I find myself purposefully looking for 5X12 aspect ratio scenes.  This is done with an ancient Darlot landscape meniscus.  Long before anyone ever thought of making a soft focus lens on purpose, the landscape meniscii would have a lovely glow unless you stopped them well down.  They were never intended to be used wide open as I have here.  12" f6

We don't have any forests to be enchanted so we have to do the best we can with the occasional survivor.

Done with a new to me 1920's 5X7 Speed Graphic.  I bought the speed specifically to be a platform for this lens but it will serve for many others also.

Within a week of getting the speed and using it this one time I took it to Reno for a general overhaul by Fred Lustig.  Fred is a national treasure and that is an entire story in itself.  He said he would have to keep it for a month but I'm excited by the prospect of having a 5X7 with 1/1000th shutter if needed. 

Hallo!

Here are some new ones from my series "Magic forest". They are all made with a Verito and these are repros from real prints.  The last one was already posted but just from a scan.

All the best from Berlin

stefan d

This is '3 Glasses', another shot of glass w/subdued/indirect lighting and no glow/halos around the highlights.   I've got another shot w/glass subject matter that will be uploaded in the near future, and that's it for the Semi-Achromatic and still life for awhile.   My next direction for this lens will be portraiture after I take a break from obsessing about this lens. 

'3 Glasses' was shot on my favorite surface, brushed aluminum, @F6 on Polaroid 804 film, and the best thing about this shot was it was the easiest shot to focus since I've started using the Semi-Achromatic.

Report on Photo Paper Testing
Adox MCC 111 and Fomabron Velvet

………Hi Folks, I’d like to introduce you folks to Master Printer Alan Wedertz. And for those of you that may not know of Alan’s work, he had a fabulous lab in Hollywood, Alan’s Custom Lab, where I took my B&W film along w/a great many other folks so that he could work his magic. Alan has relocated and has expanded w/his thriving photo processing mail-order business, which caters to folks all over the country.

I’m happy to be connected w/this project that will familiarize you a little bit w/Alan’s printing skills, a project which also showcases some new priting paper that will be sold very soon by Freestyle courtesy of their VP of marketing Eric Joseph. Alan has worked his priting magic on these wonderful new papers which are the second coming of that legendary paper, Agfa MCC 111.

Jonathan Brewer

REPORT ON ADOX and FOMABRON PAPERS

First, let me say that I have been working with Mr. Jonathan Brewer for at least 15 years. His dedication to photographic experimentation has been profound. Always willing to try the unusual and produce the best photos from those tests. He has experimented with many types of films and papers to produce many fabulous and exciting photographic images. Together we have developed film processes for several types of infrared and other various films he uses. I have found Mr. Brewer to be excellent photographer as well as a high class person.
Mr. Brewer provided me with several images shot on 4x5 FP4 films to develop and use for testing of the new Adox and Fomabron photo papers. I developed the films in D-76 1:1. They are of high quality and perfect for testing these new papers. I, generally, used one shot for most of the testing. I also used one infrared shot I felt may have additional information for the testing.
Initially, I needed to have a norm for the tests. Since I have used Ilford papers for the last 30 years as my main paper source, I had to use it as my normal paper. Ilford Multi-grade Fiber was my first choice. Ilford Warmtone Fiber was my second. I made prints from each of these papers, both semi-gloss and semi-matt. These were my “normal” prints. What I found, was the Warmtone papers were the closest match the Adox and Fomabron papers, so I used the Warmtone as the main norm print.

INITIAL INSPECTION

The Adox glossy paper, upon first inspection, seemed, by touch and visual, to be just slightly thinner (I mean, JUST slightly thinner) than the Ilford paper. Or, maybe, the Adox papers are just more flexible than the Ilford papers. The Adox MCC111 Glossy has much of the same texture, shine and smoothness as the Ilford MG and the Warmtone Glossy. When light is reflected on the prints, however, the Ilford papers seem to have more of a glossy shine to them, whereas the Adox MCC111 has more of a satin glossy shine to them. It’s very subtle and difficult to perceive. In the final analysis, this difference is extremely minor. Most who look at the two will not see the difference. As I remember, the original Agfa papers had this same look to it back in the seventies.
The Fomabron Velvet paper, upon first inspection, was much different than the Ilford semi-matt. Both Ilford MG and Warmtone semi-matt have a very smooth matt surface, with just a hint of shine and no texture whatever. The Fomabron Velvet paper has a pronounced texture on the surface of the paper that you can see and feel. Again, it is very reminiscent of the Agfa papers in the seventies. There is a definite shine to the Fomabron Velvet. The combination of shine and texture has, no doubt, given it, its’ name “Velvet”. The paper, once again, seems to be somewhat thinner than the Ilford paper. (Or, more flexible.)

THE PRINT

For the initial prints, the norm prints, I used a 2 ½ filter at F-22 for 10 seconds on the Ilford Multi-grade glossy. The Ilford MG glossy is a fast paper with more contrast than any of the other papers used. In the following table is a list of the times, filters and F-stops used.

Specs for the Bottle Shot
From 4x5 Neg

Specs for the Wagon Shot
From 35mm Infrared Negative

PRINT PROCESSING

Processing times for the papers were exactly the same. I used Clayton P-20 as my print developer. It is a fast developer with good overall tones, from deep blacks to white whites and excellent detail in the gray areas. Two minutes development times were used in all prints. This seems to be the best overall development for all the prints. You can use 1 ½ minutes minimum time and as much as 4 minutes with constant agitation. This gives you some contrast control.

Interestingly, the Ilford papers and the Adox and Fomabron papers looked almost the same, contrast wise and detail wise. I was hard pressed to tell the difference between the two company papers, especially the glossy papers. Wisely, I had marked the back of each print so I would know which prints were Ilford and which were Adox and Fomabron.

There are a few small differences between the papers. The Ilford Warmtone Glossy is just slightly warmer than the Adox Glossy paper. That is, more to the red side of the spectrum. When laying side by side you will see the Ilford papers have a slightly more brownish look to them. However, the Fomabron Velvet is much warmer than the Adox Glossy, and is very close to being the same as the Ilford Warmtone Glossy and Matt papers.

The Adox and Fomabron papers seem to have a slight edge over the Ilford papers in detail in the white areas. That is, the white areas are somewhat grayer, thus giving more detail. So it’s a bit of a trade off. More detail but less white.

In the two comparison prints, it is very difficult to see the difference between the two prints on the computer. Unfortunately, the combination of scanning, photoshop and monitors makes it nearly impossible to recreate exactly what these prints actually look like. I wanted to give you a general feel for the prints, their contrast, detail and overall look. They virtually look the same.

As in all photo papers, the glossy papers have more contrast than the matt papers. The matt papers, due to their flat surface and matt texture, subdue the blacks and fill in the whites. Side by side the glossy papers will always look more contrasty (that is, blacker blacks and whiter whites) than the matt papers. I believe it’s more of the way our eyes perceive the prints rather than the physical characteristics of the papers. I you spray a glossy print matt, it will also appear less contrasty than before spraying it.

CONCLUSIONS

The new Adox and Fomabron papers, in these tests, have proven to be as good as predicted by their manufacturers. I am truly happy and satisfied that the Agfa tradition in Black and White papers has returned. Everyone, including me, was very distressed when Agfa was no longer producing their photo papers. There was a scramble to grab up as much of the paper as possible before the end.

These new papers by Adox and Fomabron are exceptionally fine photographic papers and the prints produced will be of the highest photographic standards. They are as good as the original Agfa papers.
The best features for me are two fold. One. They print nearly the same as the Ilford Warmtone and, two the fast exposures times of the Adox and Fomabron papers. They are easily twice as fast, exposure wise, as compared to the Ilford Warmtone. This is a huge plus for me when printing client negatives. The average exposure times for an 8x10 print on Ilford Warmtone is 35 to 50 seconds and sometimes longer if I’m printing from XP2 negatives. The new Adox and Fromabron papers will cut that time in half.

I would highly recommend this paper for all fiber based photographic printing. They are destined to be some the best papers around.Check out these new papers by Adox and Fomabron at Freestyle Photo Sales. They should be in the store very soon.

Alan K. Wedertz
Alan’s Custom Lab