35mmc: Silent Auction for Charity

The 35mmc blog has been around 5 years since May 19th. So to celebrate, Hamish Gill is offering a silent auction of a 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 lens in champagne gold colour.  He will be accepting bids until the end of the month.  Highest bidder takes the lens.  See the site for details on how to bid. 

So what is special about this lens?  Hamish says in the blog note, that "this 7Artisans lens is a limited edition 1 of 10 champaign gold 50mm 1.1. There is now, and only ever will be 10 of these lenses – they are numbered."  Hamish also notes on his shop, "the 7Artisans 50mm F/1.1 is currently the lowest cost M-Mount lens on the market – which being as it is a 50mm f/1.1 lens is quite a remarkable feat."  There is a 35mmc review of this lens here.

The charities he will be donating to are the Disabled Photographers Society and a hostel local to him that runs a creative group.

As previously covered here, the 35mmc blog writes about 35mm compact film cameras.

Ilford: For the Love of Film

Ilford, makers of FP4+, HP5+, Delta films and more, has a magazine and story section.  On the 17th, they published a piece, For the Love of It All, by reformed analogue photographer Mike Basher.  Once a digital photographer, he sought out the pensive photography of silver halide film.

Includes some stunning B&W images.  Worth a read.

Article: Tetenal C-41 Chemistry

35mmc, the blog about compact 35mm cameras, has a guest article by Parallax Photographic on the Tetenal C-41 chemistry kit.  This kit is available in 1L and 2.5L sizes.  The 1L kit can process up to 12 to 16 rolls of 35mm film, depending on a number of factors. 

Tetenal kits are available from Parallax in the UK, in the US both Amazon and B&H sell C-41 kits in powder form, in Canada, buyfilm.ca sells the 1L and 2.5L kits in powder form and in Germany, MacoDirect.de sells the liquid chemistry kits.

Lomography has an earlier article on the E-6 kit, which seems harder to get.

Promo: Film Photography Project Monobath

The Film Photography Project has a special promo code for their recently released Monobath solution, monobath.  Just enter the code monobath in their shopping cart any time before May 15th for $4 off.  Regular price is $25 for a liter (about 4 35mm rolls).

The FPP Monobath is formulated to develop and fix your film simultaneously in around 3.5 minutes at room temperature with, as the name suggests, just one solution.  Using the FPP Permanent Archival Wash, a total of 2 minutes of rinsing will finish the task. 

Reputable sources have maintained that a monobath has advantages over the usual three step method, the most significant being ease of use.  Mastering the monobath technique is easy and satisfying, it’s great for beginners, travellers and those who like to experiment with different methods of developing B&W films.  The FPP project has carefully prepared a list of B&W films that are compatible with the product.

Monobaths are not new, but a well formulated monobath is a treasure, according to some sources.  Grant Haist, who passed away in 2015, was formerly a senior researcher with Kodak Labs for over 30 years and had written a seminal book, "Modern Photographic Processing," that has an entire section on monobaths.  If you can afford this book, then if you click the link provided, Ken Rockwell will receive a small stipend already included in the price of the book.  Better Ken than Amazon pocketing the tithe.

Covered previously, was the R3 Monobath by the New55 Project, which has since been updated to the R5 Monobath.

Article: Edwin Land Bio

This week would be Dr. Land's 109th birthday!  To celebrate, Polaroid Originals briefly details the story of Edwin Land from boyhood interest in light to the invention of the iconic integrated instant film.  Read the article at 10 Magical Moments in Edwin Land’s Life that Paved the Way for Polaroid Originals.  There is more to Dr. Land than meets the eye.

Silberra: Pan 100 and Pan 160 Release

Silberra broke radio silence for a brief note that they will be announcing the release of their IndieGoGo crowd-funded films, Pan 100 and Pan 160, later this week.  Back in February, they sent out Pan 200 and Ultima 200 films.

Your blogger backed this project and received the EI 200 speed films as promised.  Looking forward to some more interesting films now.

Ilford: HP5 vs. Delta Professional 400

Ilford likes to keep people informed about its products, film or chemistry, and how to use them.  Recently, Ilford released a post comparing HP5 and Delta Professional 400.  The post makes pains to mention the difference between the Core-Shell™ crystals in Delta film and Kodak T-grain - not the same!

The post goes on to list the virtues of HP5, good exposure latitude, ease of development and tolerance of processing variations.  Meanwhile, Delta 400 has ease of printing, a sharp, clean look, but perhaps more care in exposure and development is required.  Read on for more details.