Re: [Leica] Black and White Film//Nachtwey//Rapidwinder

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/1/00 7:28:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time, MTomalty@aol.com 
writes:
<< Hi Guys/Gals
> Anyone willing to share any preferences on a really nice Black and White 
film
> and Developer combo.
>I've been a commercial/stock shooter for many years and have been shooting
> almost exclusively in color.For personal work of late I'm shooting more and
> more in B & W but I find something 'lacking',especially since I'm using 
M6's 
> and  feel I'm not getting the full potential out of them.
>I'm currently using TMax 100/400 and they are being developed by pro lab
> here in Montreal-I believe they are using D-76??
>  To add my 2 cents to the discussion on photographer ethics/donations I 
think
> that just by being whereever they happen to be working is donation enough>.
> To be able to go into,at times, horrific situations and come away with 
strong
> images that can be used to bring attention to the situation borders on
> the heroic. It's not as if these people are on a cruise! As to the question 
of
> whether these individuals donate a portion of proceeds to charity I know for
> a fact (possibly excluding the extremely small elite crowd such as 
> Salgado,etc)  that the vast majority of these photogs barely earn enough to 
>survive,let  alone  donate. 
> And finally,can someone inform me as to whether I need to transfer over
> the 'basket' from an M6 baseplate to the Rapidwinder.
>Thanks everyone
> Mark
 >>
Mark, there are innumerable combinations of film and developer to work with. 
Some are as classic as the M-camera itself. Tri-X in D-76 1:1 for 10 minutes 
at 68F works all the time and has become a standard. It is not the finest 
grain nor is it the longest tonal range, but somehow it can do everything 
quite well. The newer "thin" emulsion films like Tmax 400/ Delta 400/ APX 400 
etc. are great films but I feel that they are intended for more controlled 
situations. The Tmax films are very good in studio or controlled light 
situations, but lacks the flexibility of the Tri-X for street shooting or 
variable light situation type of shots. Over the years I have experimented 
with just about every combination of film and developer and there are some 
great ones, but often they are unavailable in " store-bought" form and you 
have to mix everything yourself. It is not nuclear science by any means, but 
it requires a bit of time and foul-ups to establish what works where and 
when. When in doubt I go back to Tri-X and D-76 (or occasionally Rodinal 
1:100/20 minutes, works with just about every film there is!). 
 Right now my developer of choice is a 40's Pyrocatechol developer by 
Windish. It was an evolved to make full use of some of the Adox  thin 
emulsion/slow films (KB-14/KB17). I have been trying it out with FP-4+/Delta 
100 and T-max 100. Good, long tonal range but a bit rough grain. For those 
slower films my current favourite is Crawley's FX-37, very sharp and with a 
great tonality. Works well with Tri-X too, better shadow details than any 
other developer I have tried and still hold the highlights in a printable 
shape. Grain is somewhat distinct, to put it mildly. Up to 8x10 it looks 
great, but at 11x14 and beyond, it is rough! The Kodak Xtol is a nice 
developer, but I had problems with it. Some of the packages I got had lower 
activity than others, with rather gloomy results on the film. It is also a 
bit "boring", there is no edge to the film, it is a bit mushy in my 
estimation. Grain is very fine and smooth, but acutance is not very 
pronounced and why shoot with those nifty Leica lenses and have no
 "zap" to the prints. I would recommend Tri-X/D-76 as an initial test and 
maybe try out the Tri-X/Xtol combination too and see which comes closer to 
what you want to have. It also depends one your printing style as well as 
your choice of paper developer and paper.
 As for using the basket on the Rapidwinder! Well, some do and some don't. 
Over the last 13 years I haven't bothered with it and so far I haven't found 
any problems related to not using it. Occasionally users feel that the basket 
secures the film in the "tulip"leaves in the M6. I am not so sure that it is 
the best way to load. Modern films are thinner, slipperier and far more 
flexible than the older styles. This can cause the film to slip through the 
tulip-leaves and not advance. I always make sure that the film is riding 
properly on the sprocket and by "kinking" the last 3-4 mm of the film before 
it is slid into the tulip of the M6, it grabs it securely. It is rare that a 
film does not advance properly (I ALWAYS check that the rewind knob rotates 
before closing up the camera). The M camera is very quick to load and reload. 
I can probably unload and reload a M6 in 15-20 seconds and be secure that the 
film moves through the camera, as it should. I do have a long training as I 
probably do this 30-50 times a day in the workshop. Every Rapidwinder is 
cycled through 4-5 rolls of test-film in the shop and then another couple of 
rolls at home before being shipped. I use outdated Tech-Pan in reloadable 
cassettes, the felt-traps are kinked tight to induce friction as this can 
reveal problems with drives or lever-assemblies.
Leicas are easy to use. Buy film, load film, shoot film, develop film and 
marvel at those negs!
All the best,
Tom A
Tom Abrahamsson
Vancouver, BC
www.rapidwinder.com