[rollei_list] Re: Press Cameras
- From: Eric Goldstein <egoldste@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:07:09 -0400
Charlie -
As an ex-Cambridge and Polaroid shooter, you might be interested in
knowing that Elsa Dorfman still uses a Polaroid 20 x 24 monster for
her famous portraits... I believe she bought all of Polaroids
remaining stock of the film...
25+ years ago I had the chance to take an insider's tour of a special
room at Polaroid in Cambridge... one with a motorized view camera
built into the wall. I do not remember how large the format was but we
are talking many feet by many feet with motorized/robotic film
handling and camera controls. I believe this set up was used for then
state of the art miniaturization of electronic components, and the
scale of it was humbling. I remember the lens was a custom one-off
from Zeiss which cost over six figures in 1980s dollars.
Eric Goldstein
--
On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 9:22 PM, <Newhouse230@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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
---
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