Sightseeing Screwmount

KJon · 08-04-2009, 05:38 PM

Steve, didn't get a chance 'til now to comment on the Water Sports series: Bravo! Really enjoyed the houseboats, although you'd think the constant reminder of that high water mark would give those folks some pause about living there

. Also liked the wake boarding shots, too. Colors were great all the way round, particularly the shot of your buddy driving the boat.

Thanks for a great trip,
Kevin

P. S. ...and the best part, I didn't have to buy a plane ticket

stevebrot · 08-04-2009, 07:48 PM

Originally posted by KJon

Steve, didn't get a chance 'til now to comment on the Water Sports series: Bravo! Really enjoyed the houseboats, although you'd think the constant reminder of that high water mark would give those folks some pause about living there

. Also liked the wake boarding shots, too. Colors were great all the way round, particularly the shot of your buddy driving the boat.

Thanks for a great trip,
Kevin

P. S. ...and the best part, I didn't have to buy a plane ticket

All my pleasure. I am waiting to see what the St. Louis crew comes up with. There are several of them and I am sure that the pictures will reflect a diversity of style and subjects!

Steve

Blue · 08-04-2009, 07:52 PM

Monochrome . . . come out and plaaay.

**monochrome** · 08-05-2009, 11:29 AM

Originally posted by Blue

Monochrome . . . come out and plaaay.

Blue -> Working on it. I certainly won't have anything as dramatic as Steve posted. Additionally, there was conern about some banding and exposure issues with the Sightseer and I was prepared to send it to Eric for an evaluation. If these posts are indicative there is no problem. I have an outing planned for Sunday, then the groiup needs to agree (or I will just make a leadership decision and assert a place and time

).

I WILL post here and to Flickr - but local processing is iffy.

stevebrot · 08-05-2009, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by monochrome

Blue -> Working on it. I certainly won't have anything as dramatic as Steve posted. Additionally, there was conern about some banding and exposure issues with the Sightseer and I was prepared to send it to Eric for an evaluation. If these posts are indicative there is no problem. I have an outing planned for Sunday, then the groiup needs to agree (or I will just make a leadership decision and assert a place and time

).

I WILL post here and to Flickr - but local processing is iffy.

I had PM'd Monochrome regarding the negatives I got back from the Sightseer. Most of my original scans were obviously OOF for the entire image with "shadowing" on the edges of the frames. I suspected that the pressure plate was not holding the film flat. As it turned out, I was partially correct. My film came back rolled and uncut from the processors. Apparently the negatives were too "curly" and loaded improperly into the scanner. The result was that the negative was buckled during the scan.

I sent the PM suggesting caution based on my results and rescanned the negs the next day after they had a chance to relax flat in their sleeves. The rescanned versions looked much better and lacked the "shadowing" on the edges. Despite the improvement, I still found that the scans were not as sharp as I would have liked and that I have come to expect from the lenses used. Because of the softness, most of the images I posted here have a fair degree of sharpening applied where I have not had to do this in the past.

I sent a follow-up PM to Monochrome indicating the improvement, but still registering my concern that the film might not be flat inside the camera. It might just be my imagination, but I thought it would be good to check the body and make sure that the back is not sprung and that the pressure plate engages the film rails. It would be a shame for people to put a lot of effort into taking good pictures only to get a roll of fuzzy pics back after the camera has moved on.

Steve

P.S. Ektar seems to have a very thin film base. It may be that the older bodies may have a more difficult time holding it flat. Here is an article discussing the subject...http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/FILM/FOCUS1.HTM

Blue · 08-10-2009, 05:27 PM

How is it going Monochrome? Is the SightSeer functioning properly?

Ratmagiclady · 08-10-2009, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

I sent a follow-up PM to Monochrome indicating the improvement, but still registering my concern that the film might not be flat inside the camera. It might just be my imagination, but I thought it would be good to check the body and make sure that the back is not sprung and that the pressure plate engages the film rails. It would be a shame for people to put a lot of effort into taking good pictures only to get a roll of fuzzy pics back after the camera has moved on.

Steve

P.S. Ektar seems to have a very thin film base. It may be that the older bodies may have a more difficult time holding it flat. Here is an article discussing the subject...Focusing - Camera Body Considerations

Hrm, film flatness for scanning is a constant bane to me, admittedly, and the camera's surely old enough to have a bit of a weak spring on the pressure plate, but also make sure none of my light seal job has bunched up or anything, keeping the door from closing completely. I'd meant to ask someone to see how it's holding up after some use, since I didn't exactly torture-test.

**monochrome** · 08-10-2009, 06:35 PM

Originally posted by Blue

How is it going Monochrome? Is the SightSeer functioning properly?

The Sightseer came at an inoportune time for me personally, although it did venture to a free Guster concert under the Arch on the St. Louis Riverfront. I think putting a St. Louis Group together may have been a bit optimistic, so I am going to finish up my part and move it on to Stratman.

Hopefully i can still TAKE a film picture without in VF metering

.

Venturing to Soulard Market (open-air Farmer's Market) Saturday early morning for St. Louis "Street" shooting. I think Mike Cash did an entire roll of a street market in his neck of the Orient that way about 1 year ago. Never above stealing (uh, replicating) a good idea.

stevebrot · 08-11-2009, 09:38 AM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

...make sure none of my light seal job has bunched up or anything, keeping the door from closing completely...

That was my thought as well. The door seems to require a firm hand to get it closed and latched. It may be a bit "bowed".

Steve

stevebrot · 08-11-2009, 09:47 AM

Originally posted by monochrome

...Hopefully i can still TAKE a film picture without in VF metering

...

Ha! Ha! I can't describe how silly I felt pointing that little meter at the subject and having no clue as to whether it was actually metering what I wanted it to meter! The interesting side-affect of the exercise was a renewed sense that light generally does not change that much minute to minute. Way back when with my stop-down metering Singlex TLS, I would regularly determine a general exposure and then click away until a change of subject or setting required a new meter setting.

It is really tempting at this point to get a pro quality meter with incident light mode and truly learn how to measure light.

Steve

**monochrome** · 08-11-2009, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by stevebrot

Ha! Ha! I can't describe how silly I felt pointing that little meter at the subject and having no clue as to whether it was actually metering what I wanted it to meter! The interesting side-affect of the exercise was a renewed sense that light generally does not change that much minute to minute. Way back when with my stop-down metering Singlex TLS, I would regularly determine a general exposure and then click away until a change of subject or setting required a new meter setting.

It is really tempting at this point to get a pro quality meter with incident light mode and truly learn how to measure light.

Steve

I "collected" a Sekonic L-398II Studio Deluxe analog meter some years ago, that can meter reflective and incident, as well as a Sekonic pocket-sized Micro Leader that does reflective. I'll use both and report back :ugh:.

I note that Sekonic just started marketing version III of the L-398 and make a big deal about the benefit of analog, no battery metering. Everything old is new again!

I also had some difficulty opening and closing the film door. I beleive I will go ahead and send the Sightseer to Eric for an evaluation, as we discussed by PM. I PM'ed Woof to that effect last week.

Paul

**monochrome** · 08-11-2009, 05:03 PM

I inspected the pressure plate and film rails, as well as the film door and new seals for any issues. Near as I can tell the seals look pretty good. The lock is a challenge to work, but it may have been that way. There is a score on the bottom of the pressure plate and it appears not to be flat. There are rub marks on the film rails,, as well. Perhaps this condition is causing some of the variability of focus. My entire roll from the Guster concert is unusable - my lab messed around with the enlarger, but stopped printing them after the first one. Haven't had any scanned.

I'm sending the Sightseer off to Eric for an evaluation, along with a K28/3.5 I own that has an infinity focus issue (somebody must have taken it apart and when putting it back together missed the proper colimation). Eric will let me know what the issue is and I'm certain will set things right in a week or two.

FWIW, I am changing the packing material to peanuts and enclosing the camera in a ZipLok bag with silica gel packs. When I received it the packing material had shifted and the camera was kind of banging around against the plywood.

stevebrot · 08-11-2009, 06:02 PM

Originally posted by monochrome

FWIW, I am changing the packing material to peanuts and enclosing the camera in a ZipLok bag with silica gel packs. When I received it the packing material had shifted and the camera was kind of banging around against the plywood.

That disturbs me. Things in the box were pretty tight when it left here. I put the camera in a zip lock, but did not include any silica gel (humidity is low here in the summer). I also thought that I did a full wrap in bubble wrap and then placed in the cardboard "cubby" that it was in when I received it. Was the camera not packed that way?

In any case, peanuts with maybe a layer of bubble wrap are probably the better solution.

Steve

stevebrot · 08-11-2009, 06:07 PM

Originally posted by monochrome

...My entire roll from the Guster concert is unusable - my lab messed around with the enlarger, but stopped printing them after the first one. Haven't had any scanned...

Are you saying that your concert shots were too soft to justify printing or was there some other problem?

Steve

Ratmagiclady · 08-11-2009, 06:23 PM

Originally posted by monochrome

I inspected the pressure plate and film rails, as well as the film door and new seals for any issues. Near as I can tell the seals look pretty good. The lock is a challenge to work, but it may have been that way. There is a score on the bottom of the pressure plate and it appears not to be flat. There are rub marks on the film rails,, as well.

Hrm. Well, I had some trouble getting the lock open when the Sightseer arrived: I chalked that up to my arthritis. I was pretty sure the pressure plate looked good, though I didn't chec for flatness. I don't recall any worrying issues with the rails, maybe a bit of pitting on the guides. Nothing requiring any work there....

Bit of a puzzle, I guess. Seems we'll see.

08-04-2009, 05:38 PM	#406
KJon Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Connecticut, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 542	Steve, didn't get a chance 'til now to comment on the Water Sports series: Bravo! Really enjoyed the houseboats, although you'd think the constant reminder of that high water mark would give those folks some pause about living there. Also liked the wake boarding shots, too. Colors were great all the way round, particularly the shot of your buddy driving the boat. Thanks for a great trip, Kevin P. S. ...and the best part, I didn't have to buy a plane ticket

08-04-2009, 07:48 PM	#407
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by KJon Steve, didn't get a chance 'til now to comment on the Water Sports series: Bravo! Really enjoyed the houseboats, although you'd think the constant reminder of that high water mark would give those folks some pause about living there. Also liked the wake boarding shots, too. Colors were great all the way round, particularly the shot of your buddy driving the boat. Thanks for a great trip, Kevin P. S. ...and the best part, I didn't have to buy a plane ticket All my pleasure. I am waiting to see what the St. Louis crew comes up with. There are several of them and I am sure that the pictures will reflect a diversity of style and subjects! Steve

08-05-2009, 01:20 PM	#410
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by monochrome Blue -> Working on it. I certainly won't have anything as dramatic as Steve posted. Additionally, there was conern about some banding and exposure issues with the Sightseer and I was prepared to send it to Eric for an evaluation. If these posts are indicative there is no problem. I have an outing planned for Sunday, then the groiup needs to agree (or I will just make a leadership decision and assert a place and time ). I WILL post here and to Flickr - but local processing is iffy. I had PM'd Monochrome regarding the negatives I got back from the Sightseer. Most of my original scans were obviously OOF for the entire image with "shadowing" on the edges of the frames. I suspected that the pressure plate was not holding the film flat. As it turned out, I was partially correct. My film came back rolled and uncut from the processors. Apparently the negatives were too "curly" and loaded improperly into the scanner. The result was that the negative was buckled during the scan. I sent the PM suggesting caution based on my results and rescanned the negs the next day after they had a chance to relax flat in their sleeves. The rescanned versions looked much better and lacked the "shadowing" on the edges. Despite the improvement, I still found that the scans were not as sharp as I would have liked and that I have come to expect from the lenses used. Because of the softness, most of the images I posted here have a fair degree of sharpening applied where I have not had to do this in the past. I sent a follow-up PM to Monochrome indicating the improvement, but still registering my concern that the film might not be flat inside the camera. It might just be my imagination, but I thought it would be good to check the body and make sure that the back is not sprung and that the pressure plate engages the film rails. It would be a shame for people to put a lot of effort into taking good pictures only to get a roll of fuzzy pics back after the camera has moved on. Steve P.S. Ektar seems to have a very thin film base. It may be that the older bodies may have a more difficult time holding it flat. Here is an article discussing the subject...http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/FILM/FOCUS1.HTM Last edited by stevebrot; 08-05-2009 at 01:36 PM.

08-11-2009, 05:03 PM	#417
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	I inspected the pressure plate and film rails, as well as the film door and new seals for any issues. Near as I can tell the seals look pretty good. The lock is a challenge to work, but it may have been that way. There is a score on the bottom of the pressure plate and it appears not to be flat. There are rub marks on the film rails,, as well. Perhaps this condition is causing some of the variability of focus. My entire roll from the Guster concert is unusable - my lab messed around with the enlarger, but stopped printing them after the first one. Haven't had any scanned. I'm sending the Sightseer off to Eric for an evaluation, along with a K28/3.5 I own that has an infinity focus issue (somebody must have taken it apart and when putting it back together missed the proper colimation). Eric will let me know what the issue is and I'm certain will set things right in a week or two. FWIW, I am changing the packing material to peanuts and enclosing the camera in a ZipLok bag with silica gel packs. When I received it the packing material had shifted and the camera was kind of banging around against the plywood. Last edited by monochrome; 08-11-2009 at 05:09 PM.

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08-04-2009, 07:52 PM	#408
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	Monochrome . . . come out and plaaay.

08-05-2009, 11:29 AM	#409
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by Blue Monochrome . . . come out and plaaay. Blue -> Working on it. I certainly won't have anything as dramatic as Steve posted. Additionally, there was conern about some banding and exposure issues with the Sightseer and I was prepared to send it to Eric for an evaluation. If these posts are indicative there is no problem. I have an outing planned for Sunday, then the groiup needs to agree (or I will just make a leadership decision and assert a place and time ). I WILL post here and to Flickr - but local processing is iffy.

08-10-2009, 05:27 PM	#411
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	How is it going Monochrome? Is the SightSeer functioning properly?

08-10-2009, 06:03 PM	#412
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by stevebrot I sent a follow-up PM to Monochrome indicating the improvement, but still registering my concern that the film might not be flat inside the camera. It might just be my imagination, but I thought it would be good to check the body and make sure that the back is not sprung and that the pressure plate engages the film rails. It would be a shame for people to put a lot of effort into taking good pictures only to get a roll of fuzzy pics back after the camera has moved on. Steve P.S. Ektar seems to have a very thin film base. It may be that the older bodies may have a more difficult time holding it flat. Here is an article discussing the subject...Focusing - Camera Body Considerations Hrm, film flatness for scanning is a constant bane to me, admittedly, and the camera's surely old enough to have a bit of a weak spring on the pressure plate, but also make sure none of my light seal job has bunched up or anything, keeping the door from closing completely. I'd meant to ask someone to see how it's holding up after some use, since I didn't exactly torture-test.

08-10-2009, 06:35 PM	#413
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by Blue How is it going Monochrome? Is the SightSeer functioning properly? The Sightseer came at an inoportune time for me personally, although it did venture to a free Guster concert under the Arch on the St. Louis Riverfront. I think putting a St. Louis Group together may have been a bit optimistic, so I am going to finish up my part and move it on to Stratman. Hopefully i can still TAKE a film picture without in VF metering . Venturing to Soulard Market (open-air Farmer's Market) Saturday early morning for St. Louis "Street" shooting. I think Mike Cash did an entire roll of a street market in his neck of the Orient that way about 1 year ago. Never above stealing (uh, replicating) a good idea.

08-11-2009, 09:38 AM	#414
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady ...make sure none of my light seal job has bunched up or anything, keeping the door from closing completely... That was my thought as well. The door seems to require a firm hand to get it closed and latched. It may be a bit "bowed". Steve

08-11-2009, 09:47 AM	#415
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by monochrome ...Hopefully i can still TAKE a film picture without in VF metering ... Ha! Ha! I can't describe how silly I felt pointing that little meter at the subject and having no clue as to whether it was actually metering what I wanted it to meter! The interesting side-affect of the exercise was a renewed sense that light generally does not change that much minute to minute. Way back when with my stop-down metering Singlex TLS, I would regularly determine a general exposure and then click away until a change of subject or setting required a new meter setting. It is really tempting at this point to get a pro quality meter with incident light mode and truly learn how to measure light. Steve

08-11-2009, 11:40 AM	#416
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by stevebrot Ha! Ha! I can't describe how silly I felt pointing that little meter at the subject and having no clue as to whether it was actually metering what I wanted it to meter! The interesting side-affect of the exercise was a renewed sense that light generally does not change that much minute to minute. Way back when with my stop-down metering Singlex TLS, I would regularly determine a general exposure and then click away until a change of subject or setting required a new meter setting. It is really tempting at this point to get a pro quality meter with incident light mode and truly learn how to measure light. Steve I "collected" a Sekonic L-398II Studio Deluxe analog meter some years ago, that can meter reflective and incident, as well as a Sekonic pocket-sized Micro Leader that does reflective. I'll use both and report back :ugh:. I note that Sekonic just started marketing version III of the L-398 and make a big deal about the benefit of analog, no battery metering. Everything old is new again! I also had some difficulty opening and closing the film door. I beleive I will go ahead and send the Sightseer to Eric for an evaluation, as we discussed by PM. I PM'ed Woof to that effect last week. Paul

08-11-2009, 06:02 PM	#418
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by monochrome FWIW, I am changing the packing material to peanuts and enclosing the camera in a ZipLok bag with silica gel packs. When I received it the packing material had shifted and the camera was kind of banging around against the plywood. That disturbs me. Things in the box were pretty tight when it left here. I put the camera in a zip lock, but did not include any silica gel (humidity is low here in the summer). I also thought that I did a full wrap in bubble wrap and then placed in the cardboard "cubby" that it was in when I received it. Was the camera not packed that way? In any case, peanuts with maybe a layer of bubble wrap are probably the better solution. Steve

08-11-2009, 06:07 PM	#419
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by monochrome ...My entire roll from the Guster concert is unusable - my lab messed around with the enlarger, but stopped printing them after the first one. Haven't had any scanned... Are you saying that your concert shots were too soft to justify printing or was there some other problem? Steve

08-11-2009, 06:23 PM	#420
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by monochrome I inspected the pressure plate and film rails, as well as the film door and new seals for any issues. Near as I can tell the seals look pretty good. The lock is a challenge to work, but it may have been that way. There is a score on the bottom of the pressure plate and it appears not to be flat. There are rub marks on the film rails,, as well. Hrm. Well, I had some trouble getting the lock open when the Sightseer arrived: I chalked that up to my arthritis. I was pretty sure the pressure plate looked good, though I didn't chec for flatness. I don't recall any worrying issues with the rails, maybe a bit of pitting on the guides. Nothing requiring any work there.... Bit of a puzzle, I guess. Seems we'll see.