More Fun with Large Format Film Images!

[espressogeek]

Great shot, what are you scanning with?

Originally Posted by jotloob

Here an image taken in Causse Mejan , South of France .
ARCA-SWISS 4x5 F-LINE METRIC , RODENSTOCK APO SIRONAR 5,6/135mm , ILFORD DELTA 400 (exposed as 250) , ID11 1+1

Attachment 11827

[bensonga]

Since I haven't shot any LF film recently, I have to go back a few years for this one. Early 1980s, taken with my first 4x5 monorail view camera (a Cambo something or other). Probably a Rodenstock Sironar 150mm lens. I sort of remember hauling my camera up to the top of a parking garage to get this photo. At the time, I didn't have a car....so I had the camera in it's big case on a luggage trolley...with a Majestic tripod on my shoulder. Believe it or not, they would let me on a Minneapolis transit bus with all this gear. The things we will do for a photo when we are young and determined!

From my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota....the Foshay Tower. Built in 1929, it was known as the "first skyscraper west of the Mississippi River".

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska

[bensonga]

Another building in Minneapolis from the 1980s. Cambo and Rodenstock 150, as best I can recall.

Gary

[jotloob]

Originally Posted by espressogeek

Great shot, what are you scanning with?

First of all , thanks to Gary Benson , who opened this thread . A great thread with lots of good B/W images .
I like to see all the B/W images and I must say , it turns me on to get my 4x5 ARCA out again and get it back to work .

Now , the image with the three rock monsters was scanned with an AGFA DUO SCAN 2400 . That scanner is the predecessor of my MICROTEK ARTIXSCAN F1 . I still have both scanners .
The F1 results are rather good , but the scanner is also rather slow .
If you need a faster and also better scanner , you will also have to invest a lot more money . Scanning live can be very hard .
I have written a first impression thread in an other forum .
So if you are interested in that , just PM me .

Regards Jürgen

[bensonga]

Originally Posted by jotloob

First of all , thanks to Gary Benson , who opened this thread . A great thread with lots of good B/W images .
I like to see all the B/W images and I must say , it turns me on to get my 4x5 ARCA out again and get it back to work .

Hi Jurgen. Your images are inspiring me to get the LF cameras out and shoot some 4x5 film again.

Your description of the experience taking the photo of the rock monsters and flowing grass image is one that I've only had a few times in my life. It is something very special and memorable.

My thanks to all of you for keeping this thread alive and interesting. Clearly, large format (whether film or digital) is not dead yet.

In the meantime, until I actually get out there and make some new LF exposures....here's another photo from my home town of Minneapolis. I worked evenings in that tall building (the IDS Center) while I was a student at the University of Minnesota in the early 1980s. I used to walk down this street (Nicollet Mall) every day, to and from work and the university.

Taken with a Cambo 4x5 and Rodenstock 150mm lens.

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska

[JimCollum]

Angkor Wat w Betterlight (without IR block filter)





w/ pano adapter



w/ pano adapter

[jotloob]

Gary

I love your architecture images . Unfortunately , I do not have any building like that near my place . Currently travelling anywhere is useless . We have the total snow chaos here .

Jim

Your ANCHOR images are great .
Is the magenta cast wanted or just a result of a "wrong" profile ? ? ?

Here an image taken in TICINO (Switzerland) . The profile is Lstar RGB V.2 .
Only very minor corrections to the image were required .

There is no rework by PSCS4 done . No sharpening .

Regards Jürgen

[bensonga]

Originally Posted by jotloob

Gary
I love your architecture images . Unfortunately , I do not have any building like that near my place .

Unfortunately....it's the same for me now, living here in Alaska. I really miss living in a place with interesting buildings, whether historic or modern. Anchorage is one of the least interesting cities in this respect that I've ever seen.

Currently travelling anywhere is useless . We have the total snow chaos here.

And we only have about 6 inches of snow on the ground now....pretty crazy weather around the world.

Here an image taken in TICINO (Switzerland) . The profile is Lstar RGB V.2 .
Only very minor corrections to the image were required .
There is no rework by PSCS4 done . No sharpening .
Regards Jürgen

Beautiful image Jurgen! If you would ever like to particpate in a B&W print exchange, let me know. I've got a 11x14 inch exchange coming in right now and one of the participants has a very similar image that he took in the Smoky Mountains National Park with a 4x5 view camera. Printed on Crane Museo Silver Rag with custom inks in an Epson 4000....and with an application of GLOP applied afterwards to eliminate any gloss differential. It's an absolutely beautiful print.

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska

[jotloob]

Originally Posted by bensonga

If you would ever like to particpate in a B&W print exchange, let me know. I've got a 11x14 inch exchange coming in right now and one of the participants has a very similar image that he took in the Smoky Mountains National Park with a 4x5 view camera.

Hello Gary

Thanks for your reply . In principal , I think print exchange is a good idea .
It shows us more from the work of other photographers .
I have only a very small room and any available room on the walls is filled with framed images .
And I have many images in folders which reside in drawers . And I think , it would be a pitty to hide any more images .
But I am willing to send some of my images , if the cost is reasonable .
Think of the calendar postage . But , there would also be the chance to send data via "sendthisfile" or an other carrier , and the receiver could print the image himself on his desired paper . Let me know more about the print exchange .

Here an other image I took in South of France . 4x5 inch , RODENSTOCK APO-SIRONAR S 5,6/135mm , ILFORD DELTA 400 , ID11 1+1 .

[Uaiomex]

Jürgen:
I salute you!

Eduardo

Your ANCHOR images are great .
Is the magenta cast wanted or just a result of a "wrong" profile ? ? ?

Here an image taken in TICINO (Switzerland) . The profile is Lstar RGB V.2 .
Only very minor corrections to the image were required .Attachment 12428

There is no rework by PSCS4 done . No sharpening .

Regards Jürgen[/QUOTE]

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by jotloob

Gary



Your ANCHOR images are great .
Is the magenta cast wanted or just a result of a "wrong" profile ? ? ?
.

Regards Jürgen

No, those are the 'correct' colors. I photographed the images with the Betterlight without the IR block filter, then white balanced it for a grey card. Without that filter, the betterlight captures both IR and visible light, so the colors are changed, dependent upon the amount of IR light (less before the sun rises, more as the day goes on)

jim

[Bob]

Jim,
Lovely Images.
Angkor Wat is on my get there before I die list.
-bob

[Hoang]

JimCollum, those Angkor Wat photographs are amazing! It is truly inspiring. The merging of architecture with nature combined with the amazing lighting and unreal yet tasteful colors.

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by Bob

Jim,
Lovely Images.
Angkor Wat is on my get there before I die list.
-bob

i'd recommend sooner than later.

When i was over there, there was talk about putting trams thru the ruins, to facilitate more tourists.

[JimCollum]

some more from the betterlight & IR

[bensonga]

Originally Posted by jotloob

Hello Gary

Thanks for your reply . In principal , I think print exchange is a good idea .
It shows us more from the work of other photographers .
I have only a very small room and any available room on the walls is filled with framed images .
And I have many images in folders which reside in drawers . And I think , it would be a pitty to hide any more images .
But I am willing to send some of my images , if the cost is reasonable .
Think of the calendar postage . But , there would also be the chance to send data via "sendthisfile" or an other carrier , and the receiver could print the image himself on his desired paper . Let me know more about the print exchange .

Hi Jurgen (and any others who might be interested in a print exchange),

I know just what you mean about having limited space. My home office is rapidly filling up with 6 years of accumulated prints, not to mention my equipment, printers etc. And certainly the cost of printing (paper, ink, postage etc) is not getting any cheaper. All in all however, I have learned so much from participating in these exchanges and have so many beautiful prints to enjoy now, that I will continue for as long as I possibly can. We have regular monthly participants from England, Norway and India and of course, all over the United States. Each exchange is limited to 12 participants (so you make 12 prints, send them to me, and I return 1 copy of your print and a print from each of the other participants).

Return postage from the USA to overseas locations is a very reasonable $12.45 USD (flat rate, Priority Mail), so the cost of postage is not so bad. The whole point of our print exchange is to see prints from other people, so sending a file to another person for them to print is not really what this is all about. If anyone is interested in participating in either in a B&W or Color print exchange, send me a PM.

Gary Benson
Eagle River, Alaska

[Francois_A]

Sinar F2, Schneider 110 XL, Portra 160VC, 1/15 sec @ f/22

[jotloob]

Francois

What a great shot with a good composition . I believe , if the person would not be there , it would be a clean but "dead" image . So it is filled
with "life" . Thank you .
Unfortunately , I have no chance of such architecture , where I live .

Also I must say , I am fascinated by the truck cemetary images , posted by Jim .
These images show dead material , but are still full of life .
Who has produced the cars , who drove the cars and earned his income for his family , and who is now takeing these beauties apart , and earns money again ? ? ?
If that is not life , what else is life .
I have a great preference for junk yards and similar old things , not beeing used anymore .
A junkyard is unique . What you find today , will not be there by tomorrow .
A junkyard changes everday , but a cemetary of old trucks gives you peace and time to think about the past .

[Francois_A]

Originally Posted by jotloob

I believe , if the person would not be there , it would be a clean but "dead" image . So it is filled with "life" . Thank you .

Thanks Jürgen!

I waited a long time for that one person in the shot! There was either nobody or too many people.

Even with a view camera, "decisive moments" happen!

Regards,

François

[routlaw]

Originally Posted by Francois_A

Thanks Jürgen!

I waited a long time for that one person in the shot! There was either nobody or too many people.

Even with a view camera, "decisive moments" happen!

Regards,

François

Well done Francois! Very nice image.

Rob

[jlm]

excellent shot.

what grabbed me first was how it looks so much like a computer rendering; must be the precision of the building lattice and shadowing

[Francois_A]

Thanks Rob and John!

The National Gallery in Ottawa is a fine piece of architecture. Here is a fisheye view of the outside. The guys in the foreground were taking out the spider's eggs to do some soldering on the metal mesh.

[nautilus]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

4x5

This is one of the pics I like most in this thread. The transitions from focus to non-focus areas are very subtle. Everything in the picture looks 'smooth' and sharp where it should be.

[jotloob]

Hello John

You are showing great images here .
Unfortunately , I do not have such wonderful shooting places here .
But let me give it a try .


This image can only be taken in the middle of summer (time frame is two weeks at 19:00 to 19:45 hours local time)

[jlm]

Jurgen: thanks. those were taken when i was a bit younger and in the thrall of edward and brett weston, ansel and fred picker. they scanned extremely well using the epson 700 and silverfast. in those days, black and white was the only practical way to go. it still looks luscious

[jotloob]

Originally Posted by jlm

Jurgen: thanks. those were taken when i was a bit younger and in the thrall of edward and brett weston, ansel and fred picker. they scanned extremely well using the epson 700 and silverfast. in those days, black and white was the only practical way to go. it still looks luscious

John

I am grown up with B/W and for me too , it was the only practical way , to produce images in my own darkroom . I do love B/W and many of my work is framed . Today I do B/W in my "lightroom" , not LR from Adobe .
Here an image I took last year . Due to protection works againt flooding waters , this place looks completely different now. But I have that shot .



Taken with HORSEMAN SW612PRO + APO GRANDAGON 4,5/55 + FUJI ACROS 100 + KODAK XTOL stock solution .

[Jeremy]

8x10, Fujinon 360mm.

[Lars Vinberg]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

8x10, Fujinon 360mm.

Now that's stunning. I just love the shallow DOF, the abyss-deep blacks.

[Lars Vinberg]

Studebaker (?), Death Valley, October 2006. Cooke XVa (front element) 646 mm f/16 on 8x10" Kodak E100G, Toyo 810G monorail on dual tripods. Drumscanned on my Howtek 4500.

[routlaw]

Very nice! Though it looks more like an old 49-51 chevy from here.

Rob

[robmac]

Excellent - very crisp, amazing blacks - and wouldn't be the same w/o the hat.

Originally Posted by Jeremy

8x10, Fujinon 360mm.

[Lars Vinberg]

Originally Posted by routlaw

Very nice! Though it looks more like an old 49-51 chevy from here.

Maybe the tail end says more:

[Francois_A]

Incredible details and beautiful tones in those two images Lars!
It must be quite a feast to see them printed big.

Regards,
François

[Lars Vinberg]

Originally Posted by Francois_A

Incredible details and beautiful tones in those two images Lars!
It must be quite a feast to see them printed big.

Thanks The real kick is to see the originals on the light table, it's like looking through a very clean window. Staring down on some 200-300 megapixels of detail is something you can't experience in the digital world.

Something about that shoot: The car is by an abandoned mine inside Death Valley National Park. I went up there around lunch, spent the afternoon planning setting up, and then exposed two sheets just before the sun dipped below the hills in the west. Those are the two exposures you see in this thread. 8x10 film is too expensive for bracketing or experimenting.

[JimCollum]

a couple of test shots with the Betterlight, without the IR block filter.. to show the effects of Line speed on wave/water artifacts

line speed 1/40



line speed 1/120

[Jeremy]

Self-portrait with the 11x14.

[Francois_A]

Jim, I like the 2nd image a lot! The waves are just perfect.

I was surprised that the birds were sharp, but based on a 1/120 line speed and the fact that each bird is about 1/40 the length of the image, it must have taken about only 2 seconds to scan them.

Regarding IR, do you find the resulting images significantly softer when visible and IR lights are combined, as opposed to IR only or visible only ?

Francois

[shakeshuck]

Originally Posted by Francois_A

I was surprised that the birds were sharp, but based on a 1/120 line speed and the fact that each bird is about 1/40 the length of the image, it must have taken about only 2 seconds to scan them.

Francois

I was surprised by the birds, too. You can see that one has moved, but not by as much as I was expecting.

Originally Posted by JimCollum

to show the effects of Line speed on wave/water artifacts

Don't forget also that the direction of the waves' movement is important in relation to the direction the back is scanning. Maybe you could do a couple more tests...?

[viablex1]

Originally Posted by Lars Vinberg

Maybe the tail end says more:

wow what a shot, that scanner is off the hook, really beautiful lars!!!

[JimCollum]

playing around with an old Wollensak Verito 8 3/4"

shot with the betterlight & Ebony view: @ f8
(vignetting was done in post processing.. 'grain' added as well)





100% crop




Using the same view and lens, i shot two frames with the Aptus and stitched them (this time @ f5)




100% crop





After i'm done 'playing'.. i might do a side by side between the two backs using the same lens at various apertures

[Francois_A]

Amazing details down to the molecular level from the scanning back!!
Jim, I am wondering why even the uncropped image from the Aptus appears so soft compared to the one from your scanning back ?

Regards,

Francois

[Bob]

Jim, Nice cat?

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by Francois_A

Amazing details down to the molecular level from the scanning back!!
Jim, I am wondering why even the uncropped image from the Aptus appears so soft compared to the one from your scanning back ?

Regards,

Francois

That's a function of the lens, rather than the back used. The Betterlight would have looked the same (only higher resolution smoothness). The Verito is an old soft focus portrait lens that is soft and ghostly wide open, and becomes tack sharp as you stop down. I guess a side by side at the same aperture will be in order

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by Bob

Jim, Nice cat?

yea, Bob.. cat

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by Francois_A

Jim, I like the 2nd image a lot! The waves are just perfect.

I was surprised that the birds were sharp, but based on a 1/120 line speed and the fact that each bird is about 1/40 the length of the image, it must have taken about only 2 seconds to scan them.

Regarding IR, do you find the resulting images significantly softer when visible and IR lights are combined, as opposed to IR only or visible only ?

Francois

yes, the IR can be a little softer than the visible only images. but a *lot* sharper than the equivalent film IR capture

[Francois_A]

Jim, I am also curious about how the scanning back compares to your Aptus regarding dynamic range.

Thanks,

Francois

[Lars Vinberg]

Not to be outdone by Jim's scanning back here's a 100% crop from a 2 gigabyte scan (8x10 E100VS, scanned at 2000 dpi). The upload here seems to sharpen a bit but those are actually grains of sand.

[Francois_A]

Beautiful image Lars! Amazing details!
Looking at that 8x10 slide on a light table must be something!

Cheers!
Francois

[JimCollum]

Originally Posted by Lars Vinberg

Not to be outdone by Jim's scanning back here's a 100% crop from a 2 gigabyte scan (8x10 E100VS, scanned at 2000 dpi). The upload here seems to sharpen a bit but those are actually grains of sand.

showoff

[shakeshuck]

Originally Posted by JimCollum

showoff

I think Lars has been to Brobdingnag, and those grains of sand are actually a lot bigger than you think