Thinking retro

JamesD · May 20, 2006

I've been doing my 4X5 pinholes in a plain white matt, unframed, with both the negative and the contact positive side by side or over and under, depending on the orientation of the image. Everything is contact, though, so I suppose that it won't matter too much how much grain there is.

I guess with the film, though, I'm gonna have to make a contact positive, then make a contact negative from that. Should be interesting. Oh, and I need to add 4X5 sleeves to my shopping list...

I should probably start with a cheap film, you think? Something that I can afford to experiment with and possibly waste. Have you ever made a positive on film? I'll have to ask in the Darkroom forum, too. It'd make it a lot easier to make copies of the presentation, getting a positive I can contact print the same as the negative to get both on paper.

I'll check out both the Arista films and Freestyle.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

ah the not so famous gurkin tintype lol... Okay they used to make a film that shot positive like a slide. I'm not sure if they still do or not. I used to shoot it in a 2x3 cut negative holder, then put it in a frame with a piece of roof flashing as a backing.

Im not sure what you are doing so I cant really comment. The arista is about 9 bucks for 20 4x5 sheets..not cheap... but much less than some of the others.

JamesD · May 20, 2006

I'm just keeping the consistency of my display. All my pinhole photos are positive and negative side by side, which is easy, since I just make a contact print to get a positive, then mount both sheets and hang them.

With film, though, I don't want to stick the negative up on the wall, because they're a little more fragile than a paper negative. So, I'll have to make a duplicate negative on paper.

I suppose I can just contact print the paper positive... that way, I can more easily control the contrast as well.

I'm thinking I'm gonna go with the Forte 200 sheet film. In a box of 25, it's a little less than 50 cents a sheet.

Okay, I'm gonna unhijak your thread now LOL

Oldfireguy · May 20, 2006

OK you pinhole masters. I have a 4x5 Crown Graphic I'm not using much these days. It has sheet film holders, roll film holders, and polaroid backs. What do I need to do to make a pinhole camera with some of these parts. Not going to take the camera apart because it's in to nice of condition. Just want to use the different film holders.

You can email me direct at fredcwdoc@comcat.net.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

You can shoot on any film holder or with paper in the film holder dont need to do anything but make a pin hole lens. I'm not that familier with how the graffic lens board is but if you can make a masonite board just cut a hole and make your pin hole opening and glue it on. I drill my pinhole in roof flashing then glue them to masonite for a lens board. Most guys punch the hole with a needle into a heavy foil. James would know more about that.

I load my paper negs into any cut film holder. You can also shoot them on film in any film holder you have around.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

So, I went to the reinactment and ate humble pie. I also got fussed at again. This time for being in the wrong place. Photographers are always in the wrong place. It's what we do, and since I was carrying twenty pounds of retro camera gear the lady(?) had to know I was one. None the less I moved six feet to the side and she was happy.

I shot eighteen exposures and I will be developing them soon. Probably one a day... Maddening I know. I had a couple of interesting things happen I might write about them one day.

James did you get the download address its on your other thread call me crazy.

JamesD · May 20, 2006

Yep, sure did. Thank ya! But... you'd already sent me that one before LOL. However, I appreciate it, as I couldn't remember what the file was called... I've got close to two thousand documents in my "~/downloads/documents/" folder on all different subjects.... I really should sort them out into different directories, but it's a massive undertaking.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

One of my fans (maybe the only one) thought I needed a real camera so today I got a graflex of some type in the mail. I didn't buy it, trust me. The thing looks great now if one of you will tell me how to drop the front I will be ever so greateful.

I don't know what the model it but it is 4x5... if you look at the front it has a flat black board that will make the bed when it is lowered, If i ever figure out the combination to getting it released. So is there a release latch somewhere I cant find or is the Harry houdini's camera.

JamesD · May 20, 2006

fredcwdoc said:
OK you pinhole masters. I have a 4x5 Crown Graphic I'm not using much these days. It has sheet film holders, roll film holders, and polaroid backs. What do I need to do to make a pinhole camera with some of these parts. Not going to take the camera apart because it's in to nice of condition. Just want to use the different film holders.

Basically, you replace the lens with a pinhole. Lenox Laser makes laser-drilled pinholes which are ready to mount in a large-format camera, but they're a bit pricy. You can also make the pinhole and tape it to the lensboard, or affix it by whatever creative means you like. The camera itself need not undergo any modifications other than removing the lens.

The neat thing about pinholes is that there's no focusing; but if your camera racks the lensboard back and forth, toward and away from the film, in order to accomplish focusing, then you've got a variable-aperture pinhole zoom already made. The closer the pinhole is to the film, the wider the angle of view (and/or smaller the image). Back when I was in elementry school, I used to make pinhole telescopes with paper-towel tubes, aluminum foil, and waxed paper using this principle.

If you want more details on how to manufacture your own pinhole, and/or how to measure it, let me know. I've got more than enough to bore you with :wink:

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

so one of you tell me how to open this graflex camera i have just got.

JamesD · May 20, 2006

To borrow a term from the computer system administration field: RTFM! :mrgreen:

Seriously, though, I have no idea. It took me a week to figure out how to open my Mamiya 645, and two months to figure out how to take the lens off, and I had it in my hands. But then, I disassembled the Argoflex E shutter in about half an hour, then cleaned and reassembled it in another hour and a half. What can I say; sometimes I'm dumb.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

Well working on cameras for me is a lot easier when they aren't so nice. This one is a pure beauty well outside. It didn't come with a manual. I bet thats why the 'fan' gave it to me... Just to see if it drove me nuts.

mysteryscribe · May 20, 2006

NEVER MIND I GOT IT

terri · May 20, 2006

JamesD said:
To borrow a term from the computer system administration field: RTFM! :mrgreen:

Seriously, though, I have no idea. It took me a week to figure out how to open my Mamiya 645, and two months to figure out how to take the lens off, and I had it in my hands. But then, I disassembled the Argoflex E shutter in about half an hour, then cleaned and reassembled it in another hour and a half. What can I say; sometimes I'm dumb.

Which model Mamiya 645, James? I just picked up a super-pristine 1000-S. I think I fell for it immediately because everything it said to do in the accompanying manual worked exactly as stated. :mrgreen: Easiest flippin' thing I've ever touched, bar none! :lol: