Classic Pan

[wiseowl]

All, following on from my previous post :-

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

This weekend I carried out a test indoors using flash to eliminate camera shake or other vibration
.
There is very little difference between the 2 negs in terms of sharpness. I think the HP5 still has the edge but the cp200 is still good.

This leaves me somewhat in a quandry as I have other CP200 negs which have exhibited the same softness as the other post. If it is down to camera shake then I really don't know what's causing it. I've been extra carefull while learning, making each step very deliberate and taking a lot of time. So it's my belief that the camera haqd plenty of time to settle.

The problem has only occured out of doors, could it be related to the extended red sensitivity of this emulsion?

 

[Donald Miller]

All, following on from my previous post :-

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

This weekend I carried out a test indoors using flash to eliminate camera shake or other vibration
.
There is very little difference between the 2 negs in terms of sharpness. I think the HP5 still has the edge but the cp200 is still good.

This leaves me somewhat in a quandry as I have other CP200 negs which have exhibited the same softness as the other post. If it is down to camera shake then I really don't know what's causing it. I've been extra carefull while learning, making each step very deliberate and taking a lot of time. So it's my belief that the camera haqd plenty of time to settle.

The problem has only occured out of doors, could it be related to the extended red sensitivity of this emulsion?

I doubt that spectral response of a film is involved...

How are you adjusting for the additional stop of speed in the HP5? Are you stopping the lens down one stop further then you are for the CP?

If that is the case then I would be examining my focusing to be sure that I had the best plane of focus by using camera movements before I began to stop down the lens.

In each of the previous examples you were requiring more depth of field then you are in the example attached to this post. That makes me very suspicious of your camera adjustment.

 

[Donald Qualls]

One thing that you get outdoors that is rare or very weak indoors -- wind.

The bellows of a view camera is a pretty big sail, and will move quite a bit if you get a good breeze up; further, the whole camera can move if it's on a tripod with a colum and the column is extended. If the camera and/or tripod happen to be vibrating from a gust of wind when you fire the shutter, you'll get a soft negative...

 

[wiseowl]

I doubt that spectral response of a film is involved...

How are you adjusting for the additional stop of speed in the HP5? Are you stopping the lens down one stop further then you are for the CP?

Donald Miller,

in the previous examples of the bridge I adjusted for the extra stop by adjusting shutter speed, as I was using flash in this example I had to change the aperture.

If that is the case then I would be examining my focusing to be sure that I had the best plane of focus by using camera movements before I began to stop down the lens.

In each of the previous examples you were requiring more depth of field then you are in the example attached to this post. That makes me very suspicious of your camera adjustment.

I'm not experienced enough to discount this completely, but it doesn't realy feel like that. I've quite a few examples showing this softness, the softness is always in the same place on the neg and has only occured when I've been using cp200. In addition to that, with the exception of film loading errors my efforts with other films have been sharp. I was fully expecting the newspaper to show the same problem.


Donald Qualls

One thing that you get outdoors that is rare or very weak indoors -- wind.

The bellows of a view camera is a pretty big sail, and will move quite a bit if you get a good breeze up; further, the whole camera can move if it's on a tripod with a colum and the column is extended. If the camera and/or tripod happen to be vibrating from a gust of wind when you fire the shutter, you'll get a soft negative...

This is a good point and may well explain some of the problems I've had, but I have to say that on the day these were taken there was very little, if any wind.

I'm going to have to accept that this is down to technique and that it's only showing up on the cp200 is coincidence, the frustrating thing is I can't put my finger on what I'm doing wrong although it would seem to me that the strongest contender is incorrectly adjusted movements/focussing.

Thanks for all the advice.

Martin

 

[Donald Miller]

Donald Miller,

in the previous examples of the bridge I adjusted for the extra stop by adjusting shutter speed, as I was using flash in this example I had to change the aperture.



I'm not experienced enough to discount this completely, but it doesn't realy feel like that. I've quite a few examples showing this softness, the softness is always in the same place on the neg and has only occured when I've been using cp200. In addition to that, with the exception of film loading errors my efforts with other films have been sharp. I was fully expecting the newspaper to show the same problem.

Martin

Martin,

In an attempt to get to the bottom of this vexing problem, have you tracked your film holders? I wonder if there is a problem there. I have had times where a used film holder (especially in ULF) did not register with the ground glass plane of the camera back. That could cause softness...There was a time that I was getting the film under one lip of the septum in the holder and on top of the other one...this would also cause problems with one edge of the film not being in registration with the ground glass plane. It will be interesting to see what this is due to when it is found out.

By the way, I have been meaning to ask, you do use a loupe to focus on the ground glass don't you?

 

[wiseowl]

Martin,

In an attempt to get to the bottom of this vexing problem, have you tracked your film holders? I wonder if there is a problem there. I have had times where a used film holder (especially in ULF) did not register with the ground glass plane of the camera back. That could cause softness...There was a time that I was getting the film under one lip of the septum in the holder and on top of the other one...this would also cause problems with one edge of the film not being in registration with the ground glass plane. It will be interesting to see what this is due to when it is found out.

By the way, I have been meaning to ask, you do use a loupe to focus on the ground glass don't you?

Donald,

I haven't been tracking my bilm holders, I seem to remember reading a long time ago that they can be coded by filing notches into the end flap. I'll have to look into this. I've been caught out with the "film in the wrong slot on one side" thing a few times in the past, so now it's something I look out for when loading. I've been pm'd about this, and although I'm 100% sure that the film was loaded properly, I'll start incorporating the suggestion of twisting the film to check in future.

And yes, I do use a loupe to focus.

Cheers

Martin