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I don't care what developer or developing method you use, if there isn't enough exposure there will be no shadows, and possibly mid-tones, in the image.
I don't care what developer or developing method you use, if there isn't enough exposure there will be no shadows, and possibly mid-tones, in the image.I've been surfing the internet, reading photography forums about stand developing and whether to get an RB67 or an RZ67 instead of working today (one of the bad things about working at home). After reading up on the stand development process quite a bit, it seems that, given development times and developer concentrations are the same for any brand and ISO of film and any amount of pushing or pulling, it seems that, as long as you are within roughly 3 or 4 stops of the correct exposure, it probably doesn't make a lot of difference what shutter speed you use. Is that an accurate assumption?
I ask because I'm considering the older, heavier, and cheaper RB67 for environmental portrait and docu-street-style photography. I'll have my micro-four-thirds camera either on my neck or in my bag as well, and there's even a possibility of trying out the new ambient light meter attachment for my iPhone. I'll use the digital camera for a light meter to get a basic reading of the scene but if I'm stand developing B&W film, it doesn't seem that exposure latitude is very narrow, so it's more about DOF than it is "nailing" exposure within a half-stop.
How do you folks doing MF meter when you know you're going to be stand developing everything?
A couple of weeks . . . errmmmm. I know this sounds negative (pun-alert) but try using some film in the way recommended by the rest of the world before you go down the lomography route. I suspect that you will be puzzled that the manufacturers recommendations generally work. And start weight-training now, don't wait until Thursday. Good luck.
I don't care what developer or developing method you use, if there isn't enough exposure there will be no shadows, and possibly mid-tones, in the image.
Ah, fair enough Jon. I mis-understood that this was to be your first experience of film. It is true though that the Mamiyas are not very ergonomic when handheld. Isn't there a handgrip for them, or was that the 645? If it exists then it may help.
The L brackets with built in triggers make the RB67 and RZ67 work well when shooting without a tripod.
If you are using a waist level finder, consider a shorter neckstrap as well. The ones that have clips that allow insertion of an extension are most flexible.
The L grip designed for the RB67 is also designed for the C330. That may help you in your search.
Be careful you don't stumble on an L grip for a Mamiya 645. They look like they should work, but there is no guarantee that the trigger will line up.
The RZ67 grips may work, but I cannot guarantee that.
Exposure is the fundamental corner-stone of photography.
Always think about exposure first, then composition, then everything else.
This probably deserves an entire thread just its own, but I would probably not rank exposure and composition in that way (I might be tempted to not rank them at all but make them equal partners).
Anyway, I don't want to take this thread in that direction. I think I'll start a new one because I think this discussion is very important.
True. Exposure is to some extent dependant on composition.
But I think light, lens and fim has more impact than small adjustments in composition, so you need to start thinking about exposure.
But you're right, this topic is deserving of its own thread.
Since the whole idea of stand development is to develop the different zones of the exposure in a way that can't be achieved when agitating, it seems to follow that "pushing" ISO 400 to 1600 in stand development doesn't actually do what we think it does if we're still thinking in terms of normal development techniques that continually develop all zones of the exposure throughout the development time.
There's a point at which the film emulsion you are using will stop recording information because the highlights are completely blown and there's a point at which you have to give it enough light to start recording details.
You should think about your output first of all.
Any decision you make with respect to choosing film, developer, camera, lens, filters, developing technique, agitation, temperature, time, metering, exposure, composition, and such is funneled into one single object - the resulting negative, which is what you use to make your print.
Therefore, priority one is to know what to target, and then you work to control as many of those elements as possible to get what you want in your print. In the end that is the only thing that matters, with respect to making beautiful prints.
Sure, but after messing about with film, I work with the aim to produce the best possible negative. Then you keep all options open for producing images.
To do that, you basically need to know how to expose the film for best results.
Sometimes you have to compromise, e.g. if your film is too fast or slow. Other times you may be going for a particular look by bending the envelope.
Forresten finns det en bra gammal svensk bok som heter Avancerad svartvitteknik. Den innehaller bland annat ett test av alla faktorer som paverkar kvaliten pa negativet. De gar igenom allt mojligt som syrahalt i stoppbad och tid mellan exponering och framkallning. Syftet ar att hitta den perfekta metoden. Jag marker iaf battre resultat genom att folja dessa principer.
I wouldn't trust a BlackRapid connector with the weight and size and potential torque of an RB67 with lens and back.
Not to be a contrarian, but a negative that is optimally exposed but lacks interesting composition or an engaging subject is not any better for having been exposed and developed within the acceptable limits of the emulsion. I would much rather err on the side of a negative that has good composition of an interesting subject but lacks shadow detail than the reverse.
There seems to be a lot of references to printing from these negatives. I can't say never, but it's extremely unlikely any of these negatives will ever see an enlarger. The only analog part of my process will be the capture and stand development of the negative. After that it's digital all the way with a print on inkjet. I might end up doing some albumen contact printing but from an inkjet-printed transparency. I'm not overly concerned about lacking contrast because once I get it into Lightroom, an image with a 6x7 negative's ~100mp should have plenty of information for digital manipulation.
And editing negatives in Lightroom has very little to do with resolution. There is little difference between editing MF or 35mm. It really has to do with maintaining grain structure and tonality. The techniques for this are quite different from digital originals.
The really good software for editing scanned negatives, uses quite different algorithms from LR and PS.
Interesting point. I suppose there is a dedicated thread for this topic, but I'm curious what software works best (I realize that's very subjective...not looking to diverge from the topic on this rabbit trail) with scanned negatives?
Here's the grip I've been looking at:
Dead Link Removed
I've also been looking at the BlackRapid sling strap which looks like it might complement the location of the tripod mounting hole on the RB grip by allowing the camera to hang by my hip.
I'll also very likely dangle the GX7 from the wrist strap I use on it so I can meter and grab both digital and analog at the same time.
You do realize that the BlackRapid strap attaches to the tripod socket rather than the strap connectors, do you not?Odd regarding the strap. I often carry my camera like that with a longer but otherwise standard camera strap, attached the lugs as normal.
Yes, and I'd followed the link to see the picture of the "innovative" concept. That is why I specified a regular strap "attached [to] the lugs as normal." ("Lug" being the strap connector.) I'd left out the word "to," so that may have caused my sentence to not make sense. Anyway, with a slightly long but regular strap, I have carried my camera as depicted on the Black Rapid page. Okay, not exactly the same, my camera isn't upside-down.You do realize that the BlackRapid strap attaches to the tripod socket rather than the strap connectors, do you not?
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