Steve Maniscalco Photography

Polaroid

At one point in my gear swapping, I had a Graflex XLSW.  I never really mastered it and often came away with images there were not as sharp as I would have liked.  It was a cool little camera though. Just a simple lens helical and graflex back.  It took standard roll film backs and a Polaroid back.  The lens was a 47mm f8 super angulon.  It was the lens that I didn't get along with and looking back, I wonder if the helical was properly set up.  Problems with the helical would explain why my hyperfocal efforts so often failed.

Fast forward a couple of years and here I am, putting together the same sort of camera but in 4x5!  Either I haven't learned my lesson, or I have learned enough to pull it off this time.  We shall see soon enough.

Anyway...I did enjoy shooting the occasional Polaroid with that camera, and even had a bit of success I think.

 

 

Success? Nope...Just Frustration With Some Residual Hope

Well, I mounted the 75mm Super Angulon to the Gran View and stepped outside to see if I could get to infinity and...no such luck.  Even with the focusing assembly set to infinity and the adjustment screwed all the way in to shorten the flange length,the lens was focusing like a macro.  The furthest I could focus out was about 8 inches.

I removed the focusing helical and just held the lens in the lens cone to see how deep it would need to go to focus out further and it's looking like it needs a flange distance of around 50-55mm...which is absurd for a 75mm lens.  This just cannot be.

I've posted questions on a couple of boards and got a little speculation in return, but nothing to explain what, clearly to me anway, must be a lens problem.  Then I contacted the lens seller to see if he had any experience with the lens and if he could verify it was working.  Well, ends up it is possible the rear lens element was confused when he had the shutters for 3 lenses out for a clean and adjust.  I've got my fingers crossed that this is the explanation.  It does make sense as I cannot believe this lens is supposed to focus with the rear element about 20mm from the focal plane as it does now.

That'll leave the Gran View project delayed for a few days at least with hope of a happy ending.  In the mean time, enjoy this not so great shot of the camera.  Please ignore the crude aluminum donut that the lens is mounted on.  I'm no craftsman and that's the best I could do to reduce the Copal 1 hole to a Copal 0 size.

Gran View Update

Working on getting that Gran View 4x5 point and shoot in service....

I tried to mount a release cable in the handle, but there was nothing to retain the top of the cable...it just flopped around in the handle. So, I took the handle off and found that under the rubber grip was a simple bit of landscape pvc pipe. I bought a length of rubber hose and glued it inside of the pipe.  I then used the dremmel to open that up to the right size for the top of the release cable.  That gives something to grip the release cable, works like a charm.  That's all put back together now.

Next, the flocking was flaking off and leaving debris on the ground glass and soon the film. I scraped all of that out and painted with flat black.  It might have been ok to bypass this, but I'd hate to have shots ruined by stray material I could have removed.

The mounting hole is copal 1 and I need copal 0. So, I cut a piece of aluminum in to a round disk and mounted it under the current mount, using the existing screws. Then I cut a copal 0 sized hole in the disk.  I mounted my 90mm lens to it, because the 75mm was not yet in my hands, and it seemed to work pretty well.  I may need to add something to the metal to help the retaining ring grip.

The 75mm was waiting on my desk when I arrived at work today.  It looks very good.   I might have the whole thing together tonight.

Pool

 

  

  

Hexar AF, Tri-X at 1250 iso in Diafine

75mm Lens Find

I found a 75mm lens for the Gran View. 

I didn't really think I'd get a lens this soon.  I've sold a few things and raised less than half what I figured I needed to buy the lens, but I kept tabs on ebay even though my money was not "together."  One of the lenses I was following, A Super Angulon 75mm f5.6, did not get the bidding attention I thought it would.  Just a few hours away from finishing, it was still at $225.  This was an old copy of the lens, but optically identical to newer lenses (I think) and I figured it would go between $500 and $650...far more than I planned to spend.  In fact, I was really looking at the slower version of the lens as a cost cutting measure.

For the heck of it, I put in a snipe for $350, about how much I figured I'd spend on a lesser lens some time in the future.  Well, much to my surprise, the auction finished with me as the winner at just $280!  I actually spent a number of nervous minutes going over the listing again and again to see what I'd missed that kept other bidders away from the auction.  In the end, I think that late Tuesday night closing time was the biggest factor in keeping the price down.

The Cambo recessed board is a bonus.  I have a project idea that it might be useful for, if not, I should be able to sell it for $30 or so, making this an even better deal.

Now I just have to figure out how to adapt this Copal 0 lens/shutter to the Copal 1 hole in the Gran View.

NOS, Ektar and Light Leaks

I did find a solution for my c41, 120 roll film problem.  Someone over at Rangefinderforum suggested I check out MotoPhoto if there were any in my area.  Well, ends up there is one about 5 miles from my house.  I knew they were there, I just thought they were a portrait studio more than anything else.

I brought the roll of Ektar by and the nice old guy asked me if I'd checked the expiration date on the box, because they hadn't made Ektar in years.  He was surprised to see that it was a new verion of Ektar.  Thirty minutes and $4 later, I had my roll of film.  Bad news is, I had a light leak and only couple of frames were not ruined by it.

I've seen this leak before, and I'm pretty sure it's just "operator error," meaning, I didn't get the back on properly.  Oops.  Chalk one up for digital.  No such thing as a light leak in a DSLR and in any case, if I'd managed to mangle my pictures, I would have known about it and retaken them before leaving.

As it is, I've got one decent shot and one more I'll show so you can see the light leak and the fun subject.

I've still got mixed feelings about Ektar.  The color is compelling enough that I've rediscovered an interest in C41.  It's not overpowering like Velvia (my opinion, of course), but it does have a definite look that, mostly, I like.  On the other hand, I have had to correct a color gone bad here and there, which I suppose just comes with the territory...and reinforces my love for black and white.

Anyway...here are the pictures.  The first is one of the two not ruined by the light leak.  The colors are vibrant and only a bit oversaturated.  The blue sky, for instance, was a bit washed out in comparison to what you see here. 

 

This shot required some post processing to bring the colors in line.  Yellow and green were both too strong.  Of course, it took only moments to get those back to reality.  It's a shame about the light leak.  The subject was pretty cool in any event.  I saw the old gray haired/bearded guy riding this thing come in to the "Mining town," and head in to the store.  What struck me, of course, is the NOS bottle attached.  It's hard to imagine how that old bike would hold together when the nitrous kicked in.  I sort of doubt it was a full tank.  I'm guessing the old guy was trying to be "colorful."  We loves our "characters" out here in the West.

Newport Beach Pier

The pier at Newport Beach California.

Pinhole image from homemade 6x9 pinhole camera.  Print available in my Etsy store.

120 Color Blues

So, I loaded up that first roll of Ektar 100 in 120 and shot it off on a short camping trip that included a look around the old mining town of Jerome, AZ.  Lots of colorful stuff.  Now for the bad news...no one at the remaining Ritz camera knows how to develop 120 film.  The offered to send it out for me.  I could have it back in 3 weeks or so.

Now, I'm no instant gratification digital guy...still, 3 weeks?  The search is on for a reasonable way of having 120 C41 film developed.  I don't want to send it to a pro lab.  That'll run me around $15 with postage for 12 shots...making each shot about $2.00 each, including the price of film.  Man, that's just too damn much!

I'm told Walmart sends it out to Fuji and gets it back in a week or so for just a few dollars.  Maybe that's what I'll have to do.  There are good pro labs in the area, but they're a good 45 minute drive each way and, again, I'd be paying pro lab prices.  That's big bucks for hobby snapping.

One Camera, One Lens, One Failure

It's true.  I failed miserably at the "One Camera, One Lens" challenge I wrote about a few posts ago.

Yes, I loaded up the Balda as planned, and yes, I shot the three rolls I'd planned on shooting...problem is, on my last day of shooting, I took along another camera.  It's really not my fault (nothing ever is).  I'd seen some colorful things that I wanted to shoot and I was determined to shoot them with Ektar.  Unfortunately, I'd not yet received my Ektar 100 in 120, so I had none to load in to the Balda.  What's a guy with no discipline or free will to do?  Well, carry a 35mm camera loaded with Ektar of course!  And that's just what I did.

At least in the end, I did the honorable thing.  I confessed my sins over on the rangefinderforum and found that others had sinned as well.  Being a sinner among sinners, it was easy to find forgiveness.  I've uploaded my three entries to the challenge gallery where anyone who doesn't mind my lying/cheating ways can comment on my photos and by doing so, vote for them.  So far, I've only got two comments.  Either they don't like lying cheaters over there, or my shots aren't all that good.

I'm trying to decide which of those possibilities to believe in.

Misc.

I received the Gran View 4x5 the other day.  It is just as advertised and in good shape.  My first impressions confirm what I was able to find out about the camera before I bought it.

• Focusing is a bit crude.  It'll take some trial and error to set up infinity on it when I finally get a lens mounted.  Worse, I'm not sure how stable the set up will be.  I'm afraid it may drift in adjustment.

• The lens mount is copal 1 sized and all the 75mm lenses I find are mounted in copal 0!  I'm going to have to make some kind of aluminum donut to size the mount down.

• The flocking in the focusing cone is loose and starting to fall off.  The focusing screen showed a great deal of flocking debris.  Worse, the debris will get on the film.  I'll have to remove that flocking and replace it with flat black paint.

• The handle is awkward, but I found good hand holding methods for horizontal and vertical shots.

• It looks like I can manage several degrees of rise and fall in the vertical orientation.  That may come in handy.

• I like the accessory shoes.  The locking screws are a great touch.  I've dropped more than a few viewfinders off of loose shoes and it's a terrible feeling.

I also received my first rolls of Ektar 100 in 120.  I've got a roll loaded right now in my Iskra.  Now to find something colorful to point at.  I'm thinking that the Balda, loaded with black and white and the Iskra, loaded with Ektar, will be my new carry gear.

I sold off a VC Meter II (shoe mounted meter) that I was not using and a double accessory shoe.  Both went quickly on Rangefinderforum.com. The accessory shoe in particular was in great demand.  They're no longer made and I'm pretty sure I asked/got about half of what I should have.  I still have an old 6x9 roll film adapter for 4x5 cameras I need to get rid of.  Selling off these toys is getting me close to enough cash to buy the 75mm lens needed to complete the Gran View.

Wide and Dark

I posted one of these on Rangefinderforum.com in a thread on the 15mm Heliar lens from Cosina-Voigtlander.  That got me looking through the series and prompted me to post these here.

Old Soviet diesel submarine on display in Long Beach California.

 

 

 

Bessa R3A, 15mm Heliar, Tri-X rated at 1250 iso developed in Diafine

Body Shop

 

Balda Baldax, PanF+, Thornoton's Two Bath developer

Impulse Buy (Shocking, I Know)

Here's one you may not have seen before.  Just bought it and am waiting for it to show.

The Gran View 4x5 point and shoot camera.  It was also made in 8x10, but the web site is dead so I assume the camera line is as well.
It's not a highly refined camera.  It's built of aluminum and plastic and I hear that the focusing helical is very rough.  In any case, I've been wanting a large format point and shoot and my alternatives were to build it myself (not likely) or buy a fotoman or gaoersi.  Both of those, though no doubt better built, go for about $800 (minus lens of course).

So, I figure I'll take it apart and be sure it's cleaned and lubed, and it should be serviceable.  Now I've got to save for and find a 75mm lens.  Off the top of my head, I'm thinking a super angulon 75mm f8 might be about right.

I've got a couple of 21mm finders and 75mm is almost exactly 21mm equivalent in the horizontal.  So, I'll be accurate on the long side and conservative on the narrow side.  That works well for me since I like the 3:2 ratio anyway.

With the light I usually work in here in AZ, I'll stick a yellow filter on, tri-x 320 for film, and shoot f22 at 1/125 handheld or with a monopod for most shots...at least, that's what sounds good from here.

The Gran View web site was in business from 12/98 to 9/2005.  A web archive can be found at Gran View Archive.

Yellow Either Way

Fun with Ektar.

I actually loaded the camera with Ektar and drove back to this location I'd passed earlier in the week just to see how Ektar would handle this scene. Having said that, I really should show you the "before" to go along with this "after."  It was necessary to dial back the cyan and the yellow a bit because they were really screaming.  All you Velvia fans out there, you may just love this film.

Pale Yellow

Still loving the square.  Two weeks of dedication to my Balda Baldax and it feels like a second honeymoon.

My first pass in post processing this one, I worked hard to keep the light tones of the chair from blowing out.  The results were good, but did not pop.  In the end, I restored most of the brightness of the chair.  Ends up, the stark, minimal texture of the chair back contrasting with the riot of texture behind it is what makes this image work.

 

Ilford PanF+, Barry Thornton's two bath developer formula