RPS Analogue Journal 11 February 2021

WINTER 2021

Analogue

FILM ALTERNATIVE HYBRID DARKROOM

Contents The Highs and Lows of Lith Printing Richard Williams LRPS demystifies the art of lith printing and encourages anyone to have a go.

Rolleiflex Resurrection Richard Bradford ARPS knows the Rolleiflex 3.5F very well and gives us an informative account of the standard setting Twin Lens Reflex.

Members’ Darkrooms Charles Binns’s darkroom is small but perfectly put together.

Spotlight David Hall ARPS has assembled some images including a powerful lith print of Lindisfarne and examples on hand coated papers.

The Knowledge Base Richard Williams LRPS appraises the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in our group and invites members to share their’s.

Underwater Photography, Shooting Film: a Retrospective A look at the joy and pain of underwater photography including lith prints with Charles Binns.

What’s in the Bag? Our Editor shares the contents of his idiosyncratic bag with us.

Book Reviews Charles Binns reviews two books apposite to this issue; The Master Photographer’s Lith Printing Course and The World of Lith Printing both by master of lith printing, Dr Tim Rudman.

Editorial

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Analogue is the journal of the Analogue Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and is free to Analogue SIG members.

Committee Chair: Currently vacant Secretary: Richard Williams LRPS Treasurer: Kay Reeve FRPS Journal Editor: Charles Binns Journal Designer: Owen Andrew Web Content Manager: Fern Nuttal ARPS

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All rights reserved on the part of contributors and authors. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied or recorded without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for such permission must be addressed to the Editor. The RPS, the Analogue Special Interest Group and the Editor accept no liability for misuse or breach of contract by a contributor. The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily reflect the policies of the RPS or of the Analogue SIG.

I feel a bit like one of those penguins dancing around on the edge of an ice flow thinking about jumping in when I see a really nice lith print. In this our lith print themed edition I am hoping that the excellent article and images from our Hon Sec Richard Williams will give me the little push I need to jump in and have a go. If you have not tried it yet, perhaps you will also be inspired to take the plunge with lith printing as well. I look forward to hearing about your exploits and seeing the output – possibly in a future Spotlight section here? That would be nice!

Speaking of Spotlight, I am getting images submitted, but always happy to see more. David Hall ARPS wrote to say the he had some images in print, but no scanning so could not submit. Not so! Send me A4 or less prints and we can sort it I advised. A fine set of darkroom prints arrived from David a couple of days later and I am happy to be able to share them with you in this edition.

Our Spring edition will be Large Format Photography themed and I am taking this opportunity to call for input for it. I already have an offer of a camera review of the Intrepid 10 x 8 from Roger Harrison, which knowing Roger will include some fine images using that camera but I could do with plenty more and perhaps another large format camera review as well? I also have an interview booked with LF camera maker Mike Walker and I am also hoping for input from Intrepid themselves. What I am really looking for though is a good selection of large format images to display from as many of you as can oblige – any chance?

Speaking of camera reviews we have a very authoritative article from our previous editor Richard Bradford on that favourite twin lens reflex the Rolleiflex 3.5F. I am lucky enough to own one, it is a real gem of a camera and the article is informative to both current owners and aspirant ones. Many thanks Richard.

Cover Lith print by Richard Williams, Ilford Ilfobrom, 1976. The print was developed in Richard’s homemade Optimised lith developer. See page 9 for details.

I have invited you all around to have a look at my darkroom, I don’t know about you but I love to take a peek at other peoples’ set ups, from boards over the bath through trestle table set ups in the

study (ah those were the days) to fully plumbed set ups – all are welcome . If you wish to share your darkroom set up with us all just use this edition’s article as a template. A simple hand drawn sketch plan will be fine, designer in chief Owen can turn it into a nice plan view. I already have a few victims, sorry – volunteers, lined up for future editions which came from one of Richard Williams’s print review Zoom meetings, but I am always looking out for more please.

Looking ahead to summer, just a bit of advanced notice, we plan to make that edition Pinhole themed, so once again looking for input from you in that direction. Whilst we had to cancel last September’s exhibition for obvious reasons, we have the same venue booked for this year and all being well should be able to get those prints on the wall this time, so do start thinking about your analogue print entries. Input deadline will probably be by late July – more details in our next edition.

Fern Nutall has been quietly busy in the background and advises that she is working on a new micro site addition to our RPS digital platform which we hope to roll out in April with details in that journal.

We are hoping to set up event meetings once lockdown ends – but too early to advise any just yet. I can promise though that none will be underwater in cold flooded quarries, those days are over for me.

Last but not least – just to top and tail our lith edition we have a review of two books from some guy called Tim Rudman who apparently thinks he knows about the subject. Our very own Dr Tim Rudman FRPS does in deed know a thing or two about the subject and the books reviewed here can only be described as definitive and inspirational – well worth the investment I would advise.

Stay safe and let’s look forward to getting out there and meeting up this summer.

Charles Binns Editor, Analogue Journal

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The highs and Lows of Lith Printing Richard Williams LRPS On my bookcase, sandwiched between ‘Ansel Adams 400 Photographs’ and ‘The Theory of the Photographic Process – third edition’ (an excellent book!) is a copy of Tim Rudman’ s ‘The Master Photographer's Lith Printing Course’ which I bought about 20 years ago.

And that started me on a happy couple of years of lith printing. In the early 2000s, ‘lithable’ paper was readily available from Agfa, Kentmere, Kodak, Foma and Forte, and there was no shortage of lith developers either, and it was great fun – unpredictable, but still great fun.

It wasn’t until 2018 that I returned to lith printing, triggered by the gift of several boxes of ‘vintage’ photographic paper, some dating back to the early ‘70s. These had been reasonably well stored, but background fogging made them virtually useless for normal printing. Then I read that ‘vintage’ paper could be used for lith printing and so Tim’s book once again found itself in my darkroom.

In the past I had always used Fotospeed LD20 as my lith developer and I was happy that it was still available in 2018, so after consulting my old note books I re-started lith printing. For 18 months all was well, LD20 was easy to work with and when it was withdrawn in 2019 I was seriously disappointed (understatement). Thankfully, lith developers were still available from Moersch, Rollei and Aristo, but were expensive and didn’t quite deliver the look of LD20. I tried them all, but then decided to make my own from scratch. So, armed with stock of lithable paper (old and new), my old organic chemistry textbooks and, of course, the internet, I set out on another lith journey.

What is lith printing?

A lith print is a silver gelatine print that has been over exposed and then developed in highly diluted lith developer. Lith prints often have colourful tones and textures that are impossible to produce any other way. They can have soft, warm toned highlights and mid tones, but gritty and harsh black shadows. The final effect can only be achieved through trial and error, each combination of paper and developer produces different results, as does the exposure time and developer dilution.

Understanding the relationship between exposure

Left: Fomatone MG131, Homemade Standard Opposite: Agfa Record Rapid, Moersch Easylith

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the image starts to appear, but as the shadows begin to form and become darker, the process suddenly becomes more rapid as the formation of highly reactive semiquinone radicals are formed exponentially and more silver atoms are produced in the print.

image first appears on the strip and then develop it until I have something that looks about right in terms of colour and contrast. That gives me the basic exposure for that image – but I dodge and burn a lith print in exactly the same way as a conventional print.

What is so special about lith developers and lithable papers? It is the absence of developing agents other than hydroquinone. When chemicals such as phenidone are added to a developer they inhibit the exponential production of semiquinone and therefore the lith effect. Sadly, most (but not all) modern photographic papers contain similar chemicals and so are not normally suitable for lith development.

Lith developer tray life is relatively short (around 2hrs max), so it’s a good idea to replace 2/3rds of the solution with fresh every hour and discard the lot after 3hrs, the build-up of bromide and reaction by-products will have slowed the development time by then. I’m not a fan of ‘Old Brown’, to be honest if anything is old and brown I usually throw it out, and the same is true of lith developer. Having studied the likely side reactions of hydroquinone in high pH solutions with sulphite and bromide ions, I’ve concluded that I would prefer to stay clear of it!

My basic printing technique is not significantly different from a conventional print. I have a rough idea of what the correct exposure would be and then I make test strips using my chosen paper, starting at 1 stop below that point and up to 4 stops above that point, and develop them in lith developer. I record the time at which an

and development is the basis for successful lith printing. The paper is usually overexposed by between 2 to 4 stops and the developer concentration is around 10% or less than what would be considered usual. Developing the print to the desired image can take between 8 and 90 (!) minutes and the point at which the print starts to change colour and contrast happens very quickly, missing it by only a few seconds can render the print useless. ‘Snatching’ the print out of the developer at this point and plunging it into the stop bath is all part of the fun.

This rapid change in contrast is known as ‘infectious development’ and is a fundamental part of lith printing. It can take several minutes after putting the paper in the developer before

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It sounds complicated but it’s not really, just think lots of light...

Above: 1970, Kodak Bromide, Moersch Easylith Opposite: Agfa Record Rapid, Homemade Vitamin C

Getting the right colour and contrast of the final image is very much a question of experimentation, but the colour itself comes from the combination of the paper and the developer, while the intensity comes from the exposure and the degree of developer dilution.

It sounds complicated but it’s not really, just think lots of light, higher dilution, longer development times all give more intense colouring. The degree of contrast is determined by the concentration of the developer and length of development. When you settle on a paper/developer combination it is quite a wrench to change it, so the withdrawal of LD20 was a major blow.

The search for a homemade lith developer I have a background in Chemistry, so the thought of doing some basic research and experimentation to find a lith developer was not overly daunting. A quick scan through Tim Rudman’s book gave me an idea that a lith developer would be relatively simple: a developing agent - hydroquinone, a bromide

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restrainer – potassium bromide, a source of sulphite and something to bring the pH to around 12.5. A scan through the internet came up with a number of formulations of lith film developers, but most contained paraformaldehyde (a potential carcinogen), boron compounds (sale restricted in the EU since 2010) and other exotic chemicals unlikely to be available to the amateur photographer. That said, there were six formulations which looked promising and used readily obtainable chemicals, and three of them were extremely simple and based on old lith film developers (Kodak D-9, Ilford ID-13). It was a simple matter to make up the solutions and then test them with a currently available lithable paper, Foma Fomatone MG Classic 131 (which happens to be one of my favourite warmtone papers).

The results were surprising. The only formulations that produced a strong lith effect were the very simple ones, they were all relatively slow and unfortunately without formaldehyde the tray life was short, however they all produced a wide range of colours and showed that magic “infectious development”.

Which photographic papers are ‘lithable’ ?

At the time of writing in December 2020, there are few lithable papers. Foma Fomatone is probably the most readily available, it is a nicely reactive paper which responds very well to toning and produces very colourful prints when lith developed, with red-to-orange midtones and darker, olive greenish shadows. The other paper which liths well is Slavich Unibrom 160,

producing pale yellow to brown shades and very gritty blacks. It is said that Ilford Warmtone FB will respond to lith developer, I’ve tried but without success; it does give a pale olive green high contrast image but without any sign of infectious development.

However, my own experience is that many older papers which show base fogging and reduced contrast when processed conventionally, respond very well to lith printing. Although the supply is

ultimately limited, there seems to be quite a lot of usable papers around. I have boxes of Ilford Ilfobrom from 1976 and Ilford Ilfomar from 1978 which lith well, most Kodak papers give good lith images and Agfa papers give a wonderful range of peach/pink tones. Although it might be difficult to acquire enough of the same batch or type of paper to work on a major project, I find the unpredictability of these papers adds to the general enjoyment of lith printing.

My homemade lith developers Although these formulations are starting points, changing the quantities in the Part A solutions will only have minor effects on the development, but the formulation of part B should be adhered to, the pH value is critical in these developers.

• Expect developing times from print to print to extend as oxidation and the buildup of by-products progressively slow development.

• Different effects can be achieved by varying the amounts of A and B solutions: more A gives more colourful, harder images but depletes more quickly, while more B gives softer, faster images and lasts longer.

Developers Standard

Vitamin C

Optimised

Hydroquinone

12.g

15g

25g

Potassium Bromide

12g

10g

5g

Potassium metabisulphite

1 2g

0.0

5g

0.0

8g

0.0

Sodium Hydroxide

20g

0.0

0.0

Sodium carbonate monohydrate

0.0

100g

100g

Part A (500cm3)

Sodium Ascorbate (De-ionised water to 500cm3) Part B (500cm3)

(De-ionised water to 500cm3) With the Standard developer mix 20-50ml of part A and an equal quantity of part B to 1 litre of water. Using the Vitamin C developer mix 10-20ml of part A and an equal quantity of part B to 1 litre of water. For the Optimised developer mix 5-10ml of part A, 10ml of part B to 1 litre of water. These are starting points only.

Above: Fomatone MG 131, Moersch Easylith

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Rolleiflex Resurrection Richard Bradford ARPS

Roll-film medium-format cameras occupy a niche between the flexibility of 35mm and the control and image quality of large-format. As with 35mm, there have been two focusing systems over the years, one using a rangefinder and the other a reflex mirror where the image is focused onto a ground-glass screen.

Nowadays, 'roll-film' usually means '120'-size, giving images of 55-56mm wide but varying in length according to the camera model. The table below shows the most common* lengths of the image, the number of images per roll, and the common name when measurements are rounded:

whereas it was a Zeiss Tessar on the Rolleiflex T and Rolleicord (certain models had the Schneider equivalent lenses). For many years Franke & Heideke produced these twin-lens reflex (TLR) models, only introducing an SLR in the 1960s.

There is a lot of information on the web about the

Image length 43mm 55 / 56mm 72mm 89mm Images per roll 15 / 16 12 10 8 Common name 6x4.5cm 6x6cm (2¼x2¼in) 6x7cm 6x9cm *Certain cameras were very different. The Linhof Technorama, for example, produces 4 images 17cm long per roll!

Most other sizes of roll film have become obsolete but mention must be made of the rather narrower 127 film. It is still possible to find used cameras using this size and film is still available (see Sources). These images are approximately 3x4cm or 4x4cm, not much different to many of today's 'medium format' digital sensors!

Rolleiflex 3.5F with metal lens caps removed and lens hood in front.

The twin dials between the lower taking- and upper viewing lenses are controls for shutter speed and aperture. The focusing knob and light meter are visible on the left side of the camera. The focusing hood is raised and the focusing magnifier flipped up.

All equipment and exterior images © Richard Bradford

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The Rolleiflex Rolleiflex is one of the names given by the original manufacturer, Franke & Heideke, in Braunschweig, Germany, to a range of highspecification cameras. They also produced a slightly lower-specified camera, the Rolleicord, the differences mainly being in the means of winding film through the camera, and the taking lens. Most Rolleiflexes had a Zeiss Planar,

history of Rollei cameras, the Rolleiclub website being the most comprehensive.

The TLR has a set of two lenses, one above the other, of exactly the same focal length. Light through the top lens reflects off a 45-degree mirror onto a focusing screen, where the image appears laterally reversed to the photographer looking down through the focusing hood. Light through the bottom lens forms the image on the film and has the adjustable aperture and betweenlens shutter (1-1/500 second plus B). Both lenses are mounted on a panel which moves towards or away from the image plane for focusing.

Interestingly, the viewing lens on both the Rollei cameras was the same: a Heidosmat f/2.8. This was a simpler, 3-element, design which reduced cost but, together with the relatively wide

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aperture, still gave a bright image to improve focusing accuracy. Most Rollei TLRs produced 6x6cm images although the Rolleiflex 4x4 (sometimes called the Baby Rollei) gets its name from the image size it produced on 127.

Despite its fixed focal-length lenses, the Rollei TLRs had numerous accessories making them a versatile camera system, among these: • 35mm film adaptor (Rolleikin).

• Alternative focusing hoods, and even a pentaprism.

• Close-up lenses (Rolleinar).

• Filters - coloured and polarising (Rolleipol).

• Tripod plate for rapid attachment (Rolleifix).

• Underwater housing (Rolleimarin), for certain camera models. With only 12 exposures per film, the diver/photographer would often have to surface to re-load!

• Mutar adaptor lenses attached to the front of the camera lenses which multiplied the 'standard' 75/80mm focal length by 0.7x or 1.4x to give modest wide-angle or telephoto effects. Mutars were very expensive and, although optically remarkable, the results were not as good as a prime lens equivalent; the 0.7 also vignetted the image slightly at all apertures. A better alternative to using Mutars were complete cameras fitted with either a 50mm or 135mm lens, the latter being particularly favoured for portraiture.

The camera shown in various photos here is my Rolleiflex 3.5F of 1960 which produces twelve 6x6cm images on 120 film, together with its accessories. These came into my possession in 1990 as part-payment for taking photos at its owner's wedding, although sadly at the time it needed servicing after years of lying idle so could not be used 'on the day'. Every so often I operate the film advance (without a film) and shutter to help avoid the mechanism sticking.

Shutter and aperture controls are just above the taking lens, their settings shown in a small window on top of the viewing lens. The controls are

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coupled to a match-needle exposure meter (made by Gossen) built into the focusing knob, the selenium cell itself being just below the Rolleiflex name on the front. The meter is, with care, accurate enough for shooting colour transparencies but compared to modern meters only operates in relatively bright conditions.

Apart from the exposure meter, the camera is entirely mechanical, the ingenuity (and complexity) arguably only being surpassed by the Hasselblad SLRs. In use, loading film and winding-on to the first frame is quick thanks to the feeler-roller which

senses the increase in thickness between the backing paper and the start of the film. Getting used to focusing (left hand), film advance (right hand), and pressing the shutter release with the index finger takes a little practice. Likewise, although the image is laterally reversed it is possible with practice to pan the camera and follow a moving subject. Despite these idiosyncrasies, and albeit very subjective, my Rolleiflex is the finest camera I have ever used, with exceptionally smooth controls giving Top: Franfurt skyline. Ilford Delta 400 Above: Girl in the woods. Ilford Delta 400

confidence in use. The combination of (relative) simplicity, reliability, and quality was doubtless

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Sources (all links checked 22/10/2020)

Above: Stone steps. Ilford Delta 400 Opposite: Rainy night. Ilford Delta 400

the reason it was favoured by countless professional photographers for everything from weddings to studio fashion shoots and (sometimes) the press.

'I want one!'

Both the Rolleicord and Rolleiflex may be found in used-camera dealers, and there is information on the web (see Sources) on what to look for.

Bear in mind that the Rolleiflex, rather than the Rolleicord, was the professional photographer's choice, so some cameras may have had heavy use. My own was from a well-heeled amateur who looked after his equipment - perfect for a camera with this pedigree.

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A roll of 120 has approximately the same area as a 36-exposure 35mm roll but 12-on-120 film is clearly more expensive per image than 35mm.

By way of example, the prices from the Ilford Photo website in October 2020 for the single rolls of 120 film used for the sample images here are FP4 £5.20, and Delta 400 £6.11. Harman Labs (Ilford's processing operation) charges £7.00 to process each roll in Ilford Ilfotech DD and £12.50 for scanning. So, every negative costs just over £2.00.

Contact richardgbradford@gmail.com

Analogue Wonderland (n.d.) 127 roll film Available: https://analoguewonderland.co.uk/collections/127-film-the-vintage-camera-film-of-choice Collectors Weekly (n.d.) Vintage twin lens reflex cameras Available: https://www.collectorsweekly.com/cameras/twin-lens-reflex Club Rollei User (n.d.) Available http://rollei.org.uk/ DHW-Fototechnik (n.d.) Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex Available: http://www.dhw-fototechnik.de/rolleiflex-tlr.html Franke & Heideke (1960) Rolleiflex 3.5F In practical use Braunschweig: Franke & Heideke Gatcum, C. (2013) 'Best secondhand twin-lens reflex cameras' Amateur Photographer, 30 May 2013 Available: https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/round-ups/camera round ups/best-second-hand-twin-lens-reflex-cameras-9574 Harman Labs (2020) Black and white film developing, scanning, printing, Available: https://www.harmanlab.com/ Ilford Photo Home page Available: https://www.ilfordphoto.com/ Linhof (2020) Technorama 617s III Available: http://linhof.com/en/technorama-617s/ Reekie, M. (2016) So, you want to buy a TLR Rolleiflex? Good choice! Available: https://www.filmsnotdead.com/so-you-want-to-buy-a-tlr-rolleiflex-good-choice-martin-reekie/ Rolleiclub (n.d.) Available: https://www.rolleiclub.com/ Accessed: 05/01/2020 Wagner, D. (2016) The Wonderful World of Rolleiflex TLR Photography: Buying a Used Rolleiflex TLR Available: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/the-wonderful-world-of-rolleiflex-tlr-photography-buying-a-used-rolleiflex-tlr Wikipedia (n.d.) Rolleiflex Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolleiflex Accessed: 05/01/2020

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General view of the camera (actually a Rolleiflex 2.8F) with numbered controls.

Top: Front cover of Rolleiflex 3.5F In practical use.

Above: Vertical cross-section through the camera, showing the front flap in the hood folded down to allow direct viewing, and the mirror on its underside to allow focus checking of the central area.

Top right: Right side of the camera with the film winding crank folded to the 'storage' position.

Top left: Right side of the camera with the film winding crank extended to the 'ready' position.

Lower left: Left side of the camera. The white background of the exposure meter in the focusing knob is seen with the needles visible.

The dial lower-right sets the ASA/DIN film-speed. The twin diagonally-positioned knobs, when pulled out, release the film spools.

Lower right: Rear of the camera, the printed table showing combinations of available shutter speeds and apertures as exposure values.

The front flap in the focusing hood is lowered. In conjunction with a small square aperture in the rear, this acts as a direct 'sports finder' for moving subjects. Just below the rear aperture is a lens for viewing the central area of the focusing screen while the front flap is down.

Left: The recommended way of holding the camera.

Illustrations of Rolleiflex 3.5F from Franke & Heideke (1960) Rolleiflex in practical use - see sources.

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Rolleifix plate for a tripod to allow rapid attachment and release of the camera.

Rolleipol polarising filter and leather pouch.

After attachment to the viewing lens, the filter may be rotated and its position noted on a scale on the rim. The filter is then removed and fitted to the taking lens, with a check that the scale is in the same position before taking the picture.

Not a quick procedure! The flap on the leather carrying pouch is not tucked-in to the holding loop.

Rolleinar close-up lenses and leather pouch.

The lens on the left attaches to the taking lens, the lens on the right to the viewing lens. The viewing lens incorporates an optical wedge.

This bends the vertical angle of view so that the area seen is close to that seen by the taking lens in an attempt to correct for the parallax error between the lenses. The flap on the leather carrying pouch is not tucked-in to the holding loop.

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Name: Charles Binns Occupation: Retired Marketing Director

Members’ Darkrooms How long have you been making prints?

Since 1969 - My first darkroom was over a sink in a bedsit, second a permanent set up in a bedroom alcove, then a spare room all to itself, followed by a converted study with trays on a sheet of wood attached to a Black & Decker Workmate and my trusty Gamer Universal enlarger balanced on my desk. No running water in any of these set ups and I regularly printed to 40 by 50 – but not without protests from SWMBO. Which room became your darkroom?

Bespoke room built in a quadrant of the garage.

When did the build begin?

It doubles as a bicycle store and has to be ‘cleared for action’ – 5 minute task.

Our current house was bought with space for a proper darkroom as a consideration – by me at any rate. A large double garage had been converted to a gym/office which was duly partitioned, plumbed and fitted with a lot of sockets – success, first real darkroom. Deep joy and happiness! I did part with £1,000 to a local builder to get the job done quickly, safely and professionaly plus £250 for the plumbing – but it was done in a week. I installed the sink and storage units myself.

What are its dimensions?

It is 2.5 Metres square.

Is there anything unusual about it?

The floor slopes (to allow water drainage when it was a garage).

What factors did you have to take into account when converting it?

The sloping floor, running water and drainage.

Was any major work required?

Two walls and a door.

Electrics.

Plumbing.

Sink and storage units.

Did you have to make any compromises?

Size – all that stuff is a tight fit.

What do you like best about it?

It is very well fitted out, including a film drying cabinet, drying racks, ventilation, a sound system and a beer/film fridge plus a phone connection.

And least?

Very poor cheap sink – wish I had got a good one.

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Phone

Has anything about your darkroom changed over time?

It doubles as a bicycle store and has to be ‘cleared for action’ – 5 minute task.

Where did you purchase your darkroom equipment?

T r a y s

Sink

Acquired over the years but major purchases from EBay cheap as darkrooms where closing down 15 years ago and the market was flooded.

V e n t

De Vere 10x8

Tap

What would feature in your perfect darkroom – currently missing ?

D r R y a i c

Tap

Water temperature control valve, RH Designs Analyser Pro and a 10x8 Ilford Multigrade head for the De Vere.

Focomat 11c

n k g

What are the oldest and newest items in your darkroom?

A 35mm Paterson contact printing frame now 45 years old and still working well. Newest is a Peak focus finder, I dropped my 45 year old plastic Paterson and it shattered.

What does your darkroom represent to you?

This is my fifth darkroom and I have tried to use previous experience and research to make it definitive. It is not far off.

It is a great creative space as well as one of peace and tranquility.

W a t e r

H e a t e r

F r i d g e Vent

Focomat 1c

Door Opens Out

Film Drying Cabinet

Film

ASA Rating

Developer

Solution & Time

Agitation

Ilford FP4 Plus

50

Kodak D76/Ilford ID11

1 to 1 for 9 Minutes

10 Seconds every

68f/20c

minute

Enlarger

Lens

Light Source

Usual Aperture

Usual Exposure

DeVere 10x8

Rodenstock

Diffused

f/8

Various

Focomat 11c

Matched Elmars

Bulb Condenser

f/8

Various

Focomat 1c

Focotar 2

Multigrade Head

f/8

Various

Paper

Developer

Solution & Time

Stop Bath

Fixer

Ilford Multigrade

Ilford Multigrade

1:9

Ilford

Ilford

Flattening

Presentation

FBWT

Wash

3 minutes

Toning

Drying

5 min wash Kodak Syphon

Images and diagrams by Charles Binns

Hypo Eliminator Rinse 15 min final wash

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Hi Fi

Drymount Selenium 1:9

Drying Rack

Drying Press between clean mountboard

Bevel Edge Mat Nielsen Frame

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T O SP HT LIG

Sponsored by

Find out how you can receive a voucher worth £25 from Analogue Wonderland on page 35

Photographs by

David Hall ARPS, EFIAP, BPE3*

Lindsisfarne. Ten year old Tri-X developed in paper developer and lith printed

I first entered a darkroom in 1982, and have never left. But it was a few years before I became really hooked on monochrome photography, when I joined the RPS in 1986.

Eventually I worked towards my LRPS and ARPS in monochrome prints.

About this time, when I gave up smoking, I used the

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cash to enter salons, and really enjoyed the decades of exhibiting, resulting in getting the EFIAP and in GB the BPE3* for monochrome prints.

I was a founder member of the North East based IMPRINT group, and we had many group exhibitions throughout the North East, a very proud and satisfying experience over 30 years or so.

My approach to photography is craft based rather than techno based, I do not do any digital at all and work exclusively with film and in the darkroom, including alternative photography processes.

I now tend to standardise on HP5 and Tri-X films, and with Ilford and Forte papers and do a

lot of lith printing using RC papers.

I use Pentax equipment with MX and K1000 cameras as well as plastic/toy cameras.

The prints I have submitted are intended to be a small variety of mainly toned silver gelatin or liquid emulsion prints on various paper surfaces and include lith and infrared.

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Sponsored by

Opposite: John of Gaunt’s Tower.

Ilford HP5+ Above: Workshop Window. Ilford HP5+, lith printed Right: Commuters. Ilford HP5+ and Vaseline

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Above: Camisole. Ilford HP5+.

Right: Kyle. Liquid emulsion on handmade paper Lower right: Arum Lily. Liquid emulsion on card Below: St Hilda’s. Fifteen year old Kodak infrared

The Knowledge Base Over the past few months, I’ve been receiving a steady trickle of emails which normally start along the lines “I’ve just been given my dad’s old camera it’s a Rolleicord/Olympus OMsomething/Pentax Spotmatic/Mamiya. Can you still buy film?

How do I put film on it? How do the pictures come out?”

The questions are usually pretty simple to answer, and I’m delighted that they’ve approached the RPS Analogue group for assistance. Occasionally, the questions are a bit more complex and often relate to things like the choice of film or developer and occasionally to techniques like ‘pushing’ films. After I’ve pointed them towards Ilford’s website, or YouTube or to some online retailers, some come back asking for more information and “Is there a book I can buy?”.

It’s interesting that in the age of the internet there is still a need for information on the printed page. Twenty years ago, there were many publications covering analogue photography, from Tim Rudman’s excellent ‘The Photographer’s Master Printing Course’ and Ansel Adams’ ‘The Print’

through to regular articles in ‘Amateur Photographer’, but today the first two publications are long out of print. It’s true that you can find most things on the internet, but trawling through Google searches does not always yield results and occasionally will mislead the unwary.

I’ve been saddened to find videos on developing films where the presenter hasn’t even followed the simplest of instructions on making up a developer solution or washing the film.

So where do we go from here? There is a massive knowledge base in the current Analogue community, as I see every time we speak to each other on our Zoom Darkroom sessions. Somehow, we need to make sure that we retain that knowledge and that we are able to transmit it to those new enthusiasts who have yet to develop their skills - any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Richard Williams LRPS Hon. Sec. Analogue Group

It’s interesting that in the age of the internet there is still a need for information on the printed page.

Left: Lith print by Richard Williams LRPS

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Underwater Photography

Shooting Film: a Retrospective Charles Binns

I am about to sell off all my dive gear – ‘time and tide wait for no man’, and I finally have to concede that my SCUBA diving days are done. I could pass a medical if I invested hundreds of pounds in corrective lenses for my dive mask to address my recent acquisition of permanent double vision (I can see both you clearly by the way) and medication keeps my Meniers at bay.

An experienced specialist diving doctor would sign me off no doubt if I paid him enough but there is the insurmountable in house board of control to get past – She Who Must Be Obeyed, and there is no chance of support from that quarter. She did come along to the Dive Centre when I bought all my gear (second time around just after I got married - after a diving layoff) and astounded me by interrogating the sales man on each bit of kit and insisting it be upgraded for the best/safest version. This from someone normally keen to cap my enthusiastic spending tendencies came as a surprise. She says she was looking after her investment and not quite ready to dust off the life policies just yet.

So the gear is going I do have some great memories and a stock of slides and negatives that I turn to from time to time to make prints. I started diving in the early 1970’s with the British Sub Aqua Club, and although I could not afford a decent wetsuit (no drysuits in those days) I did manage to rustle up enough money for a Nikonos II camera. So I have been taking underwater photographs since day one. This very fine and now collectable camera had its debut in the clear but cold depths of Wastwater. Whilst I had a camera I was paying the price for the very thin (but cheap) 4mm sailing wetsuit I was wearing with the onset of near hypothermia on every dive, courtesy of the winter temperatures in a snowy Lakeland. This may explain the fact that most of the images from that first roll included my thumb! With a standard 35mm f2.5 lens (50mm underwater due to refraction), no flash (could not afford one) and diving in UK low visibility and low light waters, results from Kodak Tri X rated at 800 asa where variable, aggravated by no light meter as well.

Sunken Freighter, Maldives. Nikon F2, Ikelite housing, Fuji Neopan 1600 asa

Underwater flash was problematic in UK waters and also very expensive, so available light was the norm, but a gear upgrade was required. I

purchased an Ikelight underwater housing for my Nikon F2 as well as a dome port for my 20mm lens plus a Sekonic underwater light meter. The effect of this equipment upgrade is that I had a 20mm lens which with the dome port corrects the refraction so retaining the original focal length of the lens. This is relevant, as for viable underwater images it is important to have as little water between you and the subject as possible. I later added a sports finder for the F2 which gave me a viewfinder I could use with a diving mask on. This was my kit for many years .

When I got married holiday destinations changed from UK adventure expeditions to foreign warm sunny locations. What’s this? warm, clear water and cheap SCUBA gear hire? A rat up a drain pipe springs to mind and I did a refresh course after a long layoff and bought a new set of modern dive gear , including a drysuit – bliss!

These sunshine holidays now included research on the diving as a key planning component. Trips to the Canaries, Barbados, Mexico, the Bahamas, Seychelles and the glorious Maldives followed, lugging around my Ikelite housing - not a small lump of kit.

The Ikelite sprang a leak towards the end of the above travels and was replaced by a Nikonos V, and a Flash as well as a 15mm underwater lens.

This kit worked very well and did produce some of my best images.

However – whisper it softly, but this is one area where a digital camera beats a film camera hands down. A modern APS C sensor SLR with a 10mm lens and dome ported housing plus flash is far more effective than any film set up. The small sensor and 10mm lens gives extended depth of field and the ability to increase ASA without loss of quality, instant feedback on shots taken and not limited to 36 shots – an unbeatable set up.

I still have my Nikonos V – it is a good camera for harsh environments, canoeing, sailing, snorkeling and so on and is a compact package. It is also usable as a point and shoot general camera having a very good lens. It is also just a nice camera to have. I do recall a photo journalist using one recently to take underwater documentary pictures of a Baptist full immersion ceremony in a South African river – so it still has

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Yellow Jacks on the reef, Maldives. Nikonos V with flash and 15mm lens. Fuji Sensia 200 asa

Angel Fish at the stern of a wrecked freighter, Maldives. Nikon F2 in Ikelite housing with Fuji Neopan1600 asa film

Giant Manta Ray approaching reef top ‘Cleaning station’, Maldives. Nikonos V with 15mm lens and Fuji Sensia 200 asa, no flash as it disturbs the Mantas

Piper Seneca Wreck, Bahamas. Nikon F2, Ikelite housing, Fuji Neopan1600 asa

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its specialist uses. A nice one can be bought for £250 to £300 at the moment, but avoid a ‘dried out’ camera that has been flooded and repaired and replace all the ‘O’ ring seals (lubricated) before underwater use – this is a ‘must’ not an option to keep the camera dry.

are too old – not so fast! Leni Riefenstahl the German film maker - accused of fascist sympathies by the way, rehabilitated herself as a stills photographer, learning to SCUBA dive in her late 70’s and still diving in her 90’s and producing books of underwater photographs.

Monochrome images shown here were taken on uprated Tri X in the early days and I then migrated to using Fuji Neopan 1600 asa (now long gone sadly) and this gave me atmospheric images. When the Nikonos V with flash came along I started taking colour images using Fuji Sensia 200 asa Colour Negative, again with satisfying results.

So if any of you, my fellow wrinklies fancy having a go – I know where there is some good gear for sale, but I would give Cenote diving a miss if I were you.

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Being a nosey bunch I think we all like to know what we carry around when on the prowl for images. This is my ‘Ready To Go’ bag and all its contents.

1. This is a reproduction of an Israeli paratrooper’s bag.

Originals are collectors items but this is a reproduction -‐ £15 online.

2. Turning the many pockets into a usable camera bag is achieved by sliding in a Hadley insert from Billingham.

Very high quality and lots of protection for expensive gear.

Not as nice as a proper Hadley, but this combination does not shout ‘Camera Bag!’

My last dive was in many ways my most adventurous. We were on holiday in Mexico and I got the opportunity to dive a Cenote on the Yucatan Peninsula. A Cenote is a flooded limestone cavern filled with a mixture of fresh water and sea water, due to its links to the sea. It is called a cavern rather than a cave as there is theoretical access to the surface during the dive but I can assure you it did not feel much like that at the time. The start point for the dive was an uninspiring small murky pond in a jungle clearing – but taking the plunge revealed crystal clear water leading down into an azure blue labrynth.

As the dive progressed reassuring shafts of sunlight came down through gaps in the rock ceiling offering a least the glimmer of an emergency ascent route should one be required.

One of the more spectacular aspects of the dive was seeing the Dive Leader - upper half in gin clear water lower half all distorted in salt water.

This is because he was straddling the threshold of a thermocline where the fresh water and salt water layers abutted. Whilst I regained the surface without incident I was diving with a slight cold. This led to me being unable to clear my ears properly on the descent – but had to keep going because being in a cavern meant I could not ascend to relieve the pressure. Whilst I had a thumping headache after the dive, it passed, but I had further ear problems on the flight home as a consequence (pressure changes). A substantial vertigo attack a few weeks later set off a chain of events leading to Meniers – but mild medication keeps it all at bay, so no big deal.

If you are thinking of having a go at underwater photography – given our readership is biased towards a certain age group, you may think you

What’s in the Bag? First off is the Editor

3. Leitz Table Tripod, can also be used at your shoulder, good but heavy.

9. Elmar 90mm f4.0 . Much cheaper than the f2.8 version and a very fine portrait lens, complete with Leitz rubber lens hood and cap.

15. Lens cleaning tissue

10. Leica SOOKY-‐M close up conversion device for the legendary 50mm Summicron lens, works well.

18. Leather lens case.

11. Spirit Level – fits hot shoe.

I use either my mobile phone or the M9 for a light meter or add my old Weston Master V if I am being serious.

12. Visoflex III fitted with 65mm Elmar Macro lens – great fun to use if a bit clunky.

13. Leitz polariser filter with adaptor for use with rangefinder camera works surprisingly well.

14. Notebook, pen, pencil and small Victorinox penknife.

16. Viewfinder for 15mm lens.

17. Hand sanitizer – sign of the times.

19. Box for polariser.

20. Cable release.

That is my bag – what’s in yours? Happy to have your input, just provide a lay out shot as below (we will do the numbering) and the itemized list of contents as I have and we can share your camera toting habits as well.

4. Five rolls of 35mm film – self loaded into Leica IXMOO cassettes and held in a Japan Camera Hunter film box (bought on line direct from JCH).

5. Leica M3 (which takes the above cassettes) with 50mm F2.0 Summicron, reversible hood, matching lens cap and Leitz yellow filter. Additional Leica grip for improved handling.

6. Leica M9 digital camera fitted with 35mm f2.0 Summicron Ashp. Lens (rare ‐ screw thread with adapter) , matching lens hood and cap, plus Leitz ergonomic grip (ugly but effective).

7. Spare Battery for M9.

Crab Shot, Hebrides. Nikon F2, Ikelite housing, Ilford HP5, 800 asa

8. Heliar 15mm lens – screw thread early version. A good performer and a huge amount of lens for the money.

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Book Reviews

RPS Analogue is your journal

The Master Photographer’s Lith Printing Course Dr Tim Rudman FRPS Argentum, 1998, ISBN 1 902538 01 3, 127pp, £140 new Abe Books £40 SH. This is a ‘must have’ guide to the process from the master, our very own Dr Tim Rudman FRPS. Originally this book sold for £19.99 but as can be seen above, given it is no longer in print it now commands a premium as the definitive course on lith printing.

It is not a technical tome but an engaging and well presented course that entices you into the process rather than putting you off.

Not only does Tim cover the equipment, materials and process in fine detail he also walks the talk with excellent and inspiring example images. This is backed up with tables and charts throughout as well as a review of digital

The World of Lith Printing Dr Tim Rudman FRPS Argentum, 2006, ISBN 10: 1902538455/ISBN 13: 9781902538457, 160pp. £112 new Abe Books £58.00 SH A valuable and inspiring addition to the printing course by Tim is this collection of work from some of the finest practitioners from across the globe that he has brought together in this beautiful homage to the process. Nine guest portfolios, an open submissions gallery and a section on lith printing in the digital age make this a coffee table book ++. I am lucky enough to have the limited edition slip cased hard backed signed edition direct from Tim, a much treasured book, but the standard edition is available from Abe books. Not a stand alone book on the process but in conjunction with the printing course from Tim a very complete and symbiotic pairing covering it.

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simulation of the look of the process. It is the only book on lith printing that you will need and an asset for any darkroom user’s shelf.

C.Binns

Have your work featured in Spotlight and win a prize Send us from six to twelve of your images, scanned or digitally copied and output as jpgs by WeTransfer or similar service, or on a CD. If sending them on a CD, be sure to write your name and email address or phone number on the disk. Alternatively, arrangements can be made with the Editor to accept prints.

Please include a short caption for each image and a paragraph or two about yourself and your photography.

Please be patient as your work may not be published in the next issue of Analogue but might be held in reserve for a future issue. We will contact you before publishing your work.

When your work is published in Spotlight, you will be awarded a free film voucher by our sponsor Analogue Wonderland. Your details will not be passed to any third party.

Congratulations go to this edition’s contributor David Hall ARPS, who recieves a film voucher worth £25.

Write an article for RPS Analogue If you have something inspiring to say to analogue photographers please send us a short synopsis of your article and some jpg images. It could be about the benefits you have experienced from analogue photography, a technique you could share, an outing with camera and film or really anything of interest.

Please do not send the full article in the first instance. If your idea is accepted, we will contact you to discuss it further.

Your favourite camera Do you have a favourite camera or one that is a bit out of the ordinary? If so, tell us all about it.

Your darkroom Darkrooms are important to analogue photographers but can also present problems. Do you have a permanent, fully equipped darkroom or do you have makeshift set up in a cupboard or bathroom? Helpful ideas would be welcome.

Letters If you would like to express an opinion in this journal please send it to the Editor. The usual conditions for letters to journals will apply, for example the Editor will have the final say in what will be published.

The email address for all contributions and correspondence is: analoguenews@rps.org.

Analogue photography - Who can play?

When discussing the entry requirements for our aborted exhibition we reviewed what we would consider to be a legitimate analogue print for entry, and by inference the type of photography that qualifies as analogue within our group generally. We summarize as below.

All images taken on film to produce the fol‐ lowing outputs: • Silver prints either trade or self processed • Digital prints either trade or self processed • Digital files from scans for PDI sharing • Slide Transparencies • Alternative print processes, including Wet Plate Images captured digitally to produce the fol‐ lowing outputs: • Silver prints either self or trade processed • Alternative print processes Non Analogue images: Images that are outside the scope of our group and not eligible for exhibitions or sub‐ mission in our published gallery are digitally captured images that are then digitally printed or used in PDI sharing.

It does give the widest possible scope to the definition of the analogue process and as such is intended to be as inclusive as possible, making our group as welcoming as we can be.

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The above Camera was with me from my very first dives. It is a unique amphibious camera, very well built and designed from an original Jacque Cousteau model taken over by Nikon. With the standard 35mm lens fitted it is usable above and below the waves. There is no rangefinder and the lens has to be removed to change film. But it is still a great camera for harsh environments, caving, canoeing, surfing snorkeling, sailing and diving. It also hold its price well – good examples selling for over £200. Still managed to take a set of pictures of my thumb on my first dive though – mea culpa. Charles Binns