[LargeFormat] Big Old Cave

[Michael Bischof]

Leigh,
Wow, the really hard approach of cutting your own film etc. -- impressive. I 
guess I went the "easy route" of just 4x5 sheets ;-)
I started out with a Super Speed Graphic 45 (but hated the weight) since 
I've had a Crown Graphic 23 with 120 film for years, went on to a cheap 
wooden field camera (which was rather limited in movements) and have since 
graduated to a brand-new Arca Swiss "Field" Camera...
By the way, for B&W sheets, I am using a JOBO Multitank 2 (I think it's 
their 2521 model). It'll load up to 6 sheets and the development process by 
hand is just like a 135/120 tank (load in perfect darkness, but develop in 
normal daylight). I learned the hard way, though, that no matter what the 
directions say (or anything you read online), you need 50 oz. of the 
chemicals...
Sorry, can't help you on making positives, since I have never done that...
Cheers,
Mike




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leigh Solland (on Chickadee)" <solland at telusplanet.net>
To: "f32 Large Format Photography Mail List" <largeformat at f32.net>
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 4:18 PM
Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Big Old Cave


>
>
> 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
>
>
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