Playing with the 240mm El-Nikkor enlarger lens now. F45, 45 sec to 1 min 10 sec. The light changed fast as it set forcing me to stop making images. The last 2 images were fogged, not sure why, same exact problem 2 times. It was over 29C in the trailer, maybe that played a roll. The Silver or the Collodion might have been too hot. I had the developer cooled, in an electric cooler.
I will try to photograph daises with this lens again, possibly on 16x20.
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| Daisy's as Ambrotypes |
I have never used one of these fixer tank before . I kinda like them. They give you a quick, compact high. You get to see your latest attempt immediately. I m ight try to get a 16z20 version!
Today am trying to use a daylight and flash combo.
This exposure is 5-10 seconds with the 14 inch projection lens and a 400w flash shot (hooked up to a Jackery).
Coming along slowly. More firsts today. First 8x10 ambro portrait, first projection lens portrait, first time using the neck brace.
I hope this to be a main portrait lens.
Am working with the 14 inch projection lens for the first time. The amount of light this thing allows in is a bit staggering, I am not used to it. I usually shoot 1 min 30 seconds at f32 today in shade am shooting at 5 seconds at something like F2!!!!! Tough getting focus, when up close as well. The wind ain’t helping. More practise needed! Will try some portraits.
Learning about the great Canadian painter (Group of Seven) A.Y. Jackson. His commitment and love of art stands out as does his creativity and his devotion to the Canadian landscape.
I find his images beautiful and inspiring. I see his work as wet plate collodion possibilities. Jackson’s paintings inspire my own Canadian Ambrotype project AMBROTOS KANATA. If he did it in the 1910s, 20s,, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, why can’t I do it now?
Note* Book by Wayne Larsen, highly recommended.Well worth the cost.
Tonight I put some black filler putty on both sides of the lens board to stop light leaks. Then I set up 8x10 Deardorff with the 14 inch (355mm) projection lens for the first time. The lens is solidly held in place on the lens board by the tight metal hole with no light leaks because of the putty. A pretty cool thing considering there is no lens flange.
This projector lens should allow a ton of light in, so faster for wet plate exposures, and it creates a very shallow depth of field which is something I have been looking for in my wet plate portraiture. I love wet plate headshot portraits that have a very limited depth of focus.
I will use the lens to do some human portraits and some flower portraits in the coming days. Will also try it with the 16x20 and 20x24 cameras, maybe the coming 24x24, thou I doubt it will have coverage. This should be fun!!!!!
Note* Like this lens so much so far, I am looking to buy others at different focal lengths to play with. The nice thing besides performance with these lens is they are still very cheap ($1-$300 USD), not like the vintage brass lens which sometimes run into the 10s of thousands. This lens cost me $22 USD with $26 USD Shipping.
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| 14 Inch Projection Lens On My 8x10 Deardorff Camera, Eddy! |
Fallen Tree Landscape, clear Glass, Ambrotype, Near Drumheller,, Alberta, July 2023
The lens board for my 14 inch Charles Beseler EF Series III projection lens, bought a year or so ago, has arrived. I needed to file it slightly larger. Now it fits snugly around the lens. I still have to fill in the rough areas of the lens board hole with tape or some kind of putty to seal up some small light leaks.
I have no idea what this cheaper lens images will look like but I am willing to give it a try. My friend Kurt M in Italy recommended projection lens, now I will be able to play with my first. I am hoping they will be effective for portraiture. These projection lens do not have apertures, only the single large lens size hole. The lens should be very fast as lots of light is coming in through the glass, but I have no idea of its sharpness or depth of field/focus.
Hope the Ambrotypes look good! I can shoot it with the HF2024 and the Chamonix 16x20 and the new/used Chamonix 24x24. Doubt it will have the coverage for the HF3535.
If this lens works, I might get larger and smaller ones, they are still pretty cheap to purchase.
Crazy me. I bought another 20x24 cameras. This time its a Chamonix
24x24 wet plate camera. The cost is crazy-stupid Gerry expensive. I
figured if I was going all in on AMBROTOS KANATA, I might as well go ALL
IN!! With the RV, the Trailer, the HF3535 the Chamonix 16x20 and how
the Chamonix 24x24, I am definitely all in. Am throwing everything I got at this project. My heart, soul and my money.
Hopefully I can sell some of the 24x24 inch plates and make my money back eventually.
Cost New is $11350 USD
I
paid 7900 Euro, or about $8670 USD for a used camera. This price
includes shipping but not the the brokerage and taxes I will pay on my
end.
I got mine from Alex T in the Netherlands. He only used the camera 2 times and is 6 or 7 years old. Alex T is a high end responsible photography person with a good reputation. The camera does not have the spring back.
The package includes, the 24x24 camera, a 24x24 wet plate holder and 2 lensboards.
I
hope this is not a mistake but Chamonix are such beautiful cameras, I
love my 16x20. This camera will be a great tool, for many many years of
AMBROTOS KANATA shooting. Very worried today, so much money spent.
Alex is also making me a shipping case of some kind. A case that I might be able to use later when I store the camera for travelling in the darkroom trailer Freddy.
Gosh, I hope I did the right thing.
Note* The Tech data for the 20x24 Chamonix, my new/used 24x24 will be similar.
2024CF Convertible
Weight:14.8KG
Folded size：732mm X 692mm X 164mm
Max bellows draw:1,300mm (1,780mm with extension set）；Min bellows draw: 280mm
Rear standard swing: left 11°, right 11° , Rear tilt: 26°
Front rise: 170mm, front fall: 146mm Front shift: 52mm on each side
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| This is from the Chamonix website, not my camera. Mine is a 24x24 not a 20x24 and does not have the spring back. You need to remove the acrylic ground glass to place the holder on. A better system It think with large heavy wet plate holders. |
A big part of the AMBROTOS KANATA cross Canada Ambrotype project will be portraiture. I enjoy shooting landscapes with wet plate but my photographic heart has always been social documentary in nature, with portraits being a key.
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| Sally Man images made using the wet plate collodion process. |
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| Chuck Close head, the top images are Daguerreotypes. |
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| Ancient Egypt artist, a young queen, possibly Nefertiti |
"The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."
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| "FLYING SPRAY" Robert (Cozad) Henri 1865-1929 |
A nice keeper.
Forest Scene #3, AMBROTOS KANATA, 8x10 Clear Glass Ambrotype, Near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, July, 2023
