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Any interest in a PFM Picture-A-Week (PAW)? part II

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Yeah it's Xenecol 1:12 back agitated in a Scherbatsky tank and then washed in a dilute Persital solution :)

Basically I don't have a scanner and don't want to invest the money until I am more committed to MF. So I sent them to Peak Imaging for Process & Scan.
 
Nice work, Matthew. I think it's about time that I haul out my F3, which I bought purposely for B&W photography, and get back into old-skool photography.

One question: Would it be cheating if I shot C-41 B&W emulsions? No one around here develops real B&W film and I can't be arsed mixing up a witch's brew to do it at home.

Joe
 
Joe Petrik said:
One question: Would it be cheating if I shot C-41 B&W emulsions?
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Yes. Get yerself a a brick of Tri-X, a changing bag, a Paterson tank, and some chemicals, or hang your head in shame.

That Mamiya looks to have a very decent lens, Matthew.

I'm in Tokyo at the moment, surrounded by second hand camera shops, and lots of nice MF gear in particular. It's all so very tempting, and I would really like a MF rangefinder to go with the Rolleiflex :)

-- Ian
 
Mamiya 6's or 7's are supposed to be much cheaper in Japan than back here. You know you need one. How much are they?
 
Joe Petrik said:
Nice work, Matthew. I think it's about time that I haul out my F3, which I bought purposely for B&W photography, and get back into old-skool photography.

One question: Would it be cheating if I shot C-41 B&W emulsions? No one around here develops real B&W film and I can't be arsed mixing up a witch's brew to do it at home.

Joe
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One benefits of developing B+W yourself is that you can play with the exposure in camera and then alter the development to suit.

Alternatively, I believe that Kodachrome can be developed to B+W.
 
Mamiya 6's or 7's are supposed to be much cheaper in Japan than back here. You know you need one. How much are they?
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That's what I've been looking for, but there aren't any around, at least not in the half a dozen or so secondhand shops I've found (which includes all the well-known ones). I've seen a few older Mamiya 6 folders for a couple of hundred quid. There are quite a few Bronica RF645s around with the 65mm lens for about £400, which is tempting, although I would prefer a bigger neg. However, it's compact enough, and the 3 available lenses are good enough, for it easily to become my primary camera. I've also seen lots of fixed lens Fuji 6x4.5s and 6x7s around, again only a couple of hundred quid or so. But the most likely candidate at the moment is a Plaubel Makina 67, these go for about £800 in the UK but I've found two here for about £600. It's a really nice camera, and surprisingly compact too (the lens is collapsible). Only 10 shots per roll of 120, but a properly big neg.

Too many choices, but Tokyo's like that :) If I leave it much longer before I make a decision I'll have spent all my money on records. Life's tough here :)

-- Ian
 
I agree with the others Joe. If you are going to do film then you need to do it properly and if you are going the C-41 faux-BW route then you might as well just shoot digital and convert to B&W in PS.

"That Mamiya looks to have a very decent lens, Matthew."

Yeah I like. I really wish I had the 85mm as well though for both the focal length and teh faster speed (f2.8 over 4.5).

"One benefits of developing B+W yourself is that you can play with the exposure in camera and then alter the development to suit"

This is of course *exactly* what we were talking about with regard to RAW processing in the other thread :)
 
There has to be a reasonable mail order B&W development place somewhere in Canada. Or is it really getting that bad? Easy enough still in the UK.
 
Joe - isn't there a Craigslist Tarrono? On the one in Denver, you can pick up all the developing gear for peanuts. Then just mail order powders from B&H (says me who has done all that, but has still to develop a roll).

Ian - I'm in Kyoto in Oct, but was thinking of taking the train up to Tokyo for a day or two, so I need a shortlist of vinyl/camera shops - please advise. Have you thought about going to the Tokyo Fish Market? I think they're be some fantastic photo ops there.
 
matthewr said:
"One benefits of developing B+W yourself is that you can play with the exposure in camera and then alter the development to suit"

This is of course *exactly* what we were talking about with regard to RAW processing in the other thread :)
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Well, not sure that was *exactly* what we were talking about. There is a difference between salvaging an image and having very clearly in mind at the point of exposure the relationship between exposure, development and printing but it is far easier and quicker in digital to buff that turd...:)
 
RAW processsing isn't salvaging an image though (although it can be that). It's about being able to make that final exposure decision (or at least about 2 stops of it) in the RAW convertor and thuse giving yourself the maxiumum flexibility in the post-exposure process.

Note you can also do Zone style exposures with digicams as well. E.g. if I spot meter the highest useful highlight and stop down 3 stops from that reading (on my camera at least) that puts the Zone X right up against the right hand edge of the tonal range. If you do this when shooting RAW you give yourself the best chance of not only nailing the perfectly exposed final print but also of handling very wide dynamic range scenes and other difficult to get right situations.

My point is, I think, that ultimately its all just light and within that tone, contrast and colour and all he same issues, techniques, rules of thumb, considerations, etc etc. apply in flim and digital. It's jsut less arcance and more accessible in digital is all and the more I get to learn about the two the more I appreciate that they really are a lot more similar than they are different.
 
Dan,

Joe - isn't there a Craigslist Tarrono? On the one in Denver, you can pick up all the developing gear for peanuts. Then just mail order powders from B&H (says me who has done all that, but has still to develop a roll).
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No lab in town develops slide films and the number that still process C-41 films is dwindling. B&W processing went a long time before that.

It's home brew B&W or nothing around here, so I guess this means I need to order some chemicals to regain my street cred.

Joe
 
This evenings sunset and looking south.


5b30bd61.jpg
 
Thanks, Matthew. It's not quite next door but at least they offer all the film processing services I'd ever need.

Joe
 
dan m said:
Ian - I'm in Kyoto in Oct, but was thinking of taking the train up to Tokyo for a day or two, so I need a shortlist of vinyl/camera shops - please advise. Have you thought about going to the Tokyo Fish Market? I think they're be some fantastic photo ops there.
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The fish market is great, but I haven't been up early enough yet to see it in full flow (it all happens around 5-6am).

Most of the used camera shops are around Shinjuku. Map Camera is the easiest to find, as it is near Yodabashi Camera, which is a huge shop, but two of the best (Alps-Do and one with a name I don't know on the second floor of a building near Map Camera) are harder to find. There's an incomplete list here:

http://photojpn.org/dir/listings.php?cmd=viewlistB&cid=152

Leica is not cheap here, it's much cheaper in the US or even London, but Nikon and Canon RFs, and medium format gear, are all at good prices.

As for records, depends what you're after. Disk Union has about 6 branches in Shinjuku, each catering to different genres. The progressive/experimental shop is good but mostly CD, the jazz shop is small, all vinyl, but has a good selection of stuff. The best Disk Union jazz branch is in Ochanomizu. (There's also a branch of Bic Camera here which is apparently good for second hand gear, I'm going to check it out today.) There are lots of other second hand record shops, but finding them is difficult, I'm struggling to remember where some of the best of them are myself (many streets in Tokyo are un-named, and many shops are hidden away in upper floors of anonymous buildings).

Normally Joel would be happy to guide you around the record shops, but he's been involved in a cycling accident and won't be mobile for a while, but if you contact him by PM with the dates of your visit I'm sure he'll be happy to give you some pointers when he's back online. I suggest staying in Shinjuku, as it's a good base to explore from and has plenty of cheap hotels. It's a great city but you won't see much of it in two days, it's vast.

Kyoto is a magical place, I spent a week there a couple of years ago and could easily live there. It has an allegedly very good record shop, although I didn't get to visit it:

http://meditations.jp/shopinfo.html

-- Ian
 
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