foma-creature

[foma-creature]

I've learned that the dimness of the RTS III's viewfinder display is a fault of my example and not common to the type, which is reassuring. I can just replace it or maybe get it serviced by Nippon Photoclinic in NY and it'll be usable. This is nice to know, since without the viewfinder defects it'd be an extraordinary machine. Anyway, I've been trying Foma 400 recently and while it's nice for nighttime and mood it's not great for general photography. The second two were at night wide open at f/1.4 on the Planar 50/1.4, which I love.

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Some little Minox moments from the last few weeks. I also now realize I can't scan color using the enlarger head without filtration (these were all done that way, basically no color information)

[foma-creature]

out looking for the hunter’s moon!

Love the way the Contax Planar 50mm handles this, but not convinced by the ZM 50/2.

The Tamron 300mm is doing great as well. I need to get mine cleaned and adjusted.

At 1.4, the Planar is still outstanding. The coma on these lights in the second is only because of my strange focus point.

Lit entirely by moonlight, I’m really grateful for the Tamron’s perfect sharpness at f/2.8. The first image in this post was also wide open.

Sony A7ii, Tamron 60B (300/2.8), Contax Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4

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Test strips for enlargement

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airplane. The Symmar convertible is very promising and I love using movements but the film and process are letting it down. Thinking seriously of switching to lith film but it’s a big move and twice the price.

[foma-creature]

New airshow 5x7s! One success and one failure. Still working these hot edges out — I’ve managed to eliminate them on a few sheets exposed after the show, but for some reason it doesn’t work on sheets I shot at the airshow.

Fuji HR-T @ 32 contact printed onto Arista VC RC semi-matte in 5x7.

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First 5x7 from the airshow!

[foma-creature]

As an extra note, the RTS III has been very reliable for these and the motor drive is excellent but its biggest weakness is still one of its higher-billed features — the viewfinder. While the ground glass is exceptionally bright, sharp, and clear, the LCD screen is basically invisible in bright light, and a 2.8 lens in daylight sky is very bright. It was basically impossible to read the meter/info readout, which made me lose quite a few shots.

Airshow on film! Fuji Superia X-tra 400 in HC-110 (Dil. B 5min). Hate the Empire, love the airplanes. A testament to the strength of the relationship between human ingenuity and nature and also the weakness of the bonds between humanity and itself. anyway, metal birds

[foma-creature]

Follow-up on the little creature! Ultramax 400 in HC-110

I really have to get better at scale focus.

A little creature has joined the collection for seventeen dollars. Damp library half sandwich for scale

Had to do the usual Minox shutter repair and now it seems to be good as new!

[foma-creature]

Airshow on film! Fuji Superia X-tra 400 in HC-110 (Dil. B 5min). Hate the Empire, love the airplanes. A testament to the strength of the relationship between human ingenuity and nature and also the weakness of the bonds between humanity and itself. anyway, metal birds

[foma-creature]

bark study on 5x7!

[foma-creature]

NEW CREATURE!!

A 5x7 Seneca Competitor View, 1920-24 based on the nickel-plated fittings and front shift movement. It’ll be a lot of work getting it back into proper shape, but once it it’s there I hope to keep it working for a long time.

[foma-creature]

Another friend in the pollinator garden!

Might actually be getting into RA-4 soon

Sony A7ii, Contax-Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 80-200mm f/4

[foma-creature]

A little creature has joined the collection for seventeen dollars. Damp library half sandwich for scale

Had to do the usual Minox shutter repair and now it seems to be good as new!

[foma-creature]

I really wouldn’t have to keep doing digital if color film and chemicals weren’t so expensive

Anyway, hummingbirds in the recent storm! Brought the LED panel out and now they look like they’re on a stage :)

Sony A7ii, Contax-Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 80-200mm f/4

[foma-creature]

New carbon tissue attempt is drying appropriately at the edges, looking better! Hopefully it goes the rest of the way. Unfortunately with the amount of water in my lab it’s looking like it’ll take 2-3 days after setting to dry down all the way. I can probably take that down with fan drying, but by the time I get to full prints there’s really no way to fan dry without just throwing dust at the tissue. I might experiment with adding sugar and using a dry box sometime later.

[foma-creature]

Went out looking for hummingbirds again. Didn’t get any good ones, but I did get this very nice little wren!