25 replies to this topic

[Nightfly]

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.

 

[Astroman007]

Absolutely gorgeous and awe-inspiring!

[petert913]

That is a very unique and special set up !   And minimal fogging as we used to experience with long exposure film shots.

 

Well done.

[scngc7317]

do you want some 4x5 film holders ?           PM me.

[RaulTheRat]

Spectacular. Makes me want to get an LF camera, must resist

[Xeroid]

As an old school film based photographer and darkroom nerd, I must say your craft & resulting image is SIMPLY AMAZING!

[telesonic]

That is one heck of a stellar shot! (pardon the pun)

 

Nicely Done!

[TxStars]

Wow great work..

[Acer]

Yes very nice!

 

It really saddens me that Fuji decided to stop making this excellent B&W film.  It was one of my favorites.

[canondslr]

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

[SandyHouTex]

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.

 

2018-12-03_07-22-16.jpg

WOW! 

[Nightfly]

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

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[canondslr]

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.

[Eric P]

Absolutely wonderful!

[Nightfly]

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 

[daquad]

Beautiful photo.  Makes me want to get back into B&W photography.

[Uwe Pilz]

Large format photography is something very special. The results cannot be reched with digital. One of the most beautiful shots I ever saw.

[canondslr]

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

[Astrojensen]

That shot is absolutely spectacular! It reminds me of Barnard's Milky Way survey images.

 

 

Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

[Michal1]

Good job Master! Looking forward to see more!

[Giorgos]

Impressive image James! Keep on the good work!!!

[Euphonia]

This is incredible!

 

[nof]

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

[TxStars]

Point, open shutter, Guide, develop ...Done

That is my favorite work flow..

[Todd N]

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.