The Omnibus Film Photography Thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

With slides, folks always speak of how accurate you need to meter when you shoot.
I had always assumed that slide film just has a super narrow dynamic range.

Then as I was fiddling in the darkroom it occurred to me that maybe the problem is that there is one less step–no opportunity to fix under/over exposure in the darkroom.
That is, if I have a heavily overexposed negative, I can still usually get a good print by doing a crazy long exposure on the enlarger, but with slide film it’s all done once the film is developed.

Is that all there is to it, or is slide film also super finicky as well?

62

Slide film has a very narrow exposure range, because the negative is being converted to a positive in the development process. It’s possible to adjust this conversion during development somewhat, if you know that the entire roll has been under or over exposed, but it’s not recommended.

63

Back in the days of making separations with a process camera, or doing the same with the early generation of scanners, negatives were a giant, giant ass-pain. When you got a transparency, you had a really solid idea of what the final output needed to look like. With a negative, who knows? Can’t really eyeball your way past the orange mask. So especially with product photography, if the client said, “That red dress needs to be a perfect match,” you had a target with a slide. With a negative, you’d better hope they sent a reference swatch.

It’s less a deal now because all of the scanner apps have some sophisticated inversion and mask removal algorithms that typically are matched to each specific film stock you might run across.

Slide film has about 7-8 stops of latitude, while modern negative film is more like 12 stops, maybe more. So you can ‘save’ a incorrectly exposed negative in scanning or printing, but a slide is what-you-see-is-what-you-get. A slide has to be ready-to-go right out of development as there’s nothing you can do in the projector to compensate. A negative with it’s wider latitude is very low contrast, meaning that you have to do something in the scanning/printing step to ‘decide’ how to compress that image into what can be reproduced in a print, which is generally about 8 stops (just like the slides) for glossy paper.

64

I ordered an ND6 and an ND9 filter, and a UV protection filter for the Olympus cameras, all 49mm. (The lens on the OM-4 doesn’t have a UV filter.) Tomorrow I’ll receive three 52mm UV protection filters, one for each Canon.

In the Olympus case were an ND polariser filter, and a diffusion filter – both 58mm. Ar? All of the Olympus lenses (except for the old Kalimar zoom) use 49mm filters. All of the Canons use 52mm ones. They didn’t fit the Nikon lenses either. The K1000 does have a 58mm UV protection filter on it, but neither the Toyo nor Quantaray filters I found will screw onto it, and I can’t get the UV filter off of the lens. Weird. I don’t remember buying these two filters. Maybe I bought them in the '80s or '90s? I don’t know. Anyway, I took them out of the Olympus case.

65

A filter wrench is a great assist for stuck filters. Alternately, a soft rubber jar opener might help.

If you found a 58mm filter in the Olympus gear bag, perhaps it was from an aftermarket zoom like a 70-210. Lots of Vivitar, Kiron, Tokina, Soligar, Tamron, etc sold in the 80s since they were usually much less cost than a Zuiko, Nikkor, Rokkor, Takumar, etc zoom lens

66

I have the old 35-200 Kalimar zoom lens, but the filters are too small for it.

67

Slide scanning… About 10 years ago or so, I used a company called Scan Cafe than would physically clean, scan, digitally clean, and save as TIFF files my old 35mm chromes. I had not only tons of Fujichrome, Ektachome, Agfachrome, and Kodachrome slides of my own, plus multiple boxes of my Dad’s 35mm Kodachromes and some roll film B&W negs.

The cost was decent, the turnaround time was almost 2 months, and the results were superb. I’ve been 100% digital for my pro stuff since then, but I still play with an old Agfa folder 6x9cm and B&W neg film.

For fun, try out some B&W positive film, if any still exists, it was early 80s when I did it. For all I can remember, it might have been a standard neg film with special processing. As I recall, my results were unspectacular, but I’ll look it up, see if I can still do something like that again.

68

Stepping rings still exist on Amazon, if the filters are important to you. They can go both up and down

69

They’re not important. Filters are cheap, and I can always get more that fit the lenses I have.

I did have to get a 43.5-46mm step-up ring (from B&H) so that I could put a UV filter on my 35 RC. Couldn’t find any 43.5 filters. $6.95 today.

70

I found it! B&W positive was made by reversal processing.

Ilford’s page about it

I’m going to try it out again soon with my 6x9 folder. Maybe I’ll have better results this time than I did with 35mm

71

Canon G-III QL17 exposure settings.

QL17 instruction manual

I have two rangefinder cameras, and the L17 is one of them. I haven’t used this one, and I have a question about exposure settings. Please refer to the instruction manual linked above.

On page 8, instructions are given as to how to set the film speed. FWIW I set it to 200, as I will be using ASA 400 film with a 1.5v battery. So far, so good. Page 9 gets into automatic exposure:

  1. Set the aperture ring to ‘A’.
  2. Turn the shutter speed ring, and match the film speed setting lever with the simple exposure symbol of :sunny: [sunny], :cloud: [cloudy], or [indoor]. With ASA 100 film, for example, the shutter speeds are set to 1/500 sec. for [sunny], 1/125 sed. for [cloudy], and 1/30 sec. for [indoor].

Here’s the thing: If I set the film speed lever to one of the symbols, it changes the film speed I’d previously set. For example, I set the film speed to 200. But I want to use shutter priority and set my shutter to 1/125 sec. on a sunny day. If I set the film speed lever to [sunny], then the film speed reads ~30 instead of 200,

So what’s the deal? Does the film speed setting not matter when you’re using shutter priority auto exposure? You just tell the camera, ‘It’s sunny’? But how does it know what aperture to use, if it doesn’t know the film speed?

Right now, it’s nighttime. If I set the aperture ring to A, and the shutter to 1/60 sec., with the film speed set to ASA 200, and point the camera to the living room lamp, the meter reads halfway between f4 and f5.6. That seems reasonable. If I use the icons listed above, the [indoor] one moves the film speed lower and offers about f4, while [cloudy] shows f1.4, and [sunny] has the needle all the way to the top (overexposed).

I’m not sure I understand the instructions. For automatic exposure, do I set the film speed, set the aperture ring to A, and choose the shutter speed? Or do I change the film speed based on whether it’s sunny or cloudy?

72

As I understand it, you don’t change the film speed lever - you move the shutter speed ring with the symbols on it to line up with that lever:

Imgur

73

OK, that makes more sense. I think. With the film apeed set to ASA 200, and the aperture ring set to A, I cannot move the shutter speed ring such that the [sunny] icon aligns with the film speed setting lever. It only goes to about ⅓ of the way past [cloudy], and the shutter speed is at the maximum 1/500 sec.

But if it’s shutter priority, I should be able to choose the shutter speed. So I set the shutter speed to 1/125 sec. The film speed setting lever is now aligned with [indoors]. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand why you can’t choose a shutter speed on a shutter priority auto exposure camera, and why the indoor/cloudy/sunny icons have to change the setting of the film speed.

74

What a quirky little camera! (and folks call the A-1 quirky)

The way I see it, the sunny/cloudy/indoors icons are just a quick reference for folks who don’t want to faff about with shutter speeds. They are on the same ring, and you are, indeed, changing the shutter speed when you rotate the pictures.
It makes sense that you can’t align “sunny” with the lever set at 200–they aligned “sunny” with 1/500 when they use ISO 100, so if you slide the lever over a stop it would then be expected to match 1/1000, but the camera doesn’t have 1/1000. They are using higher shutter speeds than Sunny 16 for those pictures so that the camera can use wider apertures.

The whole picture-for-shutter-speed thing is dumb on this camera.

In AE mode, it looks like you set aperture to A, select a shutter speed, and the meter needle points to the aperture that the camera chooses.

In manual mode they say that the needle will go to the top of the scale. Does this mean that the meter doesn’t work at all in manual mode? That’s an odd feature.

Funky camera. My mom had one of those in her collection. I ought to look for a nice clean one to remember the old days.

75

The exposure thing is not what I expected. But the Olympus 35 RC has a quirk too: You set the film speed in a window on the front of the lens! The DIN/ASA window is shown on the right side of the lens as you look at it.

I think I’m starting to understand. But I’m on my first cuppa joe yet.

I didn’t even notice the icons before. (Too busy playing with other cameras.) They’re like what’s on my Minolta 450E Autopak. [NB: The camera pictured is not my camera.]

That is what I expected. Given the limited light in the living room, at night, with a lamp, I think that’s what was happening… until I RTFI. Then I started getting confused. I’ll take the camera outside after the sun comes up and see what happens.

About that image I posted showing the Olympus next to a Rollei. The page, posted before by @Pork_Rind, shows how small the 35 RC is, next to the OM-1. Then it’s shown next to a Rollei 35 S. The 35 RC is smaller than the Canon QL17. I think it’s actually smaller than the Canon than it is in relation to the OM-1 as shown on the page. That really shows how small the Rollei is! :astonished:

76

I’d intended to link directly to the image where you can see the DIN/ASA window on the 35 RD, but the link just goes to the page. I wanted to point to the ‘fourth’ image down. (The ‘second image’ is actually a block of four images. I’m counting it as one for the purpose of direction.)

77

The small size of the Rollei 35 S reminded me of the different sizes of my cameras.

From left to right: Pentax K1000, Olympus OM-1, Canon Canonet G-III QL17, and Olympus 35 RC.

[Album] K1000, OM-1, QL17, and 35 RC size comparison

The K1000 is about the same size as my Nikon and Canon SLRs. The OM-1 is the same size as my OM-2 and OM-4. The QL17’s body, while not as wide as the OM-1’s, is taller than the OM-1’s (except for the prism). The 35 RC is my smallest camera.

[NB: The embedded image is stretched on my computer. It’s the correct ratio on imgur.]

78

I had to run an errand, so I took my ‘new’ Canon F-1 with me. Apparently, I’m still facing a learning curve. For one thing, it took me a bit to realise I actually have to turn the camera on! (Switch around the shutter release.) I was able to take pictures with the Shutter speed on A and the aperture set to whatever. I was able to take pictures with the aperture set to A and the shutter speed set to whatever. I was able to take pictures with both the shutter speed and aperture chosen by me…

But I couldn’t take a picture with both the shutter speed and aperture set to A. I wonder if you’re not allowed to do that? I’ll have to check the manual.

79

Too late to edit, of course.

I checked the manual, and I didn’t see an A+A option (Program mode on the AE-1 Program). A curious thing is that the manual says I only have the shutter priority option if the AE Power Winder FN is attached… which it wasn’t. So now I’m wondering what I was doing with the aperture set to A and the shutter speed set to my choice.

The camera seems to have a 36-exposure roll of film in it, and 17 frames had been taken when I got it. I have no idea if the back had been opened at some point (the seller said the camera was tested – without film), but maybe my test pics will turn out.

80

Whew! I just came out of an hour of surgery on the new Rollei 35, followed by a half hour in the machine shop.

I’m stunned. It is working perfectly now! All speeds are within a few percent.

This was not my choice. I knew that there is a procedure for getting that lower range to work, but I had no desire to open up my brand new pride and joy.

…then last night I was fiddling around with it and noticed that the shutter cocking lever kept getting tighter and tighter, accompanied by a grinding noise.
I imagined metal chips being ground from surfaces that had no grease since the Age of Aquarius and my heart sank. I immediately ordered a lens spanner so I could take out those fiddly two-hole screws.

Today I lay down a towel and started the surgery. I buggered up the three brass screws under the cocking lever a little because they were likely installed with thread locker.
The shutter speed fix was a success: I used some naphtha to free up the low-range gears and put the tiniest drop of synthetic clock oil on them. Perfection.
But then I noticed that the spring for the cocking lever had unhooked and unwound (!), something that repair guides warn against.

I spent the next forty minutes fiddling with it, tightening up the cog by a few more teeth, trying the lever to see if it cocked correctly, tightening it up a few more teeth, until finally I got it working.

Once I reassembled things I noticed that the two-holed finish screw (more a disc) that covers the cocking lever screws was touching the cocking lever and had worn brass underneath. Perhaps that was the source of the grinding.
There was a whisper-thin shim washer under it, measuring 0.010" thick.

So off to the machine shop I went and quickly machined an identical washer, 0.020" thick instead.

New washer installed, there was perfect clearance. After having this camera’s guts open, I’m shocked that it works properly and has good shutter speeds.
Nobody will see the messed up screws under the cocking lever.