Holy crap, this is great!

Stephanie Brim · Apr 5, 2008

Why didn't anyone try and talk me into this sooner? You people were holding out on me. I've NEVER had an easier time focusing anything in my life. The glass is so huge and so clear. I didn't even have much trouble loading the holders my first time. I haven't even shot any film yet and I already KNOW it's going to be a great experience.

So...

Thank you very much to the people who are helping me get started in this. I think it's the start of a wonderful journey. This place is an amazing resource.

Now...off to buy a development tank.

papagene · Apr 5, 2008

Good to hear you are having fun with your Crown. If you think it has been fun so far, wait 'til you make your first print from a large neg.

gene

keithwms · Apr 5, 2008

haha, enjoy!

Now shoot some slides and loupe 'em on a light table

cotdt · Apr 5, 2008

yeah cool isn't it!? it's just like LiveView on a compact digital camera!

Peter De Smidt · Apr 5, 2008

Hi Stephanie, Welcome to the view camera club!

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 5, 2008

Ready for 8x10" yet?

Brian Gatien · Apr 5, 2008

Stephanie;
You are so right. This IS great. Wait until you develop the negs and start doing some printing. It is fantastic!!!!
Have fun.
Brian

Stephanie Brim · Apr 5, 2008

Er...anyone have an extra Combi-Plan kit laying around?

rwyoung · Apr 5, 2008

If you have some 8x10 paper trays, consider using some cut down photo paper (RC with no back printing) as film for a while. Depending on the brand of paper and the blueness of the light it is ISO4 to ISO20. Try ISO8 or ISO10 as a first guess. Then develop in your usual paper developer, say Dektol 1:1 or 1:2.

Saves you running out to get a tank right away and you can play and practice using the camera so you get comfortable with it.

Antje · Apr 5, 2008

It *is* great. Glad you like it - I still have a hard time explaining to my hubby why I need MF and LF. When it's pretty obvious once you tried both, isn't it! Just replaced a leaking Bakelite paper drum with a Jobo and I like it even more now.

Antje

eworkman · Apr 5, 2008

Even better than watching the print come up in the developer:
Try some ortho film and watch the negative develop- the bigger the better.
How can watching an ink-jet printer compare???

Chuck_P · Apr 5, 2008

Congrats Stephanie, it's a whole new photographic experience.

A word about the Combi-Plan tank: take a razor and shave off any remnant plastic still attached around the rim of a new tank. It can create a leak by not letting the rubber lid get properly seated and be sure to press down very firmly on the lid all the way around, you may think that it is fully down when sometimes it is not. Even still, it might leak a bit, but it is no big deal---for daylight developing, I find it quite convenient and it makes for a great film washer as well.

Chuck

smcd17 · Apr 5, 2008

I made a little set of BTZS tubes for about 20 bucks and have been very happy with the result. I good alternative to the larger tank IMO.

panchro-press · Apr 5, 2008

Welcome, Stephanie!
There are a couple of accessories you'll need: a gray fedora with a PRESS card stuck into it's band and a well-chewed cigar sticking out the side of your mouth...doesn't have to be lit.

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 5, 2008

You can start processing in trays, by the way. There are a number of threads on the subject with different approaches, and there are good illustrations in Adams' _The Negative_, if you happen to own that. Also instructions in Simmons' _Using the View Camera_. It's a good technique to know, even if you also use other methods, because tray development will work with any format you want to try, and sometimes it's the most efficient method.

For instance, a couple of days ago, I had just three sheets of 4x5" to process in ABC pyro, N, +1, and +2. I didn't want to mix three batches of ABC pyro to do it in a daylight tank (1200 ml per batch) or a gallon to use tanks and hangers, but it was easy to mix 15 oz. for a 5x7" tray, start one sheet with a timer set at 12 min for +2, add the +1 sheet at 8 min to go, and then the N sheet with 6 min. left.

Peter De Smidt · Apr 5, 2008

Tray processing 4x5 isn't too hard. For 8x10, though, it's Jobo all the way!

ntenny · Apr 5, 2008

David A. Goldfarb said:
You can start processing in trays, by the way.

I was too intimidated to do this at first and drove myself nuts trying to fabricate something like the BTZS tubes, and eventually got annoyed with that and did a couple of negatives in trays. It turns out actually to be fairly easy and quite convenient for small numbers of sheets.

Sigh. I shouldn't even be reading this thread; I had *no* intention of getting involved with LF in the first place, but the "6x9" plate camera I inherited turned out not to be so 6x9 after all. Now I keep catching myself wishing I had an inch-size view camera so I had more film choices, and feeling like, well, sure, 9x12cm is a pretty large negative, but if it were just a *little* bigger...

-NT

Neanderman · Apr 5, 2008

panchro-press said:
a gray fedora with a PRESS card stuck into it's band and a well-chewed cigar sticking out the side of your mouth

I resemble that.

Ed

Stephanie Brim · Apr 5, 2008

Would a Yankee tank be a good option for someone who wants a daylight tank on the cheap?

I'm being a cheapskate. Blah.

jgjbowen · Apr 5, 2008

Stephanie,

Once you've tried an 8x10 there is no going back. It's like looking at a TV compared to 4x5. I too started with a Crown Graphic. They are great learning tools.

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 5, 2008

A few people report success with a Yankee tank, but most find it frustrating. I have one that I got with some other equipment and wouldn't particularly recommend it, though I have used the rack occasionally in deep tanks for 2x3" sheet film.

Stephanie Brim · Apr 5, 2008

jgjbowen said:
Stephanie,

Once you've tried an 8x10 there is no going back. It's like looking at a TV compared to 4x5. I too started with a Crown Graphic. They are great learning tools.

DON'T TELL ME THAT! I pondered the 8x10 that was for sale here a few weeks ago. Don't make me ponder it again.

eric · Apr 5, 2008

Tanks? Use a tray.
Follow the free directions on viewcameramagazine.com

Stephanie Brim · Apr 5, 2008

Well, for now, tray is it anyway.

But yes, I'll eventually be getting one of the two tanks: a Jobo or a Combi-Plan. I develop film in the bathroom at the moment and won't be fully set up to do so down the basement where I'm going to have the enlarger. So...compact processing is better than tray.

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 5, 2008

If you want to get really compact, look up the thread on monobaths--

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

It's a very convenient and compact way to process a few sheets of film in the limited time one has with a small child to look after (part of the impetus for my recent experimentation with monobaths), and you can keep the monobath in a Tupperware container, ready for use when you've got film to process, and just cover it and put it away when you're done. I'd recommend starting with Tri-X.

Holy crap, this is great!

Stephanie Brim

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