Finally committed to try 6x6...

[altitude604]

After doing a lot of research and weighing cost, I've finally pulled the trigger on a minty Lubitel 166B TLR and a couple rolls of B&W 120 ISO400 film.

Originally I wanted to get an ARAX-60 but I figured that I should try it out with something a bit cheaper first and then if I really get into it, I can upgrade later.

Not sure if anyone has any experience with the Lubitel but as it has no meter, would it be too much of a stretch for me to use my XSi as a light meter instead? If my thinking is correct, I should be able to set my XSi to ISO400 and match the aperture and it should give me a correct shutter setting no?

Also, for home developing with a change bag, does anyone have any tips on how to get started with that? I haven't found tooooo much information on it other than a really basic how-to for it.

I'm pretty excited to get this thing and take it into remote parts of Labrador with me this summer and do some Landscape photography with it. It seems to be small and light enough that I can take it in the cockpit with me and still fit with my regular SLR kit.

Seems I've got backwards in evolution, from Digital into Film. But I guess one could say that in order to understand the Future properly, you have to know your History too.

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[ann]

google sunny 16 rule , it usually works better than most think; however, some use 11 rather than 16, test it out for youself.

Developing at home is easy. You don't need a changing bag if you have a room that is light tight as after loading the film onto the reels and placing in the tank everything else can be done in the light.

Be careful with using chemistry in the kitchen and find a place to dry the film where there isn't a lot of foot traffic that stirs up the dust, which ends up on your film
have fun

[raphaelaaron]

i wouldn't solely depend on sunny 16. there are times where you want to shoot at various hours and areas, where you need a right meter reading--regardless of sun or cloud.

if you're on a budget, you can use your xsi as a meter. it may work for some images in some situations, but it won't be accurate all the time. your dslr light meter uses whats called reflective light metering, and it can vary depending on where you point it.

since you're using another camera to take the picture, i would go with buying a light meter for your TLR. even if you give up 6x6, you'll see the light meter will always come in handy, because it's a dedicated one, and can do reflective and incident metering, also metering with strobes if you have any....things your dslr won't be able to do.

some great cheap meters are the gossen digisix, and the sekonic l-208, if you can afford to lay down the extra dough, it's worth it. plus they're small and can fit in your pocket.

also, the arax 60 is a great camera. i love the images it has produced. it's also quite a looker and will stop people on the street. i got featured on a tech blog for it:

Medium Formatter | Kiev 60 |

[altitude604]

^ haha awesome! Yeah, the Arax really grabbed my attention. If this little experiment with the Lubitel goes well, I am going to definitely grab one.

Good tip about the light meter! I'll definitely look into that.

ann: Thank you! I will probably rig up some sort of portable "Dark Box" to hold everything and can seal it up nicely or for storage. My misses has two Cats so if dust can be an issue I guess I'll have to pull out the saw and hammer. lol

[Derrel]

Sure--feel free to use the d-slr as a big,fancy light meter. I mean, it HAS a real light meter inside of it. If you want to make it consistent, you will need to meter fairly similarly each time, and build a system around a consistent method and equipment. For example, if you always use a 50mm lens, and meter your palm, and then open up one stop, you will get about the right color on caucasian skin tone. The other option is to light meter off of a gray card, and then use that measurement to get a baseline reading, which MUST be modified to get the right tonal values in B&W. If you use the camera to meter green grass, or an 18 percent gray card, you will need to ADD about 1 and 3/4 f/stop in exposure to make a pure white cat come out pure white. If you meter the same 18% gray card, and want a black cat to come out black, you need to UNDER-expose around 1.5 to 2 f/stops; otherwise, the light meter will tell you to use too much exposure, which will make that black cat in to a denser negative area, and he will come out gray. I hope one of the missus' two cats is either black or white!!!

Have fun with the Lubitel! And keep in mind, the suggested exposure setting that come with each roll of film are pretty good starting points to MEMORIZE. if you look at those included exposure settings and analyze them, you'll see that they are sort of related to the Sunny 16 rule. Keep this in mind: Sunny 16 , and then as each lower level of light arrives, the exposure is increased a stop.Light clouds, open up a stop, to 11. heavier clouds open a stop to f/8. Overcast, open up to f/5.6. Heavy overcast, stay at f/5.6 and drop a shutter speed. And so on.

[ann]

With the sunny 16 rule, one adjust for the light, not just bright light, cloudy, shade they all have their options. ah, see, if i had fully read Derrel post, he mentions some of those options..

Years ago, Kodak, placed on the film box suggestions for various fstops, and image the surprise for folks when they discovered they worked quite well. Just put your shutter speed at the ISO rating and do some testing, Using your digital meter is taking up lots of extra hands and equipment.

I have a friend who never uses a light meter, taught their brain to recognize conditions, and can give you a reading down to 1/2. In my younger days, we used to test each other in a similar manner by looking at the scence, indicating what was the exposure and then would take a meter reading to see how close we could come to matching that reading.

Rumor has it Edward Weston never used a light meter, and his work is certainly correctly exposed.

[altitude604]

After waiting patiently, my Lubitel arrived in the mail today. You could tell it came from Ukraine because it was in a box, wrapped in tape... in a box... wrapped in tape... in a box... in its zipper case... LOL

Anyways... thought I would post a couple pictures! (Just quick snaps... nothing special.)


Looks pretty nifty with the cyrillic nameplate. All the glass was clean and clear!


Moulded plastic sides. Feels surprisingly tough for plastic too actually. ISO placard only goes up to 250 curiously enough.


Now we get to the business side! The WLF pops open like a Kremlin Guard to attention and closes up nicely.


The ground glass. Not as bad as I was expecting really... Fine focusing will need a close look though.


Fairly tiny ground spot. But manageable.


Shutter and aperture. Everything works snappy and fairly smoothly.

I'm heading down to Cape Breton this weekend with the Misses so I'm hoping to run two rolls through it while I'm there. Probably send these rolls out for processing and I'll post the results!

[Derrel]

Awesome! Who wouldn't love that Communist-era styling and machining!!! So,so cool, in a Ukrainian sort of fashion! it's always fun to get a new/old (old/new?) camera,and to take it out on its maiden (millionth?) voyage! I can hardly wait to see a few snaps from this new puppy. Enjoy!

[Mike_E]

How about an ultimate exposure computer? Ultimate Exposure Computer

If you'd like a hand held though I am finding a Gosen Luna Pro to be a very nice one. An old Soligor is a good and inexpensive spot meter.

[Proteus617]

You dodged a bullet taking the pass on an Arax 60.

[Pgeobc]

You may be placing too much emphasis on gear and not enough on simply enjoying the camera. Forget developing your own film for now--use Ilford XP2 Super and get your local lab to develop the negatives (many can). You have a reasonbly good working meter in your existing camera; it is a pain to haul around two cameras, but go ahead.

When I wuzza kid, I bought an Ansco Regent (middle 1950s) I had no light meter and, in fact, most people did not. We simply learned to estimate the day's light using the poop sheets that came with the film. We also knew that B&W is very forgiving of exposure errors and that processors will do their best to get a reasonable print, even from a poor negative.

Just go shoot, learning as you go and having fun.

[KVRNut]

I agree with Pgeobc whole heartedly. You have a good format with the 6x6 and it's a size that makes for some good prints and some enjoyable photo sessions. Get to know your camera and have fun doing if first. Let the lab worry about your developing until you're confident with your skills. They know how to get the most out of your negatives as you live in a beautiful part of the country.

Get a light meter, learn how to use it, and learn the Zone System so eventually you don't need to rely so much on the meter. There's fair amount of older, simple to use light meters on the market today that are selling for a good price. Pick up a note book, record the picture and camera settings you used. You'll find that the note book, when used religously, will become a valuable tool. Don't be afraid to bracket shoot either. It can make a difference between throwing away a shot and making a print.

As an aside, I have a Ricoh Super Ricohflex (sold for $11.99 new back in '56) that has no metering at all but I'm pretty lucky in that I have a couple of old light meters of the same vintage. It's kinda fun seeing the strange looks on other photographer's faces when the old school stuff is pulled out of the camera bag and used.

[altitude604]

Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately there is no Lab in town at all so I'm stuck with either sending all my rolls to St. John's or Montreal which is a bit of a drag, hence the interest in doing B&W negs at home.

I've got that Ultimate Exposure Computer printed after modifying it just for the Lubitel so there are no shutter speeds higher than 1/250 so it's easier and more compact. Nicely fits in the zipper case for it.

Thinking that since I'll have my XSi with me anyways, that I could use it to get a rough idea what the final result will look like and a backup meter. Ideally I'd like to be able to eyeball the lighting eventually though. lol