Hello. I'm entirely new to large format, and have just taken my first few Polaroids (I haven't developed any actual film yet--I'd like to know that everything's sort of working first). I used #59 film at 75 degrees, with an ISO 80 rating. At all the various exposures and development times I tested, in bright sunlight, the image is slightly fuzzy (not completely out of focus, but . . . soft), and the color is washed-out and blue-hued--the color looks vintage 1965, actually. Highlights are thin, shadows are muddy, with no detail whatsoever in either.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what I should try in my next batch of trial-and-error exposures? Do you think the fuzziness might be due to the lens? The focus on the ground glass is perfect.

Here's what I'm using: early Crown Graphic, Polaroid 545 back, Ektar 127mm/4.7 lens. There was no instructions sheet in the box of film--am I missing some important piece of developing or exposure information? (I developed for different times, up to 80 seconds after pulling the sheet out.)

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Liana

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Liana on 2001-08-15 12:24 ]</font>

Hi

I am fairly new to polaroids also on these cameras and have also found the color film i have been using to be on the blue side. Although i have bought cheap outdated film and was attributing it primarilly to that.

I have found that light leaks are often a problem, and are often small enough to appear more like exposure problems, one good test for this is to use a maglite in a dark room and move it all over the front and sides of the camera while looking in the ground glass....when you find one it will be pretty evident. Perhaps this is the cause of the 'fuzziness'. If it is a focus issue check to make sure that the set back on the ground glass in your ground glass holder is the same as the set back on the 545. The 545 is made to the same specs as 4x5 cut film holders but some gg frames have been altered to accommodate fresnel lenses.

hope some of this might help

kim hartshorn

Quote:

On 2001-08-23 07:09, Kim wrote: Hi I am fairly new to polaroids also on these cameras and have also found the color film i have been using to be on the blue side. Although i have bought cheap outdated film and was attributing it primarilly to that. I have found that light leaks are often a problem, and are often small enough to appear more like exposure problems, one good test for this is to use a maglite in a dark room and move it all over the front and sides of the camera while looking in the ground glass....when you find one it will be pretty evident. Perhaps this is the cause of the 'fuzziness'. If it is a focus issue check to make sure that the set back on the ground glass in your ground glass holder is the same as the set back on the 545. The 545 is made to the same specs as 4x5 cut film holders but some gg frames have been altered to accommodate fresnel lenses. hope some of this might help kim hartshorn

Thanks for the advice. I checked for light leaks--none; checked the set-back on the holder and the ground glass--they're equal. So I think it's the film.

I recently saw some posts on the photo.net website dealing with type 59 Polaroid film: it seems that it does have a tendency toward that blue cast, especially at slow speeds, and also is softer-looking than other Polaroid films. Type 79 was pretty much universally recommended as the superior Polaroid color film, both for color accuracy and for sharpness. Guess I'll spring for a box and see how it goes.

Thanks again, Kim.

Liana

Most Polaroid film, especially color, especially 59, are very affected by reciprocity failure. If your times are longer than an eighth of a second or so, you may experience color shift from that. It should go darker though, and not lighter.

Polaroid doesn't age well at all either.