubt it's everyone's cup of tea to be up late at night but for those that don't mind it may be a viable solution. Your mileage may vary however.

 

[blockend]

While not in the ocean yacht racing financial sink hole, I'm continually amazed how quickly people chop in top of the range digital cameras. They try the latest Sony, Nikon, Fuji or whatever, and a few months later announce they have changed systems. Even nearly new digital cameras rarely realise more than 60% of their shop cost, and that's before swapping lenses. What do they think they'll find in the latest model their last camera lacked? Nearly all modern cameras of whatever format take very sharp photographs.

I guess if you sell on in the first wave you minimise losses compared to trading a two year old camera, but it takes me 3 to 6 months to become instinctive with the menus by which time the early adopters have moved on. I don't know how many film camera bodies and lenses I own, but I'd be surprised if the total outlay would buy a Sony A7III or Nikon D850 body.

 

[4season]

While not in the ocean yacht racing financial sink hole, I'm continually amazed how quickly people chop in top of the range digital cameras.

Hooked on dopamine?

I lost a lot of interest in continual upgrades once I realized that, just as surely as death and taxes, in a year's time all of today's latest gear will be "last year's model".