new user

[BarryGoodchild]

🙄 Hi
I have just bought a RF with 45 and 65 mm lenses. I wanted a MF camera that I could take on walks and whilst travelling. My Mamiya 645 AFD, though high quality, is too large and also has large lenses.
I have been experimenting with my first roll of film. The camera seems comfortable in the hand and is extraordinarily quiet. On completion, I found that the 120/ 220 switch (which I thought had been correctly set) was set to an intermediate position between 120 and 220, about half way between the two. Now I know about the problem I can stop it happening again. However, what about the film. What is the likely effect? Is the films worth developing?
Barry Goodchild

 

[Gid]

Welcome to RFF and the RF 645. Great camera. Good choice. I am not certain, but I think the 120/220 switch just controls how many frames you can take before you have to rewind. It doesn't affect the film advance. 220 is twice as long as 120 but each frame is still 60 x 45 approx. I'm pretty sure your film will be fine.

 

[Chaser]

You may need an answer from a RF645 user, but it may change the film pressure plate, so there is a chance that your negs will be soft. I would develop and see.

 

[Talisker]

Hi Barry, and welcome to RFF.

The 120/220 switch moves the film pressure plate towards/away from the focal plane, to allow for the difference in thickness between 120 film with its paper backing, and the thinner, unbacked 220 film. The switch has nothing to do with how many shots you can take other than that you can get more shots on 220 because as it is thinner, you get more film on the reel. Having said all that I don't know what effect this will have, as I don't know if the switch gradually moves the plate forwards, or is an 'all or nothing' switch - and I'm mid-film so I can't check. It must be worth developing the film though if only to find out first hand what the effect was. Even if the film is off the focal plane and the focus is soft, you might still have some nice shots, even if they weren't what you were expecting! Let us know what happens - and enjoy the RF645. There is a developing opinion around here that they could become a cult camera (not that we're biased or anything!)

 

[BarryGoodchild]

Hi
My first film with the Bronica RF was developed today. Despite the error with the 120/220 switch, the results are technically excellent. Here is an example, with perspectives corrected in Photoshop.

 

[sf]

perspectives corrected in PS? Please explain . .

 

[rover]

Welcome Barry, we look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

[BarryGoodchild]

Perspective correction

Perspective correction

Hi
Please remember that I am a part-time amateur in photography, with no qualifications. I hope this explanation does not explain the obvious.
For digital manipulation I use a combination of Paint Shop Pro 8, Photoshops Elements 4 and various plug-ins supplied by Power Retouche (really good vcalue for money, in my view). I save as TIFF to avoid loss of quality. Paint Shop 8 has an excellent browser function and a simple straightener, for example for horizontal horizons. Photoshop Elements has the better programmes for perspective correction. The function is available under "Image" in PS elements. The function is called "transform and has four subsidiary controls- free, skew, distort and perspective. The difference between these detailed controls is not large. They all allow a degree of perspective control. I generally use "distort" and judge the results by eye.
Why is all this important? All lens produce a degree of perspective distortion in high buildings and high rooms. It is arguable, however whether this is real distortion or a problem of perception. Walls lean in. Wide angle lens produce more apparent distortion than medium and narrow angle lens. On the other hand, wide angle lens have a wide depth of field and they enable more of a building to be incorporated into the picture from close up. For interiors, such as the camelia house that I included in my previous message or a shoppong mall, I have found a combination of the wide angle lens and perspective correction to be essential.
Here is the picture of the camellia house uncorrected.