[rollei_list] Re: Press Cameras
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:38:18 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: <Newhouse230@xxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2012 6:22 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: Press Cameras
I had two experiences with 4x5 'press cameras'
. The first was in the 1950's I worked a summer or two at
a camera store
in Brookline, MA. They had a contract with the Post
Office to develop and
print 4x5 negatives sent to them each week. The subject';
Post Office trucks
that had been in traffic accidents. Each week we got a
packet with 4 x 5
film still in their holders. We developed them and made an
8"x10" of each
one and returned everything to the local Post Office. The
quality of the
shots was usually terrible. Large negatives don't
guarantee quality if the
photographer can't manage to focus well. The relatively
shallow DOF seemed to
be a problem for the photographers as rarely were all the
important areas of
vehicle damage in focus.
The second experience was in college. I worked two
summers at
Polaroid's home office in Cambridge, MA. I was a quality
control test
photographer. We subjected the Polaroid films to extreme
heat and cold and made note
of the color shifts etc. One of the films we enjoyed
working with on our
own time was the 4 x 5 black and white film that yielded
an instant
positive print as well as producing a negative. The
negative required a water
wash if I recall, but could then be printed in the
conventional fashion.
It was 'that' film which made me crave a 4 x 5 camera.
They detail was
excellent and we had 16 x 20 prints from that film to
prove it. There were
also some 'mural size' prints made from them which held
up to the
enlargement fairly well.
That 'positive-negative' film, among others, was
given to various
famous photographers who had relationships with Polaroid
and agreed to create
photographs using the instant film. Ansel Adams was one of
those
photographers. Marie Cosindas was another. She had an
amazing eye for color and
somehow created a palette that few others could, even
using the same films.
Using the Speed Graphics in the test studio and
getting instant
results was a great experience. I was using a
Rolleicord VB at the time, and
the larger 4 x 5 format of the 'press camera' was another
'step up' in
image quality from the 35mm format that had taken hold,
almost completely in
the 60's.
Charlie Silverman
I think what the negative needed was a sulfite bath and
wash. My memory is that the correct exposure for a good
negative was different from the one for a good instant
print. The film was evidently akin to Panatomic-X and was
made by Kodak. That sort of film in 4x5 can be printed to
the size of a barn door.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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