Tag: medium format

$25,000 Holga

Nicolai Grossman 2 Comments

Holga-Cam of the Apocalypse by RoFi Mike.

Made without any cutting, the “Holga-Cam of the Apocalypse” is the product of my love for low-tech experimentation and obsession with cutting edge technology. There are more descriptions and photos of the camera itself in this set, and photos from the camera in the Holgapocalyptiphotos set.

The camera is built from:
1 – Holga 120N camera body (retail: $25)
1 – Phase One P25 Digital Back (retail: $24,000)
1 – Horseman lens board (thus the current name)
1 – Foot of Black Gaff Tape

…

You may ask yourself “why?” That is the wrong thing to ask.

Pictures taken with the camera are here.

Lex35/Vivitar T100 35mm crapcam lens on 9×12

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Flower pot by Bosse Blomqvist

Bosse Blomqvist pulled the lens off a Lex35 and put it on a 4×5 camera with a medium format 9x12cm back. Above is the somewhat surprising result: the coverage is far bigger than I’d have expected!

Bosse writes:

Had to check out how the magnificient Lex 35 would behave as a large format camera, or at least how the lens would perform when mounted on a view cam and using it to shoot a 9x12cm negative…

Continue reading in his Flickr photostream.

Adjustable height medium format scanner film holder

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BetterScanning.com, maker of the well-received "MF Film Holderä" medium format film holder for flatbed scanners, has just released an adjustable height version.

Why adjustable height? The focus of most flatbeds (the Epson Rs, anyway) is supposed to be set at 1mm above the glass for scanning transparencies, but in reality, the true focal point can be off by as much as 250% or more, which means that depending on your scanner, you can get blurry scans with Epson’s crappy stock film holders no matter what you do. "Variable Height Versions allow you to customize the film suspension height to best match your scanner’s particular optics for better focus. It is like adding a focus adjustment function to your scanner."

I had the pleasure of beta testing the dual channel model for Epson 4870 and 4990s, and the difference was substantial. First, it actually holds the film flat, unlike Epson’s holders; second, by following the simple calibration instructions, I discovered that the focus point of my scanner is at 1.8mm, not 1mm, and that my 4990 is capable of better scans with a properly adjusted Better Scanning holder than I was getting with the Epson holder.

I’m travelling right now and will post a detailed review when I get home, but the bottom line is that this is a well designed, well built, fairly priced holder that does what it says, and is sold by a company that stands behind its products. I’m buying the unit I was sent for testing—there’s no way I’m going back to Epson’s junk holder now—and I enthusiastically recommend it.

Check it out at BetterScanning.com