TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

Thanks for the welcome reception. I was introduced to this forum by someone who subscribed to my channel on youtube, and he thought I would enjoy joining. I like to share information with others and am esp interested in keeping film photography alive and well.

PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Welcome to UHH Tim, glad you joined us.
Have fun and enjoy the forum.

Don

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

Welcome to the forum Tim.

Jack

tcthome Loc: NJ

Welcome to the forum.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

jpgto Loc: North East Tennessee

Welcome, have fun and enjoy

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Boris77

Good to hear that someone has more energy than me. I did B&W photography for 30 years out of home darkrooms, with a little help from a company darkroom for the first 20 years where I played with high contrast using scrap film. However the physical ease of digital photography has won me over; it is sure nice to work in better air, light, and have more time sitting.
All the equipment now resides in my basement waiting for my return.
Since you are still active with B&W film, what formats/cameras do you use now?
Boris

TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

I have my father's Speed Graphic (4x5) and I have a Zone Vi Wooden 4x5. The studio 4x5, I gave away. Too heavy for me at my age.
When I shoot 120 I like the Rollieflex the best because it is light and unobtrusive. When I want superior quality (sharp) negatives I use either my Makina 6/7 or my Fuji 6/9. The 67 has a 105mm lens and the 69 has a 65mm lens. If I shoot portraits I usually use the RB 67. I have 4 lens for that camera. And then I have 2 Mamiya 645 cameras with 4 lens. I used to shoot weddings with those. I also have Robert Cameron's Pentax 67 cameras with 5 lens and a gyro stabilizer. I don't use the many 35mm cameras anymore because I like larger negatives to work from. I only shoot Tri X film when I shoot 120, and I only shoot Super XX film when I shoot 4x5. I process in HC 110 - 30ml concentrate to make 1 liter of working solution. A lot of equipment but not too many different kinds of film or chemicals. When I print I only use Dektol, Stop bath and Rapid Fix (with no hardener). I try to keep it simple.

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Since I am also new to this forum---you are the only person thus far with complete answers in a respectful straight forward manner. And without referencing special software or gimmicks costing hundreds or thousands of dollars. I usually mixed my chemicals from formula books and had a special two part formula from 19th century photo chemistry using the reducer Pyrogolic acid (Pyro) and separated the two for long shelf life and one used the tray solution only once. I developed roll films in a tray under a "Ferris Wheel" with the film. It is a Pyro-Elon solution and has a rapid development time yet very fine grained. But full length 35mm in stainless multi tanks. I generally used Super Pancro-Press at ASA200. And Panatomic X for fine grain.-----ew

Boris77

Going to reread and think about the two preceding replies. Back in the day I shot a lot of 35mm Pan and Tri-X, plus IR, cause I loved the cost of rolling my own. I bought a used RB67 with a couple of backs and lenses, but did not like to fight with the film curl. At work they had me shooting 8x10 color with an old wooden camera painted grey. I experimented with different film developers for the roll film, and souped the prints in Dektol, with occasional forays into Selectol. My most serious expediture was the dry mounting press; still works but do not use it on present ink jet prints.
Boy it is fun thinking of the old names.
Boris

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

Welcome to the forum. I checked out your YouTube channel (WOW!), it is a plethora of information, YOU will be a valuable asset to this community.

TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

Thanks.

TimHGuitar Loc: San Francisco, CA

When you process in pyro, does your film come out tanned (a slight brown color)? My father learned to develop in pyro from Wynn Bullock and taught me what he learned. Negatives used to come out brown but when hardener was added in the making of film emulsions, Mr. Bullock explained that the negatives no longer became "tanned."
A brown tone negative does not need a lot of density in order to block exposure when making a print because normal photographic printing paper is somewhat non-sensitized to brownish light (think of a safelight). Therefore, many of Mr. Bullock's negatives looked very thin. Ansel stopped using pyro because he said the results were difficult to "control." I believe this was due to the browning effect. When given more exposure the negative gets more and more brown so it becomes like printing with a safelight.
I found that Ilford films worked best with pyro because they still developed out brown while Kodak films did not. Also the old negatives that my father made had a slight "edge" to the image, kinda looked like the emulsion on Kodachrome films.
When making dye transfer prints we made large films on matrix film (the same size as the intended print) and those films were very thick in the dense areas of the image and less so in the lighter areas. It looked like a spongy image that kind of flopped around in the warm water. That film used a two solution pyro mix like you described and it oxidized very quickly. Those films were indeed very brown.