Camera Talk

The results speak for themselves -- seems like a good setup. I have a couple cameras with that kind of release and I always struggle with them. I think there's a bit of finesse and muscle memory that you need to work up to oppose the movement of the camera when pressing the shutter lever. I haven't ...

Awesome!

And I have found that there's no such frickin thing as muscle memory with this stuff. You have to check down the list *every* ********* *time*. Or else. I've experienced all the mistakes at this point and any time I have the hubris to think I can just motor through I get bit again. Argh.

P C Headland wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 02, 2026 5:14 pm

Fascinating, fantastic read!

Next step, a kickstarter campaign for a home film-coating lab-in-a-box ? (Just joking!!!)

Ha ha, well, if I wanted Yet Another Failed Kickstarter (YAFK), I now know a great way to achieve it!

Scott, just a side note: I missed the PM flag at the top until this morning. I've provided some answers there now. Sorry for the delay.

Robert

Thanks, Scott and PF! The location is highly recommended. I'd like to go do my own work there sometime -- no time to myself during the workshop. I'd also like to take a crack at Watkins Glen as well, but finding a time when it's not absolutely slammed with visitors is likely to be a challenge. Letch...

Thanks, PF! I really enjoyed that aspect -- what my wife refers to as "mad sciencing". You're right: all kinds of ideas come out of it...

I will put the possibility on the list of things to try to make happen if I get the right opportunity. Like I said, you never know! I do hear you on modern life and its lack of opportunities for kids to really solve practical engineering problems. It's just too easy to grow up without making even si...

Hmm, yes, now that you mention it, that film base is just about right for that. What do you know about that? 🤔 The acetate base I think is a little flimsy for sheet film, though, and might be a bit annoying in a film holder. That said, he has a roll of polyester base, too... 😉 If I ever happen to be...

Thanks, Julio. Yes, you have to make the long exposures a benefit, because in light like that, you're not avoiding them! I've often thought of gelatin dry plate (and slower processes, such as collodion wet plate or collodion dry plate, or slowest of all, niepceotype [albumen dry plate]) as ways of c...

Short version: I helped teach a photography workshop last summer. Despite my fears, it went fine. (very) Long version: As I mentioned in my previous post about helping with a film coating project, I took a workshop in 2014 on making gelatin dry plates at what was then the George Eastman House. It wa...