Intermediate large format questions/photography misadventures

MattKing

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Would that be Glazers?
 
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MTGseattle

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Kenmore camera says they can't sell enough 8x10 to warrant keeping it in stock.
 

MattKing

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MTGseattle said:
Kenmore camera says they can't sell enough 8x10 to warrant keeping it in stock.
Click to expand...

My experience with both Kenmore or Glazers is all pre 2020.
Since they moved to their new digs, Kenmore really didn't seem to have much that was film or darkroom related.
They did have an extra-ordinary collection of bags and tripods though.
 
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MTGseattle

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Kenmore is still a nice camera store. They've just adjusted to the average buyer. Glazers is the only local spot with a fairly decent film/chemistry assortment on hand.

Omega photo in Bellevue is also a decent local shop that offers roll film dev/scan services and has an interesting used selection that rotates a bit since as they find room, they open up stuff that has been languishing in boxes for quite a while. They keep some 120 film on hand.
 

Vaughan Bromfield

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Vaughn said:
The older Fuji 180mm I might try on a relatively close-up scene, but with anything else I would need to include the loss of sharp coverage in the corners (even it well-illuminated) into the composition.
Click to expand...

The old single-coated Fujinon W 180mm f5.6 is available in both Copal and Seiko shutter -- the Seiko shutter version is often marked "Fujinon WS 180mm" and the Copal version "Fujinon W 180mm". I ended up with one of each; comparing the two, the Copal shutter version has slightly longer focal length and around 10mm larger image circle than the lens in the Seiko shutter, enough to matter on 8x10 when there isn't much to spare. Note that the rear lens blocks are noticeably different between the two versions, aren't physically interchangeable, and may be a different optical formula.
 

Vaughn

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I have the old single-coated Fujinon W 180mm f5.6 in a Copal shutter. I use it for 5x7 right now. It is not on a compatible lensboard right now, but I'll have to give it a go on my 8x10 one of these days. It might nice for 4x10s.
 
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MTGseattle

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I'm turning a slight corner with this thread. I have a lead on a super chomega F enlarger. I'm still unaware regarding functionality and completeness. I also have nowhere in my house with tall enough ceilings for it. If I decide to bring the thing home it will likely stay in pieces and unused for a while. 8x10 enlargers near me seem to be scarce. What are the odds one will pop up in a year?
Price has not been discussed either. I read some old threads, and it seems people were basically stealing these things back in '04-'05 Like "buy my Nikkor ex 300mm and I'll thrown the enlarger in for free" type prices.
I've passed on some really good wood working tools the last year for the same reasons I am hesitant regarding the enlarger; no space to use it properly.
 

abruzzi

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I kick myself for not buying an Omega E (5x7) I had a chance to buy a while back. 8x10 for me is for contact prints--I don't have the space for an 8x10 enlarger. I'm not in a metro area like Seattle, but here I almost never see anything, so ~6 years ago, when a D2 came up for sale, I jumped.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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In regards to 8x10 BTZS film tubes, as far as I know, they are not made anymore. You might be able to find them on the used market. If you do find any, make sure they are the smooth, light gray tubes. The black ones (the last version) are made of thin plastic, and hard to work with. They float too high in the water bath, and do not spin without a lot of effort. The older gray ones, are heavier, sit well, and spin with little effort. If you cannot find one, they are easy to make.
 

Ian C

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Super Chromega F enlargers are no longer common on the used market. In addition to the enlarger, you must have the dedicated power supply and cooling fan. The lamps can’t be operated without the fan plugged into the power supply.

If you want to do color printing, you’ll need a 1,000 vA (1kW) mains voltage stabilizer. Omega recommended the Sola 1,000 vA constant voltage transformer. The Sola 1,000 vA CVT weighs about 60 pounds and is pricy. You might find a used one cheaper. A voltage stabilizer isn't needed for B&W printing.

https://www.solahdsales.com/SolaHD-23-23-210-8-1000VA-CVS-VOLTAGE-REGULATOR-p/23-23-210-8.htm

You’ll also need the power relay, since the current draw is too great for the internal relay or switch of most timers. The Omega F relay 412-022 is rated for 25 amperes.

The enlarger must be complete with all of its components: power supply, power relay, cooling fan, lens, glass negative carrier. You'll also need a voltage stabilizer if you intend to print color. You can read the size and weight specifications in the manual in the following link:

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/manuals/enlargers/omega/Super Chromega F Dichro II.pdf
 
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MTGseattle

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@Andrew O'Neill I actually called Fred Newman a couple of months ago and got the same response from him. I thought about making my own, I might yet do that.

@Ian C Thank you. I've looked through the info on the KHB site and had seen the Jollinger info too. My main reason for the jump to 8x10 is also a contact process. I'm going to try and not get too wrapped up in the potential of a big piece of equipment. When I can finally see it and know whether it's a complete machine or not, that will be the decision day. Can we say that any 8x10 enlarger is still common on the used market?
 

btaylor

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No, 8x10 (or 10x10) enlargers are not at all common these days. I scored an Omega F maybe 10 years ago and pickings were slim then. I passed (probably shouldn’t have) on a local Durst with a color head because I didn’t want to spring for the 220 power it required. I picked up the Chromega head later, made some repairs to the power supply and had it running on a Time O Lite rated for 1000 watts. But I don’t think I’ll be shooting 8x10 color film. I put together an LED light panel in place of the incandescent and HUGE condensers. I am glad I have it, there will be few opportunities going forward.
 
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MTGseattle

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My hesitancy is a catch 22. It will likely be mothballed for at least 18 months if I do decide to buy it, but because I can't put it into service right away, I feel like I should pass. Way back when I was in college, I never printed bigger than 16x20 due to cost. It seems somewhat logical to bump 8x10negs up to a 20x24 paper size, but the darkroom space needed for 20x24 printing starts getting rather large.

Oh, I got some cryptic info from the place it would be coming from. It had been in service for a couple of years, but saw very little use. The gentleman I spoke with said his concern would be for the internal filters. I didn't even bring up the question of power supplies and/or relays.

The longshot could be that a friendship blossoms with whomever else may be interested in the thing and has space to set it up.
 

carlj

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I wouldn't worry about mothballing it. I grabbed mine without having a place to set it up and then Covid happened so it was considerably more than a year before I found a group darkroom (as it turned out) that let me set it up. Mine came without the baseboard but I'm using a wooden table for a jury-rigged baseboard that kind of works, although not as flexible as I would like. Sure, my own space would have been ideal but that wasn't possible. Keep in mind 8x10 enlargers are not exactly common these days. It's a very solid enlarger although not as smooth in operation as a DeVere or Durst but more than up to the task if you can swing it.

BTW, I would be very interested in seeing a picture(s) of what the power relay and voltage regulator (assuming it has them) look like.
 
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MTGseattle

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As I get closer to the actual yay/nay day for the enlarger, I will try and get pictures and post a thorough update. The gentleman in the Chicago area (Glenn view?) seems to have an 8x10 or 2 in stock usually, but that's quite a commitment. Driving out from Seattle in a truck and handing over a bunch of cash.

Back to actual photography, I wish I could quit making almost inexcusable mistakes. I was out dabbling with 6x17 over the weekend. I shot a roll of Delta 400 but never changed my meter settings from the previous roll of Delta 100. Those are some thick negatives. The Tomiyama Art 170 seems to function just fine. It's odd that the wind/take-up spool are on the left side though. All of the negatives are upside down.
I had 2 frames on one roll that have fuzzy left and right frame lines. It's only 2 frames from 1 roll, so it's either a loading or winding issue I would think. Fujinon 90mm f8 is the lens (I can't remember which series. The Copal on it has a silver ring with the wide knurling).
I still have 6 8x10 sheets to develop from a recent trip to Idaho. I'm procrastinating because as soon as I got to the site i realized that roll film would have been way more appropriate and I'm not super hopeful regarding the "quality" of the images. It's a lame excuse to leave 3 film holders useless though. I'll churn through them this weekend.
 
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MTGseattle

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Hybrid content warning

How the heck do any of you "shrink" a decent 8x10 scan down to use it for any online content? I get all sorts of varying error messages when trying to do a reasonably high resolution 8x10 scan. Everything from the file type cannot support that size to a lack of memory. I've got 16gb of ddr3 going, and I'm not running any other programs while scanning. I run my "preview" scans at 8bit and 1200 dpi. If I haven't goofed the negatives orientation on the scanner, I'll bump the settings and go for the true scan. The highest resolution settings that didn't revolt tonight gave me an 8x10 scan of just shy of 70mb.
I need some darkroom time somehow some way. This digital stuff makes me want to pull my hair out.
 

MattKing

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For all re-sizing I use the re-sizer built into FastStone Image Viewer - a really flexible and well featured Windows Program that is available for free/by donation.
They also offer a dedicated re-sizer on the same terms.
For Photrio, the target size is a jpeg of 90 or less quality, with the longest dimension re-sized to approximately 1000 pixels.
Resizing disrupts acutance, so it usually works best if you re-size in steps, adding a moderate amount of sharpening at each step. FastStone works well for that as well.
 

AnselMortensen

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Regarding the Tomiyama 6x17 back, you get a soft edge on images made with lenses outside of the "sweet spot"... (believed to be ~135 - 180mm lenses).
I use a 150mm Symmar-S on a Toyo-Omega 45D, and got a soft edge on a close-up detail shot.
There's a learning curve for the Art Panorama...but it's awesome when the photo gods smile on you.
 
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MTGseattle

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Ansel I have the whole camera, not just the back. I was using the same lens for the whole session, and I have 3 rolls all with perfectly defined frames. Only 1 roll has the 2 soft edge frames. I re-watched the video by a guy up in Canada who has one, and it looks like I ran the "start" arrow of my film out further than he does. I'll get out and play some more with it. I need to order a couple more pieces so I can have a 120mm running on it also.

Matt. Thank you for that. I was pretty disgruntled by my whole session the other night.
 
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MTGseattle

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OK. Super Chromega F; I didn't get to the "garage sale" where the enlarger was in time to even see it. It was apparently complete and they sold it for $1k. If it had sold for $500 or less, I would have been angry at myself, but at 1k I hope the person who got it puts it into use. On the other side of that coin, I got there in time for "free hour." I scored an Lpl et-400 timer with foot switch and the mounted 35mm slide negative carrier for the 4500 series for free.
 
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MTGseattle

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I enrolled in a local photography class. My days of densitometry and associated madness were back in ‘97-‘98. I’ve forgotten a lot.
My last true darkroom session was in 2006. My thought is that if I’m shelling out money, I can’t shrug off the work so easily.

I went out to burn some film for class on Saturday . My Mamiya film counter stood at 4. It was E100 film. The class I’m in is b&w specific. I farted around, finished the roll, started loading some Delta when Bam! Broken film advance on the Mamiya 6mf. I hiked the rainy half-mile back to my car, drove the 1.5 hours (traffic) home while mentally evaluating my life choices, fired up the computer and started looking at Bronica Sq gear. I talked myself off of that ledge.

There’s a printing requirement for the class, which shuts down 8x10 a bit.
All enlargers at the facility are 4x5 capable. With the busted Mamiya I don’t have a roll film option that makes sense for the class.
So, it seems I’m into 4x5 on my 8x10 camera.

It looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
 
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MTGseattle

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I’ve unboxed and un crated enough darkroom stuff to print at home.
I processed a sheet of film tonight and was then going to finally mix up my stock solutions.
The envelope of Dektol (1 gallon) I bought mixed really dark and there was lots of particulate after a good 4 minutes (water temp 92f). Mixing.
It turns out the package expired in 2008. I bought it a week ago.
Shame on me for not checking I guess.
A nice bit of icing on the day.
 

btaylor

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That complete Omega F for a grand was a very decent deal. I paid not a lot less than that, but it it had lived by the seaside and I removed and cleaned every single steel nut, bolt and any other steel part in the thing. It took months! Plus side was that all was reassembled and adjusted when I was done. It is a beast. Glad you scored some free darkroom stuff though.
I hear all your disappointments, but sometimes that’s also what pushes me past the difficulties- part of my creative juice comes from failure and the desire to overcome it, which I do most of the time. I enjoy the challenge.
 
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