First of all no normal B&W darkroom chemicals are really
hazardous. If you have a septic system you might want to check
before disposing in it. I would have to go by memory and don't
want to do that. There is information on the web and some members
here are chemists. Developers like D-76 are very mild and so is
fixing bath of either kind.
D-19 is a moderately high contrast developer, can be used as
print developer but Dektol is better. D-19 was originally meant
for aerial film.
The bags were supposed to be air tight but the paper ones
probably were not. The color of the powder will tell you if its
OK. Should be off white, never brown. If its oxidized it will
look like coffee grounds and smell like spoiled fish.
Starting fresh is a good idea. There are several brands of
ready to use powders. D-76 is the old reliable standard of
comparison but a more modern one is Xtol. Xtol had some growing
pains when first released but seems now to be quite reliable. You
can always do a clip test if you are suspicious. Some time ago
Kodak changed from the lined paper envelopes to all plastic ones.
The plastic ones seem to be pretty air tight. Again, for most
(but all) developers the color is a good clue as to its condition.
Fixers in powdered form generally have a very long shelf
life although I still recommend starting with fresh, packaged,
developers. Using a two-bath fixing method will considerably
extend the life of the fixer especially conventional fixer but I
think its still desirable for rapid fixers.
The use of a sulfite wash aid will further extend the
effective life of the fixing bath. However, it is not necessary
or desirable to use it for resin coated paper.
For prints I still favor Dektol. Can be used at a stonger
dilution than Kodak recommends. They say 1:2 for most papers but
it will do better at 1:1 for many.
Every manufacturer of printing paper had some version of
Dektol. The variations are very slight. Kodak's published formula
D-72 is essentially identical to Dektol although Dektol has some
modifications to make it last longer in packaged form.
I would still prefer a bit of yarn to plastic tape. A
lifetime supply of yarn can be had at a fabric store but they
might give you a sample of a couple of feet.
The much maligned WD-40 is good for removing tape and label
residue but should then be rinsed off. Plain soap and water will
get rid of its residue. Coleman lantern and stove fuel also
works. Generally neither attacks paint.
More: you pack a lot in your posts. I have pretty good eyes
although a little near sighted. For critical focusing I always
use a loupe. Check the corners as well as the center. Note that
most lenses have a little "focus shift". Usually not noticeable
in small format but can make a difference in LF especially with
certain types of lenses. Focus shift is simply that the critical
focus of a lens may change a little when its stopped down. For
the most part most of the shift takes place between wide open and
stopped down about two stops. So, for critical focus focus at the
stop you intend to use, unless that is very small, in which case
stop down about two stops. Many lenses have an aberration that
causes the margins or corners to be unsharp when wide open. This
also gets better as the lens is stopped down. Again, for a
properly designed lens it should be minimal at two stops down.
Working with a ground glass finder is a somewhat Zen sort of
thing. You can't rush. After some practice you will be able to
work faster but mainly relax and enjoy being a little old fashioned.
If you wind up sending the camera in to a specialist ask
about getting the rangefinder working, its sometimes very handy.
Also, did you get the fancy telescopic optical finder with yours,
also can be very useful.
The wire frame finder on any of these cameras is
automatically correct for any standard lens of any focal length
but not for telephoto or reverse telephoto lenses. Like the
ground glass it automatically compensates for the change in
viewing angle with the distance focused on.
On 4/25/2019 4:22 PM, mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I had seen the E Tone model. It just seemed almost too simple. Checked out the Grimes website and bookmarked it. I am sure I am going to be doing business with them soon for something. There is just so much there, I am sure I will be a customer soon.
IF this doesn't hold till I get my wrench, I think I am going to use a black self fusing electrical tape around the back. Like the yarn, it should seal any light leaks. I may add it anyway. Other than being a pain to get off if its ever necessary, I see no downside. I do not think there is any, but I am going to check. I have a small led light on a flexible end that I can slip under the ground glass and see what shows up with the lensboard and lens in place. I have played with it a bit today, and so far it hasn't twisted. Time will tell.
On a positive side, I spent a half hour just focusing on random stuff using the ground glass. At first it was a bit frustrating, but using a 10x loupe on the ground glass and everything came into focus. That seemed to confirm my old eyes can handle this if I use the loupe. That was good news. I would have been really disappointing to go through all this to find out my ability to focus a manual camera had jumped on the departure train.
Cleaning out the darkroom today, I got rid of old D 76 that was expired and some that was mixed that had gone bad over the years. Tomorrow is an annual disposal day, and just so there is no confusion its not just going in the trash. It is being taken to the proper disposal facility. I found an old bag of D19, and after looking at it closely, I didn't see an expiration date. It was still in the paper package and never mixed. Its got to be at least 5 years old and maybe older.
