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  #11  
Old 13th December 2020, 08:23 AM
MikeHeller MikeHeller is offline
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Originally Posted by John King View Post
Actually most of them are rented, not owned by the driver. Still it takes a large wedge of cash to splash out for a couple of weeks driving what in some cases amounts to a HGV with beds!

I had first hand experience of how incompetent some of the drivers were last September when I was up in Sutherland. Narrow roads, limited overtaking places and steep hills. There was a lot of head shaking by other car drivers.
Not Nikon F6s?

I had to go back to the post referred to to check!

Mike
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  #12  
Old 15th December 2020, 07:04 AM
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Bob Bob is offline
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From the way Ilford is marketing its films (heavily using social media) I think the bulk of increased sales are into the sub-30's market. As Mike says, in addition to using good quality film from Ilford and Kodak etc, there is a big trend there to use obscure films made from cine stock or cheaply made film of, shall we say, variable quality - even film that has been pre-exposed with a pattern (no, I have no idea why either ).

Darkroom work however does appear to be primarily the domain of the over 50's (which is a great shame of course) - the time and space required does not suit the younger crowd.

As with others, I am left wondering if this increased use over the last few years is sustainable. Fingers crossed.

Last edited by Bob; 17th December 2020 at 10:14 PM.
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  #13  
Old 15th December 2020, 08:29 AM
John King John King is offline
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Default Darkrooms

To go along with Bob's last post, could it not be possible that with the massive drop in the use of darkrooms could be down to a generation loss of people who used to use them but will not/can not resurrect them for a number of reasons. Principally the lack of knowledge and skills.

Can I ask where members of this forum first wet their fingers in a developing dish? Mine was after joining a photographic club in the North East of England. There was no choice, digital was not even heard of. Since than some of the clubs were in decline and with the advent of easier printing around the 1980's they started to blossom again. BUT! the skills learned over many years and passed on to new users was gradually lost.

I was a member of probably the largest Society in County Durham until about 4 years ago. I left only because of outside influences! They could list about 150 members on the books, but I was the only one who still used a darkroom! There was one other who developed his films but scanned them and digitally printed his results. We used to call ourselves the 'Lepper Colony'.
It was also apparent that the club competitions had also changed but the standards of judges had plummeted. The new generation of judges' standards were appalling and they would not know a good well composed print or projected image if it came and bit them on the backside. Photoshop was the new God and the skills developed over many years in a darkroom was an unknown black hole (no pun intended).

Most senior schools used to have a darkroom and they were well used but in the area where I live there isn't one. Even the group within Durham University where I spent a while mentoring those interested has folded. (nothing to do with the virus).

Compare this with the skills used in heavy engineering, metal working, ship building they are have gone over to use of a computer to design and fabricate essential parts. Then look at the Railway Heritage groups, most of their workforce who repair and in some case build new stock are all time served and skilled engineers but all have one thing in common - they are getting older and once they are gone where do they turn to so they can carry on.
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  #14  
Old 15th December 2020, 04:10 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Looking at all I am reading and hearing about Nikon I am not surprised that the F6 is gone, Nikon themselves seem to be in dire straits, and might themselves be gone in the not to distant future, it seems not so may people want DSLR's these days as Camera phones are the most used cameras
Richard
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  #15  
Old 15th December 2020, 05:21 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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John, it was a college darkroom at Leamington Spa in Jan 2003 so I may be the oldest but most recent darkroom user here on FADU

It was a nightschool 10 week evening course on one night a week. I had recently tried b&w film and wanted to see what processing and printing was about.

I was hooked. Shortly thereafter I bought a load of gear from a younger work colleague who had had a recent addition to the family and needed the space and money

I had enough of both and converted a spare small bedroom to my current darkroom.

Mike
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  #16  
Old 15th December 2020, 05:41 PM
Terry S Terry S is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John King View Post
Can I ask where members of this forum first wet their fingers in a developing dish? Mine was after joining a photographic club in the North East of England. There was no choice, digital was not even heard of.
I got the bug, after buying and reading a thin paperback book about darkroom work in 1974, whilst on holiday, aged 13, in Great Yarmouth, with my mum and dad and brothers. I didn't even have a camera of any kind at the time even! Once home, I started using a 126 cartridge film camera that my mum had used in the past, but had then been put at the back of a kitchen cupboard, for many years.

I got a variety of part-time jobs,which enabled me to buy a Zenith suitcase 35mm enlarger. Other darkroom and studio bits, I drooled over at the town centre camera store. But unable to afford even basic Paterson developing trays, substitutes were often had, with three round flowerpot drip trays being bought instead. An electric fire 'coal effect' red bulb was used as a safe-light and surprisingly didn't start to fog paper for quite a while, until the red coating started to peel.

I got a Zenith camera from my mum and dad for a birthday and I clubbed together a wooden homemade studio lamp.

I soon discovered an evening course about darkroom work and then started making my own developers. Not long after, I started helping out a local photographer at weddings, where we used a 120 Rollei and took no more than 3 rolls of 12 exposures per wedding!

With small gaps here and there, over the years, I still prefer to get into the darkroom, rather than sitting at the computer for longer than I need to, processing pictures.

I've lots of other interests, but photography, especially b/w, is my main one and will continue to be so.

Terry S
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  #17  
Old 15th December 2020, 06:06 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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I was 9, it was around 1959, and my Uncle was a very keen black and white photographer, he had a Kodak 6 by 9, I can't remember what model, except it was a folder, and he had a darkroom set up in his attic, I got the bug from him, and had recently been given a Brownie Starmite, with a built in flash, a marvel to my 9 year old eyes, it took 127 film, and I took soe Tri x, he taught me how to develop the film, then next saturday he started teaching me the art of enlarging, I had already tried some contact's using a Johnsons of Hendon contact printing kit, what a marvel was a half plate print on Kodak Royal Bromesko printing paper, and once the bug bit I have been a darkroom worker ever since
Richard
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  #18  
Old 15th December 2020, 08:08 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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It’s a sad day when we learn that Nikon is no longer making film cameras.
I know that different camera styles, and brands appeal to different people, but I have to say that, for 35mm photography, you would be hard pushed to beat one of the professional Nikon SLRs. I use F2 and F3 models, and have used an F in the past. They are a pleasure to work with as, I’m sure, are the later autofocus models. Fortunately, their build quality is such that they are likely to remain usable well into the future.
Alex.


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  #19  
Old 16th December 2020, 12:21 PM
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MKCarberry MKCarberry is offline
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I first dabbled in developing in school........7th grade (12 years old) I believe. My uncle had given (still have it) me a Hanimex and a couple lenses. We had a darkroom in school. A teacher learned of my interest and showed me the basics.
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  #20  
Old 16th December 2020, 02:34 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Longevity of film SLR's

I will go along with the F2 being possibly the most rugged SLR ever made. So long as there are skilled technicians who can repair them they will continue to be usable.

There is one, a guy called Sover Wong who lives in UK is even making new exposure meter parts which was the usual reason why F2's sometimes were ignored.

His fully equipped workshop has all the specialised Nikon tools to do a task without a 'bodge.

His website is well worth a look - especially the part where he has had to repair 'repairs' made by people with about as much technical expertise as a gorilla.

https://soverf2repair.webs.com/

Last edited by John King; 16th December 2020 at 02:37 PM.
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