Exposing and developing for sunny and cloudy...I'm thinking about using two cameras.

I have not used them recently, but some say that two bath developers like Diafine are good for accommodating a wide range of exposure conditions on the same roll.

bluechromis said:

I have not used them recently, but some say that two bath developers like Diafine are good for accommodating a wide range of exposure conditions on the same roll.

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That's true but they flatten the contrast even on frames you won't want it, that defeats what I'm trying to accomplish. N-1 on sunny 16 rolls, and N+1 on cloudy overcast rolls.

The idea of cameras with interchangeable film backs was undesired because 35 mm was the preferred format. This may be grasping at straws, but did not Ziess for a time produce some 35 mm cameras with interchangeable backs?

bluechromis said:

... did not Ziess for a time produce some 35 mm cameras with interchangeable backs?

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The Zeiss Ikon Contarex.

Also the Kodak Ektra ( https://www.cameraquest.com/ektra.htm)

rpavich said:

Yes, I do. I certainly see a difference in super contrasty days and cloudy days and exposure/dev times. I know that I can rescue prints by printing with a grade 5 or a grade 00 but I don't want to. I want to print as easily and with as good a looking prints as I can. It's a pleasure to print a print that has the right amount of contrast...

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I know, I aim for an easy to print neg too. I did a batch of four rolls this summer at 17 minutes because I took some indoor shots without enough light and they were more important to me than everything else. I had some difficult to print high contrast daytime negatives for my trouble.

And last October I literally cut a roll in the darkroom so I could give the indoors shots longer development than the first few shots on the roll that were out in daylight. The trick worked.

So go for it. Designate one camera Normal and the other one N+ and at the end develop the Normal rolls Normal and the N+ at N+1 or N+2 as you feel.

I don’t bother with N- though. That kind of lighting doesn’t happen to me that much.

Bill Burk said:

I know, I aim for an easy to print neg too. I did a batch of four rolls this summer at 17 minutes because I took some indoor shots without enough light and they were more important to me than everything else. I had some difficult to print high contrast daytime negatives for my trouble.

And last October I literally cut a roll in the darkroom so I could give the indoors shots longer development than the first few shots on the roll that were out in daylight. The trick worked.

So go for it. Designate one camera Normal and the other one N+ and at the end develop the Normal rolls Normal and the N+ at N+1 or N+2 as you feel.

I don’t bother with N- though. That kind of lighting doesn’t happen to me that much.

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I went to San Diego last year for my Mom's 87th birthday, I live in WV and don't get to see her much. I took a bunch of images; mostly polaroids but some black and white and (not thinking about the climate difference; it was incredibly bright there!) developed them in my usual N+1 method. They were so horribly contrasty that I could only print one or two and the tonal subtleties were gone. They looked like war correspondent photos. I realize that that's just a mistake but I don't want to have to compromise. I already happen to have 4 Oly Trip 35's so the point and shoot dual camera set up is easy to accomplish, and now that I've found a cheap FE2, my Nikon system is as well.

At the very least if I get tired of this I have another back up camera!