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Oxford: street portraits with a Graflex Super D 3×4 camera – part 2

Sunday, September 29th, 2024

Second test with fresh Shanghai GP3 100 film in this size (3.25″x4.25″). Processed in a Jobo expert drum without pre-rinse and water instead of stop bath. Looks like there is still mottling and uneven development. Maybe this film doesn’t like constant agitation? More testing needed. For scanning I made holders from old sheets of 5×4 film. Seems to work well and no more newtons rings.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 3×4, 152 mm Kodak Ektar lens, Shanghai GP3 100 @ ISO 100, processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 9 mins.

20240928_Oxford_SuperD_3x4_GP3-100_Rodinal_1-25_01_web

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Tags: 3x4, black&white, film, gp3, graflex, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, shanghai, super d

Oxford: street portraits with a Graflex Super D 3×4 camera

Sunday, September 22nd, 2024

First test with fresh Shanghai GP3 100 film in this (3.25″ x 4.25″) size. Processed in a Jobo expert drum with water pre-rinse and stop bath. Looks like this film might need water instead of stop bath (the same as Fomapan film) because I can see uneven development. Scans made directly on the glass of my Epson V700 which has resulted in some newton rings. I will work on a better method. It’s a real shame about the uneven development but overall I’m pleased with these first results.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 3×4, 152 mm Kodak Ektar lens, Shanghai GP3 100 @ ISO 100, developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 9 mins.

20240921_Oxford_SuperD-3x4_GP3-100_Rodinal_1-25_01_web

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Tags: 3x4, black&white, film, gp3, graflex, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, shanghai, super d

Oxford: large format film street portraits

Friday, September 20th, 2024

Recent street portraits on large format film. Making the most of what will probably be the last week of warm weather this year I took my camera gear into town to make some portraits as the sun was rapidly dropping. There is a glow to some of the skin tones which I think might be down to the warm colour temperature of the early evening light. The camera is from somewhere around the 1950s, the brass lens is around 150 years old, the film is fresh. Thank you to everyone who stopped to be photographed.

[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic, Dallmeyer 2B petzval lens, Fomapan 400 film rated at ISO 200, developed in Rodinal 1+25.

2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_01_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, dallmeyer 2B, film, fomapan 400, graflex, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, speed graphic

Oxford: Rolleiflex Tele – part 2

Thursday, September 19th, 2024

Here are some more pictures from my Rollei Tele which I was using last week in Oxford. The sun drops quite quickly this time of year and the maximum aperture on the Rollei Tele is f4 which meant I was struggling in areas of shadow so I rated this roll at ISO 200 to give myself a little breathing room. I spot metered for the darkest shadows (in some cases black fabric) and I like how these have turned out – not too contrasty.

The first picture below is the closest focussing distance with the built-in lens and the second picture down is with the clip-on close-up lenses. Same exposure. Notice how the depth of field changes and how the background falls nicely out of focus. I really like how the texture in the black leather coat has turned out.

[Tech info:] Rollei Tele, Ilford FP4 rated at ISO 200, developed in Promicrol 1+14.

20240919_Oxford_Rollei-Tele_FP4_ISO200_Promicrol_01_web

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Tags: 6x6, black&white, film, fp4, oxford, people, portraits, promicrol, rollei tele, rolleiflex

Oxford: Rolleiflex Tele – part 1

Tuesday, September 17th, 2024

Some years ago I bought a Rolleiflex Tele which has a 135mm f4 lens and my plan was to use it for portraits with a flatter perspective than you can achieve with the standard 80mm lens. The problem I found was the minimum focussing distance is quite limiting when you want to create a head and shoulders portrait. Clip-on lenses are required to focus closer and this clunky design put me off using it. Last week I decided to dust it off and try it out for general photography without the clip-on lenses. The shots below are from my first roll testing it out. It’s a heavy beast to walk around with for any length of time but I really enjoyed the reach compared to the standard lens and the image snapped into focus nicely which made focussing a breeze.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex Tele, Ilford FP4 @ ISO 64, developed in Promicrol 1+14.

20240917_Oxford_Rollei-Tele_FP4_ISO64_Promicrol_001_web

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Tags: 6x6, black&white, film, fp4, ilford, oxford, people, portraits, promicrol, rollei tele, rolleiflex, summer

Oxford: Ilford F.P.4 Glass Plates – part 1

Sunday, September 15th, 2024

Here are some portraits I recently made on Ilford F.P.4. dry glass plates which expired circa 1950. The box doesn’t have a visible expiry date that I can find but the label design (see below) was dated by Nicholas Middleton who has done some research about it. His excellent photo blog contains a wealth of information about various old film stocks, cameras and glass plates he has tested. Following his advice I rated these glass plates at ISO 5 which gave me an exposure time of approximately 2 seconds in shade. The Ross reflex camera I used has been serviced and inside is a date of manufacture from 1915 written in pencil. The camera is in excellent condition considering it’s over 109 years old. I still have two more plates to develop and six left to use.

[Tech info:] Ross reflex, Zeiss 11.5 inch f6.3 lens, Ilford F.P.4. glass plates @ ISO 5, developed in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour semi-stand (slow agitations at 30 mins).

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Tags: 2024, fp4, glass plates, ilford, oxford, rodinal, ross reflex, zeiss

Oxford: 10×8 portraits

Sunday, September 17th, 2023

We’ve had some unusually warm weather for mid September recently so I decided to make the most of the evenings after work this week and took a 10×8 camera out along the tow path to make some portraits. It’s been quite a while since I’ve taken a 10×8 camera out, mainly because of the weight, but this time it was a lot easier because I used a trolley to transport my gear. It worked extremely well and I look forward to making more trips out when the weather is suitable. Thank you to everyone who stopped for a chat and a portrait.

[Tech info]: Shots 1-4 Kodak Commercial 10×8, 10inch Wide Field Ektar lens. Shots 5 & 6 Intrepid 10×8, 240mm Schneider lens. Shanghai GP3 100 (expired 2014), rated ISO 50, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 8 mins.

20230915_Kodak_Commercial_10x8_10inch_Wide-Field_Shanghai_HC110B_04_web 20230914_Intrepid_240mm_Shanghai_HC110B_03_web

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Tags: 10x8, black&white, film, gp3, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, shanghai

Oxford: Speed Graphic street portraits – part 1

Wednesday, August 24th, 2022

After being on a bit of a roll with my large format street portraits I decided to take my Speed Graphic out with a lens I’ve been meaning to use for a while – 165mm f2.7 Zeiss Tessar. I repurposed the lens from a folding camera which was well past its best with a perished shutter. Steve at Chroma Camera kindly designed and 3D printed a custom lens board for me. It’s a lot lighter than my Aero Ektar lens but gives a very different look. Depth of field is very shallow as you’d expect – most of these were shot around f4.5.

[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4, 165mm f2.7 Tessar lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6mins.

20220811_Speed-Graphic_165mm_HP5_HC110B_01_web

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Tags: 165mm, 5x4, black&white, film, graflex, hc110, HP5, oxford, people, portraits, speed graphic

Oxford: Intrepid 10×8 street portraits – part 1

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2022

The Intrepid 10×8 is the lightest 10×8 camera I own and after you add the weight of a lens, film holders, tripod, light meter, dark cloth, loupe and rucksack it’s on the limit of what I can comfortably cycle with. Here are the street portraits I made on my first trip into town with this kit. On the first shot I used a little front swing to bring both people into focus – the first time I’ve done this.

[Tech info:] Intrepid 10×8, 300mm f6.3 Komura lens, Fomapan 100 (expired), developed in HC110 1+63 for 10mins.

20220819_Intrepid_Broad-St_300mm_Komura_Fomapan100_HC110_001_web

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Tags: 10x8, 300mm, b&w, film, fomapan, hc110, intrepid, komura, oxford, portrait

Oxford: Graflex Super D street portraits – part 1

Monday, August 22nd, 2022

After the focus issues I was having with my Gowlandflex I decided to take my Graflex Super D into town after work to use it for some more large format portraits. The benefit is I’m able to cycle with the Super D in a rucksack, my Gowlandflex is too large to fit into any rucksack I currently own. The lens I used was designed for aerial photography during WWII and is uncoated which gives a low contrast almost dreamy look which I like.
[Tech info:] Graflex Super D, 8 inch Pentac lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.

20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_05_web 20220815_Nicola_Rad-Sq_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110_06_web SuperD

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Tags: 5x4, graflex, hc110, HP5, ilford, oxford, portrait, super d

Oxford: Gowlandflex street portraits – part 1

Sunday, August 21st, 2022

Here are some street portraits from the first trips out with my Gowlandflex large format TLR camera on a Saturday and Sunday morning in Oxford. The camera is a beast and attracted a fair bit of attention. I enjoyed chatting with people and making their portraits – something I haven’t done for a couple of years.

The mirror calibration was completely wrong when I received this camera so I replaced the springs to lower the mirror by 2.5mm. This is the first time I’ve used it properly and it looks like I need to re-check the calibration because most of these shots are front focussed but overall I’m pleased with the results. A couple of the shots have some strange light leaks which might be from the film holder not being seated properly. Further investigation needed.

[Tech info:] Gowlandflex TLR, 180/4.5 Voigtlander Heliar lens, Ilford HP5 & Funi Across 100 film (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.

20220813_Bus-Driver_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_01_web 20220813_Gowlandflex_Oxford_HP5_HC110B_01_web 20220813_Radcliffe-Square_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_02_web 20220814_Broad-Street_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_05_web 20220815_Andrew_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_10_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_09_web

20220814_Gowlandflex_Oxford_Acros_HC110B_01_web 20220814_Gowlandflex_Oxford_HP5_HC110B_01_web 52282473538_b15170863a_c

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Tags: 5x4, b&w, film, gowlandflex, hc110, HP5, ilford, oxford, portraits

Oxford: 10×8 photography

Saturday, September 14th, 2019

For the longest time I have wanted to take my 10×8 camera into town to do some large format photography and recently I finally managed to do it on a Saturday morning. Even though I only took one lens – the smallest and lightest I have that is suitable for 10×8 photography – the combined weight of the camera, tripod and film holders is more than my back can comfortably handle so I have to drag the camera around with a foldable hand cart which works really well. I took with me both Ilford Delta 100 b&w film and Fuji Velvia 100F transparency film. Below are a couple of shots made with the Delta 100, I’ve processed the Velvia and the shots turned out very nicely but I haven’t scanned them yet. The group shot of the Zappi’s Cycling Club was very impromptu – I was photographing the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street when I was approached by one of the cyclists about photographing them with my big camera.

[Tech info:] 10×8 field camera, Nikon 210mm f5.6 lens, Delta 100 film (expired), developed in Ilford DD-X with a Jobo processor.

20190914_Taylorian_10x8_Delta100_DDX_web 20190914_Zappis_10x8_210mm_Delta100_DDX_web

10x8-camera_web

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Tags: 10x8, black&white, ddx, film, ilford, oxford, people

Simply Oxford photoblog

Photography by Nasir Hamid