[Buceph]

October 6, 2012 at 4:39 pm

If you want to have a go at developing your own film before outlaying on the equipment you can go to the dark room in the Camden Palace. They charge €3 a roll for you to use their equipment and chemicals (but I presume you do the developing process yourself.) Dark room rental to print is €12 for three hours (everything but paper included, although they recommend you bring your own filters and easel.) I’ve sort of dropped out of photography for the last few months (been busy) but it’s a nice setup in there. I’ve been meaning to go back and hopefully I’ll have some film to print from after the Ceili Mór tomorrow. They also do courses.

http://the-dark-room.org” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;

I’ve also heard Sample Studios (the old FAS building) are planning on building a dark room too.

[Buceph]

April 18, 2012 at 9:04 pm

Sorry to be changing the discussion away from Leicas but how do you find using a body with no meter to be?

I’ve been thinking of picking up an old, cheap Soviet era Leica knock-off (a Zorki or Fed) just to keep on me at all times. The lack of meter on them has been holding me back. I’ve been trying to keep exposure values in my head from my shots, but with the DSLR it’s just a few buttons to change the ISO and that always seems to put me off because I can be anywhere from 200 to 1600 ISO in just a few seconds. I’ve shot a bit of film, and have always stuck at 400ISO but still find myself a good bit out on a fair few shots, I’d get maybe half the roll within a stop or two. Is it just a matter of taking the plunge and learning the hard way?

[Buceph]

April 12, 2012 at 9:03 am

Sorry, that’s too far from me. I’m in Cork. I was looking for something to pick up quickly.

[Buceph]

April 11, 2012 at 11:21 pm

Hey Benruss!

Where are you located?

[Buceph]

April 8, 2012 at 7:59 pm

You could try http://www.tineye.com/” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;

You link it to an image or upload one, and it searches for images that match it. How it does it, I don’t know. I think it’s some form of black magic involving sacrificing Zeiss glass.

[Buceph]

April 5, 2012 at 9:34 pm

I have one I set up each time to print and take down when I’m finished. I have it in my bedroom as I have running water in here. I spent ages looking for blackout curtains online, and they were all really expensive. Then out of desperation I tried Hickeys thinking they’d never have any, but they did. They had huge rolls of the stuff, and said a lot of people bought it so it was way cheaper than I was seeing online. It cuts out light perfectly, with only a bit of light showing through where I seal it. So I double it over and stick it down with double layered gaffer tape. Don’t be fooled by people claiming you need the expensive stuff. Loads of people need to blackout light completely outside of photography (shift workers, doctors and nurses, etc.) and there’s a lot of demand for it in good fabric shops.

The other bit of advice I’d have is try out the tables you rest everything on. At the moment I’m using extremely sturdy boxes for resting my dev trays on, and that’s confirmed to me that unless they’re at the exact right height you’ll be in for an awful lot of trouble. You’ll be spending at least five minutes rocking those dev trays each time you develop a print, so if you’re stooped over too much, or they’re too high for you, your back will start to hurt after a while. The better the height of the table for you, the longer you’ll be able to spend in your dark room doing the actual printing. I’ve turned down a couple of offers of tables all because they’re the wrong height. Comfort and ease of use should be high on your priority list. If you’re not comfortable you won’t do as much printing as you’d like to.

[Buceph]

March 21, 2012 at 5:16 pm

I’d love to, but I’m also saving for some studio lights, so I really couldn’t stretch to €90.

[Buceph]

March 21, 2012 at 2:31 pm

I’ll offer €60 plus €10 for postage so €70 total. Would pay by Paypal.

[Buceph]

December 5, 2011 at 9:44 pm

jrdn7 wrote:

Buceph Yeah, it’ll be a 1.6x sensor, on a 1000D (soon to be 550D/50D).

That’s why I think getting a 70-200 is manageable (at least this is the way I’ve figured it for myself.) Most sports photographers for field sports say a 300mm is the minimum, but they’d all be using it on a full frame sensor. So when I use it on a crop sensor I’ll be getting an effective 300mm focal length, so theoretically it should reach the right standard.

[Buceph]

December 5, 2011 at 8:13 pm

jrdn7 wrote:

Ballyman wrote:

longer is nearly always better.

Aye, fair point. I suppose I could cover the me-to-subject distance with a 70-200 f4. What’s the 300mm f4l like?

Are you talking about on a full frame or crop sensor here?

(I was just about to take the plunge on a second hand 70-200 f2.8. :| )

[Buceph]

November 27, 2011 at 10:07 pm

You think they have them, Martin?

Brilliant, I’ll give them a call tomorrow.

[Buceph]

November 18, 2011 at 7:26 pm

Already used Peter’s shop. It’s good stuff, ordered some chemicals, film and paper for my darkroom. Had it all within a day or two. And Peter’s been helping me out with getting my darkroom up and running. All round top guy and great service from http://www.thephotoshop.ie” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;

My next purchase from there may well be a Holga.

[Buceph]

October 27, 2011 at 4:05 pm

All my stuff has arrived.

The equipment:

The paper and chemicals:

I got the paper, the film and the Kodak wetting agent from Peter (thefizz.) The rest of the stuff I got from Second Hand Darkroom supplies in England.

Now I just need to black out the window in the room and find a desk to perch everything on.

[Buceph]

October 24, 2011 at 7:59 am

How about a bit of travel? Go somewhere you haven’t gone before. Bring your camera and hopefully the newness of the place will help you get snapping again.

I’d recommend Belfast, if you haven’t been there before. I went a few years ago for relatively little money. It’s a really nice city, the people are really friendly. Most of all though, it feels just alien enough from a regular Irish city that you’ll see things a little differently and feel a little out of place.

And even if it doesn’t get you inspired again, you probably need a break after what you’ve been through.

[Buceph]

October 20, 2011 at 5:08 pm

Just to let people know, I’ve ordered some equipment from http://www.secondhanddarkroom.co.uk so presuming that works out, I don’t think I’ll be looking for any other equipment.

I’ll also post back here after I receive the equipment and after using it for a few weeks, just to let people know how dealing with the site worked out. So far they’ve been very helpful and honest when talking to them through e-mail.