Tag Archives: TriX

Day 2 – Black and white photo challenge

Day 2 of 5 of black and white photo challenge.  Each day I am trying to post a photo that is taken from a different camera and a different medium.  Today I picked a 135mm shot I did in Kyoto, Japan last year.  Amy and my mom were walking in front of me and the shadow was perfect when I took this shot.  Photo taken with Canon QL17 on Kodak TriX.  Film developed in Kodak D76 1+1 and Kodak Rapid Fix, scanned with Epson Perfection V700.  Today I nominate Michael Ho to accept my black and white photo challenge.

Amy and my mom in Kyoto
Amy and my mom in Kyoto, Japan

Revue 400 SE Test Photos

A couple of months ago, I opened up my Revue 400 SE to try to fix the light meter again as it was two clicks off.  Finally developed the test roll I did a couple of months ago.  It looks like the problem is fixed!  Kodak Tri-X 400, developed in Kodak d76, fixed in Kodak Rapid Fix, scanned with Epson Perfection V700.

Here is the facebook post regarding the fix:

Operating on the two Revue 400 SE cameras that I got a while back. One of the unit’s lightmeter is 2 clicks off! The photoresistor is old and way off. The radio shack replacement Cds resistors didn’t work. Maxing out the bias variable resistors inside and pushing the supply battery to 1.5V (instead of 1.35V) corrected only one click. So if I use iso 400 film, i just need to dial the iso setting to 800 and now the light meter is spot on!

Fixing the light meter in Revue 400 SE
Fixing the light meter in Revue 400 SE

I am quite happy with the result, looks like the meter is fixed!

This is electric line pole that is over 100 years old!
This is electric line pole that is over 100 years old
Chusan Liegh
Chusan Liegh
drying clothes
drying clothes
Concrete roof shingles
Concrete roof shingles
Different chairs
Different chairs

First Shot at Stand Development

A recent discussion with Kirk Lau with the boiling water temperature of our taps converged on the topic of stand development.  Basically stand development involves throwing away everything that I have learned so far about film processing.  Stand development is simply develop your film in diluted developer and after initial agitation, leave it to develop for (almost) infinite time.  You rely on the amount of chemical to natural develop your film, rather through agitation.

I still have six rolls of Tri-X 400 that I snapped in Japan back in June that still need to be developed.  I haven’t done so not because I am lazy but recently in the development with HC110 dilution H, the grain size appears to be large.  I suspect the culprit is the water temperature.  Both the tap water in Hong Kong and Shanghai measured to be well above 28C.  Even though I have compensated that with less development time but the grain size seems larger than before.  I am holding onto these rolls until I figure out what’s wrong.

I attended Herbert and Elaine’s wedding ceremony recently and prepared to shoot the event with my Canon QL17, my Canolite D flash and a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400.  The idea of stand development came back to me after the shoot and I figured I will give it a shot.  I developed the Kodak Tri-X with Kodak HC110 (1:100) dilution.  I did initial agitation of front, back, left, right, each 10 times, then gave the tank a good tap on the ground to avoid any possible bubbles.  I then left it to develop in 25C room temperature for 60 mins, followed by a 5 mins water bath.  Then I fixed it in Kodak Rapid Fix for 4.5 mins before rinsed in water again and wrapped it up with Kodak Photoflo.

The result was mostly successful.  The film developed fine except again for the large grain size.  I blame it on the tap water temperature again.  I need to put in ice and prepare the developer and rinse water to be around 20C next time! Nevertheless, the shots at the wedding ceremony was super loto and turned out super classic!  Totally reminded me of the ones in the dusty wedding albums of my parents.

Super classic!
Super loto, super classic!

Change of Travel Camera Gear

For a while, my travel photo gears includes: Canon Powershot S90, Canon QL17 GIII + Canolite D flash and Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta B 532/16.  The S90 serves as the all purpose camera, QL17 mainly for street photography and the Zeiss Ikon for portraits.  For 135, I mainly use Kodak TriX 400, Fuji Xtra 400 and Agfa Vista 400.  For 120, I use mainly Fuji Reala 100 which are excellent for portraits.  All of these fits nicely in a small Crumpler camera bag.

Recently I went to Japan for a week and I was debating what to bring.  I have upgraded to a Canon 5D Mark III recently and really wanted to try this out during this trip, but the sheer size of it gave me second thoughts.  Since I am going for a week, the Zeiss Ikon also didn’t seem feasible.  This medium format beauty can only produce 11 shots per roll, this means I will need to bring a dozen of 120s.  Weight is not an issue, I am more worried about how the Fuji Reala will perform under hot temperature (30C+).

The final verdict, I took the dive and brought the 5D, along with the stock 24-105mm F4 L lens, 40mm F2.8 pancake lens and a Yongnuo YN-568EX flash.  I decided to drop the Zeiss Ikon and brought the QL17 and S90.

Travel Gear for Japan
Travel Gear for Japan

I didn’t realize until I took the photo above that I have a complete Canon lineup.  I swear that it wasn’t intentional, just happened that way.  The S90 continued to perform well, especially for food closeup shots.  I shot six rolls of Kodak Tri-X with the QL17 (awaiting for development).  For the QL17, during the day, I often use a Kenko ND4 filter so I can use ISO 400 during the day.  Nothing can beat the QL17 for street photography in my lineup, it’s small, non-intrusive, quiet and fast focusing.  The 40mm F1.7 lens is perfect for that.

How did I find the 5D for traveling? It’s heavy but worth it.  With the 40mm pancake lens, this is basically the same setup as my QL17 but with one huge advantage.  That’s high ISO.  I can shoot at up to ISO3200 without a lot of noise which makes this camera a winner for taking photos indoors and at night.  The stock 24-105mm F4 L lens with IS gave a good working range for most travel shots, from architecture to far away objects.  It is also quite a bit lighter than the 24-70mm F2.8 lens which makes this a bit more desirable for traveling.  Did I need the flash? Yes! I actually used it often as a fill flash especially during late afternoon around sunset time.

All the equipment fitted in my Kata backpack.   The new selection of travel gear added another few kilos compared to before but the 5D took beautiful photos and was worth it at the end.

Sample photos to follow!

 

Sunday Afternoon Tea with Cailey

A relaxing Sunday afternoon with baby Cailey.

All photos taken with Canon QL17 GIII, Kodak Tri-X 400, self-developed, Kodak HC110 dilution H (5 minutes at 28C), Kodak RapidFix (4 minutes), water stop and Kodak Photoflo.  Scanned with Epson Perfection V700.

Cailey: My father is crazy. (with Gordon)
Cailey: “My father is crazy” (with Gordon)
Cailey: "I am eating again?"
Cailey: “I am eating again?”
Cailey: "What's going on here?"
Cailey: “What’s going on here?”
Cailey and Mama Vicky.
Cailey and Mama Vicky.

 

 

 

 

Film Development Day

Film Development Day
Film Development Day

For color film, I generally will save up at least six rolls before I develop them.  This is because I need to setup the water bath in my Peterson Auto Colortherm machine and it’s always a good idea to exhaust the color chemicals in one go rather than several (due to oxidation).

This weekend’s lineup, two rolls of medium format Fuji Reala 100, four rolls of 135 Fuji Xtra 400 (one roll inside the film case because it was removed from a 126 cartridge), one roll of Agfa Vista 400, one roll of Kodak TriX 400 as well as a roll of Lucky SHD 100.

The color film are developed with the Tetenal kit.  Chemical and water temperature are preheated at 38C.  First wet the film with water for 5 minutes, developer for 3:15 minutes, blix for 4 minutes, rince with 38C water for 3 minutes and stabilizer for 1 minute.  Both developer and blix agitation for first 30 seconds, then one inversion every 30 seconds.

Hong Kong is hot these days and water temperature sits at 28C.  This is difficult for BW development.  For Kodak TriX 400, first wet the film with water for 2 minutes.  Kodak HC110 (dilution H) for 5 minutes, water stop for 2 minutes, Kodak Rapid Fix for 4 minutes, wash with water for 2 minutes and finish with Kodak Photoflo.  Agitation for developer and fixer is the same.   Agitation by inversion for the first 30 seconds, followed by two inversions every 30 seconds.

For developing Lucky SHD 100 film, first wet the film with water for 2 minutes.  Kodak HC110 (dilution H) for 14 minutes, water stop for 2 minutes, Kodak Rapid Fix for 4 minutes, wash with water for 2 minutes and finish with Kodak Photoflo.  Agitation for developer and fixer is the same.   Agitation by inversion for the first 30 seconds, followed by two inversions every 30 seconds.

Nine rolls of film drying in my washroom, what a scene!

Results of the developed photos to follow.