LARGE FORMAT IS VERY COOL!

Hello,

I got into large format for the purpose of making archival and
reproduction quality transparencies of my art work, but i have to tell you, the
photography itself is quite pleasurable! Far more interesting than the point
and click world.

And David N. concurs with me that the Crown Graphics, with their
historical value and their tank-like construction and mechanics, are a pleasure
in and of themselves to behold. It's just great to wake up in the morning to
look at an older camera that actually has a bellows!

The stopwatch-in-left-hand-shutter-release-in-other action is still a bit
tense, as i hate to waste film (the Sironar-N has a very sensitive release that
i wasted one sheet on), but the results are great. It's really a pleasure now
that i have a new shutter release that doesn't stick (!) and a $33 demo-model
tripod that has a vertical crank.

It's really amazing how accurate the colors are with a 64T transparency.
Perhaps the correct info is there on a negative, but it seems that they can
never really get the prints right, especially with computer controlled
"corrections", and with temperature dependant developing.

A handheld bubble level that i bought at HomeDepot has made copy work
without a copystand very easy. I place it on the rails that the lensboard
moves on, and also on the camera body and the painting itself, and then
everything falls into place pretty easily. It's just a matter of cranking up
or down to make the painting in the exact center of the fresnel lens, and the
perpendicularity is quite easy to achieve.

I'd like to thank everyone here for the advice, guiding me along this
little adventure.


How important do you think vacuuming of your 4x5 film holders really is?

I mean, i have occasionally seen some trannies come back that have a
rather large black speck on them (nothing that Photoshop couldn't handle), but
it really doesn't seem to be caused by dust, as they are really black. I'm not
sure if these defects are from the original film, or if they are made in
development, but it doesn't appear to me that regular dust would do this.

I've got a pretty picky eye with my 10x loupe, and i haven't noticed
anything like dust appearing in my trannies.

Anyhow, thanks again folks.


Slick

How important do you think vacuuming of your 4x5 film holders really is?

It really depends on you: what you can tolerate and what the conditions are
where you are using them. In dry, dusty areas you probably need to clean them
every time you load them. If you love somewhere without a dust problem,
perhaps just every so often.

Me, I live in Indiana so dust-wise I'm in the middle: not too bad, not
terribly good. But I'm fussy, so I dust my holders every time I unload them,
and vacuum them every three or four loads. I don't have a problem and I intend
for it to stay that way!

Mike


C program run. C program crash. C programmer quit.

"Radio913" wrote in message
...
How important do you think vacuuming of your 4x5 film holders really
is?

Vacuuming really sucks compared to blowing it with the air compressor. When
I'm too lazy to haul everything into the garage, I sometimes use the big
Giotto enema bulb (on the film holders).