LOADING FILM
I made a dummy film sheet cut from a sheet of colour plastic, using a hole punch to cut a notch in the top right to mimic the guide on real film, and practiced loading, first visually and then by touch. I then practiced using a Paterson changing bag. The film must be located under the lower guide lugs. The film holders can then be closed and locked, although the little metal locks don’t always stay closed.
Finally I dusted out the 3 film holders and loaded 6 sheets of film. Might want to get some cotton gloves to avoid touching the film…
On location at Rye Harbour, the thing I had been most worried about – the focusing on the ground glass, actually turned out to be easier than expected, using the magnifier app on my iphone. The new camera elicited a number of enquiries from people while I was trying to make images, including from a woman from a local art society who said it was a “beautiful object” which encouraged me in my intention to use it as part of a future exhibition.
Using the recessed lens board with the linhoff quick release nipple attached to a manual cable release did not work well, however, as it kept popping out of the camera and eventually I think the nipple just flew off and I could not find it. In the end I just released the shutter manually using the highest speed of 1/500th.
I contacted Linhof Studio who suggested the fault may be in the quick release attachment – the above photo shows a hairline crack, barely noticeable to the naked eye but showing clearly in this enlargement. I have removed this but the cable release will not attach in the recessed board so I decided to 3D print a new lens board, which is actually in keeping with my project. As well as allowing an easier attachment of the cable release it will create better access to the controls on the lens.
Sadly I then found that it impossible to remove the lens from the current lensboard. I bought a lens spanner wrench and also tried IPA cleaner to remove any glue and also quick-freezing the lens and board in a sealed plastic bag, but nothing worked.
The solution turned out to be to buy a small flexible linhoff-brand release adapter designed to make it easier to attach release cables to recessed lenses. The issue with this is that these small, specialist, branded items are very expensive relative to the whole project and to be avoided where at all possible. But at least it worked.
I also learnt that the compur shutter has 1/2 stop increments between the marked f stops and needs a compur #0 hole in the lens board. Further learning points – the lens has a Kenko MC W2 filter (light orange) which needs about 1/4 stop increment – not a major issue and difficult to adjust for precisely via a light meter, this may actually reduce the chance of burnt-out highlights in b&w but in colour will affect the natural balance. The lens stops down to f45 which I am not used to having available but will be useful for maximising depth of field.
DEVELOPING AND SCANNING THE FILM
Researching labs for this was rather scary – it was quite normal to spend £10 developing a single 4×5 film sheet and anything from £5 to over £100 per scan!
Luckily I found that Harman lab do an efficient postal service for £7.50 inclusive of development, 2400DPI scan and postage both ways. This is only for b&w, but was a good way of proof testing the camera for light leaks and my large format process in general for errors.
RESULTS
I was very excited to get back the scans and find that it had actually worked:
The top image in particular worked well – the quality is high (this is a small jpeg but the scan files are around 65MB each). The focus is good and I was pleased with the overall result.
The image of the stones was my first attempt – it’s not bad but I needed to spend more time on getting the shot lined up – one issue was that the frame moved when the dark slide was inserted if everything was not tightened down fully – and (now that I have a quick release cable to cope with slower shutter speeds) stopping down for greater depth of field. My first two attempts were I believe unreliable as I struggled to get used to the dodgy shutter release and inserting the film holder without shifting the frame of reference – for this reason I did not go to the expense of having them developed, since although the film is expensive development is far more so. For this type of shot I could also try raising or lowering the front standard and or tilting it to see how this changed the relationship between the elements in the frame, since the stones are pretty close and the hut is quite far away.
Next step is perhaps to try colour film with the 3D printed red stones…
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Level 3.1 Learning Log 