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Agfa Rodinal Developer
It might seem odd during a period of so much innovation and advancement in photographic technology that a film developer formulated in the 19th century should be so popular with photographers and printers in the 21st century...
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Bulk Film Loading
If you are a photographer using film rather than digital capture it doesn't take long to work out that you can save a lot of money buying your film stock in 30.5m/100ft rolls. In 30 years I saved myself almost £10,000 on film costs alone by bulk-loading.
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Darkroom Dodge from a bodge...
The previous negative I'd been printing from was medium-format and 6x7cms in size... but I inserted the narrower 35mm negative strip into the carrier not realising that the glassless masks of my Durst Laborator 1200 Multigraph were the wrong size... too large. Into the void slipped the free end of the flexible strip...
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E-6 Processing Faults
Over familiarity with the 3-bath Chrome-6 process made me lax... the colour developer was poured into the developing tank first. It took me only one second to realise my mistake... and it would have taken only one second for the rolls of Fuji Velvia to be ruined as well. Or would it?
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Enlarging Lens Test
Many photographers think nothing of paying for the best for everyone to see around their necks... but apparently head for the bargain-basement when it comes to what they choose to use in the dark... which is a false economy!
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Film Processing Costs
As if the figures for my past thirty years of for traditional photography were not bad enough I've tossed some more numbers around, this time taking the other necessary consumables into account...
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Fortepan 400
The roll of Fortepan 400 was quite old... the expiry date on the box was, like the broken shutter of my F2, past it's best. I'd been using up a few old films that week and wasn't in the mood...
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Fuji Neopan 400 & 1600
During the past two decades there has been a significant improvement in the overall quality of most B&W films. Whilst some photographers shout, "If it's new it must be better," others proclaim, "The older emulsions are as good as ever!"
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Ilford ID-11 Developer
The good news is that almost every developer will work with almost every film. The bad news is that it will take a lifetime to try every combination. Sooner or later we should realise that manufacturers know what they are talking about...
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Leitz Focomat
"Ernst Leitz, Wetzlar" is a name synonymous with traditional cameras. And whilst "precision" and "quality" are words which easily spring to mind to describe products from the Leitz factory the word "autofocus" certainly isn't... but Leitz also made a number of enlargers over the years with that feature, and for several different formats.
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LPL 7452 Enlarger
What can one say about an enlarger that's a pleasure to use, looks great and has no vices... plenty! Although there are a couple of minor niggles, the only immediate problem you could have with this enlarger is how to lift and fit the boxes into your car after you've bought it...
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My Darkroom... Wales
I've lost count of the number of darkrooms I've helped others construct, but I think I built my fifth from scratch after moving into the heart of the Welsh Cambrian mountains... and my sixth in France may be featured one day!
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Stöcklers 2-bath developer
I've used many different films and developers in the past 30 years... and whilst I can say that nearly all combinations work to some degree, there are few that are suitable for all subjects and situations. The reason is that old devil contrast...
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