Shooting large format film

I looked at this short introduction to using 4×5 (large format) film on Ilford’s website with more interest to the lens used.  The Bokeh looked a little like a Helios lens as the aperture circles at center become ellipsoid on the edges of the frame.   The lens Mr. Phimester used is a 178mm Aero Ektar.   I’m still undecided if I like the bokeh or not, but I think in the case of this image in the woods, it has aRead more

Projection Optics Company 18″ E.F. – “Lens Review”

I’ve got one of these Beseler E.F. Projection lenses sitting on my desk.  I may have paid about $30 for it some time back, just because it seemed cool, but now and then I think about shooting with it.  I didn’t know the coverage and just found that like many things someone else has already wondered the same and done some experimenting.  Charles Hollemeersch reports that his 18in lens will cover nearly 35x42cm so sounds like it would cover 11x14inRead more

How to Spot a Fake Leica

    Coming from the perspective of being a Zenit KMZ importer, this article was interesting, and I was happy to see at the end that they report the fakes aren’t half bad.  I’ve never really shot much with the Leica rangefinder cameras since I prefer SLR’s but maybe someday I’ll pick one up, and perhaps it will be a copy and not the real thing.  Saving this link for future reference.  Jump to the page on Mike Eckman’s siteRead more

Afghan Box Camera / Kamra-e-Faoree

Afghan Box Camera Project Today I viewed a post on Reddit from someone who built their own “Afghan Box” and was really intrigued.  What is it?  Basically the Afghan box is a camera inside a box with two dark sleeves on rear and side, developing trays,  and a peep viewer that allow internal development of prints.   I’ve seen such boxes for tin types before.  What’s different about this is the peep hole on the top for watching the prints develop. Read more