I took a walk down the Schuylkill River Trail on a blustery spring afternoon. I got some dystopian vibes.
These were all shot on my Nikon fm2 using Ilford Delta 3200. I printed them on expired Agfa Brovira BEH in Moersch easy lith.
Make life easy
Tag: HC-110
We’re sensitive. Blue sensitive.
Bergger has started selling Print Film, a blue sensitivee sheet film for doing duplication work in the darkroom AND, of course, as an alternate camera film. I bought a pack of 4X5 sheets as soon as I learned about.
I took the Graflex Crown Graphic down to FDR Park this weekend for a test run.
I developed these in a tray for 4 minutes using HC110 dilution A at room temperature, which I conveniently forgot to measure. The data sheet on this says to use any developer with the time of development affecting the amount of contrast. I went for the low-end of the time suggestions.
Long live Diana
The good thing about Diana’s is that they are still relatively cheap. I picked up a new one off the eBay and took it for a spin yesterday.
These are shot in Ilford FP4+ and stand developed in HC-110.
Finally some new flowers around here
Kris finally got some new flowers–lilies. Shot them with my Diana set up on Ilford Hp5 pushed to 3200. Looking forward to printing some of these!
The Tide is Low
I have been to the Washington Avenue Pier along the Delaware River a couple of times to shoot. But yesterday was the first time I was there with the magical combination of low tide and golden hour. The low tide gave me the opportunity to get down among some of the pilings for some more interesting shots. And the late afternoon winter light was incredible.
For the second time in a few days, I was out shooting with my brother and sister. I’m sure they took some amazing photos. I was a little hamstrung with just a single roll of MZ-3 and my Nikon Fm2. But I was not unsatisfied!
That’s a knife
I’m pretty sure I’ve owned some type of Swiss Army knife since I was a teenager. I got my current knife sometime in the late 80s or early 90s. So almost 30 years. That means countless boxes opened, a bunch of IKEA furniture assembled, some light switch plates screws tightened, a few bottles of wine uncorked, and dozens of beer bottles uncapped. I don’t think I’ve used the awl tool that much. I know I used the long blade for something I shouldn’t have since the tip is broken off. The toothpick is long gone but the tweezers stuck around.
I was looking at it and thinking it might be time to get a new one. Then I got sentimental. There’s really no point in getting a new one. With all its issues, it still works. With a little luck, I will die owning this knife. Of course then it will probably end up in the trash. I can’t see my kids keeping it around.
I shot these pictures of the knife with an even older Nikon fm2 loaded with Ilford HP5 plus pushed to iso 3200 and developed in HC-110 dilution B
1600, 3200, 6400, whatever
I’m continuing my experiment with Delta 3200 in the Diana camera. Testing film is a bit tricky with this camera since your exposure options are limited. Basically, you need to find lighting situations that fit the single shutter speed and 3 available f-stops. Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
- Metered at 1600 assuming 1/30 sec shutter speed and stand developed in HC-110 for one hour: results were meh. A lot of underexposed frames. Clearly needed an EI higher than 1600
- Metered at 6400 assuming 1/30 sec shutter speed and developed in HC-110 dilution a for recommended 6400 speed: similar results to the first try. Clearly underexposed.
Before I go any further I wanted to check my shutter speed assumptions. I just assumed mine was 1/30 since that is pretty standard for other box cameras I have. However, the shutter speed in the Diana is reported to vary from 1/200 to 1/30 sec due to the springs that operate the shutter. Those springs can get weird with time and temperature, not to mention sloppy manufacturing.
As a test, I shot the following scene using the Diana’s three apertures–f11, f13, and f19. I figured keeping the lighting the same and varying the f-stops would help me figure out my shutter speed.
Here are the three frames. I developed them in HC-110 dilution b for recommended 3200 speed. I’ve seen recommendations that metering at 1600 and developing for 3200 is the way to go with this film, some even suggest shooting at 1000. I probably should have kept to one of the other developing recipes I already tried, but whatever.
Shot at f19, assumes 1/40 shutter speed
It looks like the f11 shot has the most shadow detail. That would suggest the shutter speed is somewhere around 1/150 of a second. I like the f13 shot as well, it’s got some nicer blacks.
I also did one shot with my daughter Nora just to get a sense of how skin tones work out. This was metered at f11, 1/50, iso 1600. But clearly, that was off. The negative was thin, again looks like I needed at least another stop of light.
Given all this, I will assume 1/100 for now and see how that works.
July 4th, Philadelphia
Philadelphia did the 4th of July first, so clearly that calls for unicycles and Mummers.
Toy New York
Last weekend I went up to New York with my Stella (Diana clone). The city seems less intense through a plastic lens.
Oh Diana!
As much as I am enjoying shooting large format with the Crown/Speed Graphics, I really love my plastic Diana clone. I shot these last week while on vacation in Goshen, MA using Ilford Delta 100. Stand developed for 1 hour in HC-110 1:119.
Ed Keer 