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The Pracktica MTL3 with pinhole lens attached.
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A couple of days ago I made yet another pinhole shim for the Pracktica MTL3 35mm SLR. As you may recall, I love the look of the pinhole on the Micropress 4" x 5" but was a little worried about making a full essay with the reliance on one camera.
During a brainstorm I realised I had the MTL3 spare and could convert that to a pinhole. That way, I could use the 4" x 5" to make the critical images that I have planned for the essay and carry the MTL3 in case I come accross something I hadn't considered. In addition to this the MTL3 can carry 36 exposures in one roll and I can carry several rolls in my pocket at once! Whereas the 4" x 5" has two shots in the dark slide and carrying several dark slides around may get to be hard work.
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Pinhole shot taken with previous
pinhole shim. Lacks a little definition.
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I'm happy with the 4" x 5". In terms of quality the images are fantastic. In fact to say there isn't any real lens on the camera they are well beyond what I expected.
The 35mm, I have struggled with. I wasn't getting anywhere near the image quality that I wanted. I didn't mind too much that the images we very impressionist in their appearence but what I did want to see was a little more detail. I didn't want the images to be too blurry. I wanted them to have just enough definition. The new shim gives me the level if detail that I was after.
Looking at the lens you wouldn't even think there was a hole there. It is tiny. In fact it is the diameter of the tip of a sewing needle. But it's working.
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Pinhole lens version. Note the less blurry look to
the pavilion shot.
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Image taken with 50mm lens
attached to camera.
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The other day, I put a roll of Ilford FP4+ in the camera and took it out and I am happy with the results. There is now quite a bit of definition in the images and I really don't think I need to go any sharper with this. This will do nicely.
Next thing to sort out is which film. Do I stay with my favourite black & white film, FP4+ or do I try something else. In the coming weeks I will be ordering some film to take on holiday with me. I might have to order a range of films to see which I like best.
For now though it's time to leave Lancoast alone for a while. I have my cameras set up, I know what I'm doing with film and by the time I get back from holiday it will down to the business of shooting the essay.
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Image taken with 50mm
lens attached.
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Pinhole lens version. Note
detail in the grass and on
the bridge.
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* Click the images to see larger version.
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