Photography http://bill.fidean.net/index.php/ en Canonet QL17 G-III http://bill.fidean.net/index.php/projects/canonet-ql17-g-iii <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Canonet QL17 G-III</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Whenever I go to estate sales, unless I'm there for something specific, the main things I'm looking for are tools, records/78s, old tube audio gear, and old camera gear. Most of the time they don't have more than a smattering of plastic compact film and digital cameras, maybe a couple of Kodak Brownies or Polaroid pack film cameras. I'm really only interested in something I can use in the limited (and sporadic) film shooting that I do.</p> <p>This week I lucked out with this neat Canon rangefinder.</p> <div alt="canonet ql17 giii camera" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="b4220420-2e64-4a5a-b068-e24b6b292a0a" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-ql17.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-ql17.jpg?itok=QdfWAPzm" alt="canonet ql17 giii camera" title="canonet-ql17.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>It was Canon's most popular camera in the 1970s, and it's easy to see why. It feels as well-built and solid as any SLR camera of the time, but it's a fixed-lens coupled rangefinder, so it's quick and easy to use. It has automatic exposure and a nice meter display in the viewfinder, but is also fully usable in manual mode. The lens is a quick 1.7f, and it has a quick loading film system that makes film changes super easy.</p> <p>In a quick check, the camera seemed to sometimes work just fine and sometimes weirdly balk, but they only wanted $5 for it, so I brought it home. I opened the back but there was a roll of film in there, so I quickly closed it again. They didn't have a case for it, but in hindsight I should have checked to see if they also had the matching flash unit that was built for it. I rarely use a flash for anything anyway.</p> <p>Cameras of this era are really solid, and unless they get wet (like when I dropped a nice Practikamat into a creek), they usually work great with a bit of cleanup. The 2 main weak links are the battery and the light seals, which are a soft, rubbery foam that crumbles and falls apart over time.</p> <p>There's lot of documentation on the battery issue, but the summary is that the light meters in these cameras were designed to use a 1.35 volt mercury battery that's no longer available in the US for mercury hazard reasons. Just see if it would work I tried a 1.5v alkaline replacement cell, and got nothing from the light meter or the built-in test lamp, so that will need more advanced repair at some future date. Happily, it works fine on manual mode without a battery. </p> <p>This one still had the original seals, which are a mess. You can see bits of seal stuck to the body at the upper left. There are 3 main seals to replace on the camera back: a narrow strip along the top (right side of this pic), a short narrow strip along the latch (right below the curved spring at the bottom of the pic), and the wide strip at the bottom of the camera back. There's also a hinge seal on the body, but it looks like a patch of velvet that's still in good shape so I didn't change that.</p> <div alt="canonet old seals" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="b8b3c7b0-0073-472e-96a8-ab1e8999b9d4" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-old-seals.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-old-seals.jpg?itok=yRwWe1_1" alt="canonet old seals" title="canonet-old-seals.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>I got some q-tips and alcohol and cleaned out the old seals. I scraped through the paint in a few places, but that will all be covered by the new seal so I didn't bother repainting anything.</p> <div alt="canonet with light seals removed" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="493b9bc7-ed7a-42df-be3e-9982442dd8a7" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-seals-removed.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-seals-removed.jpg?itok=0eTqmurW" alt="canonet with light seals removed" title="canonet-seals-removed.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>For the new seals, I got a sheet of Presto felt from a craft store. This is thin self-adhesive felt, about 1-1.5mm thick. I cut strips with a scissors and stuck it down in the same place as the old seal. I used a toothpick to poke it into the corners and make sure it was well adhered.</p> <div alt="canonet new seal installation" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="304e5f3a-f0f1-4564-91db-97531e411c9c" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-seal-installation.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-seal-installation.jpg?itok=TTRjfE_k" alt="canonet new seal installation" title="canonet-seal-installation.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>New seals are installed and no problems closing the back. I don't know how to really test the light seals, so I put in the first test roll of film and started shooting.</p> <div alt="canonet with new light seals installed" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="1eb6cbcc-0bb3-40a8-b03a-a6941bd9f79c" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-seals-done.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-seals-done.jpg?itok=_o5-RLZz" alt="canonet with new light seals installed" title="canonet-seals-done.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>The other small fix I did was on the lens cap. It's just a cheap slip-on plastic cap and it fits really loosely and falls off. A clip-on cap would be more secure, but I added a short strip of felt to one side of the cap and that seems like enough to help keep it on in the camera bag. I added a new lens cap leash to keep it with the camera.</p> <div alt="canonet lens cap fix" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="c927ef4d-a8d6-4c1e-b2c8-2b7cdd517109" data-langcode="en" title="canonet-lens-cap.jpg" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/canonet-lens-cap.jpg?itok=EoQOUK7O" alt="canonet lens cap fix" title="canonet-lens-cap.jpg" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>I'll update this with test images when they're back from developing.</p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>admin</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2022-06-18T08:19:56-05:00" title="Saturday, June 18, 2022 - 08:19" class="datetime">Sat, 06/18/2022 - 08:19</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-tag field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">tag</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/index.php/projects/photography" hreflang="en">Photography</a></div> </div> </div> Sat, 18 Jun 2022 13:19:56 +0000 admin 153 at http://bill.fidean.net Caffenol film developing at home http://bill.fidean.net/index.php/projects/caffenol-film-developing-home <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Caffenol film developing at home</span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>I read all about the coffee and washing soda-based developer recipes when they were making the rounds online around 2010, but never tried it until I just recently got back into shooting film with some of my old medium format cameras. </p> <p>I found an undeveloped and unlabeled roll of 120 film when cleaning out an old cabinet, and then realized that I still had a half-exposed roll in one of my cameras as well. I used my (really good) local camera store to develop them, and there were some nice shots on there. Now I want to shoot more film, but being cheap and lacking other winter projects, decided to re-learn developing as well. </p> <p>The chemistry of developer is better for others to explain, but the idea is that a solution of caffeic acid, sodium carbonate, and ascorbic acid has the same action as commercial developers, but using common household ingredients that are also easier on the environment. </p> <p>I have a 2-roll Paterson tank, this is the recipe I used for 500ml:</p> <ul><li>12g Washing soda, dissolved in 200ml water</li> <li>22g Instant coffee, dissolved in 200ml water</li> <li>mix those together and add 1 packet of Emergen-C</li> <li>top up water to 500ml total</li> </ul><p>I let that mixture sit for about 10 minutes while I mixed the fixer (Ilford Rapid fix) and did a pre-soak on the film. Both solutions were around 70°F when I dumped them in. Developing steps:</p> <ul><li>Developing time: 11 minutes</li> <li>Stop: 1-2 minutes rinse with water</li> <li>Fix: 5 minutes</li> <li>Plain water rinse</li> </ul><p>This is the result I got with my test roll of 120 Tri-X, 400 speed, shot on my Yashica-Mat, a mix of indoor and outdoor evening shots:</p> <div alt="caffenol negatives" data-embed-button="media_browser" data-entity-embed-display="media_image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;large&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="4409a013-f1f0-4b99-95a1-c29c973340c4" data-langcode="en" title="caffenol negatives" class="embedded-entity"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/caffenol-negatives.jpg?itok=d6a-gJUS" alt="caffenol negatives" title="caffenol negatives" class="image-style-large" /></div> <p>I haven't scanned them in yet, but the negatives look nice and clean with good contrast. No obvious staining from either the coffee or the orange Emergen-C. I'll get some plain vitamin C crystals to try next, but it's good to know that the packets we usually have around anyway also work well.</p> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>admin</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-02-07T14:01:13-06:00" title="Friday, February 7, 2020 - 14:01" class="datetime">Fri, 02/07/2020 - 14:01</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-tag field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">tag</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/index.php/projects/photography" hreflang="en">Photography</a></div> </div> </div> Fri, 07 Feb 2020 20:01:13 +0000 admin 81 at http://bill.fidean.net