Pentax Spotmatic F 35mm Film Black & White Portraits. Ilford Ortho 80.
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
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ABOUT THIS VIDEO
This is my last roll of Ortho 80 (35mm) for a while and I chose to shoot a portrait, our Daughter, Jess.
Something with the equipment went wrong and I ended up with some under exposed frames. Shame, but at least I had a few good ones to choose from.
What could I have done different?
Apart from maybe a less harsh developer, I.E Rodinal here, for me everything was just as it was. Natural.
EQUIPMENT USED
CAMERA - Pentax Spotmatic F
FILM - Ortho 80
DEVELOPER - Rodinal
STOP & FIX - Fotospeed
ENLARGER - DURST M605
PAPER - Ilford MG Resin
DEVELOPER - Ilford MG
STOP & FIX - FOTOSPEED
PRODUCTION GEAR
CANON 6D, GOPRO 7 BLACK, TASCAM DR10L MIC, SENHEISSER SHOTGUN MIC,
NEEWER LED PANELS, GVM COLOUR PANELS,
Editing - FCP, PHOTOSHOP, LIGHTROOM
Strobes - Lencarta elite pro 300
Triggers.... Neewer Radio FM triggers
ABOUT MY VIDEOS
If my videos inspire, create ideas and help others in film photography and darkroom work then it's worth making them.
I always welcome comments that are useful towards the video subject that will help others understand the process within.
Keep shooting and thanks for watching.
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Here is an update guys on the issue thanks to you all. It appears to be a hot shoe problem. After various tests with the radio trigger using a 200fps go pro staring at the back of the curtain and playing back in slow motion I can see the curtain opens just before the flash is fired. This is intermittent as my negatives showed. I tested with another SLR and the curtain and flash fired in sync in perfect time. So that rules out a trigger problem. I then tested the Pentax Shutter speed at 1/60th against the other SLR at 1/60th and they both were the same when played back in slow motion. So I'm safe to say the Pentax shutter is fine. Final test I used a sync cable from the Pentax to the strobe unit and the curtain and flash worked in sync as expected. So it appears that the issue is the Pentax Hotshoe... I'm glad that's sorted!
Well done!
That's why I asked if you test in vertical, since in the video you used on vertical, could be a hot shoe problem, if you test in horizontal maybe the problem doesn't happen. At least you find the problem👍. Cheers my friend 👍
Totally unclear how the shoe could insert a delay of 20 milliseconds, but if it's there in the shoe, but not on the sync port, there you go. Intermittent connection making contact with the vibration of the shutter firing, maybe. Or the ground contact if the trigger is losing contact when vertical...
@@SilntObsvr it was my idea too, maybe with the camera upside down the flash doesn't fire at all.
Ahh that pesky hotshoe…
It's encouraging for us to see the 'whole' process, so many channels show a one stop perfection deception. Great work and thank you for sharing.
Yes I think the same, great job
Cheers Dean! photography issues happen to all of us in some way or another.
Your channel brings me back to my developing and printing days. LOVE FILM!!!
A tip for softening the grain or harshness of a portrait ,
A piece of card with an aperture cut in it, and some nylon stocking material
stretched over it, moving it under the light source of the enlarger for a
second or two in the exposure time. This type of diffusion was used a
lot in the old days for portraits of older women. The enlargers then were
mainly condenser types but it’s still useful for taking the edge off grain
without losing sharpness. Bit of trial and error but I know you like that.
That was an option leonard that I've done before. Also lowers the contrast I noticed. Thanks for bringing it up.
LOL I was just looking at Ilford delta 3600 the other day for reference and that shit's now 11+ US dollars.... and then the chems and such for a darkroom or shipping + processing. I hated digital for YEARS until the 5d changed my mind, and I still shot with film. Then they come out with the R5 & R6... A real game changer for me. Fuck film. There's no reason to use it anymore unless you're teaching the fundamentals so students can see waht their digital setting represent or shooting a film on 35mm for the theatre and are showing it in one of Quentin's rare 35mm theatres... Good to see you keeping ilford alive with your purchases and the dream of film photography with your vids. "You don't take pictures, you make them." ~King of the cam & darkroom Ansel Adams I've looked up to Adams all my life, I've taken his work off the walls of MOPA in Balboa park to hang a gallery of a workshop's photos from Louisiana. I completely believe with all of me that he would've embraced digital and photoshop and advocated for them both with all of him solely due to the artist in him.
Keep that dream alive, Thank you for your work. And don't forget digital. It is the past present and future of photography.
Drives home for me how many of us rely on loving family members to support our craft. I'm glad you got the digital shots out of this!
Ha I got farther along and see some negs came out well. Very nice!
The digital shots were just to make sure the light was falling right Will. The model lamps in my strobe lights are blown so I am literally in the dark! I can't see how the light falls. But yes, I am glad I got them!!
Love the portraits, looking like pencil sketches (in a good way).
I had also some these cheap triggers and I had für same problems. I bought für yongnuos these are more reliable. Wunderful video thanks.
These old Pentax Spotmatics look so cool. Work of Art in design I think. I want the Spotmatic F now :)
Great video, I like the Ortho look! The problem is almost certainly your wireless triggers. I have them too and on digital they work fine at the camera's sync speed (1/250) but on my OM-1 and OM-2 I always have to set my shutter speed one or two stops slower than sync speed (1/30 or 1/15 instead of 1/60 for my OM's) in order for them to consistently expose my shots properly. Not sure why, but you could give it a try!
I think the camera/shutter ' flash sync ' contacts could be the culprit. A great fun shoot. Well done.
Absolutely right to show the whole experience.
Probably, the flash trigger is your problem. I have the same and it does not work with these old cameras to me also.
Nice video!!
I can also agree, the same triggers do not trigger reliably (if at all) with my Nikkormat EL. It seems that (some?) older cameras close the trigger switch for a very short amount of time and the trigger transmitter rejects it.
There is a solution if you play around with electronics but you'll have to mod your transmitter.
I should also add, if I mounted the flash directly on the hot shoe it triggered reliably every time.
I’d love some videos on lighting, how to set and shape it, that stuff is like black magic to me sometimes... goes way over my head, I rarely know what I’m doing. Love the way you got a perfect white background in those portraits
It's just metering the background against your subject. The DSLR is great to check it with.
Nice one, thanks for your honesty very refreshing, nobody nails it every time, especially me...
Finally,....you told us non-UKs what a quid is,.........but i already looked for it :D
In hindsight it makes sense that you were a professional studio photographer. Not sure why but it never crossed my mind before, even after seeing your serious light setups. I hope it doesn't sound insulting, but I figured you were someone who found a passion for film out of the blue and went all in on equipment!
I didn't go all in on gear Dane. Over the years collected more stuff. Started with the Nikon F90x and some developing gear and built up from there. The Spotmatic in this video I got for £10. Before film became hip again lol
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Hope you didn't take it the wrong way. I'm also semi-blessed to have gotten much of my gear pre-renaissance. Your passion has definitely got me buying more stuff, though!
With those cheap triggers I noticed a few odd things... it looks like from time to time they go into "sleep mode" if you don't use them for a while. Also, could be that you are not waiting enough for the flash to charge properly - even if it fires, it might be low power and not make a difference on the scene...
I got into the habit to first press the test button on the top of the trigger if is been more than a minute, to awaken the triggers and receivers, wait a second or two for the flash to charge and then take the picture.
Another reason - the battery on the trigger is low and needs to be replaced.
Thank you for this video from Spain. GOD bless you and your family and your country.
Thank you!
Hello Roger, looks like you having a problem with the sync flash, maybe at 1/30s it's better. You can try to open the camera door and shoot directly to the flash and see if you see the light. I would love to see that film with a blue filter. Cheers mate 👍
Cheers Peds. I been using a DSLR in slo mo to record the shutter and flash. 60fps video. I can't replicate the issue.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss and did you test the camera in vertical?
@@filmlovephotography I did not. Its a hot shoe issue Peds. See my pinned comment mate
Super Takumar lenses, especially the original 50mm1.4 is a Bokeh monster 👌
Totally agree!
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss and so you should because I’m always right ✅🙌🤩
Nice one. I was in a similar boat as you. I shot my 4 year old niece on my rz67 this week. For some strange reason the body wouldn’t advance after I fired the shutter. Only when I finished the role did I realise i had the lens on (T) not N so all the frames was shot at 1/400th when I metres for 1/15th🙈.
Lesson learned is check the camera before you shoot. Especially when you have a hyper 4 year old lol
Probably a poor connection underneath hot shoe inside camera. the hot shoe is not soldered directly on the Spotmatic F instead 2 contacts touch together between top cover and body. It's an easy fix to clean these contacts as long as you know how to remove the top housing. I have fixed a few of these.
Thanks Mike.
Ilford Ortho film was already the next on my list to try out!
HP5+ is my go-to (bulk load) but variety is the spice of live, as they say.
Try it. It's a nice film.
Shit happens, for sure!
Interesting about the exposures?
A couple of thoughts....
- flash wasn’t fully charged when fired?
- I’m assuming you shot with-in the sync speed of the camera (1/60)?
- you could try to hard sync instead of wireless?
Honestly, for me, the most likely culprit might be the flash not fully charged, and delivering less light on the exposure. I doubt it’s anything else.
That mains-powered flash he was using should recharge faster than he can advance the film.
Mains powered strobes. They can go burst after burst Jon Thanks for your thoughts.
It looked like you were using a speed light in the darkroom when firing the wireless trigger, I had thought you had used those when shooting Jess?
Given that you used the Mains, I think the only other problem might be the shutter is slipping on the timing? Perhaps a CLA might rectify that?
Puzzling though.
@@biggaboy69 I've just pined a comment Jon. It was the hotshoe on the Pentax.
As for the flash, it is probably down to the use of the remote trigger, there can be a delay in the signal chain that cause it to miss the sync with the shutter. A stop slower than the recommended sync should fix it. I did something similar the first time I used my Mamiya RB67 Pro S, the switch on the lens was sey to M, so whilst the flash was firing the M setting is designed to match the peak output of the old bulbs, not quite as instant as the modern strobes. However, as you got some and not others, my guess it is down to the lag in the remote trigger. Slower shutter or pc sync cable will fix that.
Not so much of as issue with leaf shutters but I'm always mindful when using older 35mm cameras with my wireless set-up.
Good that you show that it's not always plain sailing.
I think that's the issue Baxter. Good idea shooting 1/30th instead of 1/60th
Roger, I shoot a lot of studio work and mix film in with digital. B&W film will often underexpose and I usually open up 1/2 to 1 stop over what I was shooting in digital. I was told that this comes down the color of the light and the film not being able to see some of the color wavelengths the strobe is putting out and in essence not giving enough power. When the strobe fires it ramps up through the color spectrum to optimal and then drops back off the same way. Digital sees all of this, but film does not.
Cheers Kevin!
The mirror is getting stuck in the vertical position, it´s not moving, thats why you have a total black image: The under exposed images are because of sync problems, the flash do not fired, it´s a commom problem with budget triggers, better use a cable or a less cheap triggers XD
It was the hot shoe at fault. Have a look at my pinned comment. I made tests next day. Thanks for the ideas. As for the black frames.... I'll check that mirror!
That's a coincidence. I recently shot a load of portraits with my Spotmatic (SP rather than F) and I also had my flash inexplicably not go off all the time. In the end I found I had to put a bit of pressure on the X sync flash cable. Not sure why. The ones that came out looked amazing though and I was delighted to get my Spottie working with all my wireless Godox stuff. Also Fomopan 100 for the win :-)
Maybe clean the shoe contact..? But if it fires it makes contact.
You can observe whether it a mistiming if the curtain and flash contact by looking through the film gate in a darkened room while firing the flash repeatedly.
If you can, it’s the trigger or flash that is delaying too much.
Set up an experiment today using a DSLR in video slow mode. I could not replicate the issue. Really bizarre ha ha
Nice studio portfolio. Flash sync issue, methinks. Interesting to see you were metering the wall with the dome facing away from the camera.
That was to meter the light bouncing off the wall.
Had you disabled the stand-by mode? As per default, stand-by mode in On, meaning that after some time (5min?) the flash will not fire until you press a button. When in stand-by, the first click will be black because it is to wake-up the flash. Hope it helps. Keep up the nice work. Cheers
There is no standby mode as far as I know. I pinned a comment to the issue Pedro.
@@ShootFilmLikeaBoss Just checked the user manual of the Canon 430 Ex II and YES, there is a stand-by mode called "Auto power-off".
In Page 10 of the English manual: "To save battery power, the power will turn off automatically after a certain period (approx. 1.5min to 15min) of idle use. To turn on the speedlite again, press the camera's shutter button halfway or press speedlite's button."
To disable this auto power function, go to the flash custom function C.Fn-01 and change its value from 0 (Enabled) to 1(Disabled). (Table with custom functions On page 21 and instructions on how to do it on page 22.)
I had the same problem years ago when I had a couple of 580Ex II inside lightboxes.
Anyway, if the red light is on , the flash is ready to fire, but in my case I couldn't tell because they were inside the lightbox.
@@pedromendonca2963 sorry. I've confused the situation. I was using studio strobes. I used the speedlight in my darkroom to. Show the triggers working.
Flash problems we can rule out: M sync would fire the flash just before the first shutter curtain starts to move, but a Spotmatic doesn't have M sync on the hot shoe (some 35mm SLRs from that era have a socket for it, but you were using the shoe). Shutter too fast for sync would get a half-light, half-dark frame, with the shutter only partly open when the flash fires. I was thinking the sync contacts in the shutter might be oxidized and not always tripping the flash, but we could see it fire in the video even when you got a thin frame on the film.
I considered intermittent low power flash, but the flashes in the video didn't look any different between good and bad frames (not sure how conclusive that is) and the thin frames are too thin for that -- they're about what I'd expect from just the modeling lights.
One we can't rule out is a physical problem with the sync contacts in the camera, causing them to intermittently fire either before the first curtain starts to move (much more likely), or after the second curtain has capped. The same effect could come from interference on the radio link between the master on the hot shoe and the slave trigger on each flash, causing the triggers on the flashes to get the message late. Travel time for the curtains on your Spottie is only about 10-12 milliseconds (hence why 1/60 = 16 msec has a full-open moment where 1/125 at 8 msec doesn't), so a mechanical or electronic delay of as little as 18 milliseconds would cause the flash to just plain miss the shutter opening -- contacts in the shutter make when the first curtain finishes, but if the flash is 18 milliseconds or more late, the shutter will be closed again by the time the flash fires.
You can test with the camera and flash, without wasting film, by mounting the flash stuff, leaving the camera back open and lens off, and looking through the back while you fire the flash. You'll see the light through the film gate if the sync is good; half a frame if your speed is too high, and you'll see the flash in the room, but not through the camera, if the timing is off enough to produce one of those thin frames.
See my pinned comment. It appears to be the hotshoe on the Pentax. Thanks for the pointer.
Hello back in the day if I put the flash in the focal plane slot I would only get half a frame. Not sure if this is what happened here. As it was not in sync.
It was the hotshoe Joel. A problem with it.
Others have covered sync, wireless qns so my thoughts are with the camera.
My Chinon CS' timer lever is really easy to nudge. It's caught me out so many times I might remove it. I wonder if the flash 'missed' because of the timer.
No I can't see the timer being the cause. Good thought though
Nice portraits. I really liked the ones taken with the butterfly lighting setup. Have you checked the shutter on the Spotmatic?
Not yet Bernard. I guess I'll have to put a roll in and fire off all shutter speeds to ensure there is a difference
did you check the condition of the battery in the transmitter...I had some of the cowboy studio trigger/receivers and when they started to misfire, it usually was the transmitter battery starting to weaken...I had to start removing the battery completely because they would run down when not in use...eventually I moved on to pocket wizards
Good point. The batteries working fine as far as I can see.
Great video would direct lighting have helped thanks
I could have used my LED panels but the strobes are brighter
Nice portrait. The laugh at 4:52 is great too btw. Will you be doing an update when you have found out what happened with the flash misses?
Yes, soon
Did you set the flash sync to 1/60 as 1/125 will be too quick and on my spii there is a select switch for X and FP make sure its on X
1/60th.
Are all the batteries fresh/fully charged? A battery near the end of its useful charge will cause those problems, Roger. I had a similar thing happen and fresh batteries cured it. That's the only problem I have ever encountered with off camera flash and Wansen Poverty Wizards. They are cheap as heck and perform great with fresh batteries.
Cheers Jim.
You were sure to shoot at flash sync speed? I've made the mistake of leaving a camera on A when flash sync is only on 1/90th.
A mode didn't exist yet when that Spotmatic was made, and a lot of focal plane shutters only synced at 1/25 or 1/30 -- the Spottie was a step forward with 1/60 sync, but shutter too fast would give a partial frame with correct exposure, cut off where the second curtain had gotten to before the first curtain closed the sync contacts.
As all ready written, good to see whole process and getting to see the out takes ...... one question, what iso do you shoot your ortho ? And have you tested for what you think is the best speed... yep I know that's 2 but I can't count 🤔 that high, and yep I know you may have already done it but I can't remember 🙄
I shoot it at 80 all the time Malc. Unless I am shooting under tungsten lighten then I'd go 40. I've not tested the film
I'm so early my negatives from today are still drying.
Hey Roger,
Lovely content as always. I've been building my own darkroom lately and started learning everything with your videos.
However, today a question came to my mind regarding silver gelatin prints. I used to think that it required a special step to make a regular print a silver gelatin one, but it seems as though the wording "silver gelatin" only refer to the emulsion of the paper right? So that made me wonder, in that case, all darkroom prints on paper are silver gelatin prints. Is that correct or am I missing something?
Yes the papers are Silver Gelatin papers.
Subtitles in spanish please please
You can add Spanish yourself. See this video czcams.com/video/Q8Sq9r50gc0/video.html. Please let me know if it works for you!