Tuesday 25 March 2014

Take Your Box Camera To Play Day 2014

Lumière Scout Box with Ilford FP4 Plus
In a spirit of inclusiveness, Flickr member art y fotos suggested a 'Take Your Box Camera To Play Day' for those either fortunate - or unfortunate - not to have to go to work and take part in the 'Take Your Box Camera To Work Day'. It was also suggested that it should be a weekend, Saturday and Sunday 22nd and 23rd of March. Again I used my Lumière Scout Box, with two slower speed rolls as the weather was forecast to be fine and bright, Ilford FP4 Plus (with an expiry date April 2009), and a roll of Rollei RPX 100. Both rolls of film were developed in Ilfotec LC29, diluted 1:19, 10 minutes at 19ºC to provide a push of around one stop.

Lumière Scout Box with Ilford FP4 Plus
Lumière Scout Box with Ilford FP4 Plus
The FP4 Plus provided the best results, although as the roll progresses there is a problem with film flatness, which can be seen in the image above where the roof line lightly undulates. A yellow filter might have enhanced the tonal modelling in the skies. The roll of RPX 100 has suffered from the emulsion reacting to the printing on the film's backing paper, with the numbering just visible in the sky of the photograph below. Although I haven't experienced this with Rollei RPX films before, it is a manufacturing problem which has sometimes affected batches of medium format films, which, anecdotally, appears to be confined to the cheaper end of the market (I have never found this happen to Ilford films for example, even those decades old, like the FP4 used for some of the 127 Days).

Lumière Scout Box with Rollei RPX 100
Lumière Scout Box with Rollei RPX 100
Lumière Scout Box with Rollei RPX 100
See all the photographs in the Take Your Box Camera To Work Day group pool.

2 comments:

  1. I shot a roll of old FP4 15 years out of date and I could read every number of the backing paper. Possibly this roll might have been stored in extremes of heat and cold. On the other hand I shot a roll of 1966 Kodak Verichrome Pan with a 1966 develop before date and apart from a slight texture to the image, it was just fine, processed in Kodak HC110. Is it to do with the quality of the backing paper perhaps?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think it must be due to the quality of the printing on the backing paper - as this sometimes happens with new film - and the conditions of storage. I've never personally had it happen with Ilford roll films - several rolls of FP4 I've used from the 1970s have all been fine. The RPX 100 was a couple of years within date. I've had both good and bad results from Verichrome Pan, but when it's good, it's a nice film to use.

      Delete