Category DIY

Die “Elmo Album” ist eine recht seltene Super 8 Kamera — und das ist schade, denn sie hat einige wirkliche Besonderheiten. Das besonderste (und zugleich heute irrelevanteste) ist wohl, dass sie zur Familie der “Agfa Family” Geräte gehört — ein System, das Elmo ja mitentwickelt hat. Was das bedeutet? Um es mit dem damaligen Werbeträger Karl Dall zu sagen: Die Kamera kann “Click und Surr”, also Filmen und auch Fotos machen. Drückt man die gelbe Taste oben auf der Kamera, wird nur ein Einzelbild belichtet. Des weiteren wir das Einzelbild in Perforationsnähe von einer roten LED markiert. Der Agfa Family Betrachter hält so an diesem Einzelbild für ein paar Sekunden an. Soweit ich weiss, ist die Elmo Album die einzige mit diesem System kompatible Kamera, auf der nicht “Agfa Family” steht.

Eine interessantere Besonderheit ist aber ihre Optik. Das sehr scharfe Fix-Focus-Objektiv (wunderbar falsch und irreführend übersetzt mit “Focus Free”, siehe Bilder) hat nicht nur eine große Lichtstärke von f/1.2, es ist mit seiner Brennweite von 4,6mm auch sehr weitwinklig; nahezu so weitwinklig wie eine Nizo mit montierter UWL. Nur eben viel kleiner, und ausserdem schärfer. Interessant ist, dass der wegklappbare Vorsatz kein Weitwinkelvorsatz, sondern ein Televorsatz ist.

Filmfreund Guy aus Luxemburg lief mit seiner Elmo Album (mit abgebautem Vorsatz, also immer weitwinklig) einige Jahre in Deidesheim über die Börse und dokumentierte das dortige Geschehen. Leider habe ich seine Filme nie gesehen, aber seine Begeisterung für diese kleine Allround-Kamera noch deutlich im Ohr. Trotz Suchauftrag über viele Jahre ist mir bei ebay bis heute nicht eine einzige dieser Kameras begegnet. Auch in Deidesheim habe ich nie eine zum Verkauf gesehen. Nachdem ich diesen Missstand im Forum neulich beklagte, kontaktierte mich ein freundlicher, sammelnder, und leiser Mitforent und bot mir eine Elmo Album zum Kauf an — zu einem ausgesprochenen Freundschaftspreis!

Da beim zum Verkauf angedachten Modell aber die Batteriefachverriegelung fehlte, legte er sogar noch eine zweite, identische Kamera obendrauf — in dieser waren allerdings Batterien ausgelaufen (und steckten auch noch drin), dafür war die Batteriefachverriegelung noch in Takt.

Nach einem temporären Klebeband-Fix und einem erfolgreichen Testeinsatz bei der Filmbörse 2019 in Deidesheim machte ich mich an die Reparatur. Glücklicherweise gelang es mir, beide Kamera wieder voll funktionsfähig zu machen. Hier nun die Dokumentation der erfolgreichen OP!

Perhaps others here also know the chronic problem of too-dark b&w reversal films. At least for me, b&w reversal films turn out much more often too dark than too bright. This happens especially in the case of expired films or obscure russian film stock etc., as well as in the case of negligence in development or lack of potassium rhodanide additive.

Often you just have a basic fog (so, bad Dmin) … There are many reasons.

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In 1978, so more than 40 years ago, the photochemistry legend Patrick D. Dignan published a highly interesting script with the title
“How to Compound … Simplified Color Processing Formulas.“

Unfortunately, this script is extremely hard to find, and the Dignan family has no further copies either.
Darkroom mate Adrian C. from England was so nice and scanned his copy, Filmkorn now makes it available as a searchable PDF download!

The document is very interesting. While it does not list the exact formulas of the original processes, they would be very difficult to recreate. Rather, it offers a variety of simplified and tried-and-tested alternative processes with often startlingly good (or even indistinguishable) results.

The collection includes recipes for alternatives to the C-41, C-22, E-6, E-4, E3, Agfachrome and some paper processes (including a developer for Cibachrome!).

Great reading, and a printout shouldn’t be missing in any ambitious lab. You can learn a lot here.

Fresh from the scanner: The complete repair manual for the Nikon R10 as a searchable PDF. In large parts, of course, also valid for the R8.

Enjoy reading and tinkering. The Nikon R10 is not an easy patient, but worth every effort!

Those who splice their film with tape know the air bubbles that occasionally gather under the adhesive film. From Würker (and later Wittner) there was the practical tape roller with which this air could be removed. Splices processed in this way are less visible and audible.

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For some time now, one of my cameras piling up is a Agfa Microflex 100, which seems to be still working flawlessly. At the very least, test shots with expired, self-developed Moviechrome film have yielded impeccable results.

The Microflex with its metal case is very well made and with its small dimensions an ideal pocket camera to follow you anywhere. I was really eager to use it with up-to-date colour reversal material with 100 ASA sensitivity and daylight sensitization, but the Agfa Microflex 100 is only designed for use with 40 ASA tungsten films – the standard film material at the time:

The film sensitivity is fixed at 40 ASA, a sensor is missing in the cassette compartment for sensitivity detection or even the possibility of manual setting of film sensitivity.

Exposure measurement of the Microflex 100 is not happening through the lens but by an external exposure meter placed above the lens. I took advantage of this circumstance in order to be able to correctly expose 100 ASA films: By using a neutral density filter with a factor of 2 (ND2) in front of the lens, the amount of light entering is reduced by 50%, which corresponds to the use of a film with 50 ASA instead of 100 ASA. This comes close enough to the camera-based sensitivity of 40 ASA to be able to expect correctly exposed shots.

However, the camera lens does not have a filter thread and due to the focus adjustment design, there is also no way to use a snap-on filter.

I helped myself with a 35.5 mm (1.4″) diameter filter, which gets mounted reversed (flipped) on the lens and is fixed with tape, in such a way that the sharpness setting is still possible without hindrance.

Now it was still necessary to outsmart the fixed “artificial light mode” of the camera and to pan out the daylight filter. The Microflex 100 also lacks a switch available for most other cameras. The filter can only be disabled in a cumbersome way if a contact is pressed at the bottom of the tripod thread with a sufficiently long screw. Appropriate screws are available in various versions in the online photo accessories stores.

Warning: The usual tripod filter screws are too short and do not disable the daylight filter reliably!

 

 

 

The first Fuji Provie meanwhile ran amazingly smoothly through this modded Agfa Microflex 100, without the film jamming not uncommon to this film stock. After the development of the film by Frank Bruinsma, it will become clear whether these measures have had the desired effect.

The hoses of the Lomo tanks often become brittle over time or have kinks that remain. Unfortunately, the hoses of all Lomo tanks do not have a standard measure, so replacement is often unsatisfactory. Although 0.5″ garden hoses can somehow be made attached to the smaller tanks, those are far too stiff and make a controlled outpouring of chemistry difficult.

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Anyone developing color films is faced with the challenge of tempering chemistry as accurately as possible to the required temperature, usually 38°C (100.4 F). While chemistry bottles can be tempered quite easily with a sous vide precision cooker or a lab bain-marie, the Lomo tank itself cools down considerably during processing.

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Various special lenses for 35 mm reflex cameras were offered “at the time” to photograph Super 8 individual images.

With these special macro lenses, the format-filling reproduction of Super 8- and/or 16 mm individual images on 35 mm film was possible. The connection is made via T2 thread adapters to the different camera mounts.

I like to use individual images from Super 8 movies for handouts or movie covers. For editing on the computer with the usual image or layout programs, the analog 35 mm negative or slide is of course suboptimal.

However, when using these lenses on digital cameras with interchangeable lens mounts, there is the following problem: Only with expensive cameras with a full-format sensor, which corresponds in size to the 35 mm format, the film frame is completely captured. For all other digital cameras, only a cut-out magnification of the individual film image is possible with these lenses.

Also, these lenses are quite slow and require strong daylight for reasonably short exposure times.

I was therefore looking for a way to digitally photograph film frames or film strips with a sufficient quality for these purposes, or to be able to publish them on the Internet in a quick and easy way.

As a diehard analog photographer and filmmaker, I don’t own a “decent” digital camera. For a double-digit euro amount, I got the camera body of a slightly older digital SLR camera. In my case, this was a Nikon D100 — Nikon because my T2 adapter is intended for Nikon bayonet.

As a reproduction lens, I use a Hama slide duplicator with zoom magnification option, also available cheaply on the Internet. This duplicator was originally intended to make partial enlargements of 35 mm slides or negatives.

 

An old Meopta enlarger serves as a repro tripod. For this, there used to be a special “repro arm” as accessory, which was screwed on instead of the magnifying head and to which the camera is attached.

 

As a light desk, I use a new but cheap model from “Dörr”.

Due to the magnifying factor of the duplicator together with the crop factor of the digital camera sensor, in theory, approximately format-filling images of Super 8 individual images are now possible.

Theoretically, because my “trial” setup shows a rather noticeable hot spot as of a zoom factor of about 1.6.

So I leave it with photographed film strips with an magnification to up to three Super 8 single images. It is precisely this series of individual frames in connection with the visible film perforation and possibly edge marks that also express the special aesthetics of the small format film in the still image. This representation seems, in a way, “authentic.”

Resolution is sufficient for publication on the Internet or for use for Handouts/Covers. For good enlargements in photo size, this combination of devices is not quite good enough. Here are a few more examples:

 

I opened my first cartridge in daylight with a saw…

Everybody developing Super 8 films on their own sooner or later faces the task of opening the Super 8 cartridge to get the film into the development tank. The latter goes with some practice, the Lomo tank and a turntable in less than 30 seconds. When opening cartridges, opinions differ: Some break the ratchet inside the cartridge by a counterclockwise 360° turn and then pull the film out of the cartridge. Others, (to which I belong) open the cartridge and take the film wind out all over, and load it into the Lomo reel.

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