bmattock
Veteran
For those of us with gear lust - and for those of us who are processing our own B&W film - and for those of us who have a major Jones for vintage equipment...I have a new passion. Thought I'd share it with you...
The other day, browsing eBoy, bored to tears, I saw a book listed. Called "Photographic Facts and Formulas," written in the early 1900's, updated in 1976 by John Carroll. Dropped a low bid and got it.
Man, this book is something else! The first half of the book is incredible information about lenses, f-stops, t-stops, light transmission, why the 'circle of confusion' is bunk, how to figure actual depth-of-field, why lens coatings are good and what they do, etc. Amazing stuff, and it gives a historic perspective as well as what appears to be still accurate and up-to-date information. I mean, B&W chemistry just hasn't changed that much, plus there is all kinds of information on how to do some of the 'archaic' development, such as pyro, carbon, bromoil, and so on. I am very pleased!
The second part of the book is about various developers - what they're made of, why they work the way they do, what to expect from them, even how to mix your own developing formulas from raw chemicals (for those so inclined).
A lot of it is over my head (at present), but it is amazing information nonetheless, and I am finding that it fills in a lot of gaps in my knowledge - the 'old salts' know this stuff, and the young guys talk about it, but nobody really explains it. This does. For example, I had heard of a film's 'toe' and 'shoulder', but I didn't know what it was, really. This book had an excellent and basic explanation that made perfect sense to me. Worth looking for!
So while I was in "old book mode," I did a little checking on eBoy in the Books & Lit category (weird, I almost never stray out of Photo), and found a number of old magazines and periodicals on cameras and photography. Snatched up a bunch of "Kodakery" magazines from the 1920's. I'm still waiting for them, but they look to be interesting reading! And they're dead cheap, that's pretty cool.
Anyway, thought I'd toss that into the mix - if you've got all the Yashica Electro GSN's you can take for now, try picking up an old camera book or magazine! I'm on the prowl now - time to expand the library instead of the camera shelves for awhile!
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
The other day, browsing eBoy, bored to tears, I saw a book listed. Called "Photographic Facts and Formulas," written in the early 1900's, updated in 1976 by John Carroll. Dropped a low bid and got it.
Man, this book is something else! The first half of the book is incredible information about lenses, f-stops, t-stops, light transmission, why the 'circle of confusion' is bunk, how to figure actual depth-of-field, why lens coatings are good and what they do, etc. Amazing stuff, and it gives a historic perspective as well as what appears to be still accurate and up-to-date information. I mean, B&W chemistry just hasn't changed that much, plus there is all kinds of information on how to do some of the 'archaic' development, such as pyro, carbon, bromoil, and so on. I am very pleased!
The second part of the book is about various developers - what they're made of, why they work the way they do, what to expect from them, even how to mix your own developing formulas from raw chemicals (for those so inclined).
A lot of it is over my head (at present), but it is amazing information nonetheless, and I am finding that it fills in a lot of gaps in my knowledge - the 'old salts' know this stuff, and the young guys talk about it, but nobody really explains it. This does. For example, I had heard of a film's 'toe' and 'shoulder', but I didn't know what it was, really. This book had an excellent and basic explanation that made perfect sense to me. Worth looking for!
So while I was in "old book mode," I did a little checking on eBoy in the Books & Lit category (weird, I almost never stray out of Photo), and found a number of old magazines and periodicals on cameras and photography. Snatched up a bunch of "Kodakery" magazines from the 1920's. I'm still waiting for them, but they look to be interesting reading! And they're dead cheap, that's pretty cool.
Anyway, thought I'd toss that into the mix - if you've got all the Yashica Electro GSN's you can take for now, try picking up an old camera book or magazine! I'm on the prowl now - time to expand the library instead of the camera shelves for awhile!
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
