Having acquired my
Intrepid Mk3 4x5 camera I was keen to try it out. I assembled it and took it out to the local RSPB Reserve at Fen Drayton. My objective was to give the camera a decent workout, try out the 6x9 roll film holder, test out a 90mm Mamiya Press camera lens as well.
The results were a mixed bag of good and bad, some joy and frustration. It didn't help I was recovering from a trip to Asia and a cold as well. I started out tired and frustrated but ended up immersed in the joy of photography with large format.
For film I only loaded on film holder with Ilford FP4+. I had
recently done some calibration of my development and exposure along the lines of the zone system and wanted to see a real result. So I had two 4x5 images to experiment with. I also brought along my MPP 6x9 roll film holder back to try on the Intrepid. The Mk3 supports a universal back which is different from the prior version of the camera. This would give me 8 exposures again of Ilford FP4+. All film I exposed at my new ASA of 80 (vs 125 box speed). 10 exposures of Large Format would take plenty of time.
The day was cool and overcast spitting a little rain. It gradually improved to partly cloudy by the time I left.
For my 4x5 images I used one image with my 210mm lens and the other with the 90mm Mamiya Press camera lens to see its coverage. It is meant to cover 6x9 but I wanted to see how restricted it was. The image I took with the 210mm lens was ruined when I removed it from the developing tube and tor the emulsion. This is the second time this has happened. I need to be more careful or find another remedy. I fixed the image in Photoshop for this posting.
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| 210mm lens |
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| 90mm Mamiya Press camera lens (Yes those are my fingers in the way) |
Good results for a test I thought. The 90mm lens is very obscured due to the small image circle. There is not a cable release socket for the lens so I had to use my hand and as a result did not pay sufficient attention to where my fingers were. No light leaks and good exposures though.
Next are various images on the 6x9 film back. Everything performed flawlessly. The film back is slow and frustrating. Removing the ground glass holder and replacing it makes a slow process slower. Still once I got used to it I managed to integrate it into my routine. The camera itself was difficult. Partly due to first time use but also because it does not adjust smoothly or accurately.
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| Probably my favorite of the lot. Very close up on the shore 210mm. (6x9) |
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| Swans 210mm (6x9) |
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| 80mm (6x9) |
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| 210mm (6x9) |
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| 80mm (6x9) |
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| 150mm (6x9) |
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| Silver Birch 150mm |
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| The same tree earlier in the year taken with the Fuji 690 GSWiii (65 mm). |
I finally got around to making a print from this day's work. I didn't use my 4x5 enlarger as it is not in a light tight environment so I can only use it at night right now. I setup the first 6x9 negative on my Meopta 6x6 workhorse enlarger and make a 6x6 crop on 8x10 Kentmere VC paper. I always do split contrast printing and was gratified to get a good print on the second try at 16 seconds on each #00 filter and #5 filter at f11. This usually indicates balanced negative not too contrasty.
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