New Film Format Arrives - Exclusive To Camera Electronic

Well, it arrived. The sample film from my friend at Corrigan AFB arrived today - see heading picture. Dominic was unsure whether we should keep it in the fridge but as we are going to be loading it into the special camera later in the day we decided that it could be left out.

 This is a point that we get asked by a number of customers - generally we reply that while we keep the film in the fridge against the chance of colour changes in hot weather, once they take it out there is unlikely to be such a long period of danger before they expose and process it. All that being said, I did make the mistake in my own studio of leaving several 4 x 5 colour negative holders out of the fridge over several months of summer and the results when I did use them were dreadful. It was funky but not by intention. Discretion is advised.

The new Kodak film will be loaded into a M/Y Cro IIIA surveillance camera fitted to one of the visiting aircraft. I haven't been given details of the mounting but I guess it would be one of those external pods similar to the ones that the RCAF used. From what I can find on the net this sort of thing is demountable and can be shifted between different aircraft. It means that a basic air force or in this case a " civilian " user can make use of smaller vehicles - it is unlikely that they could stretch to a complete RB 36 unit.

It's surprising how the aerial photography thing has taken off here in Perth. Guess it is driven by the real estate trade as much as anything. We see a number of our clients utilising power-extending poles and computer-controlled mounts to get an elevated viewpoint. Several have tried to make powered drones do the job but I think the DCA has put restrictions on this. At least the user of the new film in the M/Y Cro IIIA won't be troubled with that sort of interference while working. We're looking forward to seeing the pictures once they are processed.

The Cold War Heats Up - With Kodak

Relax - no need to go into the fallout shelter just yet. The Russians are only annexing their neighbours and we don't live that near them. Just don't go investing your superannuation in Lomo camera shares....

Actually, I am not sure if it is the increase in international tensions or just a clever ploy by Rochester to get money from the government, but I note hat there is a new aerial film format being introduced later this month. Apparently digital imaging from near-space just does not have the resolution that film can provide, so they are going back to flying over  potential targets and photographing them with regular cameras. The RB36 has been mooted as the best platform.

Of course these are not just "regular" cameras - they need to have a big format to pack all the information in. Thus the new film format. Rumour has it they use colour negative film, but I don't know what emulsion.

I've asked a friend who works at Corrigan AFB if he can get me a roll of it to test out. I am not quite sure if my Linhof monorail camera will take it, but this sort of opportunity is too good to miss. I'll report whatever success when the film arrives.

Uncle Dick

Pardon My Pack Shot

I just thought I would get in an pre-empt the secondhand photo market that will be running on Sunday in a couple of weeks. Oh, I'll be there myself, but not with this sort of gear.

Lots of kids and starters want to develop film and prints in the old-fashioned way. Some of them will be at the photo market looking for he gear to do it with, and to be fair, they will find it. But they will find such a crazy mis-matched lot of things from other people's darkrooms that they may well become discouraged. As well, all of the gear will be used and offered on a caveat emptor basis. Not a big deal when you are looking at a set of print tongs, but certainly a consideration on other things.

Here's an alternative - A-P make a complete set of film and print tools for just this sort of customer - brand new. Tank, tongs, wiper, thermometer,  2 graduate cylinders, mixer, film clips, and trays round the back for $ 115.

You'll be able to do 35mm, 120, and odder ex-Kodak sizes. We have the chemistry you need and the darkroom printing paper as well. By all means circulate around looking for an enlarger...likely you'll find one.

Best of all - there are no cracks in this tank...and no residue from past processes to muggle up your first development.

Uncle Dick

Authentic Photography

A few years ago I decided to be an Authentic Photographer. So I went out and bought things to make myself look like I was living in the 1950's. It was an easy choice - I still had a number of inherited articles of clothing from the time in my wardrobe and they were not worn-out yet so all I needed to add was the camera and film and darkroom equipment and film and chemistry of the period.

I chose a Crown Graphic camera and a Graphic View with lenses and shutters from the same company - I think the glass was by Wollensack. I chose Ilford HP5 and Kodak Portra 160 sheet film. I used Rodinal developer and Fuji's version of C-41 chemicals. the paper was Ilford Multigrade IV. I ate pastrami sandwiches and drank cups of tea.

I include the last reference because I haven't have a big breakfast and I'm hungry. It is equally authentic and equally false. The photography of the 1950's had nothing to do with me - any more than it had to do with C-41 chemistry from Fuji or Multigrade IV. I never encountered pastrami in the 1950's - we called it corned beef - and I didn't drink tea. The whole attempt at being authentic was actually playing at being someone else.

So I sat and thought what would be " authentic ". I could go out and capture the universe on a Kodak Starflash camera if I care to - you can find them at junk sales and on eBay. I could wind the clock forward to 1966 and get myself an Asahi Pentax SV and some Plus X and  Kodachrome II. Or not, as the Kodak case may be...

Would my pictures look better? Would I be able to go to the hot rod show and bring back certain results? Would I spend 5 x the amount of money and time getting 1/5 of the results? I think I know the answer to that question...

This train of thought was occasioned by seeing a van on the road this morning with the sign " Authentic Bathroom Renovations ". It caused me to ask myself what an inauthentic bathroom renovation would look like...probably a lot like me with a Crown Graphic camera.

I Wannabe A Wannabee - A Digital Wannabee

I used to think that the wannabe culture was restricted to fashion and left-wing clubs at university. Then I started working in retail and found out that it has extended to the shop shelf. And today the final confirmation as I drove to work...

It was a nice Audi sports car - a convertible in a dark grey metallic. It had all the attributes of luxury; the Auto Union rings at the back and a deodorant pine tree dangling from the rear view mirror. The driver had sunglasses and was wearing them on the front of his head.  so far so good. Of course he was going faster than the speed limit, but then you would do, wouldn't you, driving an Audi sports car. Especially if you had a personalised number plate that said "Porsche 1"...

I wonder if his dissatisfaction with his current level of possession will induce him to change the badges on the car. Perhaps he could get a BMW one for the front and a Mercedes one for the back to spread the load. I know where he could get a Baker Electric plate...

Does this have an application for photographers? Indeedy do - there are people who call to see us each week who want the latest and best but can't afford it. They try to correct this by browbeating us for a price. Can we match the price on the internet? Can we match the price on eBay? Can we match the price on the magnet on the beer fridge?

What we need to do here is help out with  the anxiety while allowing the client to get the best out of their budget or their current equipment. The answer is surprisingly simple - stickers printed on an inkjet printer and applied over the nameplate or model plate of the camera.

Do you want a new DSLR but can only afford a secondhand 35mm? Sticker over the front of the prism housing and Blu-tac a piece of black cardboard on the rear cover and just glance at it every so often while you pretend to push buttons. Mutter about white balance. The size of the camera will tell everyone that you have a full-frame camera and the rest is just fast footwork and a confident attitude.

If you have got a good little digital but the manufacturer has brought out a new model...and your brother-inlaw has one...just sticker over the model plate with the new number and add a small "s" or "r" behind it. Ask him how he's getting on with his old one. Do it when he can't answer immediately and you'll have hours of fun.

Next post: how to host your own forum with a Fisher-Price keyboard.

Revolutionary Promaster Paper Here Now

Puff. Puff. Pant. Gasp.

Just stocked the shelves with the new Promaster inkjet and darkroom papers. There are a LOT of new papers there - and a new size as well.

Lett's start with the darkroom paper for analog users. Promaster make packets of Glossy and Luster  paper in 8" x 10" size - there are 25 sheets of paper in each packet. The packets are marked for a new wider range emulsion. The paper is shipped out of Connecticut so it may be Kodak ( but probably isn't ) or Oriental. The packets have been kept plain so be sure you read the label on the bottom - the two types look very similar.

In the inkjet papers there has also been a commendable plainness in packaging but they have put colour coding on the boxes to let you differentiate between fine-art surfaces or materials and plainer photographic paper. The following types are in stock:

1. Glossy
2. Pearl
3. Bright White Cotton
4. Soft Gloss Dual-sided
5. Glossy canvas
6. Metallic

The intriguing thing about these new papers - apart from them being new - is that their size is US Letter. This means that it is 8 1/2" x 11 "......or 215.9 mm x 279.4 mm. I looked into the printing section for my Epson driver and found that it does indeed include this size and the preplanning images can be shuffled about to see where the margins will occur. It will mean a little different proportions for my general work, but not by much. If I elect to shoot my images using a 4/5 ratio it becomes even easier.

Okay - why? Why do we get a different paper size like this when we are generally used to seeing the European A system - A4, A3, A3+ etc. Because there is a large part of North America that does not work in metric measurements. Squeak or sneer about this as you will, but there it is. So they can cut good quality paper at a very competitive price specifically for the market. If your images will fit here, this is a good substrate.

One final note - remember that these papers have 6 sides but you are generally restricted to printing on just one - in the case of the dual-sided glossy you can also do it on the back with equal success.

Belaire - More Than Just A Chevrolet Coupe

 

I am so glad that the Russian camera industry has progressed past the days of stolen Contax factories and orphans producing bad Leica copies out of soft aluminium. I did enjoy the slightly guilty feeling of owning a Kiev or a Fed because it originated from the Evil Empire, but I quickly got over this when I tried to operate them. The sound of the aluminium gears rasping together and the ever-changing light leaks were too much in the end.

Of course, someone will point out that the Diana and the Holga are hardly any better in an operational sense. True, but as they are made of plastic they break much faster and can thus be disposed of earlier in the piece. It is like the unpleasant filling in a railway sandwich - the less of it and the faster swallowed the better.

The new Belaire X 6-12 seems to be a change for the better, however. It shows a degree of enthusiasm and innovation that has not been seen before. Granted that a great deal of it is plastic, the execution is very well done ( well, it is made in China and they are always good at execu...umm...moving right along...). There are two lenses with it, 58mm and 90mm. The camera shoots up to 6 x 9 so we are talking about a useful wide angle there. Of course like all 120 cameras you can choose to advance your frames so as to yield 6 x 6 images  - at this point I will leave you to work out your own mathematics about what the lenses do. Suffice it to say they have two apertures - f:8 and f:16. They focus down to a metre.

There is an in-built meter cell beside the lens and you can dial in most popular film ISO's. When you press down the shutter tab it will take an aperture-priority shot.

Cool thing on the top plate of the camera is a slot for one of two viewfinders - these are surprisingly clean and clear. Actually work.

Well, it won't replace the Leica MP, or the Linhof Master Technika, but someone will go out there and do something with it and for once it will probably be successful. I do dread the day when a student realises that they can advance the film in overlapping increments and will make one long transparency with the entire story of the battleship POTEMKIN on it mixed in with zombies and Grumpy Cat. Because they will bring it to us and ask us to print it for them...

We Say " Da " For To See The Camera Of Revolution! Here Is Now!

Comrades! Rise up in your thousands and stream into Camera Electronic today to see the newest recruit to the Film Revolution. Down with Boring Digital - Lomo has new cameras to lead proletariat  trend setters to fields of glory!

See first the Mighty Lubitel. Twin lenses of power - to view it is with the top one and to take picture it is with the bottom one and you may. Days of classic twin-lens reflex are not dead and is much film for this camera - we have black and white 120 and also colour negative and colour positive film 120. your creativity is not oppressed by forces of darkness!

Here too is the most unique camera in the Lomo range - and with Loma that is saying a very great deal. The new Belaire camera is 120 film for medium format 6 x6 and up to 6 x 9 format. TO pull it out you must and attach one of two lenses that are included. A 90mm lens and viewfinder for inconsiderable views and a 50mm lens and viewfinder to see the world. This is a camera of history as you will see it looking at older pictures of Plaubel Makina, but it is new and they have not stolen the Plaubel factory.

And lasting is the chance to be your own constructor with Konstructor - a kit to make an entire 35mm film camera SLR yourself. Every part is inside contained and instructions so that you can spend 1-2 hours producing the fine instrument. To decorate this are stickers also provided that your camera should be different from mine.

Now are these cameras here and you should be here as well to see them - we will show them gladly and as they are not of great expense you may take them home. No dacha should be without one.