Apollo
Posted 03 December 2018 - 07:31 PM
Large Format Milky Way
4x5 film image of the Milky Way area of Aquila and Scutum using out of the box Fuji Acros. The 40 minute tracked exposure with 150mm f/5.6 Schneider Symmar HM lens on a Cambo SC. The Fuji Acros was developed in Xtol 1+1 in a MOD54 with Patterson tank.
The Symmar lens was shot wide open. Stars were focused on the ground glass with a 10X loupe. From planning to guiding and developing the shot was an awesome experience. Taken September 2017 from my dark sky home in Maine.
Voyager 1
Posted 03 December 2018 - 07:36 PM
Absolutely gorgeous and awe-inspiring!
Skylab
Posted 03 December 2018 - 08:14 PM
That is a very unique and special set up ! And minimal fogging as we used to experience with long exposure film shots.
Well done.
Messenger
Posted 03 December 2018 - 08:35 PM
do you want some 4x5 film holders ? PM me.
Viking 1
Posted 03 December 2018 - 08:41 PM
Vanguard
Posted 03 December 2018 - 09:04 PM
As an old school film based photographer and darkroom nerd, I must say your craft & resulting image is SIMPLY AMAZING!
Messenger
Posted 03 December 2018 - 11:01 PM
That is one heck of a stellar shot! (pardon the pun)
Nicely Done!
Vanguard
Posted 04 December 2018 - 12:25 AM
Wow great work..
Viking 1
Posted 04 December 2018 - 05:22 PM
Yes very nice!
It really saddens me that Fuji decided to stop making this excellent B&W film. It was one of my favorites.
Vostok 1
Posted 05 December 2018 - 01:38 AM
That is a work of art!
Using 4x5 film, I've managed decent tracking up to 30 minutes with the Astrotrac, but never with the perfection you have obtained. I may have to try again soon. Comet 46P could be a fun target?
Great job, and I hope you find yourself shooting more film in the future! Especially 4x5.
Tom
Fly Me to the Moon
Posted 05 December 2018 - 09:22 AM
Large Format Milky Way
4x5 film image of the Milky Way area of Aquila and Scutum using out of the box Fuji Acros. The 40 minute tracked exposure with 150mm f/5.6 Schneider Symmar HM lens on a Cambo SC. The Fuji Acros was developed in Xtol 1+1 in a MOD54 with Patterson tank.
The Symmar lens was shot wide open. Stars were focused on the ground glass with a 10X loupe. From planning to guiding and developing the shot was an awesome experience. Taken September 2017 from my dark sky home in Maine.
WOW! 
Apollo
Posted 05 December 2018 - 07:09 PM
Thank you all for the kind remarks. The 4x5 camera and lens, along with the needed supports taxed the telescope mount holding the arrangement. I selected this target as everything balanced well at this declination. No way could it work near the zenith.
Pulling the sheet out of the film wash and holding it up to the light made me giddy! I'll likely stick with medium format as that work flow is very reliable and I can consistently produce good work.
I'm sure I will do a few more LF frames in the coming year.
Jim
Vostok 1
Posted 06 December 2018 - 12:04 PM
Very nice camera! I'm guessing that weighs well over 10 lbs? That must have been a lot of work getting the balance right. A great accomplishment for sure! My 4x5 Crown Graphic only weighs about 5 lbs. Its fairly easy to manage, even with my weaker setup.
One thing I really like about 4x5 is that it seems even lower end scanners can still pull out fairly high amounts of detail.
Great to hear you are planning to shoot some more film shots in the future. Looking forward to seeing them.
Tom
Edited by canondslr, 06 December 2018 - 01:04 PM.
Viking 1
Posted 06 December 2018 - 07:50 PM
Apollo
Posted 07 December 2018 - 05:37 AM
Very nice camera! I'm guessing that weighs well over 10 lbs? That must have been a lot of work getting the balance right. A great accomplishment for sure! My 4x5 Crown Graphic only weighs about 5 lbs. Its fairly easy to manage, even with my weaker setup.
One thing I really like about 4x5 is that it seems even lower end scanners can still pull out fairly high amounts of detail.
Great to hear you are planning to shoot some more film shots in the future. Looking forward to seeing them.
Tom
Thanks Tom,
Yeah, a smaller field camera would be the way to go. This monorail is just too darn heavy. I really should not have even attempted it, but like film photography itself....why?
All the good films are gone. I'm just strolling through the park with my last box of candy.
Got a fine DSLR with many pieces of fast glass. At times I'll pursue that road, but a good film shot, despite the extra work is still fun and rewarding.
The Pentax 67 kit and the film freezer are still with me. For regular film work, that is the way to go. I've shot literally hundreds of hours of combined exposure time with it with few problems. I may start posting a "best of...." those frames.
Thanks for chiming in.
Jim
Surveyor 1
Posted 07 December 2018 - 02:06 PM
Beautiful photo. Makes me want to get back into B&W photography.
Gemini
Posted 08 December 2018 - 01:43 PM
Vostok 1
Posted 12 December 2018 - 12:13 AM
I think a "best of" series from Jim would be great! Too bad so many films have come and gone.
But it seems the reintroduced Ektachrome could be worth a try? Right now, it is only in 35mm, but maybe that will eventually change. Lately, it has been difficult to find in stock! I hope that means better than expected sales.
So if Ektachrome is eventually available in 120, or even 4x5, maybe we could see some new images too! Should it compare well with E200?
I look forward to trying E100 in 35mm soon.
Tom
Voyager 1
Posted 13 December 2018 - 02:40 PM
That shot is absolutely spectacular! It reminds me of Barnard's Milky Way survey images.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
Viking 1
Posted 20 December 2018 - 05:34 AM
Good job Master! Looking forward to see more!
Ranger 4
Posted 18 January 2019 - 02:02 AM
Impressive image James! Keep on the good work!!!
Sputnik
Posted 30 January 2019 - 12:47 AM
This is incredible!
Vostok 1
Posted 30 January 2019 - 05:19 AM
Just saw this - that is wonderful. I used medium format Ektachrome and hypered Tech Pan with a Rollei for years piggybacked on my 8" Meade; I only dreamt of 4x5, that seemed like it would never work, just too heavy and subject to wind and vibration. So that is quite an accomplishment. When they discontinued one film after another that I liked I finally gave up and bought a digital cooled CCD; but I hate all the software complexity, I like film better for wide angle astrophotography.
Neil
Vanguard
Posted 30 January 2019 - 01:31 PM
Point, open shutter, Guide, develop ...Done
That is my favorite work flow..
Messenger
Posted 30 January 2019 - 10:50 PM
Point, open shutter, Guide, develop ...Done
That is my favorite work flow..
Astrophotography is so much more fun taking redundant hours of subframes and scrutinizing every one of them, taking additional biases, darks, flats and then spending hours processing it all....not!
Edited by Todd N, 30 January 2019 - 10:53 PM.
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