The Road from 35mm to LF

[bobwysiwyg]

Nobody told me it was mined and loaded with potholes.

Having just developed my most recent 4x5 negatives it got me thinking about my "trip" thus far.

My first negatives we so terribly laden with lint and dust it was funny. This was my very first lesson learned. It looked more like some sort of biological specimen slide.

Then there was.. Oh, heck, I'll just list them.

* Forgetting to close the preview shutter
* Forgetting to cock the shutter
* Forgetting to pull the dark slide [looks around quickly and makes believe it was a test firing ]
* Most recently, on a close-up, I was proud of myself for noticing the sides of a can in the pic were not parallel and corrected it with some tilt. I stopped patting myself on the back after developing the neg and noticing I had clipped a part of the scene on the bottom [note to self, go all the way around with the loupe next time].

* Oh, forgot one, not shoving the holder in all the way. Turned 4x5 pics into large, square format. Thanks to folks here, that problem was diagnosed pretty quickly.

So, what's left?

 

[lxdude]

Loading film backwards?

 

[keithwms]

Ya got a few more things to go

* bellows factor...
* ground glass wrong way 'round...
* fresnel in the wrong place (if you use one)...
* light leaks here, light leaks there...

But rest assured that you'll get it all right soon. And when you do, you will be able to take more credit for the execution of your vision than ever before. What you have is a manual Amish box, some film... and a lens (optional).

 

[paul_c5x4]

Using the same sheet of film twice.

Using an empty film holder.

 

[calceman]

forgetting to set the aperture, inserting another film (exposed or not) on top of an other one in the holder,
Ah, and oh, yet, dunk in fixer before developer (do not talk while processing)...

 

[2F/2F]

Don't forget pulling the dark slide and the holder out simultaneously. I did that one the first time I ever shot 4x5 (but have not done it since)!

 

[Martin Aislabie]

Loading Darkslides backwards - so the emulsion is facing away from the lens

Forgetting to close the box of film before turning the lights back on

Dropping sheets of film on the floor while trying to load them

Not locking down your lens board and have the lens topple forward and tumble into the dirt


Bob, there are plenty of pot holes you have yet to find

Martin

 

[rcoda]

It's a long, strange trip...

But lots of fun!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Using the same sheet of film twice.

Sometimes it's not so bad. If only I could plan them a bit better--

Brooklyn Bridge and Manana Island (AKA "Rabbit Island") off O'ahu

 

[2F/2F]

David reminded me of one of the classics: two exposures on one side of the holder, and no exposure on the other, leaving you with two lost shots and two wasted pieces of film. Lesson learned: MARK EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY! Painter's tape and a Sharpie.....incredibly valuable tools!

 

[calceman]

breaking the ground glass, without replacement, forgetting light meter at home (when having more than one bag). use cell phone as only timer, and drop it in water just before shooting, not tightening standards before inserting the holder. Bellows not attached properly to the carrier frame.
Basically, learning very quickly from many mistakes.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

I do have a bit more to go, don't I.

It has been, and I suspect, will continue to be, interesting, but fun. I like it.

 

[Tony Egan]

Watching slightly soapy negs (after final rinse in wetting agent) fall to the ground due to inadequate hanging pegs was a laugh!!
I think I have done most of the above. Patience, above all patience!

 

[markbarendt]

So, what's left?

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/mistakes.html

 

[bobwysiwyg]

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/mistakes.html

Oh, good! A check-off list.

 

[ntenny]

My personal favourite is replacing the darkslide *outside* the holder (you can't really do this with modern double-sided film holders, but it's fairly easy with the single-sided metal holders from plate cameras). Everything seems fine until you pull the holder out and the darkslide falls at your feet!

-NT

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

David reminded me of one of the classics: two exposures on one side of the holder, and no exposure on the other, leaving you with two lost shots and two wasted pieces of film.

That is one of the classics, but always striving for originality, I managed that one with a Grafmatic. I knew something wasn't quite right when I processed the New York shots, that I seemed to be missing one negative, but I think I just figured I'd miscounted, or my notes weren't clear, so I ended up leaving one exposed sheet in the partially-used holder, reloaded the empty septums, and it appeared again a few months later in Hawai'i.

 

[Bruce A Cahn]

If you shoot LF enough everything happens to you. And not just you. It happens to everyone. Just keep going and you get through the woods after a while.

 

[timk]

for me it was:

- forgetting to put the dark slide back in and removing the film holder

and, depth of field being alot narrower with these cameras, f/8 or f/11 are no longer "stopped down" apertures any more.

 

[mts]

Nobody mentioned not pulling the dark slide all the way out, or leaving it in a bit too far blocking part of the picture. This is a nasty surprise, especially for group photos where a few people on the left side are found missing.

 

[werra]

You can also load set of holders with film, leaving black side of darkslide out. Then you wonder on the field, when did you manage to take so much shots and carry on on safe side, especially if you do not have holders numbered. Back home you get nice set of clear film sheets after developing. Just did this a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Laurent]

Make a long exposure, start chatting with a fellow photographer, wait for end of exposure while chatting with somebody else, click the shutter closed, turn the camera to pack it, remove the lens... where's this darkslide coming from ?

 

[bobwysiwyg]

You can also load set of holders with film, leaving black side of darkslide out. Then you wonder on the field, when did you manage to take so much shots and carry on on safe side, especially if you do not have holders numbered. Back home you get nice set of clear film sheets after developing. Just did this a couple of weeks ago.

My wife claims I'm, if not a creature of habit, at least a creature of routine. This scenario troubled me. My solution was, during the holder cleaning process which I do before loading them, to turn the dark slides so that white side is showing, then load them. So far, it has worked.

 

[mjs]

My personal favourite is replacing the darkslide *outside* the holder (you can't really do this with modern double-sided film holders, but it's fairly easy with the single-sided metal holders from plate cameras). Everything seems fine until you pull the holder out and the darkslide falls at your feet!

-NT

Oh yes you can, trust me! A mistake I've made more than once: talking while ending the exposure, shove the dark slide back into the slot and remove the film holder... dark slide falls to ground because you slid it between the holder and the camera frame, not back into its slot.

*Sigh* Try saying "I meant to do that" with the dark slide laying on your foot...

 

[bobwysiwyg]

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/mistakes.html

Spent some time browsing this site, nice resource, had forgotten about it. Looked over the list again, some I avoided, dumb luck I guess. I did note on the site how to deal with wind and read about the umbrella solution. How simple. I could have used it a couple of weeks ago [sigh].