A few days before Christmas, I dropped my Nikon F6 on the hard laminate floor of the studio. Actually, the strap slipped through the adjustment buckle. I had the strap around my neck, but was not holding onto the camera. I’m a big believer in neck straps because I am obsessive about not dropping a camera. Disappointingly, it was a Nikon strap and it wasn’t stitched. It’s one of those heavy elastic straps that is easy on your neck. Upon examination, it looked like the camera body was okay and that the only damage was to the attached 24-120mm f/4G lens which had the zoom ring knocked out of posi ..read more

While testing my recently acquired Hasselblad 501CM, I shot some pictures of my darkroom using the 40mm lens. The shots were hand held on TMax 100, so the depth of field was not great due to wide aperture, but it was as good a subject as any for test shots. This article simply puts those shots to use by explaining my darkroom setup. I like looking at pictures of other people’s darkrooms and I suspect I’m probably not alone. Darkrooms used to be so common that they were simply taken for granted. Now, being so rare, they seem to be more interesting. People who own classic cars like looking at pi ..read more

Hasselblad 501CM, PME-5 Meter Prism, 40mm CF, and 100mm CF. If you read the blog entry about my experience buying a new Rolleiflex Hy6 a few years ago, then you already know it was not a pleasant affair. I have been able to fix or work around the Hy6’s multitude of problems and I do use it, but it’s not a system I will be investing any more money in. The automation of the Hy6 is wonderful, but questionable reliability, lack of repair options, and dearth of indispensable accessories like film backs makes it a poor choice going forward. In the past, I had done some research into Hasselblad and B ..read more

My RB-67 Got Haze. Earlier this year I pulled my old RB-67 out to admire it and noticed that the 127mm lens had developed a nasty case of the haze.   While doing some internet research, I found that there is a guy on Youtube who makes disassembling Mamiya lenses look easy.  After collecting a few needed tools, I took the lens apart to find that the haze was between elements that were glued together and mounted in a metal collar.  In fact, there were two such lens pairs in the lens, one in front of the shutter and one behind.  Both were fogged. My first solution was to ..read more

Most articles that talk about enlarger alignment tell you how to do it, but don’t explain how it can be a never ending battle.  For me and my two Omega D5s, the mechanisms that throw my enlarger out of alignment are drop-away baseboard tabletops and different negative carriers. Baseboard Alignment Error My enlarger is bolted to the wall and the table is mounted below it.  To make larger prints or for more extreme cropping, I can remove the upper tabletop and project down to a lower table top.  I can also remove the lower tabletop and project all the way to the floor. Removable ..read more

The Availability of High Quality Affordable OC Safelights is Dwindling If you’ve done any safelight shopping these days, you’ve probably noticed that new OC colored darkroom safelights aren’t as plentiful as they once were. Lights with red filters seem to be much more common, but the orange ones are easier on the eyes and make darkrooms seem brighter. Being Adventurous (Buying Cheap) When I recently decided to add a couple small safelights to my darkroom, I settled on the Yankee bullet-shaped Circular Safelight available at B&H Photo for $32.95. After reading the reviews, it was clear that ..read more

Have you ever made a big enlargement where the enlarger head was so far above the base board it was impossible or too awkward to reach the enlarger focusing knob while looking through the grain focuser?  I have and decided to find a way to make it easier. Can’t reach focus knob while looking through grain focuser There are a few solutions to this problem.  Omega made a flexible focusing shaft (P/N 464-055) which can still be found on line.  Saunders/LPL made a generic flexible focus extension that is apparently no longer available.  KHB Photografix sells a version de ..read more

A Story About Rolleiflex and Leica Film Cameras Leica M-A and Rolleiflex Hy6 Mod2 I have never been able to afford high end German cameras, but I always wanted one. Almost all the cameras I have owned were from Japanese companies like Minolta, Mamiya, and especially Nikon. Finally, in October 2020, being retired and having some cash available, I purchased a new Rolleiflex Hy6 Mod2 system from the US distributor and a new Leica MP and lens from Camera West. Since 1966, I have purchased many cameras, new and used, but these two recent purchases were the first time I ever bought a camera that was ..read more

My darkroom paper safe has, for decades, been a small DIY wood cabinet with some shelves inside. I have never trusted it to be light tight, so I kept all the paper and test strips stored inside in black plastic envelopes like the ones paper and film are packaged in. The hinged door was held closed with a window latch. Although it’s large enough for 11″ x 14″ paper, I never put any paper larger than 8″ x 10″ in it. In fact, I practically never use 11″ x 14″ paper. This was no one’s idea of a perfect paper safe and I wanted something better. My Old Paper SafeThe Research Phase I wanted something ..read more

Back in January 2020, I bought two one gallon packages of Kodak Dektol.  I noticed the new Dektol was packaged in poly bags rather than the original foil layered packaging that we’re all used to.  When I tried to mix it up a few months later, it was as as brown as coffee.   I opened a second package and got the same result.  Something was terribly wrong.  There was no way I was going to use this stuff. Fresh Kodak Dektol is as brown as coffee Apparently, the manufacture and marketing of Kodak darkroom chemicals is now managed by a UK company called Kodak Al ..read more