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Oxford: first outing with Marion Soho reflex 5×4 camera

Monday, November 18th, 2024

Here are some pictures from my first outing with a Marion Soho reflex camera I recently had serviced. The camera is probably around the 100 year old mark but it has been well looked after by the previous owner(s) and certainly doesn’t show its age. When I bought it the shutter curtains were dry and jammed which is very common with old reflex cameras which either haven’t been used regularly or have been stored in poor conditions (heat/humidity). The shutter curtains in mine have been replaced with cloth supplied by Custom Bellows UK and now the camera works like a dream. It’s smaller and lighter than my 5×4 Graflex Super D which makes it more comfortable to carry on my back while cycling into town.

[Tech info:] Marion Soho reflex 5×4, Fomapan 400 developed in Rodinal 1+25.

20241117_Oxford_Marion-Soho_5x4_Foma400_Rodinal_01_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, film, fomapan 400, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal

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: Ensign Reflex test

Monday, September 16th, 2024

After replacing the ground glass screen in my Ensign reflex camera I wanted to test it out so I lugged it into town last Sunday morning and here are some shots from that roll. The image is clearer and brighter than before but I’m still struggling to nail focus. The mirror is anything but crisp and looks to be covered in a layer of hazy fog. I’ll have to send it off for re-coating. I can’t reach infinity focus which makes this setup more suited for portraits.

[Tech info:] Ensign Special Reflex, Aero Ektar lens, Delta 100 (expired), developed in Promicrol, 1+19.

20240915_Ensign_D100_AeroEktar_004_web

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Tags: aero ektar, delta 100, ensign, oxford, promicrol

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: Ensign Reflex test

Monday, June 3rd, 2024

Test shots from my Ensign Reflex camera which unfortunately have failed because of the cheap reading glasses I was using to focus the dim image on the ground glass in the waist level finder. All the shots are out of focus to varying degrees and I can only apologies to the nice people I photographed. It was a fun session so not a complete loss.

[Tech info:] Ensign Reflex, Aero Ektar 7 inch lens, 6×9 roll film holder, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Promicrol 1+14.

20240601_Oxford_Ensign-Reflex_AeroEktar_HP5_Promicrol_01_web

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Tags: 6x9, aero ektar, black&white, ensign, film, HP5, ilford, oxford, people, portraits, promicrol

Oxford: large format portrait

Sunday, May 5th, 2024

Here’s a quick large format portrait from last weekend when I was testing a 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens. Thanks goes to these guys who were very obliging. I believe this was at f6.8.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 5×4, 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens, Ilford FP4 film, ISO 80 (expired but stored frozen), developed in Promicrol 1+9 5 mins.

20240504_Oxford_Chamonix_210-4.5_FP4_Promicrol_1-9_02_web

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Tags: 210mm, 5x4, black&white, film, fp4, ilford, oxford, people, portraits, promicrol, students

Oxford: glass dry plate portrait

Friday, March 1st, 2024

Here is my first portrait on dry glass plate. I found a box of old Ilford FP4 glass dry plates at home and have no idea when I bought them. The box doesn’t have an expiry date on it. As luck would have it they’re the correct size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) to fit the Mamiya Press plate holders I’ve got but so far have been unable to make use of. This portrait of another fellow photographer during his visit to Oxford was made last weekend in Radcliffe Square. I don’t know him but I enjoyed chatting about photography with him as I set up the shot. I’m very pleased with this result (it has a vintage feel to it) and look forward to making more portraits with the remaining glass plates. The emulsion is very fragile when wet and you can see it lifted along the right hand side.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Press Super 23, 100/2.8 lens (at f4), FP4 glass dry plate exposed at ISO 10, developed in Rodinal 1+25. (Thanks to Nicholas Middleton for his inspiration and blog posts full of info about using old glass plates).

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