Some Updates

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I just created three pages to the right – Graflex Optar page 3 / VPK Meniscus Images 003 / B&L Rapid Rectilinear

Our trip to the Statue of Liberty, for several small reasons, all added up to a cancellation. Perhaps next Spring.

I am rapidly learning to enjoy the Olympus E-510 and its ability to work with my old lens collection. The Fuji S2Pro needs the Nikon AF lens line, it doesn’t work well MF. The Pentax *istD has a nice feel to it, but I have yet to warm up to it. The Canon XTi, due to the wide range of good glass available to me, is the first to be grabbed for general shooting.

Graflex Optar f/4.5 127mm Images

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I had a chance today, just before the rain came, to take these images. The sky was 100% overcast and pretty gloomy. The lens assembly is mounted in an old M42 135mm lens body with no aperture capability. The camera is my new (to me) Pentax *istD. The images are in a page to the right >>>>>>>>>>

Double Slit Camera 4

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The super lens cap is finished, tested and a new page containing photographs has been created.

Double Slit Camera 3

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This morning I got what I needed together for this project. As I mentioned before, I have turned aside a bit from making a whole camera in order to determine something of the physical characteristics needed. This will be a lens cap on steroids, so to speak. I am using a set of macro rings as the basic structure, single edge injector razor blades for the slit edges, black core foam for the blade holders and information I have gleaned from the internet. If the findings are OK, I will then turn to making it in a 4×5 MF wooden camera with a Graflex roll film back using 6×7 negatives.

A few words here on the internet information – there are many references to slit cameras, however, most are related to either cameras used to determine finish line winners or the very interesting experiments on quantum physics showing how light travels as both waves and particles depending on whether they are being observed or not – real SG1 tech talk, huh ? Try this for a starting point – you will start wondering when the Asgard are going to beam you aboard – I hope you have on clean undies – LOL.   http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=usTOM8vffB4 or search the internet for>> Dr Quantum <<

 Further, the little related to what I am doing is mainly of the sort “I am going to make a double slit camera and I am all ready to make it, and it is going to be neat. Can anybody give me information on how to do it?”, or, “Here is a link to (pictures, information, guidelines, etc)”; a vast majority are either dead or not having anything related to the subject. The three places I did find that had needed information are enough to get going, I will either place the information or the links on my www.photographyhacks.org website after I actually determine if they are worthy.

So, here I am saying I am going to do it AND post pictures yadda, yadda, yadda ……….  Well, I do have good intentions of doing just that and you can determine if I follow through by checking back here for updates. Below is a quick picture of my worktable all set to start.

This and That

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The rain continues, despite the TV weather predictions of it stopping soon. 

I was helping a friend drop off some accumulated stuff at the town landfill this morning when I had one of those short lived moments of lucidity that seniors have. He pulled into the dollar store at my request and I ran inside to see if they had any of those $1.00 plastic 35mm cameras left. Yup, must be fifty or so hanging there. I grabbed eight of them and a couple of dog snacks. Hey, with ranch dressing they aren’t half-bad. 

Maybe it was the recent posts here and on my website regarding duplicate pinholes that spurred a sleeping neuron or two to life. Short version of a long story – there are eight duplicate pinholes sitting on my workbench with the paint on them drying. 

Later I will see if it is going to be possible to make the shutter stay open when the release is held down. If not, I’ll have to cobble up another method. What to do with them ? Two thoughts – the photography group I am in doesn’t seem to share my interest in pinhole photography, so I could bring them to our next meeting all loaded with film and use them as pass-outs. That might get some interest going.  The other is to sell them on an online auction site. Hmmmm… perhaps both, I’ll have to see what develops. Darn, I promised myself I wouldn’t use that phrase again.

The trip to NYC is coming in a week. I’m still indecisive as to where to wander and what equipment to take. I know the DSLR is going with the 28mm prime. The pinhole question looms – dare I haul along the stereo pinhole or should I take one of these new plastic jobbies, or stick with my favorite wooden pinhole with the Graflex roll film back ?  So many places, including the sidewalks are persona non grata to tripods in NYC making the pinhole good only in parks. The police are supposed to allow amateurs a certain time period for tripod use on sidewalks, providing you are not obstructing pedestrian flow. I prefer to not get into a timing or perception issue with the NYPD. Decisions, decisions ………..

Update – I’ve decided to take my monopod and the wood camera. Of course, that might change

An Hour of Leisurely Photo Taking

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I packed up the Bronica and my handmade wood pinhole camera, both loaded with Kodak 160NC. I wandered around a small industrial village nearby. After shooting the roll in the pinhole, I loaded it with B&W 100 ASA el cheapo film. I’ll send the 160NC to the lab tomorrow. The Bronica only ate 1/2 of its roll.

There is now a page for images from the pinhole.

Quick hint for Graflex roll back users – remember to pull the slide ! I had a few unexposed sections of negative on the B&W roll………..

Three from the cemetery

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Here are three from the cemetery in Newmarket NH. Taken with my handmade wooden pinhole camera.

A new, old toy

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Last night I spent a few hours deciding what I was going to try to accomplish during my one day trip to NYC in two weeks. The first trip I took was an eye-opener. The upstate farmboy wasn’t quite ready for the sheer size of it all. Most of the time was spent walking around trying to see as much as possible and taking very few pictures. I found a free 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the Union Square area every Saturday afternoon, so that is the main goal. Perhaps a quick run through Chinatown  also.

A few years ago I purchased, entirely on a whim, a Bronica ETRS MF body and f2.8 75mm lens. Last month I happened to run across them, pushed in the back of a drawer. A little searching and I found a roll film back and righting eye-level viewer on an auction site. They arrived and today I found time to put the four together. 

First problem was the roll back wouldn’t dismount. Some searching on the web and the problem was solved. A small protrusion on the dark slide that pushed on a pin to allow the body to let go was not centered, thus sliding behind the pin, rather than depressing it. A little twist with pliers and instead of going at 6 o’clock it now goes at 7:05 – reliably pressing the pin. Grabbing a roll of B&W from the freezer, I placed it on the workbench to thaw,

Second problem was the roll back wouldn’t open. I pressed the safety tab and tried to push the slide, but nothing. This is a very complicated system compared to the Graflex roll backs I am used to. After verifying in the PDF file I had from the web, I went back secure in the knowledge that it SHOULD open. Sliding a small jewelers screwdriver alongside the safety catch, I must have moved some grime or dirt aside and it opened. Tomorrow I am going to shoot a roll. This gives me 10 rolls of B&W 120 film to develop. That qualifies them for a place high up in the ‘to do’ list. 

The digital pics from the Louden NH race sucked. Very drab and the P&S mini zoom wasn’t enough to get any detail. DELETE ALL/YES

 

My first homemade pinhole camera

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I put together this camera as a prelude to trying the stereo pinhole project. No test roll yet from this one yet.

 

My first purchased pinhole camera

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For my birthday, my Wife purchased a wooden camera from an auction site. It arrived quickly and I attached a 4×5 roll back loaded with B&W 120 film. I went to a friend’s house and took pictures of the flowers and garden areas. The results were fairly nice. However, being a tinkerer, I quickly replaced the pinhole that was made with a piece of aluminum foil with a commercial laser drilled lens mounted in an old folding camera shutter. Then I added some hardware to hold the film back in place rather than the elastic cords that were supplied. A couple of levels and some touch up painting on the face and the mods were completed. I have yet to develop the test roll from this camera after the mods. The image here is from the original.