First Retina IIa results

[oscroft]

My first Retina IIa negs have dried and been scanned, and here's a sample to show how nice it is. I'm very impressed by the lens (a Heligon 50/2) - I think it's as good as any 50 I've got, and the shutter is so beautifully quiet 😀 These were all shot between f/5.6 and f11, at various speeds, and the exposure looks spot on in every frame. Film is Delta 400, developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 8 mins. Scanned at 3200 dpi with an Epson Photo 3200.

 

[oscroft]

Here's a few more. The last one is a sample at full frame size taken from the top left corner of the frame. The resolution looks pretty impressive, limited by the film grain rather than the lens - I'll have to try a finer grained film, like FP4.

 

[Trius]

Alan: Super... I agree the film is the limiting factor here ... and using Rodinal @ something less than 1:25 would be even better. But all in all, the Heligon is impressive... I think you're going to enjoy this kit.

 

[oscroft]

using Rodinal @ something less than 1:25 would be even better

Yes, I think you're right. I'm also tempted to try FP4 in HC110 - that should give me nice fine grain.

 

[radiocemetery]

Forgive my Yankee ignorance, but aren't those canal boats? I remember admiring one tied up by a pub called the Holly Bush somewhere near Oxford ?when I visited your fair country. Looks like a fine way to travel, especially if you have your trusty rangefinder with you.

Nice pictures, Alan.

Steve

 

[Letien]

Film is Delta 400, developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 8 mins. Scanned at 3200 dpi with an Epson Photo 3200.

Very impressive! Please share some info on your scanning setting. I just started trying some B&W and I have the Epson 4490 but I'm not good at scanning at all.
For my IIa Heligon, I got the film advance stuck on the first roll. It's Murphy law. I'm trying to fix it now.

 

[oscroft]

Forgive my Yankee ignorance, but aren't those canal boats?

They are, yes - canal "narrowboats". These were on the Leeds to Liverpool canal, at Appley Bridge in Lancashire.

Looks like a fine way to travel, especially if you have your trusty rangefinder with you

Indeed - I'd love to have the time to spend several months bumming around the canals in one. They're surprisingly spacious inside too (a couple of friends of mine have owned them) - it's just that all the spaces are end-to-end. Mind you, it's quite disconcerting to wake up in one in the morning after having quaffed a quart too many the night before and forget where you are - especially if you try to go outside for a pee 🙂

 

[oscroft]

Very impressive! Please share some info on your scanning setting

Using the EpsonScan software, 3200dpi, transparency, black & white negative, 48-bit color (instead of 16-bit greyscale - no good reason, I think I just left it that way after doing colour scans when I created my b&w profile, but it works fine). Importantly, no unsharp mask, because EpsonScan's usm really doesn't work well with b&w (though fine with colour at its lowest setting) and gives crude results. I applied a very small amount of usm subsequently (I use a Mac, GraphicConverter, but Photoshop or similar should be fine), but the raw scans of 400 ASA film are pretty good without it. Exposure, histogram, tone, etc all left at their default settings.

For my IIa Heligon, I got the film advance stuck on the first roll. It's Murphy law. I'm trying to fix it now

Ah, be careful - the count down film counter stops the wind-on when it gets down to zero, and you need to manually turn the film counter past the zero point to the little marker before the "36" in order to free it again.

 

[oscroft]

Please share some info on your scanning setting

Oh yes, and I scanned to 100% jpeg - it produces images that are, to my eyes at least, indistinguishable from TIFF when viewed at 100% size (and much smaller files). However, if I was intending to do much editing (especially repeat opening and saving), I'd use TIFF.

 

[Letien]

Using the EpsonScan software, 3200dpi, transparency, black & white negative, 48-bit color (instead of 16-bit greyscale - no good reason, I think I just left it that way after doing colour scans when I created my b&w profile, but it works fine). Importantly, no unsharp mask, because EpsonScan's usm really doesn't work well with b&w (though fine with colour at its lowest setting) and gives crude results. I applied a very small amount of usm subsequently (I use a Mac, GraphicConverter, but Photoshop or similar should be fine), but the raw scans of 400 ASA film are pretty good without it. Exposure, histogram, tone, etc all left at their default settings.

Thanks for sharing your scaning info. I will try it again.
My IIa was messed up when I open it to clean the RF. It works fine before. But I'm sure know how to correct it now.
Thanks

 

[Letien]

Two shots recover from my IIa Rodenstock.