Testing an ICA sheet camera

I have an ICA camera that I bought on a flea-market some 10 years ago.
It comes with 4 film holders and everything seems to be working. The film seems to be around 4x5 inch or maybe 9x12 cm.

Don't know if there are massive light leaks so I would rather not buy a whole pack of sheet film just to try it.
If I cut an Ilford paper to size I should be able to test it with that. But I understand that the ISO of paper is much lower than film. Are there any rule of thumbs for this? What ISO should I use in calculating exposure for a couple of test shots?

Any help appreciated.

r

The ICA will be 9x12, I assume you have plate holders not film holders, they need an insert to use film, although you can use card on a temporary basis.

I can't remember the speed of paper I think 2-5 ISO is about right, some are faster than others. Try leaving some paper in a holder in the camera and leave it there an hour or two, and process it unexposed.

I get 9x12 film from Fomafoto in Norway. but haven't had much time to try my 9x12 cameras so far.

Ian

Ian Grant said:

The ICA will be 9x12, I assume you have plate holders not film holders, they need an insert to use film, although you can use card on a temporary basis.

I can't remember the speed of paper I think 2-5 ISO is about right, some are faster than others. Try leaving some paper in a holder in the camera and leave it there an hour or two, and process it unexposed.

I get 9x12 film from Fomafoto in Norway. but haven't had much time to try my 9x12 cameras so far.

Ian

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What is the difference between plate holders and film holders? Is plate for glass plates? These holders are for film. One of them even had a film inside.

r

shimoda said:

What is the difference between plate holders and film holders? Is plate for glass plates? These holders are for film. One of them even had a film inside.
r

Click to expand...

Yes, the plate-holders are for glass plates, the camera's were sold usually with 3 of them, and film packs were available.

So your film holder may be much newer than the camera, ICA became part of Zeiss Ikon in 1926.

Ian

Ian Grant said:

Yes, the plate-holders are for glass plates, the camera's were sold usually with 3 of them, and film packs were available.

So your film holder may be much newer than the camera, ICA became part of Zeiss Icon in 1926.

Ian

Click to expand...

It says Zeiss on the film holders.

r

If you have Ilford variable contrast paper (e.g. MGIV VC) then try exposing at about ISO 20 in daylight and develop the paper fully. You will only get about 4 1/2 stops of range from the darkest to the lightest so it will be pretty contrasty. If you can put a yellow filter on the lens, try ISO 6; you will get much more like 8 stops between light and dark then. If the exposure is less than 30 sec or so, do not worry about reciprocity failure.

If you have a graded paper, not variable contrast, try exposing at about ISO 6 and develop the paper in diluted developer and pull it when it looks about right (rather than developing to completion). I do not recommend trying to develop VC paper by inspection as it always seems to go streaky in the highlights.

Best regards,

Evan

Hmmm, I do quite a bit of photography using Ilford MG IV RC for paper negatives. There seem to be quite a few factors that affect getting an EI - the light temperature being just one.

I normally shoot at around 1.2 Weston - which is probably around ISO 1.5(ish). This does lead to a very dense negative, although I tend to use them for cyanotypes. You might like to try a figure of around EI 3 to start with.

Let us know how you get on - there's clearly a huge difference between Evan's ISO 20 (or did you mean ISO 2, Evan?) and my EI 3!!

Cheers,
David.