A couple of days ago I shot a roll of 400TX 35mm. Camera-wise, I'm in clover: I was using the Canon AE-1, which is a jewel of a camera. I'm still working on the problem of modern, artificial light sources. Apart from that, I got beautiful and consistent exposures. I was able to determine that my old Gossen Scout 2 must be set to ASA/ISO 50 instead of 400 (three stops slower) when using an LED light source.
Apparently you can't buy incandescent tungsten lightbulbs anymore--at least I didn't find any in the supermarket. I did find bulbs that have some kind of filament, but it's not the tungsten that we were used to (and that my selenium-cell light meter requires for accurate indoor readings). I took several shots with a 25W version of this type of bulb. Here is an example:
It's an improvement over LED light, but still insufficient. Shot at 1/8 sec, f4. The shadow over my shoulder is from the main light, and the shadow cast by my chin is from a mercury-vapor spiral overhead.
I also found a 65W indoor floodlight (used for recessed lighting). I'll try that when I test the Canon EOS Rebel 2000 (next instalment).
Apart from artificial lighting problems, I got excellent and consistent exposures with the AE-1. Here are some examples:
All of these shots were scanned using the Wolverine F2D, which gives only 1800 dpi. I still want to get a better film scanner, and I've picked out a good one that will also allow me to shoot with the Mamiya C33 Professional. But if I'm going to carry that beast around with me, I may need to start working out.
(to be continued)
Text and images Copyright © 2022 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
