Got to have a play with a plate camera today

[N*A*M]

I've recently met an oldtimer who shoots MF and has a lot of vintage cameras. He showed me his 6x7 plate camera and explained how it works. Also tried to explain the zone system to me but it went over my head.

Pretty cool stuff though. Interesting to play with old equipment. He's going to teach me how to develop B/W film. Just gotta start collecting the bits and pieces. It's good to have a mentor to show you stuff, even if they do ramble on a bit.

[swifty]

Sounds great NAM.
I only recently dabbled in the chemistry and have found the whole experience very rewarding.
But I have to say that my choice to go MF in film meant using cameras much larger than I was used to.
How's the F100 going? Since I'm sticking with F-mount lenses I was thinking of picking up an F100 too. Might end up keeping my 24-70mm haha and ruin my entire lens change plan.

[StanW]

I had the use of one many years ago, with plates so old that the speed rating was Hurter and Driffield; and they still yielded a printable image,

[N*A*M]

the f100 is great, very similar to my d300 in weight size and handling
i love being able to use AFS, G and VR lenses on it, as well as the SB600
i developed a roll of tmax and just got the 6x4 proofs back
fairly happy with the results but the prints lack a bit of contrast
the 85 is really quite nice to use with the f100
after talking to you about the 24-70, i decided to go with primes, so i just order an 35/2

[swifty]

Re: primes. Yea.. one needs to find the right style to suit their shooting.
Was considering a simple FM2n or something but I can't use my G lens on them.
But then when I eventually sell my 24-70mm, I might spring for the AF-D 85 1.4 (like what you have) and then my options should open up.
But still need to sell that 24-70mm first though haha.
I'm mainly shooting tri-x atm and doing my own processing. Have tried D76 and Xtol. You should have a read of TOM's write up on developing BW if you havn't already. Its actually quite straight forward. But shooting film, its become clear that my next purchase would need to be a scanner. Ahh..the spending never ends!!

[Tannin]

Cool! How many megapixels?

[Krzys]

I don't think he will get around to counting all of them.