kbg32
neo-romanticist
I wish I could attend the beauty contest!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Thinking of a drum scanner?? I see large format in your future Cal. More specifically a Linhof Master tech with that wonderful grip............
Accually in the big big picture is likely an Ebony 4x5. I saw two at B&H last night. Also Adorama has an Ebony that is made of Honduran Mahogany that has simplified, meaning less, movements.
I can see that Cristian was right in his assumption that my new Epson 3880 17 inch wide printer is too small for me, and I can see eventually getting a Epson 7900 floor standing printer for big printing.
The bottleneck with a Linhof would be getting enough Graphmatic holders to do a day of shooting. I figure at this point I should keep blasting away with medium format and go for the tripod camera.
Anyways, still all a daydream because I have a boring day job. Anyways this silver mining stock I pretty bought recently made a move over 50%. Perhaps my dreams may become true.
Cal
stompyq
Well-known
Grafamatics won't be a problem. There are a lot of those floating around. As long as the septums aren't bent and they are light tight your golden.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Keith,
It was great to get to know you better at the last Meet-Up. Over the years at gallery shows when you have exhibited just wasn't the same.
I wish you could make the February/Beauty Contest/Swap-Meet/Gearfest because it generally is way over the top as far a laughs and is the big-big event of the year. If you can only make the time to be at one NYC Meet-Up a year this is the one to go to. It only happens once a year and each year it seems to get bigger and crazier.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I might have to get a new wardrobe at this rate and no longer might not be a posterboy for Paul Smith with my lanky boyish looks if I go the Linhof route. My neck is getting kinda thick in an ugly way, and I already put an inch on my chest.
I found a Polaroid taken at a micro-meet-up that happened at B&H in the used department that is from a few years ago. Before I went heavy into medium format, my arms were remarkably skinny. Like my cameras my arms have become monsterous. The difference is rather dramatic and striking.
If I can only have just one more camera after a MM it most likely will be an Ebony 4x5. Perhaps there's a limit to how many cameras one can justify by use, and maybe there's only room for one 4x5. BTW the Ebony is a lot lighter than that Linhof MT
Cal
F 4x5"...go 8x10"
kbg32
neo-romanticist
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
That thought has passed my mind, especially since I do only B&W.
Making good negatives and contact printing is awesome.
Again Ebony and a tripod. Your point is well taken: if you are going to carry a tripod, why not make the jump to 8x10, but a new Imacron can only scan a 4x5 unless its the older 686 that can scan 5x7.
At this point it seems everything depends if I can game some money out of the market again, and at best I can be a lucky fool maybe twice. If I can ever buy a loft, I'm definitely getting an 8x10; if I have to live like now without a real darkroom and only digital printing is only viable then 4x5 will have to do. Meanwhile I'm still a dreamer, and I still have to be somewhat realistic, but then again I have crazy plans...
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Keith,
I expect that we will likely have other meet-ups at Harlem Public again to make it easy for you and Andre.
Cal
stompyq
Well-known
I think if your going 8x10 then either contact print and do alt process or scan using any flatbed scanner. I really doubt if you need a drum scanner for that size film unless your planning on duing murals. Even my humble epson would be enough for the largish prints you have in mind cal. Plus why are you hooked on Ebony's? Ever seen a 8x10 deardoff?? That's a thing of beauty. Plus you could always borrow my docter optic germinar if you want a superwide for 8x10!!
stompyq
Well-known
Cal, if your thinking ahead in to march can you have the meetup after the 13th? I should be back in the states by then. I vote for harlem public for the march meetup.
Particular
a.k.a. CNNY, disassembler
My opinion of the imacons is that they are great for medium format, but don't make as much sense for 35mm or 4x5. For 35mm loading the holders is much more cumbersome than my Nikon (no batch scanning), and they even crop more of the frame. Any resolution increase is only marginal, perhaps unless you have some really spectacular neg. For 4x5 the maximum resolution is lower and equivalent to my Epson. I also found with the b+w 4x5's I scanned with it that the tonality was very harsh, harsher than I normally get on the Epson. It may have been those negs, but I am planning to rescan them all. If you are looking for a scanner for your current library, I would seriously consider a Nikon 9000, as they handle b+w better than other Nikons. They scan 120 at a higher resolution than the imacon.
For 4x5 an Epson v700 is perfect, unless you need to print larger than 60" or so, in which case you can just take the neg to be drum scanned. If you are getting into 8x10, you need to print awfully large before the epson isn't good enough.
stompyq
Well-known
I disagree on the imacon vs epson debate for 4x5 christian. Heres a link from edgar praus over in Rochester who made me a believer
http://www.4photolab.com/Pages/compare01.html
Particular
a.k.a. CNNY, disassembler
I am biased against the imacon because it chewed up (yes they can do that) one of my favorite 4x5 slides. Also a lot of the other 4x5 scans I did have artifacts from the film holder not holding the film tight. I think they are great scanners designed for 120 (what most pros need), and everything else was an afterthought. I recently rescanned a 120 slide that I had done on the imacon on my epson, and in terms of detail the imacon was much better. In terms of tonal range, I preferred what the epson produced. I want to do some more testing, but it is not as clear cut as it seems in that link.
All of you film guys need to get together and make a community darkroom. This scanning crap seems to just get in the way...
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
All of you film guys need to get together and make a community darkroom. This scanning crap seems to just get in the way...
John,
That's accually a good idea. All I know is I have a major big head ache because over the past 4-5 years I've just been shooting and developing negatives with no regard to printing, except I made my negatives for wet printing.
If I had a darkroom I could pump out a lot of work. Anyways the digital studio I'm building up now serves well the incoming Monochrome.
I still imagine shooting lots of film though also. I don't want any of my cameras to become a Shelf Queen.
Sorry for driving other people crazy, The PM's are also streaming in. LOL.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Cristian,
Been doing research. The Epson V750 seems like a good scanner for editing my negatives (major big head ache: thousands of rolls of film), and for the limited edition books I will make as "Art Books."
Been considering getting a Nikon 9000, and there's one right now that's basically unused that I've been considering that would bump out the Epson.
Pretty hard to justify an Imacon because right now its out of my price range, but I'm grasping at how to justify and most utilize one, especially since wet printing becones and for me is the best presentation of my work.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I've seem a Deardoff. Joel Meyerwitz uses one.
A personality defect of mine is "bad boundries" and for this combined with some obsessive behavior kind of takes everything to extremes. What is most surprising is that somehow I end up pulling rabbits out of hats again and again in a remarkable manner.
Ebony's to me are a mystical object and I find profound beauty in them just as objects. Doing the research on them points to a non folding 45S or SW45II as being a my dream camera. I already have enough gear, and all of it has been serviced. Still the GAS continues.
Cal
Cal, at the rate you are going the photo in your avatar will no longer be a joke.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Cal, at the rate you are going the photo in your avatar will no longer be a joke.
First it was cameras, now it's scanners, computers and printers.
Anyways I figure that I will at least need what I will soon have to ultimize a Leica Monochrome. The Epson 3880 is a 17 inch wide printer and 14x21 inch prints are big enough.
Realistically A Nikon 9000 is looking good just for editing my negatives (head ache), and for the limited edition "Art Books" that I will make in lew of making exhibition prints. This leaves room for an eventual darkroom.
Going large format still is a wet dream...
Again sorry for all the excitment. LOL.
Cal