StanMac Loc: Tennessee

It does! Thank you James.

Stan

ELNikkor

Love those old cameras, and you are doing an excellent restoring job. I found a 1903 Speed Graphic 5x7 Kodak in my cellar with a Kodak lens. Everything works, and the lens is real clean. Haven't shot any film with it, but may try your style of making paper negatives and scanning them. I have a lot of experience of printing on Kodak RC B&W paper, so may try that for starters. Show us some of your photos when you can...

ChrisRL

How 'bout Hudson River water?

(for those of us too young to remember, there was once a piece of news by a concerned environmentalist or similar wherein a sheet of photographic paper was put into the Hudson's waters - and it turned completely black in the usual 20 seconds or so as the chemicals in the river water developed the paper).

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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http://www.caffenol.org/2010/12/15/caffenol-as-paper-developer/

https://blog.keh.com/printing-with-caffenol/

https://emulsive.org/articles/darkroom/printing/getting-to-grips-with-darkroom-printing-using-caffenol-and-alternatives-darkroom-alchemy-by-mads-madison



Seems to be OKay with variable results. I do think that I might give this a try - Just because I am a Very Curious person and I really like to experiment with different stuff.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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Now, THAT is very interesting.


Here is a little "Phunny" - especially for my Chemical Photographer friends............

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ChrisRL

My son was just in a chem class and I texted your jokes over to him.
Shut down the class completely.... :-)

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

James … I, also - have a B&J 5x7 View Camera … what do you think? any tips on restoring it?

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

Just be careful. Go slow and use common sense. You can do it.

Attached is a [PDF] of what I did... LOTZ of photos ;-)

Oh-oh!!!!! This is TOO LARGE to send through this....

Please E-Mail to me your addy... I shall send to there....

jamesrkyle@gmail.com

Thank you.

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Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Oh, okay, James … will do. I have taken pics of both sides, the ground glass end, and the lens board end. Shall I post them, here … or do you want me to send them to you at your G-Mail addy?

Bipod

A beautiful restoration job. Please let us see it again when it's finished.

5 x 7 is a great format for contact printing -- large enough to frame on a desk.
1:1.4 is a very nice aspect ratio. 5 x 8 (1:1.6) may be very close to the
"golden ratio", but 5 x 7 looks better on the wall, I think.

I don't see a ground glass among the parts. Guess you'll be acquiring one.
As I'm sure you know, they vary a lot in quality. I've made some small
ground glasses that looked fine, but weren't good enough for a viewfinder
(I made them for a diffuser, and they worked great for that).

That paper negative process -- called calotype or talbottype -- sure is an oldy!
Did you try wetting your paper "negative" before printing to increse
transparency? Another old technique was to impregnate it with wax
(I don't know anybody who's actually tried that with modern paper, but I'm
sure someobody has). Most calotypes were printed using the sun for
illumination -- cheap and bright!

A wonderful thing about photography is that light never changes, so neither
does the challenge of capturing an image. Every camera, every process
and every way of working has its pros and cons.

I've been meaning to try Ilford Harman Direct Positive paper. I've seen it
used for live desmontrations of old cameras and while-you-wait portraits.
Like most paper, it's not red-sensitive. It is available in 5 x 7": Comes in
FB or RC -- the latter is said to be contrastier and faster.
https://www.shutterbug.com/content/harman-direct-positive-paper-pinhole-photograms-large-format-dpp-one

There is also a new direct postitive paper from Galaxy that is supposed to
be much faster than Ilford's: ISO 120 vs ISO 2-4 (without pre-flash).

You should try the camera with film a few times before you sell it. You may
decide not to sell it.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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It IS complete....

Taking it out for a field test in the morning.

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Bipod

WOW! Looks amazing! Great job on the refinishing.
Tripod looks like it came with it.

Maybe you'll have time to get a photo of it set up in the field
with your other camera.

What a worthwhile project!

rb61 Loc: Maple Grove, MN

Great project, thanks for posting.

After seeing your camera, I will be pulling out my AGFA 5x7 and stripping it, if I can find it. It looks identical except for the brand logo.

Bipod

This is off-topic, but to follow up on your post:

Some people have used Caffeinol C for developing paper, but I have doubts about the
suitability of the developing agents (caffiene and sodium ascorbate are not superadditive).
Also, it stains paper like mad. and the amount of caffiene in coffee varies a lot. With
no restrainer, it's possible you would get noticable paper fog.

There really isn't much point in fooling with a homemade paper developer unless it
gives the result you want.

This is just a personal view, but it seems to be much harder to formulate a paper developer
with good capacity, good contrast, low fog, and a stock solution with a long shelf life, than
a film developer with the same qualities.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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Very true.

AND for the reasons you have described, I have not made use of it. I have THOUGHT about do that - however = Not as yet.

I have combined Eythol with Dektol (a mix of Dektol 1:4 with a mix of 1:9 of Eythol) And used it as a low temp of about 48 to 50 degrees F. with really good results. I "dump" this after I use it as it oxidizes in about 7 - 10 days.

Chemical fogging will occur with just about any developer IF one is not careful.

Below is an image captured with a Crown Graphic 4X5 and using of Kodabromide II RC Paper as a Negative.

Wrong mix - and Old solution.

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No!!!! These are NOT clouds in the sky. What you see is "Chemical Fogging" do to the Wrong ratio of water and developer. The "Run Time" should be no more than 18 - 8X10 prints - or 68 - 4X5 prints. And the time of the shelf life is important as well.

(Download)

AND = Here is one that was developed On Location with GOOD developer of the Eythol/Dektol Mix @ 48-50 Deg. F. In my portable Camper "Darkroom".

(Download)