Monthly Archives: September 2011

First Fully Scanned Sprocket Rocket Roll

SprocketExplore

Sprocket Rocket, Fuji Provia 400F

Nice vertical, eh?  This post looks absolutely tiny in comparison.

I managed to scan an entire roll of Sprocket Rocket photos that I took way back in March.  It took me that long to get a flatbed scanner, experiment with full-width scanning techniques, and then settle on one that seems to work well.

Knit Night just occurred in our household here, and with my Dear Sweet Wife and her friends knitting (and crocheting and quilting) away that gave me the opportunity to scan about one-and-a-half rolls full of sprockets.

On top of my Sprocket Rocket roll I also scanned about half a roll that my DSW took with her Blackbird Fly.  We should both feel freer to shoot with these cameras since we can now use their output.

Next up for my blog I hope to make a little section covering my cameras, and eventually other favorite gear of mine.  I have some cool vintage flash units on loan from my father that I will have to photograph before I return them to him.  (I will return them, honest Dad!)

Fortunately for me I have a new addition to my camera collection, one that should see a lot of film passing through it.  See if you can find the clue in this post about what it is.

Six hours left until I need to wake up… ugh, better wrap it up for this night.

Vintage World War II Fighter Plane Photographs

VIntage

vintage 35mm negative, copy of original, circa 1950

I was looking for some bulb flash units on eBay when I stumbled across some other vintage items that caught my eye.

I have always been a fan of WWII history, planes, ships, etc.  I spent a great deal of my youth building snap-together tank kits while watching classics such as Midway and Patton or re-runs of Hogan’s Heroes and Black Sheep Squadron.

While it can seem a chore, I enjoy scanning film and squeezing a good digital image out of the process.  When I found a few interesting negatives/positives of WWII aircraft I decided to check them out and see what scanning them would produce.

I scanned four black & white medium format and 35mm negatives of a North American P51-D Mustang, specifically one plane known as “Spam Can”.  These cover several phases of its life from the 1950’s and 60’s.  Amazingly, this plane is still flying today.

I also scanned two 4″x5″ color transparencies showing Vought F4U-4 Corsairs on the decks of aircraft carriers in the early 1950’s. The film itself was incredibly thick, and despite many obvious scratches (nay, trenches!) dug into them they scanned well.

All of these were duplicates of the originals, and you can see as a result some are very contrasty.  What you can’t see is all of the dust I digitally removed which was part of the copy itself.  (I could even see the copy holder grasping the original negative in one.)

Working with vintage film was a blast and I think I may have stumbled on another vein to chase in my photographic interests…

Willow Glen Classic Car Show

PackCars
Polaroid 320, Fuji Film FP-100c

My Dear Sweet Wife already wrote about the wonderful time we had celebrating the birthdays of our two boys.  They turned 6 and 3 recently and we all really enjoyed the celebration.

We had cupcakes, cookies, family, ice skating, more cupcakes, more fun, rainbow cake, gifts, more fun, chocolate cake, more gifts… or something along those lines!

We took a short break from the festivities on Sunday to visit the Cruise for A Cause classic car show in Willow Glen.  This was a great opportunity to shoot some more Fuji pack film in my Polaroid 320.

I love the saturation of the Fuji color film, as well as the soft look of the 320 with its plastic lens and somewhat shallow depth of field.  However, a number of my prints were spotty from pulling them out too fast, coverd with paper fibers from storing them in the cardboard film box, and had blemishes from sticking to each other.

I am still learning how to work with its film and have a couple more takeaways:

  • Do not rush shooting, pulling out, or storing the packfilm!
  • When pulling it out of the camera, say “Pol-a-roid” slowly and keep it moving at a moderate and even pace.
  • After developing is finished and the print has been peeled free, hold it exposed to the air for a bit to allow it to dry.
  • Store the print in a clean case made out of plastic face-to-back (not face-to-face) so that the prints don’t stick to each other

How To Scan Sprocket Rocket & Blackbird Fly

SprocketFlower
Sprocket Rocket, Fuji Provia 400F (in case you couldn’t tell from the code)

I own a Sprocket Rocket, but have had a tough time getting good scans of 35mm strips all the way to the outer edges.

My Nikon LS-5000 film scanner cannot capture into the sprocket holes at all.  I tried using Lomography’s own DigitaLIZA scanning masks with my Epson V700 flatbed scanner, but it turns out they crop some of the outer edges too.  They also were not quite the right height for the V700 to focus properly.

What is the point of exposing over the sprocket holes if you can’t see it all?  I want images taken with this camera to scream “I was taken on film!” at the top of their lungs.

I worked on a new two-step solution this weekend.  I took an extra V700 35mm film strip holder and used my modeling tools (clippers, files, etc.) to remove a middle section of the support.  Then I used Better Scanning’s glass insert to hold the strip flat and in place while allowing for exposure to the edges.

This worked out almost perfectly.  I say almost as the glass insert is ever-so-slightly not wide enough.  If you look closely you can see a bit of its edge making a dark strip in the middle of the film imprinting on top and bottom of the film.

But I am much better off than I was before the weekend.  Now I feel free to fully enjoy my Sprocket Rocket as well as encourage my Dear Sweet Wife to use her Blackbird Fly (which also exposes over the holes) more often.

If you had today off work or school I hope your Labor Day exploits were as fruitful as mine!

 

Seeing Stars

SeeingStars
Canon IV-S rangefinder camera, Jupiter-11 135mm f/4 lens, Fuji NPZ 800 film

Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?

The good news?  Alright, that is easy: I loaded my Canon IV-S with film today, shot the entire roll, and had it developed across the street.

I have no idea what I was doing wrong before when I had trouble loading the Canon.  I think I did everything the same this time around as I did last time.

In fact I did it three times right today, loading it twice with a test roll of junk film and a third time with a good roll.  All three times it advanced just fine, without a hitch.

The bad news?  Do you really want to know?  OK, if I have to…

It is still showing many, many light leaks despite my attempted repair through its cloth shutter.  (You probably guessed that from the above shot…)

My Dear Sweet Wife thinks that the light leaks create an attractive ethereal effect.  But she has been known for picking her preferred Holga based on its leaks, so I am not sure she is a neutral party here.

So if I credit myself for the loading, but give the Canon a nod for the unresolved leaks, I guess that makes the score to date:

Canon: 2 – Me: 1