Roll 174: Isolette II Solinar f/3.5 with Acros developed in Rodinal. This is my second roll through this camera. The first roll had two frames with subjects that were <= 10 ft from the camera and they were front focused. If it had been just one, I would have argued that my distance guess was off, but two frames? Time to take a close look. I took a tape measure and took shots with focus set to 5, 8, 10, 13, 20, and infinity. For each distance setting I took one frame at f/5.6 and another at f/11. I also placed one object at the proper distance, and (anticipating front focus) another object a little bit closer (at the next smallest distance marker on the lens). I am only showing two images. I used a tripod and a cable release.
8 ft, f/5.6. Tape measure shows that actual focus is ~7.5 ft. Not too bad.
Infinity, f/5.6. The trees in the foreground are more in focus than the more distant ones.
The f/11 frames tell a similar story.
The first roll also had some scratches. I found some debris which I cleaned off, and this roll is certainly better, but there are still scratches. Looks like I will gift this camera away to someone who will either not mind or even embrace these defects. Oh well.
I will try to adjust focus using this method and try on one more roll before deciding on what to do with this camera.
I needed to partly disassemble the lens/shutter on both my Isolette IIs to get them working and I had to adjust focus after putting them back together. I used opaque Scotch tape across the film gate as a ground glass and a loupe to focus on something at infinity, then adjusted the focus ring accordingly. Double checked at 10ft and called it good.
Be careful with the set screws, they are tiny and a bit fragile.
Desmolicious wrote:
As many of you know, SoCal suffered from some of the most disastrous fires in their history. My brother lives in Malibu and by him equipping his house with a sprinkler system, owning a military surplus fire truck (I am not joking) and dumb luck his house survived but many many others in his neighbourhood are gone.
A couple of days ago was the first time I was able to get over there and visit with him, while surveying what was left. A drive that normally takes an hour tops from my home took three hours as I had to go the back way through the San Fernando valley and through numerous canyon roads to get across to his home. All of which had work crews with one lane only flow in many places.
These pics were taken with a Leica MD-a, Wtulens 17mm f16 (but I think it is more like f22) and Kentmere 400.
The Wtulens is made from recycled Fuji Quicksnap disposable camera lenses - two are used. I like it for specific purposes as it is sharp in the middle, then smears out and vignettes. This trip IMO fit its purpose.
I also took a couple of other cameras with normal 'perfect' lenses, those pics are in the process of getting developed.
Canon P, Rollei RPX 400, Voigtländer 24/4 Snapshot Skopar LTM. First shot was with a red filter (love that look!); the others were during a snowstorm so no filter.
OregonSun wrote:
I needed to partly disassemble the lens/shutter on both my Isolette IIs to get them working and I had to adjust focus after putting them back together. I used opaque Scotch tape across the film gate as a ground glass and a loupe to focus on something at infinity, then adjusted the focus ring accordingly. Double checked at 10ft and called it good.
Be careful with the set screws, they are tiny and a bit fragile.
Focus has been good for me after adjusting.
I noticed that scotch tape would have worked, but I didn't want to leave any residue that could come into contact with the film. Adjusting focus would have been the perfect opportunity to add some tape to the focus ring so I can make my series 5 to 6 step up ring (and filter folder) fit more properly. I'll just leave it the way it is (a shim on the step up ring) as the screws on the focus ring are so bloody tiny. Fingers crossed it all works on Roll 3.
Copy Stand: Cosmo Copy Stand 'Mini'
3-way Head: Neewer 3-Way Head
'Light table': Raleno Video Light
Film holder: Essential Film Holder
Camera: Sony A7RII
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 ai-s
Because I live on a busy street with lots of bus and heavy truck traffic my house vibrates quite a bit. I have experimented with creating shock absorbing pads (made from washing machine pads layered between sheets of shock absorbing gel) that I place between my work surface (bathroom sink) and counter top (salvaged Ikea countertop piece) so that it's floating (kind of). Sadly, I still can't shoot at base ISO and get consistently sharp results (because of the vibrating house), but I can usually get good results locking the camera at ISO 200.
When I moved from the Plustek to camera scanning in 2019, the folding worktable was a constant source of vibration. Even throught all of the changes and upgrades, vibrations were still something I had to be careful about. When I moved to the A7C II it provided the ability to tether. This was a big improvement over the A7 II and a IR release. When I switched from the cobbled together Negative Supply Riser MK1 to the new Basic Riser Mk 3, things really improved and vibrations are mostly gone. Part of my problem with the Riser MK 3 is the base is heavy but just a bit too small. Apparently the guys at Negative Supply think that if you are using a 4X5 Lightsource Pro along with the Pro Mount MK 2, you are using one of their larger copy stands. The legs on the Pro Mount would bump into the button head cap bolts when trying to adjust the carrier. I swapped out the button head bolts for a larger 5mm flat head cap bolts and a larger rubber foot. The last thing I need to do is find someone with a drill press so I can countersink the bolt heads for a smooth surface.
Cost wise, it was a big investment but I kept adding and changing pieces over the years so it wasn't one big outlay all at once.
Sony A7C II, FE90 2.8 Macro, Negative Supply Basic Riser MK 2, Pro Mount MK 2, Pro Carrier 135 MK 2, 4X5 Lightsource Pro 99 CRI, Tether Tools cable
Copy Stand: Cosmo Copy Stand 'Mini'
3-way Head: Neewer 3-Way Head
'Light table': Raleno Video Light
Film holder: Essential Film Holder
Camera: Sony A7RII
Lens: Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 ai-s
Because I live on a busy street with lots of bus and heavy truck traffic my house vibrates quite a bit. I have experimented with creating shock absorbing pads (made from washing machine pads layered between sheets of shock absorbing gel) that I place between my work surface (bathroom sink) and counter top (salvaged Ikea countertop piece) so that it's floating (kind of). Sadly, I still can't shoot at base ISO and get consistently sharp results (because of the vibrating house), but I can usually get good results locking the camera at ISO 200. ...Show more →
Look for a piece of rubber floor mat like the ones for cooks to stand on in restaurant kitchens. They're heavy, fairly thick and made to be slip resistant. It might help with absorbing some of the vibrations.
For a couple of years in the mid 1990's we rented an apartment in the Ambassador on the corner of SW 6th and Madison. Being on the Transit Mall, the constant stream of busses would shake the building. It must be a lot worse with the Max trains rumbling past.
_jim_ wrote:
Because I live on a busy street with lots of bus and heavy truck traffic my house vibrates quite a bit. I have experimented with creating shock absorbing pads (made from washing machine pads layered between sheets of shock absorbing gel) that I place between my work surface (bathroom sink) and counter top (salvaged Ikea countertop piece) so that it's floating (kind of).
Classical music recording engineers who record in public spaces often face similar issues; they typically use shockmounts on their microphones, but for some arrays they put some vibration-aborbing material under the mic stands instead. I have a set of the Primacoustic Tripads that I use for this purpose, but they're designed to fit mic stands; I know some engineers use larger mats that effectively insulate the entire mic stand from the floor. I wonder if something like that might work? For example, this product is designed to isolate studio monitors from stands or desktops:
