In the last instalment of this series, I wrote about developing a couple of rolls of decades-old color film in black-and-white chemistry. I had no particular problem with the Kodak Gold 200, which was actually the older of the two rolls. But I hated the Fujicolor Super HQ 200, which was badly fogged from some kind of radiation anyway. The Super HQ had a tight curl that made it hard to get it into the developing tank, and was still a problem when hanging to dry and later for storage. I don't know whether Super HQ was always this way or it happened due to the long time in the camera. I have only experienced this once before (I don't do C-41 processing, by the way), and it was with some cheap, Chinese b&w film. I know, you get what you pay for--and I paid nothing for those two rolls of film that were left in vintage cameras. I will never knowingly buy film that has this problem.
As you may be able to tell from the photo above, my favorite film is Tri-X. The other day I went in to my local camera shop, and asked the owner for a roll of 120 Tri-X. He had showed me that he had it just a month or two ago. But all he has now is T-Max. He explained that, as film sales wind down (for him, at least) he can only stock one or the other, and he chose to stock the one that I would not have preferred.
I have several reasons for preferring Tri-X. I realize that T-Max has finer grain, but it also has less exposure latitude. But there are two things about T-Max that I really don't like: its propensity for water-spotting, and its tendency to be like flypaper for any dust in the air while it's drying. I know, Kodak recommends using Photo-Flo, but it's nasty stuff, and I would prefer not to have to use it.
The other thing I want to talk about in this instalment is medium-format, and my venerable Mamiya C33 Professional. There is a reason why I kept it when we moved to South America at the beginning of 2013. There is also a reason why I brought it back, although it added 4.4 lbs. to my luggage. You don't want this beast hanging around your neck, but it produces better images than any other camera I own or have ever owned.
My camera, the C33, is the heaviest one in the Mamiya C family, at 4.4 lbs. (9.68 kg) with normal 80mm lens attached. It was introduced in 1965, and replaced in 1969 by the C330. The two cameras are very similar, though the C33 is a bit heavier. The C33 was the first to cock all lenses automatically (by a half-turn backstroke of the winding crank). It can also use 220 film, with a separate back. The 1:2.8, f = 80mm normal lens is sharp as a tack, and among the best I have ever used on any camera.
I did not remember having left any film in this camera, but indeed I did, still on "frame zero," which is no frame at all, and with the shutter uncocked. That was back in 2012. I used that ten-year-old film yesterday to make some test shots (see photo below), partly to re-familiarize myself with the camera. I can't tell you the brand of the film, which has black backing paper with no manufacturer's name on it. Where the leader is to be folded it says "hier falten," but that does not necessarily mean that the film is German; it may be the Chinese stuff that I didn't like. The ASA/ISO is 100, and I shot the whole roll at that nominal speed, giving it a half-stop extra exposure when in doubt. I'll also extend the developing time a bit, to compensate for the film's age.
The Naked Photographer, making test shots with the Mamiya C33 Professional.
I'll develop that film later today, and report on the results in the next instalment.
(to be continued)
Text and images (except book cover) Copyright © 2022 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
