Beginning 4x5

aaronmichael · Apr 13, 2011

Our class got a demo from our photography professor the other day about how to use a 4x5 camera. I wanted to shoot with it so badly but didn't have any film. Then later on I realized I could just use some paper I had. I cut the paper down to 4x5, put it in the holder and went out to take a couple shots. I've used paper negatives with pinhole photography before but never in an actual camera. I got back to the darkroom, threw my photos in the developer and had to pull them out really fast because either I overexposed a lot, or there were light leaks. So...just wondering, any tips for a 4x5 beginner, common mistakes, things to be sure of,...etc? Any help greatly appreciated!

John Koehrer · Apr 13, 2011

Iso of the paper is around 3~6ish. If you were making exposures at the times you were making pinhole images you're right it's gross exposure.
From somewhere around f200 to f8 is a mighty big dfference

aaronmichael · Apr 13, 2011

John Koehrer said:
Iso of the paper is around 3~6ish. If you were making exposures at the times you were making pinhole images you're right it's gross exposure.
From somewhere around f200 to f8 is a mighty big dfference

Haha - I'm not THAT much of a beginner I used Arista Fiber paper for my negatives and I rate that in my pinhole cameras at around ISO 20. When I went out to take the 4x5 shots, I used a digital light meter and had the aperture set to f/8 (what the camera was on) and then set the meter to meter at ISO 20. So really, it could have been an error using the light meter, an error in putting the film into the camera, or I don't have my paper rated correctly (but I've done many shots rating it at ISO 20 and they've come out pretty good).

Rick A · Apr 13, 2011

Are you sure you closed the shutter before inserting the paper and pulling the darkslide. Thats a common mistake that will grossly overexpose anything.

aaronmichael · Apr 13, 2011

Rick A said:
Are you sure you closed the shutter before inserting the paper and pulling the darkslide. Thats a common mistake that will grossly overexpose anything.

Yup - made sure that was done. I really think it was a problem with inserting the film holder in front of the ground glass. I'll try again today and see what happens.

anon12345 · Apr 13, 2011

My recent experiments reveal that the magic numbers for Arista EDU Ultra VC RC on both my 4x5 tailboard and 8x10 field cameras was f/90 @ 2 seconds (unfiltered), or f/90 @ 4 seconds (2x yellow filter) during normal daylight (bright) conditions. Since I have no shutter on either of my cameras, I use the lens cap as my shutter. 2 seconds and 4 seconds are easy to regulate by hand. Even one second is feasible. Your iris probably won't go down to f/90. You can do the calculations there for f/45, f/32, f/22, etc; and come up with some workable exposures.

removed account4 · Apr 13, 2011

depending on the paper it can have an iso as low as .5 ( or lower! ) and as high as 25 ..
you can flash your paper in the darkroom, and use already-used / exhausted
print developer to tame the contrast ... overcast days can be fun too

have fun !
john

Rick A · Apr 13, 2011

aaronmichael said:
Yup - made sure that was done. I really think it was a problem with inserting the film holder in front of the ground glass. I'll try again today and see what happens.

What sort of problem? Of course you put the film holder in front of the GG(between GG and camera back), just make sure you pull out the correct darkslide(one closest lens). I dont know what other mistake you could have made other than overexposure.

aaronmichael · Apr 13, 2011

Rick A said:
What sort of problem? Of course you put the film holder in front of the GG(between GG and camera back), just make sure you pull out the correct darkslide(one closest lens). I dont know what other mistake you could have made other than overexposure.

I'm thinking that I didn't put it in the right way. I think there was space in between the film holder and the camera body, and that's where the light got in and overexposed my photos. I went back out today, with a different camera, shot at the same ISO and I got pretty good results. So it had to be an error on my part of putting the film holder into the camera.

Rick A · Apr 14, 2011

Maybe it was the camera. Possibility of defective lens with the first one. The only thing I can think of when inserting a film holder is not inserting far enough or too far. Either will clip the image and cause some fogging.

JohnRichard · Apr 14, 2011

Lets see those results! I'm rather fond of paper negatives!
My personal paper of choice is Ilford RC @ asa6.
I have never used the Arista paper, and am just now starting to test the Arista EDU 4x5.
Good luck with the paper negs!

aaronmichael · Apr 15, 2011

JohnRichard said:
Lets see those results! I'm rather fond of paper negatives!
My personal paper of choice is Ilford RC @ asa6.
I have never used the Arista paper, and am just now starting to test the Arista EDU 4x5.
Good luck with the paper negs!

I think this was my best shot. I used a Toyo camera and Arista Fiber paper rated at ISO 20, then just developed by inspection.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronmichael/5617652609/in/photostream

Jadedoto · Apr 15, 2011

For a first go, that's actually pretty good.

aaronmichael · Apr 16, 2011

Jadedoto said:
For a first go, that's actually pretty good.

Thank you. Technically my second go but I disregard my first attempt which is what sparked this thread - haha. I blame it on the camera I was using. The shot I posted was taken with a much better 4x5.

Shadowtracker · Apr 16, 2011

Temperature of developer and very fresh developer could be a problem for paper negs. If temp was right but it was fresh developer, that could work too fast too. If you have three film holder, take a light reading, expose it at that, on the second shot, make it the same exposure, on the next set, cut the exposure in half, do that again, and again. Keep notes as to which one film holder has which exposures in it. Develop one at the correct time/temp; change developing time based on that. It's worth a shot - and paper isn't as expensive as film.

Beginning 4x5

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