Michel Hardy-Vallée
Membership Council
I finally found a use for the set of plate holders with ground glass back I got for cheap: exposing Ilford Direct Positive paper!
I'll scan the pics on Monday, but a sheet of 4x5 paper cuts down very easily to two 6.5x9cm sheets, after removing a narrow margin. The paper fits well in the plate holder with the film sheath, and the TLR system allows you to focus precisely and shoot handheld. On a dull day, I got f/4 and 1/8th of a second, which is decent for handheld (remember, no enlarging!). I used ISO 0.72 (3 stops more exposure than ISO 3). I got clean whites.
Development in Polymax 1+9 like regular negative paper yielded usable contrast. Obviously the contrast is a bit steep and anything not white or blue gets dark pretty quick. I'm too lazy to flash right now, but I just might eventually.
You have to look for subjects that work at 6x6cm, but when you remember that most pictures back in the days were contact prints from 120, the size is actually nice for an intimate, handheld viewing. Great wallet size, and could look as great in a frame with a very wide border.
The Rollei plates are a really nice system, easy to use, and for now very affordable. I'll use the Rolleiflex on a tripod next time with Rolleinar so I can exploit the focus plane ground glass to do close-ups. That setup essentially turns the 'flex into a small 6x6 view camera.
I'll scan the pics on Monday, but a sheet of 4x5 paper cuts down very easily to two 6.5x9cm sheets, after removing a narrow margin. The paper fits well in the plate holder with the film sheath, and the TLR system allows you to focus precisely and shoot handheld. On a dull day, I got f/4 and 1/8th of a second, which is decent for handheld (remember, no enlarging!). I used ISO 0.72 (3 stops more exposure than ISO 3). I got clean whites.
Development in Polymax 1+9 like regular negative paper yielded usable contrast. Obviously the contrast is a bit steep and anything not white or blue gets dark pretty quick. I'm too lazy to flash right now, but I just might eventually.
You have to look for subjects that work at 6x6cm, but when you remember that most pictures back in the days were contact prints from 120, the size is actually nice for an intimate, handheld viewing. Great wallet size, and could look as great in a frame with a very wide border.
The Rollei plates are a really nice system, easy to use, and for now very affordable. I'll use the Rolleiflex on a tripod next time with Rolleinar so I can exploit the focus plane ground glass to do close-ups. That setup essentially turns the 'flex into a small 6x6 view camera.
