| Question: Hi,
Garry
Looked at your site. I especially like the fact that your
full-size shots are clear and crisp. I've been looking at
a lot of sites lately, and I'm getting awfully tired of
looking at low-grade scans of nice pix. I think some
people are getting a little bit too paranoid about people
grabbing free stuff and using it elsewhere. Low-res
web-pix are not good advertising, in my view. My site is
being developed now.
I'd really appreciate your advice/guidance on whether or
not I should be developing my own slides.
My slides from Europe are still in the freezer. While
over there, I was thinking about the system you were
using to develop slides at Grand Manan. I figured that by
processing my European stuff myself (after a learning
curve, etc.), I could pay for a quarter or more of a JOBO
processor.
Do you still use your JOBO? If so, how do you buy your
chemistry and what is your average cost per film
processed? Is it worth doing it yourself financially? (I
just found a new lab--an offshoot from the lab I've been
using for several years--and they are charging about
$6.50 per roll mounted. Not sure, of course, how long
that will last--the old lab charges about $9.50. At that
$6 price, is it still more economical to do it yourself?)
I have the time and patience to do this. I also had a
fair bit of darkroom experience (B&W only) back in
the days of doing baby photography, so I have no
illusions about that aspect. The only question is, is it
worth investing $2295 CDN (at Vistek for the CPP-2) in a
processor, plus a slide mounter (I would go for a less
expensive version than you have--I've been talking to
Dale Clark at Askus), plus a small drying cabinet (again,
I might go the cheap route for a while with this and just
squeegee the films, then hang them in a dust-free area)?
I have over 150 rolls of unexposed Fuji in the
freezer that I'm shooting out of, so when you add the
cost of sending that much out to a processor over the
next few months in addition to what is already exposed, I
will be making a sizeable investment no matter which way
I go.
Answer:
Thank you for your comments about my web site, I
intend to include additional galleries and articles to
it.
The initial set up costs for doing your own slide
processing is high, but if you shoot a lot of film it
will pay for it's self in the long run.
The film processor that I have is the JOBO CPP-2 with the
JOBO Lift. This is the best JOBO processor for slides as
it has the most accurate temperature control. There is a
fully automatic processor that JOBO makes, but it is at
least twice the price and then some.
The film drying cabinet is an ARKAY that I bought at
Vistek, it cost around $750.00. If you are doing all of
your processing at home you can make a cabinet for much
less.
The slide mounter is a PAKON MM100 which costs about
$3000.00. We used to use the PAKON SNAPPY MOUNTER which
is entirely manual and is very time consuming, but only
costs $100.00 We have 2 of them, as it went much quicker
to mount the slides if both Val and I were tackling the
task.
The chemicals cost $100.00 for a gallon kit, which
processes 40 Rolls of 35mm film, the slide mounts cost
.04 each.
I started out with the processor and hung the film to air
dry and had the snappy mounters to mount the film. Then
because of the workshops I bought the film drying cabinet
and still used the snappy mounters. Then I bought the
slide mounter. If I were only going to be doing the
processing at home, I would have skipped the film drying
cabinet, and built my own.
The only ways that you can reduce your costs is to find a
place where you can get the chemistry cheaper (if you
find one, let me know), and also to reuse your slide
mounts. NOTE - don't forget to add P.S.T. and G.S.T. to
all the prices listed above.
Hope that these notes will help you with your decision on
which way to go. If you need more info or suggestions,
just ask!
Question:
On your web site you have some images of light
bulbs that are lit with no apparent wires, I've often
wondered how is that done?
Answer:
The shots with a light bulb on with no socket in sight
are quite simple to do. I took a 3 foot metal rod (a
straightened out coat hanger works well) this is soldered
to the back of the light bulb. The other end is pushed
through the background paper and held by a clamp. Then an
electrical wire is run along the rod to the light bulb
where it is soldered to the side and the bottom of the
base. Then you plug it in and it lights up. You don't see
the rod or the wire because the light bulb hides them.
Question:
Hi,
I'm an amateur photographer who is new to filters.
I just want to ask an amateur question:
If I use graduated/color filters and have a TTL
metering, when will I take the reading, before or after I
slide the filter into place?
Answer:
There are two ways do to this. One, meter with the
filter in place and bracket (usually overexpose) this is
by far the easiest and probably the best way to get good
results, particularly if you are not shooting on a daily
basis. The second way is to spot meter the scene
calculating the dark area that you want to expose for and
also the highlight area that you want to tone down. Base
you exposure time and f-stop on the dark area (after all
the filter will be clear in that area and not effect the
exposure), use a split grad filter that will bring the
highlight area into the same range (shutter speed and
f-stop) as the dark area, normally a 2 or a 3 spot grad
filter.
Hope this helps you.
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