Spring is on the way.

I have titled this post 'Spring is on the way', because it is about flowers. However I struggle with this as it is Easter weekend and it has been snowing for two days. Oh well.

My brother-in-law is a managing partner at a green house - I have not taken advantage of this fact enough. Yesterday morning I went in an hour before the store opened, and spent some time shooting. I set a custom white balance on my Canon 20D and, using an adaptor, I mounted an old Nikon M extension tube (27.5mm extension) and then put on a Nikkor 135mm f/3.5 (AI mount). I found this combination pretty good for getting a half decent magnification while providing some working distance. On my first trip out, I chose to use the M extension tube with my Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 (Non-AI), for life size magnification. Unfortunately the tripod to table display distance was too great for me to get close enough. A little research shows me this:

Total extension used / Focal length used = Magnification
for my setup this was...
27.5mm / 135mm = ~ 1/5
However the 135mm lens does extend about 10mm when focused to its closest setting, so the maximum magnification may be up to ~1/4
While 1/4 life size is not great for 'Macro' work, I do get a lot of working room, and fairly close up. Compare this to the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 which has a max magnification of 0.13x (or about 1/8th)

Here are the photos!

Playhouse Entries

I know I have been slow to post recently - but just a quick update. I am planning to enter these 2 photos to be shown at the Playhouse next month!

The Pinhole is still collecting light!

Another shot from my contraption:



What fun!

Agfa APX 100 4"x5" Sheet film, approx. f/280, 1 minute exposure, developed in HC-110 for 7 min.

Linhof Technika III Pinhole!

A while ago I acquired a Linhof Technika III Large Format 4x5 camera - without a lens. I wanted to try LF but also was looking to resell the Camera for a profit. I had no film, and no lens- not a good start for testing out how light tight the bellows are...

I had the bright idea of taking the lens mount board and attaching a pinhole to it. This way I could accomplish my goals and try Pinhole at the same time. A little searching around got me a few sheets of donated film. I did a little research and fashioned myself a .5mm pinhole 'lens'.

When mounted on the camera, and the bellows are pulled out to about 5 1/2 inches from the film plane, it gives me an aperture of about f/280, and a field of view roughly equivalent to a 40mm lens on a 35mm camera.

Here is the camera:


and here is the negative on my small light box - a one minute exposure:


and here is the inverted image:


I shot the negative with my Canon Digital Rebel XT.

I have a couple more sheets of film, and will post those as well when they are ready - then the camera goes up for auction.

I may still make or buy a medium format pinhole - what fun!

King's Landing - 1951 Zeiss Ikon Nettar 6x6 folding camera (517/16)

Shot on very expired, but frozen TMAX.

More from King's Landing - Ilford PanF+

Here are the shots on the PanF+, also from the Canon Elan 7N...same lenses as before. There was little filtering - maybe yellow, and ND on the waterfalls. most were shot with a tripod.

I loved the shot with the 2 ladies interacting with the horse - it just begged for sepia!

King's Landing

Another Photo Club field trip - this time out to the historical village of King's Landing. I ended up shooting digital (Canon 20D), and black and white film (Canon Elan 7N - Ilford SFX200 and Ilford PanF+, Zeiss Ikon Folding Camera - really old Tri-X)

Here are the shots from the Ilford SFX200. I bought this film slightly expired about 3 years ago (I had never tried it before), and shot about half of it in Calgary. I finally got around to finishing it off - YAY!! All the photos were with a RED #25 filter and shot using either the Canon EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM, or the Canon EF 70-210mm f3.5-4.5 USM. For some photos it gives a nice efect.