Most recent activity
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Thanks @amey and @umop3pisdn. Yes, I used a single softbox light in all four of these.
@nankatsu, x-ray film is used a lot by large-format photographers, mainly because it's really cheap. It's not really worth using it with 35mm cameras, but it's a great option for larger pinhole cameras. I'd like to try it one day with a box brownie. Many of those use archaic film sizes and these x-ray sheets can be cut to any size (I use a sliding paper guillotine to cut mine). For a lengthy discussion on x-ray film, see the following on the large format photography forum:
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Thanks. Because you have to develop each negative individually, a single-shot developer is extremely wasteful. I ended up using an old Kodak formula known as D-23 and a so-called replenisher named DK-25R. You need to mix both of these up from the raw chemicals, but it's not difficult. Using these, I waste less that 2.3ml of developer for each of these 6x6 negatives. If anyone's interested, I can send the formulas - but there's info online about Kodak D-23 and Kodak DK-25R.
I use 500ml glass beakers to do the development and little stainless steel clips, designed to process dental x-rays, to suspend the negative in the developer, fixer and water/stop beakers.
To digitise I use a Pixl-Latr negative holder/diffuser on top of a LED light panel (the type that gets used in household lighting) and photograph the negative with a Nikon D610 camera with a macro lens and extension tube. I then invert the image and make level adjustments in free software called Darktable.
X-ray film is a bit fussy. I discovered that you have to pre-wash the negative in water for 3 or 5 minutes before putting it in the developer and that this water, the developer and the fixer should all be at the same temperature (roughly). I do this at 20°C. One also needs to be careful not to scratch the negative, especially when it's wet. Another tip is to use an acidic fixer (Kodak Rapid Fixer comes with an optional "hardener" bottle). This helps harden the negative once dry.
Edit: another thing, I expose the film at ISO 64 and the film is Fujifilm UM-MA.
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Here are some shots taken on a Mamaya C330 with a single exposure back and mammography x-ray film. The single exposure back takes film holders and of which I have 3. So you cut the film to size in a darkroom under a safe light (the film is orthochromatic - insensitive to red light) and load them into the film holders which can in turn be loaded into the single exposure back in daylight. There's no reason though that x-ray film can't be cut and placed directly inside any camera in the darkroom. Mammography film, unlike normal x-ray film, has its emulsion on one side only, so there's less chance of it getting scratched. It also has better resolution, I believe.
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There's a list (sticky thread) of repair specialists on the "Leica Collectors & History" forum of the Leica Forum site. That forum is a good place to ask specific questions on the older Leicas too.
https://www.l-camera-forum.com/forum/35-leica-collectors-historica/
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Thanks a lot. They were all taken on a tripod - but the leaf photo was at at f8, the dog and the bike were at f2.8 to try and soften the background a bit (worked better with the dog, because he was closer to me). Here's another sharp one taken at f8 of a wooden ball.
Cheers,
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Hi, I've recently experimented with x-ray film and a single exposure back for the Mamiya C330. I've used a film made for mammographies, and these have a single-sided emulsion layer, unlike x-ray film for general use which is double sided, as far as I know (and consequently not as sharp unless the emulsion is removed from one side). Details are: Mamiya C330, single exposure back, Mamiya-Sekor 80mm, paramender, Fujifilm UM-MA @ ISO 64, D76H 1:4 24ºC, development timed by observation under safe light. Scanned with a DSLR.
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Great stuff @mi7rennie
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Nikon F2 Photomic, Helios 44-2 58mm 1:2, Ilford Delta 100 @ 80, PMK 1:2:100 10' 24°C.
🙏