[pure-silver] Re: Spiratone 200 C Enlarging Meter Instructions
- From: <C.Breukel@xxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:37:30 +0000
I have a comparable RH meter (the Zone Master, I believe, it's hibernating so
long now in my drawer I am not sure of his name anymore..). Although the meter
is not that hard to work with, the calibration is quite tedious, and obviously
has to be done on each different paper (and I used a lot different brands, less
so now, so perhaps I should re-evaluate). And it takes some experience to
evaluate the negative on the base board and judge were the place the sensor for
the important parts .
Plus in my set up (Condensor head with filter drawer above the negative) it
means constantly moving filters out and in. In the end it worked better for me
to have a good contact sheet and use test strips.
So if I have a exposed and contacted roll of 120 film I choose the interesting
ones, make a teststrip of the first (I usually know out of experience at what
grade and roughly what time) I use a StopClock and a device to make a test
strip of the same area at ¼ stop intervals (described in Ralph Lambrecht his
book). If you choose the area carefully this strip can tells you if you are in
the ballpark for the exposure time and contrast. If the first print comes out
right I use that one in combination with the contact sheet to print the other
images. I guess my "success rate" with this system is about 80-90%.
Mind you, these smallish (13*18 cm) RC test prints are not definitive prints,
but a pretty good start up to judge the content and further printing on larger
FB material.
Best,
Cor
From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Laurence Cuffe
Sent: zondag 28 oktober 2012 19:31
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Spiratone 200 C Enlarging Meter Instructions
I've been staying out of this discussion as I do not have a set of instructions
for the Spiratone enlarging meter under consideration, and I do not need the
color attachments mentioned. However the discussion seems to have now expanded
to enlarging meters in general, and I believe in giving credit where credit is
due.
I use an enlarging meter from RHdesigns. details are here:
http://www.rhdesigns.co.uk/darkroom/html/analyser_pro.html
It is in simple terms vodoo. for a given negative I can measure the contrast
range, measure particular areas and decide using the scale on the meter, where
exactly I wnat to place them. The key to all of this is the user interface.
Designed by a photographer and with a lot of thought put into it. this is a
peice of technology which just feels like a natural extension of my
photographic thinking.
When I have had to print without it, as happened when I drowned my first one
with fix, I now feel handicapped in the darkroom. It is an expensive piece of
kit, but as they say, time is money, and the ability to grab an hour and a half
in the darkroom and emerge with a well balanced, well exposed set of 36 prints
from a roll of 35mm film, with only 36 sheets of paper used is not to be
underestimated.
This is particularly true given the level of incompetence displayed by a
typical set of my negatives.
I'm not saying leave it to the meter, that's the one hour photo solution.
However this meter presents me with a very good set of information about any
given negative and allows me to make intelligent choices about the best way to
overcome any given negatives deficiencies.I'm still in charge, I just have more
information on which to base my printing decisions.
Despite appearances, I have no commercial connection with RH design.
All the best
Laurence Cuffe
On Oct 28, 2012, at 10:56 AM, Tim Daneliuk
<tundra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:tundra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
On 10/28/2012 11:59 AM, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marvin"
> <marvbej@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:marvbej@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
> To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
> Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2012 7:22 AM
> Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Spiratone 200 C Enlarging Meter Instructions
>
>
> It's a matter of approach. I've been happy with the results I get using a
> Kodak Projection Print Scale, with some added mental interpolation. I'm sure
> that's far less precise than a tenth stop. I guess my prints COULD be
> technically better, but other photographers, as well as other other artists
> (in the groups to which I belong that have members who work in various media)
> think they're fine. No offense intended--I've seen your prints, when you've
> participated in the PSPE, and think they're wonderful, but you've also seen
> mine and, I hope, would agree that they achieve their intended purpose.
>
> As to the Spiratone enlarging meter, I'm very much prepared to be
> disappointed. I've tried an enlarging attachment for my Sekonic incident
> light meter and an ancient (i.e. older than me) extinction type
> "Enlarg-O-Meter", found in an antique shop. Both work satisfactorily , but
> are considerably more trouble to use than my usual method.
>
> Bob Marvin
>
> I have the enlarging attachment for my Luna-Pro but its not sensitive enough
> to be practical. I use an Ilford meter with a lot of mental interpolation. It
> works pretty well. Nick Linden makes an enlarging timer of very good repute.
> I would hate to disagree with him about the tenth stop criteria but I would
> like to see that in practice. One problem with printing is that you must find
> out how much the print changes when dry and the effect of the light level
> where it is to be displayed. What looks right in the darkroom is often
> misleading.
>
>
I too use the Luna Pro attachment but for only one purpose: Once I have
a satisfactory print, I remove the negative, reinsert the blank carrier
and measure the light striking the easel. This allows me to subsequently
compensate for line and light source variations over time when I reprint
and/or change magnifications.
Because I use a cold light whose output rises with heat/time, I never
start printing until the head has been plugged in for an hour or so, and when
I measure the easel light, I turn the head on for 30-45 sec to allow it to come
to full output.
I VC split print nearly everything. That is, I turn the head on full for soft
light and do any exposing, dodging, and burning with it. I then repeat with the
magenta
output. I find this gives me far great precision and control of local contrast
without
resorting to enlarging meters, which I never found useful for the most part.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Daneliuk tundra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:tundra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
PGP Key: http://www.tundraware.com/PGP/
=============================================================================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, go to
www.freelists.org<//www.freelists.org> and logon to your account (the same
e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe
from there.
Other related posts:
