Ultra Large Camera Project
One of the first projects that needs to be undertaken before we start using the ultra large camera this summer and testing the 20" x 24" Ilford black & white negative film is to sort out the camera support so it can be taken on location and move to the different lighting studios housed in the School of the Arts. The temporary support that has been used will be replaced with a bespoke adjustable camera support made out of Cherry wood to match the camera. The timber has been delivered and machining and construction will start in earnest.
Below are CAD models of the new camera support system replacing the existing tripod that was OK for for the light leakage tests but is unsuitable for further work.
Below are CAD models of the new camera support system replacing the existing tripod that was OK for for the light leakage tests but is unsuitable for further work.
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| Camera Support in the closed position |
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| Camera Support in the fully extended position |
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| Temporary tripod and spreaders camera support |
Hand Operated Large Format Colour Film Processing
After getting some rather good results from the Jobo ATL1000 colour film processor unit we have taken the step to do 10"x 8" C-41 colour negative film processing using Jobo's Expert Drum. The Expert drum will not fit into the Jobo ATL 1000 processor so we have decide to build our own processor until Jobo start making their processors again later this year http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/blog/?p=47.
In designing the manual colour processor the most critical element was maintaining a consent water temperature of 38� C or 100� F for the C-41 chemistry. The container for the processor is made up of 3 parts, there is an outer 18mm MDF casing and an inner plastic casing for the water bath and in-between expanded foam will be used to create an insulation layer for the water bath. The water bath will be heated and controlled using a Nova proteinic heater/stat that was used successfully for the Jobo ATL 1000 colour processor water feed storage tank. The Jobo expert drum will be placed onto a set of rollers designed for the drum by Jobo that will allow hand rotation of the drum that can be upgraded to a motor driven system at a later date. Finally there will be a top cover to help retain the temperature of the water bath and support nine 1 litre chemical storage bottles.
For the C-41 colour processing the bottles will work in the following order;
Bottle 1: Two pre soaks cycles
Bottle 2: Developer
Bottle 3: Bleach and Fix
Bottle 4: Bleach and Fix wash
Bottles 5-8: Six wash cycles
Bottle 9: Stablisier solution
We will be using the Tetenal Colortec 5 litre kit that proved very simple to use in the Jobo ATL 1000 and yielded excellent results.
In designing the manual colour processor the most critical element was maintaining a consent water temperature of 38� C or 100� F for the C-41 chemistry. The container for the processor is made up of 3 parts, there is an outer 18mm MDF casing and an inner plastic casing for the water bath and in-between expanded foam will be used to create an insulation layer for the water bath. The water bath will be heated and controlled using a Nova proteinic heater/stat that was used successfully for the Jobo ATL 1000 colour processor water feed storage tank. The Jobo expert drum will be placed onto a set of rollers designed for the drum by Jobo that will allow hand rotation of the drum that can be upgraded to a motor driven system at a later date. Finally there will be a top cover to help retain the temperature of the water bath and support nine 1 litre chemical storage bottles.
For the C-41 colour processing the bottles will work in the following order;
Bottle 1: Two pre soaks cycles
Bottle 2: Developer
Bottle 3: Bleach and Fix
Bottle 4: Bleach and Fix wash
Bottles 5-8: Six wash cycles
Bottle 9: Stablisier solution
We will be using the Tetenal Colortec 5 litre kit that proved very simple to use in the Jobo ATL 1000 and yielded excellent results.
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| Film Processor container consisting of an outer MDF unit, expanded foam insulation liner and a inner plastic tank. |
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| Items to be housed in the processor, Jobo Expert Drum on rollers, 1 litre bottles and Nova protronic heater |
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| The drum and bottles will sit in a water bath heated by the Nova at 38 degrees celsius for C-41 chemistry |
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| A plastic ABS cover to retain the temperature of the water bath and hold the bottles in place |
Darkroom
Before we can process the 20" x 24" black and white negatives we need to do some work in the darkroom, initially we need to beef up the central processing and wash unit to take the weight of the film dishes which are very large. Hopefully over the summer further work will be done in the darkroom moving plumbing, new flooring and other works to bring it up to spec for large format film and paper processing.
Contact Print Frame
The final build this summer will be a contact print frame for the 20" x 24" black and white negatives from the ultra large format camera. The frame will be slightly over sized so the print will have a margin around the contact print. Not sure if there will be a split back due to the size of the frame and this may create a weak point and the paper in the centre of the frame not keeping flush to the negative and glass. The frame will be made out of the same Cherry timber as the ultra large format camera.
Photography
Finally there will be postings of the work produced from the ultra large format camera and the results from the different colour and black and white film processing over the coming months.
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