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How many people shoot roll film regularly?

 
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LelandRay



Joined: 24 May 2001
Posts: 115
Location: Mississippi

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 1:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was curious to know how many people use their view and press cameras with roll film. Roll film is certainly easier to process and handle than sheet film, and the convenience factor is definitely appealing.
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was only a couple of times that 120 film worked out for me on a 4x5. I tend to shoot wide and on 120 even a 65mm is only moderately wide.

I also used a Calument C2 roll holder so I didn't have to take the glass of (and step on it)

When I want to have fun I used a 2x3 mini or pacemaker with roll film. I've also used roll film with an XLSW

But if I'm going to haul out a 4x5 camera I sure as heck want the large neg to show for it.

And Grafmatics make shoting 4x5 quick!
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LelandRay



Joined: 24 May 2001
Posts: 115
Location: Mississippi

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"There was only a couple of times that 120 film worked out for me on a 4x5. I tend to shoot wide and on 120 even a 65mm is only moderately wide."

I have a heck of a lot of money tied up in a really good 6x7 system (Pentax 67 II), so I'm not really interested in shooting rollfilm with a Graphic. But I'm probably going to become the owner of a Singer/Graflex rollfilm back tonight (eBay) and was wondering what utility I might find. The one reason I could think of offhand for shooting roll film was that I can get 120/220 Ektachrome processed locally, which I can't do with 4x5 Ektachrome.

"I also used a Calument C2 roll holder so I didn't have to take the glass of (and step on it)"

I'm the clumsy sort, and that's just the kind of thing that might happen to me. I have really BIG feet, too, so the likelihood of such an incident is increased.

"When I want to have fun I used a 2x3 mini or pacemaker with roll film. I've also used roll film with an XLSW"

I can see how that would work out, especially for those who didn't want to cut their own sheet film.

"But if I'm going to haul out a 4x5 camera I sure as heck want the large neg to show for it."

Yeah, man, that's the ticket! Truth be known, my first experience with a Graflex was at church day camp about 35 years ago. The minister was a photographer, and he showed me how the camera worked. I was hooked in a very large way, though I've only recently been adding Graflexes to my battery of "working" cameras. I had an old Speed years ago with so many light leaks you'd have thought GI Joe had gotten inside and practiced with his machine gun.

"And Grafmatics make shoting 4x5 quick!"

I did want to thank you guys for having this site here; it's been invaluable to me. It's also been very valuable to the people getting my money for all these Graflexes, but hey, the cameras and accessories will get used, and they have a very happy home.

A bit of Tri-X from a few days ago...



[ This Message was edited by: LelandRay on 2001-06-19 19:42 ]
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"When I want to have fun I used a 2x3 mini or pacemaker with roll
film. I've also used roll film with an XLSW"

I can see how that would work out, especially for those who didn't
want to cut their own sheet film.

Not that i'm try to sell you on yet another camera but 2x3 sheet film is still available in B&W from both Kodak and Fuji, at least it was a couple of years ago when I bought it last.

It's the 3x4 that's the pain. You can spend as much money on a nice 3x4 as a 2x3 and the only thing you have is a longer bellows. You have to find an original 3x4 knob wind, which is expensive, and not flat and you still end up with the same format as a 2x3 but lugging around another 2 pounds. Nothing endeared me to my Hassy more than when I helped liquidate an estate and he had a 3x4 Super D graflex with a 6x6 back on it. I got to play with it for a while, probably could have finagled a deal, but when I realized this did no more than my 500cm and weighed twice as much, It was easy to let it pass.

You can get 3x4 film cut, but it's more expensive than 4x5, so why bother? It's a shame too, it was a nice size format. The only thing to do with these are to convert them to Polaroid, and with digital getting better and cheaper.......

Why couldn't George Lucas have use one of these in his movies?
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



Quote:
. The one reason I could think of offhand for shooting roll film was that I can get 120/220 Ektachrome processed locally, which I can't do with 4x5 Ektachrome.


I've grappled with shooting E6 for some time. When I graduated from RIT, Clients wanted E6 because printers demanded it. And if you didn't have Cibachromes as most of your portfolio, you weren't going to make it. Now clients want the pictures on discs, or ftp'd over the 'net, Ciba, sorry "Ilfochrome" is hard to get and harder to print; My wife's heavily into Creative Memories (scrapbooking--all prints) and right now I couldn't get my dog to look at a reel of slides projected on the wall. So when I go to shoot either for myself or clients, I leave the E6 behind.

The only benefit I see to shooting roll film on a graphic or monorail 4x5 is the use of perspective control and loooonnnng lenses.

Shooting with a 12" lens and a 6x7 roll back is the same as shooting 8x10 with a 42" lens.

_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison
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LelandRay



Joined: 24 May 2001
Posts: 115
Location: Mississippi

PostPosted: Wed Jun 20, 2001 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Believe it or not, it's incredibly easy to get E6 printed well around here.

Okay, it's not "easy," but it's simple. A buddy of mine owns a lab, and he's bought a Noritsu/Kodak digital lab system, which will take any film size from APS to 6x9 and output it to real, honest-to-Eastman Kodak Gold photo paper via lasers, fiber optic cables, and whatever else goes into a machine costing a quarter of a million bucks. It will also accept digital media, and since I have the ability to scan negatives and positives up to 8x10", it's a fairly simple matter to scan a neg and then take a CD full of TIF files down to the lab and say "print em up." The major limitation is that the machine can only handle paper to 12" wide, and the largest print possible is a 12x18, but it's really nice having the ability to get someone to print my color from any format I shoot.

The prints from slides aren't Cibachromes, but at $5.00 each for 11x14s (great discount), I'm certainly not going to complain. The main problem is finding the time and energy to sit down and scan for myself, since currently a large part of my income comes from scanning for other people.

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Henry



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 1636
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2001 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Leland,

I've been following this discussion and thought I'd add my 2 cents worth, though it may not be very relevant if you are asking about 4x5 users. I always shoot 120 roll film with my Century Graphic 2x3. I own five Graflex roll film holders: 3 RH10 (6x7), and one each of RH20 (6x7), and 6x9. I shoot mostly chromogenic b/w, either Ilford XP2 Super or Kodak T400CN. Lately I've been favoring the Kodak. All negs are processed at the lab in C-41 chemistry and returned to me uncut. The chromogenic scans beautifully on the Epson Expression 1600, and prints from the Epson 1270 (up to ca. 12"x15") on Epson Premium Glossy paper are practically indistinguishable from those made in the wet darkroom; consequently I have not used my darkroom set-up for over three years. When I first acquired my Century I did try 2x3 cut film, but it's a pain in the neck to load and process in that small size and the only sheet film available in that size is Tri-X, so I gladly abandoned that format. I've also shot Kodak Gold 100 and Ektachrome with good results. I do a lot of architectural/industrial stuff and need the perspective control of the Century. For ease of use and cost-benefit considerations, 120 roll film is the way to go, in my opinion.

Nice shot of the Saenger Theatre. When I was a kid I spent many a happy hour in the Saenger in Nawlins with its great atmospheric Spanish courtyard auditorium under the night sky's twinkling stars in the ceiling. Where is the one in your photo located?
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LelandRay



Joined: 24 May 2001
Posts: 115
Location: Mississippi

PostPosted: Thu Jun 21, 2001 3:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Nice shot of the Saenger Theatre. When I was a kid I spent many a happy hour in the Saenger in Nawlins with its great atmospheric Spanish courtyard auditorium under the night sky's twinkling stars in the ceiling. Where is the one in your photo located?"

Nawlins is about 100 miles down I-59, so I've been in that Saenger as well. This particular one is in Hattiesburg, MS. The building was completed in the mid-20s and has been restored recently, even down to the 1925 pipe organ.

I get what you're saying about rollfilms, which was sort of where my mind was going. I'm going to get a rollfilm back eventually, I'm sure, but it'll probably be used virtually all the time on the Graphic View.
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