Bessa RF, Agfa Isolette 4.5, and Agfa Box Synchro scans...

[Katastrofo]

Well, I'm done with the Ma and Pa place for developing my 120 stuff. They
have kids, well highschoolers, work their lab. For one 120 roll of color film,
process only, was $16, and came with proof sheet and one set of prints.

Here goes, Bessa RF, first:









One shot with the Agfa folder, all the car shots came out great, but all
the infinity focus cityscape ones were blurred, this is Acros 100 film:



Agfa Box Synchro, this is the only one that wasn't badly blurred from my
poor technique, still not great focus:



The Bessa RF focuses well even at infinity, have a very boring cityscape
I'm not posting, but was in focus. Here're pics of the cam before CLA:





Yeah, I'm kinda discouraged, think I'll stick with 35mm SLRs and my
Ricohflex TLR, for film.



Bill

[F16SUNSHINE]

Bill
I can tell by the frequency of your posts your having a good time with Film
I don't think that you should be too discouraged by this group. That first Bessa shot especially looks promising.
Try picking up a patterson tank and some Chems.
For about $50 you can have enough Chems to do 50rolls of B+W 120's or 36exp 35mms.
Then just scan em up baby. I have a bunch of rolls in the fridge exposed from the summer.
Developing is a great fall/winter sport. Just keep good notes so you know what you did.

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Andy, my fave was #3, but whatever that is in the pic, is on the
neg! The Bessa was cheap Arista 400, Agfa was the Acros 100, and
the box camera was Fuji Superia 100, bit of a bad go with that!

I have the Hawkeyes that Mike sent me to clean up and play with, will see
what happens. But you're right, it is time for me to learn to do my own
B&W developing. For all color stuff and even B&W till I get going myself,
will be done by whoever Walmart sends it to. I'm going to be shooting more
slide film, since the results were most encouraging.

Thanks again,

Bill

[Laurence]

Bill, you should have seen MY initial shots with medium format! I almost gave up with the Yashica Mat at first, but instead alternated it with an old Canon AE-1, and eventually the shots turned better.

I use Walmart for processing E-6. Never had a problem and $4.88 per roll.

[F16SUNSHINE]

I guess I suggest home processing for B+W because it is the way I have learned to get results I like.
Not being much of a computer guy myself. The real frustration fo me has been more with digital PP.
With B+W if you get the density you want in the neg. The Epson scanners seem to just make it happen.
An added bonus is the fun factor. It is a kick to develop at home. And something to do for us insomniacs
BTW I bought a 100 roll brick of neopan 100 (35mm 36exp)for $160. And it does not expire until next nov.
The neopan SS is still out there and cheap. It may not be quite as smooth grained as Across but, pretty close even pushed a couple stops.
Larry is right hang in there (we got your back).

[maddog10]

I think they look pretty darn good!

[peterqd]

[Katastrofo]

Larry, Andy, Mike, and Peter, thanks for your encouragement, I'll keep at
it!

Peter, the box camera has no focusing, but the shutter speed is somewhere
between 1/30 to 1/50 second, and I must have moved in all the shots to
get what I saw in the negatives. Need to hold it firmly against the body to
do the shutter release or have it on a tripod, since it does have mounts
on both portrait and landscape sides.

Thanks again, fellas.

Bill

[Nesster]

Photography with this sort of equipment is a bit different, one has to adjust expectations and values a bit. Sort of like the TONE of old tube audio gear... you don't get the detail in the same way as you would with modern audio... but you get tone and atmosphere and emotional communication. (Not that you can't get those things with modern stuff, only the carrier is different.)

MF does bring a couple of challenges that 35mm/digital don't have. But you also get that big negative!

Folding cameras, especially those with a long nose, can be fiddly as any shake is amplified. I've learned to use a tripod or brace against something solid.

I think these shots are fine, they convey a good feel.

I'll go the home developing route sometime soon, but till then I'm happy using up a stash of Fuji 160S and Ilford XP2. After some learning they both scan beautifully.

[Katastrofo]

[Katastrofo]

[peterqd]

Well, that's just superb Bill. I take it this is the simple Isolette, without rangefinder, so you are using simple scale focussing. One of the things I learned about when I was adjusting Jes's Zorki is that the pointer on the lens focus scale doesn't always reflect the image on the film. Very strangely, it can be correct at close distances but way out at infinity, or vice versa. On the Zorki the lens mount has to be shimmed to get this right, I'm not sure how you would do it with a folder, but I would think it must be possible. Maybe you could do some checks with a ground glass screen in place of the film.

[Katastrofo]

Peter, I'm using the little accessory Watameter rangefinder for the
close-in shots, and for the cityscapes that were obviously infinity focus I
just dialed infinity on the front element. Hummm, yes, I need to do some
experimenting and it was with the Agfa Isoletter 4.5 (model before or
after Isolette I.

[Nesster]

Oh and by the way: I have serious jealousy about that Bessa!

In general the folders seem to be optimized for mid distances. My Bessa I originally didn't get to infinity either, and setting focus distance always resulted in focus being closer than indicated. Which was strange as this camera had been worked on by certo6 (mr. Kreckel) for the person I bought it from. I think perhaps the guy I bought it from may have messed with the lens. Or perhaps it never did achieve infinity.

There is the 'correct' way to work this - collimate using ground glass or piece of film or similar. Or, a trial and error method: the front cell often has more than 1 thread groove... if you start at the correct one it should screw in far enough to get good infinity. I've done this with my Bessa but haven't had the get up and go to validate as yet.

I use an auxiliary RF - or rather in theory I do, as I found I estimated well enough. I have instructions on setting my kind to infinity on my flickr camera fetishism set. But overall, like Peter says, these things come via experience...

[Katastrofo]

Nesster, I need to find a strap for the Bessa, that fits on the one end.
Sebastien (Abbazz) has a much prettier Bessa Messer with the Heliar, mine
has the triplet Helomar, which is probably close in quality to Agfa's Apotar.

My Bessa was recently CLA'd by Jurgen, and I don't have any issues with
focus, just the lab that did the negs.

I'll check out your flickr, thanks!

[Farside]

[Katastrofo]

Dave, I broke down all three pieces of the lens and cleaned them, but I
will give it a look, thanks.

Bill