I just started a new discussion on the Facebook Figital Revolution page- 1 Film for Life:
http://www.facebook.com/figitalrevolution
Given the current rate of films being retired this may be a good conversation to start… post not only what you like but WHY you like it.
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
PS- if you have not joined our Facebook page do it now – more voices supporting film is a good thing!
I’ve always been interested in the processes of resurrecting old cameras with new coverings… So when I discovered that www.cameraleather.com was here in Vermont and I had my new Cuboid camera just waiting for some luxurious material to cover its 4 sides I had to make the move. The Lizard skin I chose (yes!) is very durable, feels great and best of all helps keep this all-metal camera from getting too cold to hold in our Vermont climate…
The application process is very easy: the material has an adhesive backing and I found the detailed instructions provided on Camera Leather’s web site very helpful. The selection of materials available on their site is diverse and they offer coverings for many, many cameras… the Cuboid of course was a custom job.
One word of caution- Camera Leather is not flawless when it comes to returning phone messages, email questions, etc… so don’t hesitate in sending more than one email.
Am I glad to have it now though? Dude- check it out!
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
For more information on the Cuboid Camera please visit: www.thecuboid.com
Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the highly aclaimed book: Eat, Pray, Love. As a totally tortured artist myself, I found this video very interesting and thought provoking.
So what is TED?
TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year’s TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.
Here is an interesting side by side… shot within a few minutes of each other. The BW400CN is an EI of 200 (this film in my Caffenol C process has a very usable EI range from 50-800). The Fuji Acros is an EI of 100 (box speed… depending on processing time the Acros has a usable EI from 50-800). Both can go further in either direction but this range is the real sweet spot. The crops represent a 4″ x 4″ from a 20″ x 20″ image size… yes the BW400CN has more grain but it is much sharper and I am not sure the grain would even print at the 20″ x 20″ size. Both films have fantastic reciprocity characteristics with no adjustment required until 120 sec.
When you hover over the image it will give the description of the thumbnail.
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
As you know I’ve been doing a lot of testing with Caffenol C in preparation for my book The Photographer’s Coffee Break but this morning I needed to run a quick test with Caffenol (no C) and Kodak 400TX… the results are really nice. With the Caffenol you get a usable film speed around 100 with nice contrast and grain… what’s not to like? Additionally, I have been spending time testing different methods to eliminate edge density which is very common on Caffenol and Caffenol C processed films- this morning I think I nailed it… more testing this afternoon but this image had no edge density which my previous tests with this film and others did have.
Stay tuned…
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
Click on the audioblog logo to listen to a 3 minute address from the Leader of the Figital Revolution Stephen Schaub.
The Official Caffenol and Caffenol C Page here on Figital Revolution is now live! Over the next few months this page will provide updates on the status of The Photographer’s Coffee Break, the book, as well as provide links to interesting articles and images using the Caffenol process elsewhere on the web.
The official web address is easy…. www.caffenol.com or www.caffenolc.com
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
Found this while surfing the web… for the best quality click 480p…
Created by The National Film & Television School in the UK, during a partnership with Kodak to address Film versus Digital. (credits – DOP: Brian Tufano, BSC, Directed by John Lee, Produced by Claus Richter, Written by John Lee, David Liddell and Chris Moon)
I just finished tweaking the Acros in Caffenol C and yes an EI of 1600 is very possible, as the sample image below shows… 3200 is just a tad past my liking but for some shots it would be usable. Click on both images to see a larger view.
The dark barn boards above the windows were placed at Zone 3… they were EV 0. The detail outside the window fell on Zone 14. The detail image below is a 3″ x 3″ crop from a 20″ x 20″ print… pretty impressive.
My metering technique for these images is a stripped-down Zone approach that will be outlined in some detail in my next book The Photographers Coffee Break … I feel it fits the Caffenol C process quite well.
The image below is a 4″ x 4″ crop from a 20″ x 20″ file of Fuji Acros processed in my tweaked Caffenol C at EI 800!
The best range for the Acros in Caffenol C is around EI 100 – 400 but it is nice to know that 800 and beyond is also possible with nice grain and tonality.
Viva la Revolution-
Stephen
Figital Revolution 