Something not quite right here -- a masked 645 should give 16 24x42 (or, alternatively, 24x56-ish) negatives, which (IMO) is much less interesting than the 10 24x70 I'd get with 120 in a 6x7 back with a mask.
Fujica 645 series like the 645s w/ 60mm which could yield 16 24x67 cropped images.
a masked 645 should give 16 24x42 (or, alternatively, 24x56-ish).
Yes I see my typo should have typed 57 not 67
.
Found these specs on-line:
645 = 42x57
Horizont = 24x58
X-Pan = 24x65
Some 35mm models w/ Pano setting crop to = 15x36
So the Fujica 645 series and Horizont/Widelux loose a bit of length but their small size, built in finder and amount of exposures per roll are attractive.
Image size comparison:
https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2020/02/comparison.jpg
A 645 camera is great for shooting 6x4.5 (really about 55x44mm) on 120. The problem with trying to shoot adapted 35mm in it, is that the 35mm film runs across the short axis of the film gate, so you would get a 24x44mm image roughly. That's not much larger than the 24x36mm in a native 35mm camera. The exception is, I think, a 135-W back for the Bronica ETR that runs the film across the long axis, but it's now very rare and expensive.
Adapting 35mm in a natively 6x6, 6x7, or 6x9 camera is more effective, but of course you have to carry around a larger camera and lens.
A swing lens panoramic camera like the Horizon is an efficient way of getting a wide view, panoramic negative on 35mm film, but it comes with its own set of practical use issues. Swing lens and rectilinear cameras are complementary in some ways.
It seems like every time I talk about a camera that's pano specific someone always chimes in about just shooting larger and cropping in.
Awesome shot!!Here's a recent image from the PressPan. It's form factor does make it a lot easier for hiking around with it.
Jeremy
View attachment 276332
2.Even though the issue above seems to be manageable, I think that the film plane or something else is off. I've never been too excited about the sharpness of the pics, they've always seemed to just not be as sharp as I've been accustomed to when shooting 35mm film - the same stock, usually Ektar - with adapters in the back of my RB67's. The ones from this weekend are no different.
3. There is some sort of light leak going on that leads to a bit of an appearance of fogging on the film in places. Still got that this weekend. It comes and goes depending on the different times I shoot (and assuming maybe the difference between sunny days and not so sunny days combined with how long I am out in the sun with it and time between shots). It's not a line or burst, but a fogginess that's not on every frame. It's not on the rebate area of the film, just in the area of the film gate, which leads me to believe its coming in somewhere around the 3D-printed lens mount. I've had the camera in the darkroom with an led penlight and can't find it. Not certain what's going on there. No expired film being used and don't have the issue with any of my rolls of Ektar in any other cameras.
Is it all over or different at the edges vs the center? Check the focus with a ground glass on the film rails. You might also sacrifice some film and take off the lens and look at the film in the gate to see if it is flat. Just a guess that since the film gate has been heavily modified, flatness could be an issue.
Some 3D printed materials aren't fully opaque. I understand there were issues with plastic lensboards for the Intrepid 4x5 camera that passed enough light to fog film. The lens mount for the Presspan looks pretty thick, which would help, but depending on the fill volume and material it might be an issue. It's also possible that the material is not opaque to very red or IR light and the film has just enough sensitivity to be fogged by sunlight passing through. Either of these would be basically impossible to detect with a penlight - you could do a test by leaving the camera out in the sun for a few frames both with and without some material covering the lens mount, although it is hard to isolate this kind of leak.
I use IR goggles in my darkroom. Amber plastic bottles look clear in IR.Is it all over or different at the edges vs the center? Check the focus with a ground glass on the film rails. You might also sacrifice some film and take off the lens and look at the film in the gate to see if it is flat. Just a guess that since the film gate has been heavily modified, flatness could be an issue.
Some 3D printed materials aren't fully opaque. I understand there were issues with plastic lensboards for the Intrepid 4x5 camera that passed enough light to fog film. The lens mount for the Presspan looks pretty thick, which would help, but depending on the fill volume and material it might be an issue. It's also possible that the material is not opaque to very red or IR light and the film has just enough sensitivity to be fogged by sunlight passing through. Either of these would be basically impossible to detect with a penlight - you could do a test by leaving the camera out in the sun for a few frames both with and without some material covering the lens mount, although it is hard to isolate this kind of leak.
I got this from Dora Goodman with reference to 3D printing the Zone camera, she uses something called Colorfabb nGen filament.Yes, there are a number of plastics that suffer this (not only 3D printed materials). At my work a common problem is light leaks from optoisolators. An optoisolator is a common electronic component that has an IR LED and phototransistor encased in the usual black plastic that integrated circuits are packaged in. That plastic is often not fully opaque to IR, it turns out, so if you have a detector sensitive to 700-800 nm in a dark environment, it picks up the glow.
After an email exchange back and forth with Cayenne (above), I decided to dust off the Presspan this weekend to give it another go.
<snip>
3. There is some sort of light leak going on that leads to a bit of an appearance of fogging on the film in places. Still got that this weekend. It comes and goes depending on the different times I shoot (and assuming maybe the difference between sunny days and not so sunny days combined with how long I am out in the sun with it and time between shots). It's not a line or burst, but a fogginess that's not on every frame. It's not on the rebate area of the film, just in the area of the film gate, which leads me to believe its coming in somewhere around the 3D-printed lens mount. I've had the camera in the darkroom with an led penlight and can't find it. Not certain what's going on there. No expired film being used and don't have the issue with any of my rolls of Ektar in any other cameras.
Cayenne - I Hope you are back home now and have your camera!
Jeremy
<snip>
View attachment 285762
Hi Jeremy,
I"m just back home after evacuating for Ida and getting things squared away. I should have my PressPan on its way this week.
I really hope mine doesn't have the problems you have...I REALLY want to like and use this camera!!! And I'm a bit of a noob, and don't have the skills to troubleshoot and try to fix mine.
I was wondering, if you contacted Freeman to ask about the problems you've encountered?
And please pardon what may be a stupid question....but with reference to #3 above..is there any possibility at all that this fogging is due to lens flare(s)? The periodic nature you described above made that pop into my head...and I've seen some flaring cause fogging, I had it hit me with a different camera and lens on almost the same shot where I bumped the tripod between shots and one had it and one didn't.
I'd mentioned on a post above the filament that Dora Goodman told me uses on the Zone cameras. I have friends printing this out for me and I got the same special order filament she uses. I wonder what filament Freeman uses?
Anyway, man, I hope you can get yours to working and I really hope mine comes in working as that I've been in GREAT anticipation of getting this unit and using it a LOT.
First job for one will be traveling around and documenting the damage Hurricane Ida left in her tracks.....
cayenne
I'm still waiting on mine.Glad that you are back now!
So, to be fair I did not contact Freeman again after the first problem I had with the camera, which was a lot of plastic bits left on the left hand side of the gate which showed up in the film negative. I had to file it away. If you look at the image I posted above from Jess's article, you can see it on the one in the image as well.
He seems so busy with his 9-5 job, making these cameras, and also making stuff for hunting that replies from him take a great while. I decided to try to troubleshoot and work thru everything myself, knowing that 3D-printed cameras are DIY in nature, and one can't expect them to be perfect right out of the box. My Goodman Zone wasn't perfect either, although it is much closer to perfect now than the PressPan is or may ever be.
The fogging issues aren't due to lens flare - I bought the optional lens hood with it and use it when shooting, and have been careful not to shoot an uncoated lens into the sun.
I've got a roll of ACROS I in the Goodman Zone at the moment with it in the pinhole configuration. When that roll is finished, I'm going to put the Mamiya Press mount back on the Zone and pull the 50mm from the PressPan to mount back onto the Zone.
I think my days of messing with the PressPan are over. All that said I really wanted to like this camera. I guess some things just aren't meant to be.
Jeremy
I do hate to see you have a waste of money on your PP. I do hope you'll at least consider sending him an email and see if he can offer any help.
Looking forward to seeing your Zone shots!!!
cayenne
If I didn't have higher standards, the PressPan may be OK, but as it is I can't help thinking its an ongoing waste of my time. Communication with Freeman was so bad in the past, that I just don't want to mess with it. Dealing with the stress and anger, and even if I did get a timely response, having to pack something up and deal with trying to get a refund, isn't worth it for the amount of money spent. My time is worth a lot, and I've already wasted so much time with it that the opportunity cost of that far outweighs the amount of actual money I spent on it.
The only upside I can find here is that because I wanted the PressPan, I bought the Mamiya Press 50mm lens and finder, and because Freeman took so long to get back on my initial response and then I didn't feel good about actually receiving the PressPan, I bought the Goodman Zone which took the same lens as a way to at least put the lens to good use.
I have shot panoramas on 35mm with the Zone, here are a few:
View attachment 286769
View attachment 286770
View attachment 286771
The other advantage to the Zone is that if I want to shoot 6x7 I can:
View attachment 286772
And then it can shoot pinhole as well, by removing the Mamiya lens and putting the pinhole board on the front instead:
View attachment 286773
So its not a totally wasted experience. I hope you have a better one than I did. Good luck!
Jeremy
The drawback there is the last shot - you won't know its your last shot until you shoot it, and then it won't crank anymore into the take-up canister and you'll have that last shot lost/exposed when you open the back in daylight
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