And you could have cleaned the brown developer stains off your coat with Anchor Photo Chemical Stain Remover. Remember it? One more casualty of the digital revolution along with Pinakryptol Green desensitizer and ferricyanide for B/W print spot bleaching. It's been awhile...

If you can swing the stiff price, Freestyle in Los Angeles still carries Fuji instant color film in 4x5. No need for a darkroom; you just need money: https://www.freestylephoto.biz/02602760-Fujicolor-FP-100C-Professional-Instant-Print-Film-4x5-10-pack

Incidentally, however you process 4x5 film, it's useless until you print the negative. That DOES call for a darkroom. You might be wiser to put the camera back in its display case.


Back in the Air Force in 1967 I was obliged to use a 4x5 Speed Graphic. I couldn't wait to get my hands on a Nikon! The Graphic was a clunker -- all work and no play.

In the late 1970's when I was a pro photographer in Cambridge, MA, as well as a reporter for the old Ziff-Davis magazine Photomethods my editor asked me to interview Doc Edgerton. I protested that I wasn't qualified to interview such a towering figure but my much-missed editor Fred Schmidt wouldn't take no for an answer so I went to "Strobe Alley" determined to do the best I could. Of course Doc was charming, gracious and tolerant of some embarrassingly naïve questions but as I left, his longtime secretary pulled me aside. "Check out your details with me before you send it in," she cautioned me. "Doc's been forgetting a lot lately." I was shaken by this revelation and I finally convinced Fred that any story I could write might reflect badly on my subject. This wasn't false modesty; Doc needed a better interviewer than me.

One amusing detail: If you look through some of the late-1930's U.S. Camera Annuals you'll find some od Doc's early work with references to the "Edgerton Speed Ray." Wow! That sounds much nicer than just "strobe!" I still try to use it when I know people will understand.

What a guy!

Hey everyone, thanks for all the feedback. I took the camera to Canon in Costa Mesa today and the guy at the repair desk came up with several of your theories on his own but agreed to have the bod checked out completely. Fortunately, I got under the wire for the warranty by one day (!). Truth to tell, I do not love the 6D2. Had I know the mirrorless R was on the way I'd have bought it instead but I knew not and 6D2's seem impossible to sell on eBay now -- there are dozens listed. I'm not alone! Anyhow, thanks again.

Silly me. Hope I got it right this time.

That makes sense. Here are two.

One of my two Canon EOS 6D Mark IIs gives frustratingly irregular exposures: Some are OK but others are either over- or underexposed by two or three stops. Has anyone else encountered this problem? The more I know when I go to Canon's West Coast facility tomorrow, the better for me. -- Spencer

You pick up a Quantum Calcu-Flash II on eBay for less than $50 or a Gossen Ascor flash meter for under $100. Both are old but if they're in good shape they'll do the job and save you a bundle.

Advice from a native New Yorker: DON'T walk across the Brooklyn Bridge! It's as crowded as the subway and much less fun. Instead, walk to nearby Manhattan Bridge. It's far less crowded and you get a great view of -- the Brooklyn Bridge! Also, the Manhattan Bridge leads directly to Chinatown, where you can complete your experience with a yummy Dim Sum snack. Go for it!

Weegee!

Weegee!

The "niff" of a darkroom was less significant to me than its sociability. Back when I was a Boston Globe photographer, the darkroom was a social vortex that accommodated up to half a dozen at a time and as we printed, we conversed on countless subjects. "I've been watching your work!" Charlie "Reindeer" Carey used to say to me. "FANTASTIC!" Boy did that feel good! Charlie was so sweet. The coming of digital spelled the end of the wet darkroom, the accompanying photo department, and the camaraderie it fostered. Now I'm at the Los Angeles Times. I get my assignments online and turn them in the same way, from home. I've never met my editor or set foot in the office, and rarely work with reporters as I did routinely at the Globe. True, the quality and flexibility I get with digital far exceeds what I had with film, but the human element is sadly compromised. 40 years in a wet darkroom left me with flat feet but a lot of happy memories.

I gave up on "Abe's of Maine" -- rather a joke since it's in Brooklyn -- 40 years ago after one more of their bait-and-switches. As the old line goes, people don't change unless they want to, and Abe's doesn't.

More likely it used 127 film. Remember it? When Ektachrome was available in that size, you could shoot projectable "Super Slides" that fit 2 x 2 mounts. Rollei, Yashica and several other manufacturers made high quality cameras for that size. It's all history now, but those cameras are highly collectable.

While Sigma lenses are cheaper than Canon's or Nikon's, I have to say a word in their favor. I'm a stringer for the LA Times and have used a 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 Sigmas for the past fifteen years with excellent results -- especially the 70-200mm -- and no breakdowns. I paid a third or less of the maker-brand prices and have no regrets, just good pictures.