[LargeFormat] Big Old Cave

[Leigh Solland (on Chickadee)]

Michael Bischof wrote:

> Well, then, let me try if I can post to this list. I am brand-new to 
> the list (just found it in Web-space) and about 18 months into my 
> adventure of Large Format.photography, although I have done 
> photography for about 25 years -- ignoring the years I spent with an 
> all-plastic Instamatic as a kid ;-)
> Hope for lots of traffic on this list... 


I'm new here too.  I got my first LF camera, a 9x12 Voigtlander AVUS 
with a back for glass plates, as a present about a year and a half ago. 
 Since it had a gooey shutter and I didn't have any glass negatives, it 
went on the shelf.  But it triggered some interest, so I bought a 3 1/4 
x 4 1/4 Speed Graphic last summer.  I have taken some pictures with it, 
and am looking forward to taking lots more.

There were a lot of technical hurdles to overcome.  First, that size 
film isn't readily available, if at all, so I have been cutting my own 
sheets from some aerographic film that comes in a big roll.  That led to 
building a film slitter, so that I could cut sheets of any size fairly 
easily, plus make odd sizes of rollfilm, such as 116.  

Second, I have been developing my own 35mm and 120 roll film for some 
time, but didn't have anything to develop sheets in.  I bought a couple 
of tanks, some of which work better than others, and also tried tray 
developing.  I am still not really satisfied in that area.

Fortunately, my enlarger can handle 4x5.  However, with the big 
negatives, I have a craving to do some manipulation a la William 
Mortensen.  

This is my question, if anyone has stayed with me this long.  Is it 
reasonable to make positive transparencies onto sheets of normal film 
(say 120 ASA, panchromatic) from a negative mounted on an enlarger?  I 
haven't been able to find any good information about time, aperture, 
etc.  My only experiment to date was a dismal failure.  Also, I found 
something that hinted that film can be developed quickly in paper 
developer -- any comments or suggestions?

Thanks,
Leigh