Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1933)

iHi AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER fa 6 ClhEMATOGRAPHER e General. — All communications for the Editor should be addressed : “ The Editor, The Antateur Photographer oud Cinematographer, Dorset House, Tudor i?trcet. London, EX. 4,” and in every case, without exception, must {Jive the name and address of the writer. Contributions. — The Editor is glad to consider original, up-to-date manuscripts on photographic subjects. All contributions must be typewritten, or in very legible handwriting on one side of the paper only. Letters or romnuinications arising out of matters already aprenring in the paper are not paid for. The Editor disclaims legal responsibility for the safety of matter submit tc 1 to liim, but he will endeavour to return rejected manuscripts, etc., when a stamped addressed envelope is enclosed. MSS. or prints that are not actually accompanied by a ‘tamped wrapper or envelope can in no case be returned. Reproduction fees for prints are onlv paid by arrange¬ ment beforehand. The sending of a print, without any condition stated, will be taken as permission to reproduce it w'ilhout fee. Enquiries and Criticism. — Advice, Criticism and Information are freely given, but the following conditions should be read carefully before applying, as any communication which does not comply with the rules must be ignored . (r) See “ General above. (2) Every question and every print for criticism must be sent separately through the post, and must be accompanied by a separate stamped addressed envelope. No exception can be made in any c.ise to this rule, except so far as enquiries or prints from Overseas are concerned. (^) Neither enquiries nor prints for criticism must be enclosed wdth competition prints, (t) On the back of each print sent for criticism, in addition to the name and address of the sender, must be the title (if any), and the criticism coupon from the current issue. {5} Enquiries should be clearly w-ritten, on one side of the paper only, and should be specific and not general. Such enquiries as “ How can I take interiors ? ” or “ Can you give me some hints on outdoor portraiture ? ’* are too general to be dealt with in this section. (6) All envelopes should le distinctly marked “ Query *’ or “ Criticism,” as the case may be. (7) Prints are sent for advice or criticism on the distinct understanding that by so doing per¬ mission is given for their reproduction without fee. We en Jeavour to deal promptly with enquiries, but cannot undertake to answer by return of post, nor can we give precedence to any enquiry. A selection of those replies is printed each w'eel<, but all questions are answered by post. Enquiries from abroad must contain a coupon also, but it need not be from the current number, and should be cut from the latest issue to reach the enquirer. Fogged Negative. Can you enlighten me as to the cause of the strips of fog along the edges of the enclosed negative? I give particulars of sliles, tank, etc. A. H. H. (Surbiton.) Your negative was so badly smashed that it was difficult to see the defect you mention. As far as we could judge from the fragments of the negative the fogging is simply due to the plates having been kept for some considerable time, or having been stored in an unsuitable place, ft is certainly nothing to do with the dark slides or the developing tank. In any case, there is no need to trouble about the slight fogging, as it is merely on the edges, and does not affect the picture. Choice of Camera. Can you tell me of any finn other than who make a 3}X2i roll-film folding camera, with f/4.5 or f/6.3 lens, delayed -actipn shutter, and direct finder ? ]5. L. (Budleigh .Salterton.) Most of the up-to-date cameras are advertised in our pages, and we think that if ymu watch these advertisements you will have no difficulty in finding the sort of camera you specify by some other makers than the one you name. We do not care to recommend one firm in preference to others selling very similar apparatus, and there are many models that meet your specification exactly. Infra-red Photography. .4s an ordinary lens is not corrected for infra-red rays how can one focus ? Can the special plates be desensitised before development ? F. W. M. S. (Richmond.) We should advise you to obtain from Messrs. Ilford their leaflet on infra-red ray work. As a rule it is near enough to focus through a dark red screen, and then substitute the infra-red filter, which is quite opaque to visual rays. The plates are usually developed in the dark by time and temperature ; but we think that they can be desensitised. Model Ships. I want to photograph some molel ships in a museum ; what is the best backgroun'l, and what exposure should I give ? J. B. (Richmond.) A plain background would be the best for photographs of the model ships, but we do not know what arrangement you can make with the museum authori¬ ties. As to exposure, you will have to find this by experiment, as it depends not only upon the stop and the plate, but upon the light available at the time. You do not even say whether you will have daylight or artificial light. If the models are under glass this will increase your difficulties. Types of Plates. With all the claims made for orthochromatic and panchromatic plates one would have thought that the ordinary plate w'ould have been as dead as the do lo. As such plates are still sold I should like to know the reason. Is definition the answer ? R. H. G. (King’s Lynn.) The reason why ordinary plates are still sold is that for an immense number of subjects they give perfectly adequate and satisfactory results. In a general way they keep better than bathed plates. The question of definition does not enter into the matter at all, although there are some who claim to detect some inferiority of definition in panchromatic material. If such exists it is due to other causes than the type of plate. Starting a Club. We are trying to fonn a camera club here. Can you send me a book of rules from some camera club you know ? J. P. (St. Ives.) We are sending you herewith some matter which we hope may assist you in starting your camera club. At the same time, it would be a good plan to write to one or two photographic society secretaries for a copy of their rules and so on. You will find a list of these societies in “ Photograms of the Year,” " The British Journal Almanac,” or the " Burroughs Wellcome Diary.” 160 February 15th, 1933 Tank Developer. Can you give me an M.Q. developer with pyro that will also be suitable for tank development ? A . F. (Binningham.) It is not usual to use metol-hydroquinone and pyro in one developer, but a normal pyro-metol developer is the following : A. Pyro . . . . . . 80 grs. Metol . . . . . . 70 grs. Potassium metabisulphite 180 grs. Potassium bromide . . 30 grs. W'ater to . . . . . . 20 oz. B. • Sodium carbonate . . 3 oz. Water to . . . .• . . 20 oz. For ordinary use equal parts of A and B are taken. For tank development yon must dilute this solution and find out the time of development by experi¬ ment. The best way to do this is to develop an exposed plate in a dish with developer of the same strength as is to be used in the tank. Cleaning Negatives. I send some sample negatives made abroad, and which are all affected by damp and careless storage. Can anything be done to clean them up ? H. A. C. (Bangor.) Although you sent no stamped ad¬ dressed envelope we are returning the negatives herewith. They do not seem to have been very carefully handled. You will notice that we have cleaned up both sides of one negative, and this is stained in a way that ipdicates insufficient fixing and washing, and we fear that with such negatives nothing satisfactory can be done. In the case of another negative we have cleaned up half of it and left the other to show the difference made by removing the surface dirt. This will make a great difference in the printing. If you wish to treat all the negatives in this manner the pro¬ cedure is as follows : Get a small tin of Globe polish and add 2 oz. of olive oil and 2 oz, of terebene. Mix thorough¬ ly and strain through fine muslin. Place the negatives on a sheet of glass, and rub the surface with a piece of soft rag and a trace of the mixture. Hold the negative down by one end, and rub from the middle towards the other end in one direction ; then turn the negative round and treat the other half. When one side is finished turn the negative over and treat the plain side. Do not continue the treatment longer than is necessary to remove the dirt. Remove surplus mixture with a clean rag, which will leave a clean, polished surface. Removing Varnish. I wish to re.luce some negatives, but they have been varnished with celluloid in amyl-acetate. Is it possible to remove the varnish ? C. C. G. (Eton.) ft will certainly be risky for you to attempt any reducing process on nega¬ tives that have been varnished, and we should think that you could avoid this by using suitable printing papers. The only way to remove the varnish would be to put the negative, s in amylacetate until the varnish is softened : rub as much as possible off with cotton¬ wool ; and then repeat the process in fresh amyl-acetate. We are naturally assuming that they arc glass negatives. 24