Holy crap, this is great!

[haziz]

HP Combi tanks

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

HP Combi tanks are great and convenient. I have also not had any leakage problems with all 5 of the tanks I have. You will also get very even development despite the long fill times filling the tank as written in the instructions. Highly recommended.

Sincerely,

Hany.

 

[Alex Hawley]

Once you've tried an 8x10 there is no going back.

Stephanie, DON'T TRY 8x10!!!!

 

[vet173]

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.

You WILL ponder, and often, till you get the pondee. Once acquired it will start again. I get the feeling you have contracted GAS. AGS is a very dangerous strain. I recommend the usual ( for here ) two step program. 1. Ponder 2. acquire. It works for most of us here., whether we want it too or not.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

It's very lucky that I don't have the money for the film for 8x10 at the moment.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

You WILL ponder, and often, till you get the pondee. Once acquired it will start again. I get the feeling you have contracted GAS. AGS is a very dangerous strain. I recommend the usual ( for here ) two step program. 1. Ponder 2. acquire. It works for most of us here., whether we want it too or not.

Stephanie, congrats and welcome to the LF club. A word of advice! If you see someone with an 8x10 do not look at the ground glass! I did that very thing several years ago at Yosemite and now I've got the 8x10 and an 8x20 that I built and I should have the 11x14 built by the end of the month. Food and drink sometimes, film and paper always!

Jim

 

[Stephanie Brim]

But...I like food...

4x5 is interesting enough while I'm learning. I love the camera. It has just the kind of rugged outside, beautiful mechanically loveliness that I have to have in my cameras. I took a quick photo of my daughter and I'm going to develop it soon...just wish I could print it after drying. Paper will be coming next week sometime.

 

[jgjbowen]

Stephanie,

One of the really important things to keep in mind is your "potential" future film formats. I had just acquired an 8x10 (after many, many years with 4x5), when View Camera ran an article about ULF Panoramic Cameras. Thus, while acquiring lenses for the 8x10, I was very conscious of their covering power. After a few years, I finally broke down and acquired a Ritter 7x17 camera. The camera, holders and film aren't cheap, but I didn't have to spend a dime on glass because the glass I had acquired for the 8x10 also covered 7x17............a few lenses will cover 12x20 when I decide to add that format to my collection

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

Steph, if you make a road trip to Iowa City in the next couple of months I'll bring an 8x10 with a Petzval Portrait type lens for you to look through. That way you can say you have looked at a Satin Snow ground glass on an 8x10.

Bwaaahaaahaaa.

Wayne

 

[erikg]

Come on guys, give the girl a break! She just starts with 4x5 and everyone is telling her how great it is to go larger and larger. 4x5 is plenty interesting and fun. And you won't break your back or your budget shooting with a Crown. Stephanie, I have a combi tank here that could go your way for very little. I've had it for years but I never used it, I always used trays. I figgered, good enough for Ansel, good enough for me. Can't beat it for cheeep too. PM me on the tank.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Petzval? No, please! That would be almost as bad as meeting Jim Galli and getting to look at his lens collection!

In all seriousness, I am SERIOUSLY happy with this setup. I'll try and get the neg printed at the first opportunity I have next week when my paper comes.

 

[JLP]

Congrats Stephanie, Erikg is right. No need to think about larger formats now. Get to know 4x5 and the different workflow you need to learn, maybe in a couple of years something larger will apeal to you and maybe not. Everytime you go larger you also go slower. That's why i never give up on 35mm.
The Jobo 2521 is great for hand agitation, i have used one until i got a 3010 recently and never had any problems with uneven developed negatives.


jan

 

[darinwc]

Did you end up with a cown graphic or speed?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Crown Graphic. I think I like it because it's relatively compact. Works well for me.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Oh, and newbie mistakes-r-us...

The first film I developed was complete black. I must not have pulled the darkslide on that one right. I'll be trying again tomorrow.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Wayne, that was evil! way to go! Stephanie, if you get to California I can show you the 8x10, 11x14 and 8x20 and really drive you nuts!! I can even show you how to build them. Like I said maybe some food and drink, but plenty of film and paper. When you get into the larger formats ( and you will) your fridge will be filled with film and paper so you won't have room for food!

Jim

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Complete black is overexposed. Some possible causes are:

Film exposed at some point before or after loading (this is the case if the film rebate is also black).

Darkslide pulled with holder outside of the camera.

Pulled the wrong darkslide.

Left shutter open and pulled darkslide.

Forgot to stop down lens.

Shutter stuck during exposure.

 

[nickandre]

I can't wait to try 4x5 color printing. I've been doing color 35mm successfully for 4 weeks so it seems like the logical progression. My highschool's got a 4x5 enlarger and I just bought printing filters :-D. I want my 7x17 personally, but I haven't currently found an enlarger that works with that yet...

Anyone know for color how far past expiration I can buy for fridgerated? I figure if I can get 40 sheets of 4x5 for half the price of 10 I may as well. In the fridge I think 160 ASA expired in 03 should be good, no? is 64T from '98 pushing it?

 

[nickandre]

I lost a sheet in camera once. I was on the school trip and I didn't load the holder. Was having trouble closing the slide, but thought nothing of it until the next day when my friend shouted "Hey, there's a sheet of film in this camera!" At least I took 2!

 

[Stephanie Brim]

By complete black I mean if it had been printed...the neg was clear, so it hadn't been exposed.

So yeah...I'm making mistakes, but I'm learning from them. I'm going to start labeling which side of the holder is which.

 

[Venchka]

Welcome to the club. Big negatives & slides are addictive.

Your holders are already labeled. Silver/white side of darkslide handle = unexposed. Black = exposed. Remove silver side out. Replace black side out. Don't fret. We've all made all the mistakes possible. I even invent some new mistakes.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I think a post-it labeled with the film shot, exposure notes, and exposed would be easier for me to remember.

 

[jimgalli]

Congrats. I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and found the first 4X5 I ever shot, a polaroid 52 I think. It has certainly been a fun journey and I've not really scratched the surface yet. No, you don't need an 8X10. A 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 will suffice

When did I stop making good notes??

 

[Venchka]

Notes are good

I think a post-it labeled with the film shot, exposure notes, and exposed would be easier for me to remember.

Notes are very good. I try to take notes. I have a little book and pencil for notes. When I remember to write everything down.

Reversing the darkslide becomes second nature. You can tell at arm lengths if the holder is ready to go or used up.

Post-its fall off.

Best advice I've gotten: Work out a step-by-step routine that guarantees a correct exposure. Write it down. Tape it your Graphic. Practice until it becomes automatic. Somewhere I read the exact steps on this forum or the large format forum.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Just remember to remove the Post-It before putting the holder in the camera and pulling the darkslide, or you'll be wondering what that strange clear rectangle is on your negative at the darkslide end of the holder. Don't ask me how I know that. It's particularly annoying when it's an expensive sheet of 11x14" film.

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Stephanie, I take a piece of tape about 3/4" and label each holder. I can put the film speed, date, my zone system notes, lens, F-stop, speed and filter notes. I use a black sharpie. I put development notes and whatever else I can fit. Don't worry about the foul ups. I still on occasion forget to stop down the 8x20! You will learn real quick. Good notes will help when it comes to developing and learning what went right and what went wrong.

Jim