T max 400 a wonderfully smooth finish.

Whilst putting an order in and perusing a suppliers web site I suddenly had this urge to find out what the cost of using Kodak's T Max 400 would be in 120 format. I have no idea where this thought came from or why! Anyway I had a look and by chance it was out of stock. I still do not understand why I should want to use it. In the main I have not used film faster than 200 ISO for decades. I have been happy to go about my picture making at 100 or 125 ISO.

Some months later out of the blue I find myself buying ten rolls of 120 out of date Tmax 400 which just so happened to be part of a job lot. If I'm honest I would not have purchased them at all if it had not been for the Tmax. All I can gather is my creative subconscious has an idea of some sort that will reveal it's self over time!

I am no expert in the way the mind works but I get a sense of when it is the right time to get things done. I sometimes find myself sitting back waiting for that feeling to get on with projects, when it happens I find I am very creative for a short intense period of time. Once that need to be creative is fulfilled the project has to be more or less complete, which happened in this case with the images that accompany this article.

We had a pile of logs in the garden waiting for me to chop up when I had the time. They were starting to nag at me to get on with the job when I noticed the way a particular branch was lit - it brought out the texture of the wood in an interesting way. For some reason it also made me think of a severed arm the more I explored the pile of wood the more macabre it became to the point where another branch looked like a limbless torso. My god! my mind has gone into overdrive and it was not Halloween! It just goes to show how powerful your imagination can be - I could no longer bring myself to cut the wood up! 

Some weeks later I was looking out the window at the logs again - I know! But what struck me was the quality of the light. It was very bright in a soft way as though some one had put a soft box in front of the sun. I went out to look at the sky it was covered with very thin cloud, like a mist. All at once the idea for making images of the logs fell into place.

To make the images as surreal as possible I had to separate them from the landscape, which meant I had to set up a background in this case - I felt that white would do the best job. I worked as quickly as I could because I was not sure how long this wonderful soft light would last. I had no time to test the white background idea just go with the flow. The lumps of wood were very large and heavy for a set of still life images.

T Max 400 grain, film developed in RO9.

 As to what film I should use there were no second thoughts - the out of date T Max 400. I pulled a number of rolls out of the cupboard before I loaded them into my Bronica SQAi. I used my hand held light meter to check how bright it was. The rest as they say is history.

The light lasted the best part of the morning and a number of rolls of Tmax. Which was fortunate I was in a creative wonderland that stopped abruptly after about a couple of hours. The flow of ideas had gone so it was time to pack up and move on. The intensity of the project had left me worn out! The images do not convey the size and weight of the logs I had been moving around. It was time to sit down, regain my energy over a cup of tea and consider how they would be printed.

I was excited and apprehensive all at the same time. Excited to see how the negatives and prints turned out but also apprehensive at the possibility that the light readings could be wrong as there was not time to double check so the film could be empty of images. My other concern was with the development of the film. I had a time of 10 minutes at 1+50 for the RO9 I would be using. Having not used this film developer combination before I could not tell how well they would come out until the wet negatives were hanging up to dry. In these situations I process the film one at a time so I can adjust development if needs be.

I was shocked in a pleasant way when I first looked at the dripping negs. The detail and tone were superb. The superlatives kept coming as the printing got under way. The negatives have a super fine grain with great tone and detail. I printed them on Kentmere RC gloss paper because of the arctic white tint which tends to increase the contrast of the negatives. I would have used FB paper but I did not have any cool tone paper in stock so used the next best thing. I needed the bright white background to enhance the surreal look, not that they weren't that already.

It became clear that if I wanted to keep the stark white background then there would need to be some burning in of the light wooded areas to bring out the detail and maintain the softness to the shadow. It would have been criminal not to exploit all the fine details the negatives held. This extra work did not take away the Eminence pleasure it was to make these prints - even the ones that went wrong - believe me I make some stupid mistakes sometimes that I can't believe!

I really did not know what to expect from the T max 400 especially as I was using RO9 ( it depends on which manufacturer you use as some are finer working than others) not known for it's fine grain and less so with film as fast as 400 ISO. The grain produced is quite fine considering the developer used I suspect it would be even smoother with a developer noted for it. These T grain films really are a jump on from the more traditional emulsions. Is it better than Delta? it is difficult to say without doing a straight comparison between the two. I'm exceptionally pleased with the results.

Oh by the way the pile of logs are still there! Thanks to a friend the pile has grown in size and weight and will take even longer to chop up!

UPDATE:

The log pile finally disappeared a couple of months later.

Toned print developers.

Print developers add another layer of creativity to the analogue experience. Most of us start out using the manufactures suggested developers and do not move on from this but there is life beyond this with a whole range of cool and warm tone developers to enthrall the eye. You don't have to use these developers with the respective papers but they do add warmth to a cool paper and vices versa.

 

Please don't get me wrong! I started my printing journey with Ilfords Multigrade developer, it still has a well earned place on my print developer shelf. It sits along side a number of other manufacturers toning developers. You need not stop here, for there is a range of powdered developers to consider as well. The choice can be mind boggling so it is a case of picking one that catches your eye and giving it a try.

 

I did this with Moersch 6 blue and it has become a favorite. It has been used with warm, natural and cool tone papers. It produces rich blacks and the highlights have a hint of blueness to them. That's the thing with toning developers they are subtle in their colour. It opens up another way of communicating with the viewer. The thing with these types of developer is the more tone you want the longer the development time and the weaker the mix needs to be. The type of paper being used also influences what sort of tone is produced.

 

Technical data:

All the pictures here were made with medium format film, FP4+ and Foma 100 from a 6x6 negative printed on Silverproof matt paper.

The soviets answer to the panaramic camera.

I used to have a twitter feed, Photomi7ch, during the middle part of the other year. I
started to see references in my feed to a camera call FT2. My first thought was
they were talking about Nikon's Nikkormat FT2 as it was the only camera I knew of by this designation but the tweets did not make sense. I had some
how missed part of the plot.

 It was a wired sensation to note that the internet search suggested what I
stated above. In among all the Nikon references was a single mention of a
Russian camera call the FT2 panoramic things were starting to make sense.

On further investigation there is a whole world of soviet cameras that I was not
aware of. Obviously I knew that the eastern block produced cameras but not
such a plethora, the most well known being Zenit, Zorky and Prakticar The
dismissive way people treat these cameras from the soviet era in general is
unfounded. They are well made in what could be called an agricultural way and
do the job simply in comparison to the finesse of western offerings. I think
we spend to much time comparing and not enough time using them to there
best. It is a hang up of an art form that requires tech to produce the art work.
Loosing sight of what is important. The photograph.

The FT2 was produced between 1958 and 65 producing 16,000 of them during
that time. They made two main models series 1 and 2 the difference between
them was a leaver on the base plate that allow you to adjust a spring that
calibrated the shutter speed.

 The FT2 is a swing lens panorama camera with a fixed length 50mm f/5
industar. The turret moves from right to left traversing the image across a
curved film plan. The shutter speeds are set by the positioning of two brake
leavers on the top of the body. This allows the lens to swing at 1/60,
1/100,1/200 and 1/400 of a second. These are set independently of the film
advance. Uses 35mm film set for use with 36 exposure canister's. This gives
the user twelve exposures of 110 mm long.

 

Now we know what the box does, what is it like? It has a substantial feel to it
weighing in at 643 grams empty. It is a flattened cube measuring approx.
120mm long, 85mm wide and 50mm deep with a simple fold up view finder.
When you are looking down at the top of the camera in both hands it reminds
me of those wind up cine cameras . A definite feel of purpose when being used.

The camera has been sitting around for sometime waiting for me to come up
with a plan of action. It is not straight forward to use film wise. It comes with
four special film containers that you have to load with film. That cannot be
loaded from a bulk film loader. As the canisters have a different wind on
connection.

 

 

I decided to play it safe and unreel a loaded film. I say safe it was a very out
dated roll of Agfa APX 100. I came at it from the point of view that if I balls it
up completely it would not matter so much as if it had been fresh film stock. In
a blacked out darkroom I transferred the film into the FT2 film canister's. It

went surprisingly well including the loading of them into the camera still in
complete black out. By doing this you don't not loose a frame to daylight which
would suggest thirteen frames instead of twelve.

With the camera challenge fast approaching I was ready to take part camera
check, black and white film check, topic season.
It was a bright early morning with the sun not that high off the top of the ridge
at south common with some wonderful mottle cloud against a blue sky. As
suggested I used the camera hand held, pointed it in the direction of scene I
wanted to capture and pressed the shutter button. In the blink of an eye the
lens had traversed a 120 degrees of view clonk I don't know what I was
expecting but was a little disappointed with the action.

It takes three and a half turns of the winder to pull the next frame into place. I
noticed straight away that it felt like the film was slipping, that maybe the spool
was not holding the film firmly enough? Now't I can do so carried on.

 
Before I new it the film was finished.

To the darkroom, it was a little bit of a struggle to relice the back from the
body of the camera. Apart from that the rest went smoothly. Three quatres of an hour later the wet film was hanging up drying.

 I had nine good looking negatives I think that maybe the three and a half turns
was to much and the slipping did not help. Next time I will allow for it. Under
the circumstances it was a good result.

 I have always enjoyed the panoramic format of image making. It is more in
tune with the way we see the world but more detailed.

 

Techinal data:

Agfa APX 100 developed at box speed in HC110 for 6 mins 1+37. 

Pictures and article are the Copyright Mitch Fusco 2023 

 

 

 
 

 

Beyond infinity? Not quite.

 

I have had an idea running around in the back of my mind for ages that's not quite right there is a lot going on in my mind creatively speaking it is a bit like watching those lottery balls bouncing about in the mixing chamber. When all of a sudden one drops into the rack then another. That is what happened with this project.

I shell explain, sometime ago I was introduced to Hiroshi Sugimoto's work in-particular his book named Architecture. I have a soft spot for well made images of buildings, the pictures that had come to my notice made me curious enough to get a copy of said. What I did not know was that all the photographs had been made using an old large format camera set to twice infinity giving the images a soft tonal look. They had enthralled my imagination.  

Now to the second ball in my lottery of creativity. I can say that I do not have an effervescent attitude toward camera kit. I buy what I need to do a job and get on with it. That is until I saw an article on mirror lenses a long time ago. Ever since I have wanted one.

A while back that want had been stated with the purchase of a rather wonderfully designed lens by Tamura Uhyoe founder of the Tamron lens company. When this mirror lens was introduced it was a ground breaking design making it lighter and smaller. It was that cutting edge that some of the major players in the photograph industry came to Tamron to produce there lenses.

The lens I'm taking about is the Tamron adaptal 2 SP 500 mm mirror. I was surprised when I purchased it how little money they wanted for it in almost mint condition. It just go's to show how silly we are just because it has not got an OE name on it, it is classed as second rate. Which in this case is missed placed as Tamron are responsible for making OE kit for Cannon and Nikon because of there lens designs were ahead of anything the major manufactures were producing.

I have never had a lens of this size before so spent time getting to know what it could do on a camera without film loaded. One of the first things I notice was that it needs to be mounted on a tripod as it magnified the slightest movement. The other is that it is set to an aperture of F8 meaning that the shutter speeds would become very slow as the level of light reduced. 

 It was while playing around with the lens that a kernel of an idea came to mind. I clocked that the depth of field was very narrow and that as it came into or out of focus the light started to circle. It is a consequence of using a dished mirror to compress the focal length. This took my mind back to Hiroshi Sugimoto's book of double infinity Well! I could not do that with this lens but could do something a long the line of out of focus. I have to say it is counter intuitive to purposely not fully focus or over focus a lens especially one as good as this.

With the project formed I wanted to get the camera loaded with film, to start experimenting. I was stopped in my tracks slightly as to what speed film to use seeing as a tripod was necessary then a slow speed film would be the obvious choice or would it? With shutter speeds being the regulators of light in this case it would mean that in some cases the under, over focused images may become blurred with movement. Not something I really wanted.

What only took seconds in my mind to decide on is taking far longer to write I'll cut this short, I opted for 200 ISO As chance would have it I have no film rated at this speed typical! Push a 100 ISO or pull a 400?

Bill hooks! I'll pull some 400, I have some Kentmere 400 I have not used before lets pull the boat right out and fall over the side with a sink or swim attitude to the whole thing. You are going to be in big trouble if the propeller fall off and the trial does not work but that is what it is for.

Some weeks later I'm pleased to say that part of the evaluation has worked I have some negatives hanging up to dry. Lots of little oblongs with varying amounts of contrast on show. While we wait I should tell you that they were developed using HC110 B mix for 4 minutes and not the 3.5 suggested I don't like half minutes so round the time up.

The one thing that concerns me is a while ago I pulled a roll of Bergger Pancro 400 down to 125 ISO and found it a little on the grainy side compared to box speed. My expectation is for Kentmere not to be the same.

I have been itching to expose another film but have restrained myself until I have some prints to look at. I'm pleased I did. Although some of the photographs worked others have not. Partly because of subject matter but also focus. There is a very fine point of focus that the circles of light are most prominent.

If you are thinking that this article has ended a bit abruptly it has the project is on going I was hoping to have shown you how the results looked in colour, the picture below explains all. 

35 mm Slide film Fuji Prova  

Technical Data:  

Scanned from Ilford multigrade gloss RC photographs. Film Kentmere 400 exposed at 200 ISO developed in HC110 B. 

Update 9 September:

This project is on going and a part two to this article is being worked on. I have moved the light sensitivity of the film up to 400 with the use of Kentmere 400 and Bergger Pano 400 to improve the shutter speeds. 

 

All words and images are the copy right of Mitch Fusco all rights reserved 2022.

 

Street Photography Project Part 2

 As the sun crests the ridge of south common the valley of Lincoln is bathed in a bright warm light, it is a wonderful way to start a walk of discovery into the city. My route takes me across a bridge of a long forgotten disused and derelict railway line, Now claimed by nature and rubbish. I zip through the fast moving traffic on the main and up a twitten into the peacefulness of the back to backs.

I have the Bronica SQAi with 80mm lens in hand it is loaded with a roll of 35mm Kentmere 100 it will be exposed at box. The day is bright, the light meter is tell me the apertures will be sufficiently small to give good depth of field. Two firsts in one go the film and the streets.  

These street are a warren of terraced houses Presenting the walker with views and insights of the city that most miss. Giving the walk a sense of adventure and revaluation at what maybe round the next corner. The sun slants in across the roof tops casting long shadows with crisp sharp edges leading the eye this way and that. Making it look more picturesque than it is. The streets are scattered with the detritus of living and communities that have lost pride in there surrounding not helped by councils that have a despotic and petty attitude to those that live here.

My head is on a swivel as I hunt for interesting insights to the city. Although the camera is fitted with an 80mm lens which is considered a wide angle for medium format it acts as a standard lens with 35mm bringing the subjects closer than expected. I have modified the focusing screen so when I look down I can see at a glance whether a composition will work. With a subject that has had such a loose remit to start with I have noticed the images are randomly falling into different themes care of my subconscious. The allure of this is that you are never stuck for a good picture.

Some people would say that I'm a traditionalist for using black and white film for this project I'm inclined to disagree because I am not of that ilk. It has become clear that the project has defined itself its about the harsh realities of living in a city that is dominated by a university culture and tourism that only monochrome can convey a more abstract grittiness and beauty all rolled into one. 

If I am honest this project was all about getting out and about with the camera a way of shacking off the restraints of lock down. To break a stay at home attitude before it became a problem. I had not realized that my subconscious had an agenda. 

In case you missed the first part of the street photography project here is a link Street P1

Technical data:

All the images used were scanned from photographs using flat bed scanner. Printed on ilford multigrade paper RC gloss.

Film used 120 6 x 6 negative film used FP4+ at box, Fomapan 100 at box. 35mm Kentmere 100 at box for the last picture.

All words and pictures are the copyright of Mitch Fusco 2022 all rights reserved.

Ansel Adams collection of Portfolios

On one of the many trips in to London many years ago I found myself strolling down Tottenham court road which meant that a detour into Foils Books Store was on the cards before travelling on. It was a warren of floors dedicated to the written word. A discombobulation of a place for those that did not know where their category of interest was held. Fortunately for me this was the umpteenth visit and I knew which floor I needed. Needless to say that getting there was an endeavour in it's self.

Onward and upward to the art/photography department on arrival I stopped momentarily to catch my breath, take in the smell of new books and wonder at the sight. Shelf upon shelf almost to the ceiling of publications standing like solders side by side. Titles like faces undulating along the shelf's as you pass. 

I had just dropped in for a look, I had no particular book in mind it was a destination in its own way, away from the frantic streets outside. A moment to feed the mind. As I looked through the sections I came across The Portfolios of Ansel Adams. “That interesting I thought” and flicked through the pages looked at the price put it back on the shelf and moved on looking at and replacing a number of books. It is interesting to note that all the time I was looking at other volumes my mind kept coming back to the Ansel Adams book it had left an impression.

A short time later I was back in the mix of hurrying people in the street with a bag containing the Adams book. I cannot remember why I was in London, where I went next or if I had my camera with me. The only thing I can be sure of is that a tube ride would have been part of my getting home. With a chance to get a proper good look at my purchase. 

Recently the book is off the shelf and on the coffee table waiting for me to re-antiquate myself with Mr Adams images. I don't know what others do but I like to kick back on the couch with a cup of coffee or tea and spend time with each image studying it in detail. In this case putting the book down at the end of each portfolio to come back to another day.

According to the write up in the book these reproduction are as close as you can get to the original photographs. This I can vouch for having compared images with the same pictures that appear in Ansel Adams 400 photographs book.

Looking back I was fortunate to happen upon the collected portfolios book as I do not think I will see an original and or one of his prints in the flesh. But never say never.

This article is the copyright of Mitch Fusco 2022 all rights reserved.

Intermittent visit from the mottle crew bad for negatives

 Up until 2012 I had not experienced any problems with my negatives apart from the problem of water marks. The amount of times prints had been ruined because I had missed one of those dam circles. Life went on, I slowly got the hang of checking for these marks and dust.

Around about the time I started to investigate other developers. Among my group of photographer friends a number of them were talking about PMK Pyro and how it produced super fine negatives with it's staining action. I was told it came in powder form and once made up would last for almost ever.

It became my main developer producing some wonderfully smooth toned negatives and some super smooth prints I was over the moon with the results. That is until a roll of FP4+ produced this mottled affect I was stumped to the cause. The next film I developed was clear of it and so it remained for years. Over time trying a number of different developers along the way without the affect. 

Then all of a sudden three film in a row one FP4+ developed in RO9 and two rolls of Fomapan 100 one in RO9 the other Studional. So it had now't to do with the developer but something common to all three. At the time I traced it to contaminated developing tank and spirals with wetting agent and wrote an article on how I traced it. There will be a link to it at the end. 

The up shot of it was I stopped using wetting agent completely leading to negatives that dry twice as fast and with no water marks. I have been using a soft wet leather to wipe the negatives dry with no ill affects for years. The mottling disappeared as well or did it?

Until recently it is back with a vengeance it has appeared on half a dozen rolls of Fomapan 100. All processed one after the other using HC 110 the difference this time is I know it is not the developer or wetting agent contamination. I was put out only in the sense of its unpredictability I have embraced the mottle as a creative tool and like the affect it has on the photographs produced.

The one bit of information missing so far is that all the affected rolls of film have been 120 format. I went to the film cupboard there was a new unopened pack of 10 Fomapan 100. I opened it and pulled out a roll. Took it out of it's rapper ready to load in the Bronica. What is this? It has the same white silky backing paper as Ilford? Slowly the cogs clanked round.

I still had some from the pack I just processed, what's the best before date? 2018. it would seem you are more likely to get the affect the more out of date the film is. It has also become clear that it is the backing paper casing the mottle. from what I can work out it is the papers expanding and contracting at a different rate to the film base bring into sharp focus how you store the film pointing the finger at big swings in temperature say from fridge to room or freezer to room maybe adding to the increased possibility of it happening. 

On further consideration it maybe also be small amounts of moisture caught between the layers causing the large mottle I have experienced over the years along with the film being out of date. The thing that adds to this idea is the insult of the new Foma backing paper having a hole punched in it leaving a circle on the processed negative.

Once I have used up all my 120 Foma I may not replace it as I cannot trust it not to ruin a good negatives in the future. Which will be a shame as I like to use it with my pinhole camera.

I should not have to add this to the article  the copyright of Mitch Fusco 2022 all rights reserved.

Technical data:

Film I have used that's been affected Ilford FP4+, Fomapan 100, Rollei RPX 400, Agfa 400s. 

All images scanned from photographs.

 It could have been the backing paper all the time and not the wetting agent.  

   Wetting agent contamination link

Understanding how to keep Dust at bay.

Have you ever sat and looked at that shaft of light streaming into the room revealing all those microscopic particles dancing in the air. Then blowing in that direction to watch them swirl around. It always makes me think how is it that our lungs do not fur up like that of untouched dust on a flat surface. 

With all those bits hanging around it is a wonder that the film photographer produces any sort of fine-looking photograph. What with having to check and clean inside the back of the camera where the film sits, the camera lens, the film when processed, the enlarging lens, the negative carrier with glass it just wares you out just thinking about it.

But we don't think about it seriously enough that is why we end up buying all these lens cloths, antistatic brushes, compressed air cans. The amount of time spent on blowing, wiping and brushing only to end up with more dust stuck to our optical surfaces than when we started. It is a wonder that a picture is produced at all.

What is it we need to understand? That the human body is a massive generator of static electricity. We have all experienced at some point walking up to the car and just as we are about to open the door, we get a shock off the car. Wrong you have just shocked the car it is an overload of static in your body grounding itself hence the shock as it leaves you. Yes! You.

The static builds up in us because of the manmade fibers rubbing against our bodies (plastic) acting as an insulator. If you have not earthed yourself, say by washing your hands and or walking around in bare feet. The static continues to build in extreme cases you can get fly away hair. This is where your hair starts to lift up from your head. Before it gets to this point most of us earth ourselves in some way dissipating the static before we get to that shock the car.

Some years ago, I spent a lot of time try to remove some spots of dust from the glass of the negative carrier, having removed it, to have it all come back tenfold as soon as I touched it with my bare hand. The air was blue with my frustration. 

Slowly the penny dropped I was the problem I was magnetizing the glass with the excessive static in my body. Time to sort this once and for all. I had sitting in a draw an earthing band that I used when building a computer. 

The earthing strap was set up by the enlarger where it has remained. It has put in sterling service over the years it's still a wonder, to watch the dust fall off the glass of the negative carrier when I touch it to it. It is also one of the first things I do when entering the darkroom is to touch the earth before I start setting things up. 

Occasionally you get a stubborn particle needing wiping off but nowhere near as much trouble to remove. Once done a touch to earth again making it ready to load the film that is earthed just before loading. 

This article is the copyright of Mitch Fusco 2022 all rights reserved