Stir crazy and did some calligraphy on Sat and then went out to take photos on Sunday. These are the best ones….
I have been using a Jobo CPA 2.0 rotary processor with a lift for many years now. It has been generally reliable and I can process from 35mm to 8×10 with it, from B&W, to C41, and even E6 slides. However, there is a weak link in the system: The four white clips are the retainer clips to hold the drums or tanks in place. However, they can break after years of use, and it turns out that the procedure to replace them are not trivial. First, here’s what a clip looks like: Clearly the shape of the clip means […]
“All photography is political” and it definitely is with this one. The building behind is at the site of the former Sun-Times building in Chicago. The name plate deserves a middle finger salute. I used the pictorialist lens to throw the background entirely out of focus, making the blight a bit more tolerable with the first letter further obscured. The lens is a Cooke Rapid View from the 1880s, taken with the Gibelline ACN45 4×5 camera on HP5+ film. I love the rendering of this lens. Here’s a shot of the bridge with the same lens. A slight swing to […]
We tried to go to the Monterey Aquarium in May, but our car caught on fire o.O https://richardman.photo/2022/05/the-not-quite-indestructible-leica-m9/ Despite some PTSD issues, we finally made it to the aquarium yesterday (July 2nd). Here are some photos that came out OK. About half were taken with the Hasselblad 907x, with the 45p and the adapted XPan 30mm lens, and the other half were taken with the iPhone 13 Pro. Not sure if one can tell the difference with web sized images, suffice to say that the iPhone 13 does quite well for this use.
I have been developing my own films since 2004, B&W, E-6, C-41, I do them all. I started with a Job CPE-2 rotary processor and upgraded to a CPP-2 when I started shooting 4×5. Now I even develop my own 8×10 using Jobo Expert Drums. Since the developer is agitated continuously in a rotary processor, not all B&W developers are suitable to be used in such a setup. Also, a negative developed in a Jobo tends to have a higher contrast so some compensation methods must be used. The general recommendations when using a rotary processor are Use the developer’s […]
While I was cleaning whatever is left of the camera, I made up fictional sales descriptions: “My conservative rating for this camera is near mint. A CLA will make this back into a formidable shooting machine.” “This M9 has slight sensor corrosion, but Leica should be able to replace it for free.” “The Summilux 35mm produces lovely images with great bokeh. Slight coating damage but that adds dreamy signatures to your images.” “The shutter curtain is rated for 200,000 actuations and is as precise as when it left the factory 12 years ago.” … Oh, so what happened? The long […]
If you find a 100 photographers on the street and shake them and ask: “What is the most famous portrait lens?”, they would probably call the police and charge you with not abiding by safe COVID protocols. There is that one person though, especially if you are in Tonopah, NV, and happen to meet one Jim Galli, he might say “Come on over to my truck”, and pull out half a dozen 100 years old portrait lenses under the front seat. { Disclaimer: I have never met Mr. Galli, but if I do, I full expect this scenario to play […]
Note: this was originally published at Medium on Sept 1, 2018. I have since gotten, um, even more soft focus lens, see https://richardman.photo/2021/01/the-mother-of-all-portrait-lens-13-cooke-series-ii/ and https://richardman.photo/2020/04/ps-visual-quality-vs-ps945/ Dennis Taylor patented the first triplet in 1893 for the company “T. Cooke and Sons”. Its design eliminated most of the optical aberrations using just three elements. The patents eventually went to Taylor Taylor Hobson (no relation to Mr. Dennis Taylor). TTH, or Taylor Hobson Cooke lens, created some of the most beloved images from the 1920s to 1950s through the expert hands of Alfred Stieglitz and other studio photographers. The Cooke Triplet design lens […]
Earlier in 2020, before the Pandemic put us in a lock down, I came upon a rare soft focus portrait lens, the Pinkham & Smith Visual Quality IV Series 2. Made in the 1920s, these lenses are highly praised for the soft focus images they produce. The images are smooth, like butter, with glowing highlights: The P&S is a lens that I didn’t expect to ever come across, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to find this lens. Well, imagine my even greater surprise when I come across this: This is the Cooke 13″ Series II soft […]
A few years ago, I used the tagline “The Art of Engineering” and blogged about the Gibellini ACN45 4×5. Since then, I have purchased a lighter Gibellini TCN45 for when I need the portability. Gibellini also overhauled my ACN45, making it a practically new camera. Recently I took delivery of an ACN810 from Gibellini. This is their mid-range 8×10 model, sitting between the mostly 3-D printed Bellatrix 810 and their GP810 professional model. While nominally not their “pro” model, I was assured by Alessandro Gibellini that it will be able to handle my large barrel lens, including the 3+ lbs […]