Re: interesting large format article

Hi Jon, I use the Fidelity in the 8 by 10 size all the time- no problems
yet.
What problems are you getting?
Susan
www.susanhuber.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Danforth" <jdanforth@sc.rr.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 4:27 AM
Subject: Re: interesting large format article

> Thanks for posting this, Thom.
>
> In regards to film flatness, has anyone found problems with Fidelity
holders
> and film flatness in either 4x5 or 8x10 sizes? In my inexperience, I've
> either had good luck or good film holders when it comes to keeping 8x10
film
> flat. I'm sure that with a negative of the size that Ross is working
with,
> the vaccum pump is a necessity (as with any good turntable!) but what
about
> those of is working in piddily little 8x10 size?
>
> -Jon
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Thom Mitchell" <tjmitch@ix.netcom.com>
> To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 12:11 AM
> Subject: interesting large format article
>
>
> > Not exactly alt process but interesting none the less. His negative is
> only
> > 9x18 which is small compared to some people's preferred film size.
> >
> > Photographer Makes High-Resolution Camera
> >
> > Tue May 25, 9:59 AM ETAdd Technology - AP to My Yahoo!
> >
> >
> > By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer
> > NEW YORK - When photographer Clifford Ross first saw Colorado's Mt.
> Sopris,
> > he was so taken with the beauty of the mammoth formation that he jumped
on
> > the roof of his brother-in-law's car - denting it - to photograph the
> > landscape.
> > But Ross found that his 35mm photos didn't get anyone else excited. They
> > simply didn't capture enough detail to convey the majesty of the
> > white-capped mountain surrounded by grassy fields.
> > So he decided to make a camera that could create an image as
awe-inspiring
> > as the vista before him. The result was R1, a 110-pound, 6-foot film
> camera
> > that produces what experts say are some of the highest-resolution
> landscape
> > photographs ever made.
> > "Mountain I," a 5-foot-by-10-foot color photograph captured by that
> camera,
> > is on display at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York through July 30.
> > Ross, 51, wanted to share a near-replica of reality, without any of the
> > blurring visible in most large prints. "You can choose to go up to the
> > picture and experience it intimately with a sense of unbroken reality,"
he
> > says.
> > Details of the mountain's snowcapped peak - 7 miles from the camera -
are
> in
> > sharp focus, as are individual blades of grass only 30 meters away. When
> > sections of the image are magnified nearly four times, other details are
> > clearly visible: the shingles on a barn 1,200 meters from the camera, a
> red
> > bird in the grass 45 meters away.
> > A lower-resolution image captured on everyday 35mm film would break down
> > when displayed at the size of "Mountain I." Viewers would see a fuzzy,
> > fractured image - and Ross' miniature red bird would likely not be
visible
> > at all.
> > "You have to ask the question, `What's the point of painting a scene
like
> > this when you can reproduce it with no loss of resolution?'" says Conor
> Foy,
> > a 36-year-old painter. "The resolution of this seems to be more than
> > anything I've seen before."
> > Ross acknowledges that he has very little technical background. "I'm not
a
> > research scientist and I'm not a designer of photographic mechanisms,"
the
> > first-time inventor says. "I'm doing this because I want to make a piece
> of
> > art."
> > Benjamin Donaldson, a large-format photography teacher at the
> International
> > Center of Photography, calls Ross' camera an unusual example of art
> driving
> > science rather than the other way around.
> > Similarly large images have been created before by seaming numerous
photos
> > together, and other photographers have used film even larger than Ross'
to
> > capture high-resolution images. One black-and-white photographer,
Douglas
> > Busch, built a camera that uses custom-made film larger than 3 feet-by-5
> > feet.
> > But Ross, a self-described perfectionist, found existing large-film
> cameras
> > unsuitable. Some were too small. Others produced only black-and-white
> > photos. The largest ones lacked the refinement he wanted.
> > "All of the inventions that were wrapped up into my R1, were an antidote
> to
> > the problems that I see in all view cameras," he says, referring to the
> > accordion-style cameras used for maximum image quality.
> > But as Ross sought to create something new, he found himself returning
to
> > the old, implementing common sense solutions and incorporating outdated
> > parts - an anomaly in today's digital age.
> > The R1 - the R is for Ross - is similar to the accordion-style view
> cameras
> > used in the 19th century. It is built around the body of a World War
> II-era
> > camera originally designed to take pictures from thousands of feet in
the
> > air. Mirrors, vacuum pumps and a microscope help focus the image
> precisely.
> > But when Ross' 9-inch-by-18-inch negatives are digitally scanned, the
> result
> > is decidedly high-tech. Each image yields a 2.6-gigabyte file - huge for
a
> > single image.
> > Kodak Chief Technology Officer James Stoffel says Ross' file is more
than
> a
> > thousand times the size and resolution of those generated by a typical
> > digital camera for consumers. High-end professional digital cameras
> usually
> > create images that are around 20 megabytes, offering less than a
hundredth
> > of the resolution of Ross' images.
> > Much of the camera's precision focusing is achieved with what Ross calls
> > "meat and potatoes" innovations.
> > A vacuum pump ensures that the film is flat to within one-thousandth of
an
> > inch, and a dual-mirror device keeps the film parallel to the lens. Sand
> > bags strapped to the camera and tripod prevent the machine from
shifting,
> > and a reinforced aluminum cradle maintains the parts of the camera in
> > perfect alignment.
> > Because the camera uses film meant for aerial shots, its negatives must
be
> > chemically treated to reduce their unusually high degree of contrast.
That
> > leaves sharp details but muddy colors.
> > So after digitally scanning the negative, Ross and his assistants must
> > manipulate the image using Adobe Systems Inc.'s Photoshop software to
> return
> > the mountain's colors to their initial vibrancy. Though the method might
> > raise questions about accuracy and purity, Ross tries to avoid making
any
> > significant changes and works from memory to restore the scene.
> > The process is so lengthy that the one-time painter can produce only
five
> to
> > eight images a year. Three years passed between Ross' first snapshot
> > sketches and the exhibition of "Mountain I."
> > Ross refuses to divulge how much the camera cost or how it got funded,
but
> > says he did not receive corporate backing.
> > Confined by the size of available paper, the images will remain 5
> feet-by-10
> > feet - at least for now. Ross says he hopes one day to string
flat-screen
> > monitors together to create an 18-foot-by-36-foot display wall, and he
> > believes the hyper-reality of the image will hold up at that size.
> > Kodak's Stoffel says it's unlikely the R1's technology will be adapted
for
> > the average consumer, though high-end professional applications are
> > possible. He says he has no specifics in mind.
> > But Ross remains focused on art.
> > "I want to give people the feeling that they have when they are
> overpowered
> > by the grandeur and the beauty of nature," he says. "It's the kind of
> thing
> > that artists have been trying to do for hundreds and hundreds of years."
> > ___
> > On the Net:
> > Clifford Ross: http://www.cliffordross.com
> >
>
Received on Wed May 26 06:35:10 2004