In a Fog

In the literal sense.  The past two days have been wonderful for shooting in a dense fog.  While it is late January, it feels like March, as the temperatures have been mild for this time of year. The fog yesterday lingered until the sun burned it off around noon, but today's hung around quite a bit longer.

One of the fun things about shooting in these conditions is the soft light, and the muted details. Forms become important, rather than the details, and such weather just screams for b&w, or at least it does for me. With the backgrounds obscured by white, it becomes a dreamland where you really can't quite pin down where an image was taken.

I shot mostly film yesterday with my Nikon FG and 50mm  and 36-72mm E lenses.   I took along my Fuji X100S digi, and therefore have some lovely b&w scenes to share right away. Today, I was running errands, and stopped along the Huron River, again with the X100S. The scenes I was seeing reminded me of some Japanese woodblock prints.  With such a serene, soft landscape, one can lose those negative thoughts and live in the moment.  It was a needed break offered to us by nature.

Eastman 5363 - Pushing the limits again.

Back in December, I received a surprise package in the mail from the Film Photography Project.  Three rolls of Eastman 5363 b&w to try out.  Now, Mike Rasso must know that I have tried all kinds of crazy b&w films intended for copying, graphics, and other high-contrast applications. But 5363 was a new one for me.   The data sheet states:
"EASTMAN High Contrast Positive Film II 5363 and 7363 is a medium-speed black and-white positive film that is suitable for making both positive and negative titles. It is also useful for production of printer effects, such as silhouette and traveling mattes. This blue-sensitive film is characterized by high contrast, excellent sharpness, and very high resolving power."

In other words, "This is not a film for general photography" -- or is it?  Part of the problem with using these oddball films is that outside the cine world, we do not see them used much.  If you have Tri-X, why use something like Eastman 5363?  The answer is -- it's the challenge of seeing what happens.  Unfortunately, the data sheet does not give one much hope for other uses, so others have been experimenting with developers and what the native ISO of the film really is. Seeing the term "medium speed" baffled me, - compared to what?  Is it ISO 100?  Based on reading what the FPP folks have been doing, I started with ISO 25.  Roll 1 was shot with my Nikkormat EL -- perhaps not the best choice, but it worked.  I compensated for the snow in some shots by shooting manually, in others, I left it in full Aperture Priority.
One interesting thing is that this is the first time that I have seen registration holes in addition to the perfs in a film.  Development Notes -- I developed the 5363 in Kodak D76 at 1:1 dilution for 12 minutes, as provided by Mike Rasso's notes.  It could obviously be a shorter development time, but like any of these oddball films, there is much room for experimentation.  I think if one has Technidol LC or Photographer's Formulary TD-3, it would be worth trying out.
Based on the negatives from this first attempt, I'll try some less contrasty subjects, and a different developer...perhaps Technidol LC.   Unlike a lot of high-contrast films such as Kodalith, TechPan, High-Contrast Copy film, which are for still cameras, these cine film stocks are always a challenge, because they do not see much use outside their industry.  With the demise of analog titling and effects, they will probably pop up in the market more frequently.  I don't know about 1000 ft rolls, though.  That would be more than a lifetime supply for anyone.

Three Films on the Huron

On January 16, I decided to do a little shooting with a couple of odd films that were in my fridge. I have been gradually accumulating a body of work that features winter shots on the Huron River, and I figured that some high-contrast films might lend some different results. Of the three cassettes shown here, the only one that I have any experience with is the TechPan -- an ISO 25 film that when developed in Technidol developer,produces lovely images with full tonality and imperceptible grain. If you develop TechPan in Dektol, you get high-contrast images with no middle tones. So, while it is a very versatile film (alas, no longer manufactured), it is most highly prized for its "grainless" negatives.

This is an example of TechPan used where it does the most good - a long exposure that does not require the use of ND filters.

Fleming Creek on 1/15/2011. Canon A-1, TechPan, 70-210 Vivitar Series 1 lens.

You can see that TechPan renders beautiful tones when developed in Technidol.

The other two films, Kodak Rapid Process Copy Film and Ektagraphic HC Slide Film are totally diferent from each other and from TechPan. Rapid Process Copy Film (RPC) was most likely used for making 35mm copy negatives. It's an extremely slow (ISO is maybe 3 in sunlight) film that one should probably not think of using for pictorial work. The other characteristic is that based on its recommended use, it creates a positive image (which I did not realize until after I removed the processed film from the reel!). The recommended developer is DK-50 (which I have a bunch of) at full strength for 10 minutes.

I bracketed my exposures at 1 sec, 4 sec, 6 sec, and 8 sec at f/16 using my Nikon FM2N and 35-105 Nikkor lens. Here are a couple of resulting images:


Frozen Huron 1

Frozen Huron 2

As a copy film, one would expect the RPC to have full tonality, and it does. If you happen to find a roll somewhere, I would start bracketing at 8 sec and go from there. I think be able to have a direct positive is very cool, but of course, this is not a film to be used where objects are moving.

The last film, the Ektagraphic HC Slide Film appears to be nothing more than a variant of Kodalith film, as it was supposed to be used for making high-contrast b&w slides of text (all before Powerpoint obsoleted such uses). The roll I have came from George O'Neal and he has already used part of the roll. I had no idea how much was left -- it turns out I had 6 exposures left, and that was it. I processed the film in Technidol along with a roll of TechPan, and figured with that few exposures, I might learn something. It turns out that the Technidol developer did a pretty good job, though the mid-tones seem somewhat blocked up, and whether that is a film or developer-based result, I do not know. I will experiment with normal Kodalith and Technidol and see what happens.
Herewith is the example:

It's a challenge trying films for atypical uses. You have to decide beforehand, how you are going to shoot the film and that also determines, in the case of high-contrast films -- what developers you can use afterwords. I am very lucky to have access to a lot of photographic literature, and that has been very helpful when trying to figure out what to do with some of these arcane emulsions. Now I need to find some more Rapid Process Copy Film! I have LOTS of DK-50...

The Argus 75 - A toy or a tool?

The Argus 75 is a fun little bakelite wonder from Ann Arbor-based Argus. Produced from about 1949-1964, the camera takes 620 film. It has a shutter-cocking feature that prevents double exposures -- which was useful if you were one of those families that had at least two Christmases, Halloweens, or whatever on one roll of film (12 exposures). The Argus 75 (which started out named as the Argoflex 75) was the very first Argus that I bought in an antique shop in Cheboygan, MI about 8 or 9 years ago. I then started acquiring other Argus cameras, and as they say, "The rest is history."

The cameras isn't a real TLR in the sense that it's really a box camera with a reflex viewing window that uses a second lens. There is nothing to adjust except for Instant and Time, for making your exposures. The Time is important, if you wish to shoot in dim light, or convert the camera to a pinhole. A very useful feature is that Argus put a tripod thread on the bottom of the camera, making it more versatile. It's hard hand-holding a camera for time exposures.

The 75mm lens is coated, and the aperture is about f/13. "Instant" shutter speed is about 1/60 sec. Back in the day, Kodak's Verichrome Pan was the ideal film for this camera. Today, you could use Ilford FP4+, Kodak Plus-X Pan, or Fuji Across 100 for sunny to cloudy-bright conditions. For color -- Fuji Superia 100 works well. Since it was designed for 620 film, you can put a 620 spool in the take-up reel, and a trimmed 120 spool on the supply side. If that's too tight, you may have to respool your 120 film onto a 620 spool.

I once offered to write an article on the Argus 75 for Lightleaks magazine, but the editor told me it wasn't a "toy camera." It's just as much of a toy as the Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, or the Agfa Clack. To be sure, a well-made box camera, but really, nothing to adjust except for the shutter between Instant and Time. So, in that sense, it's just as much a toy camera as the Holga...maybe more so.

Since this camera has a tripod socket, it is easy to set it somewhere low and use the time exposure to good effect:




The camera typically has everything in focus from about 7.5 feet to infinity. If you can find the Argus "portrait filter" (a close-up lens), you can shoot things that are about 3 feet away (or experiment with other close-up lenses):


There are a number of variations on the Argus 75 -- and rather than repeat what is already out there on the web, go on over to James Surprenant's website. I often get asked how much these cameras are worth. Not really much. Don't pay more than $10 for one in great condition with the leather case and flash holder. The average value is probably closer to $5. Argus made a lot of these, and if you get a good one (most are in working condition, but you will need to turn the film winding knob to cock the shutter - look for the red to appear behind the lens) - give it a try with some film.

My pal, Gene McSweeny takes great photos with vintage cameras, so check out his Argus 75.

A gallery of all the Argoflex cameras can be found here.

So, is it a toy or a tool? Both.