Amateur Photographer & Cinematographer (1933)

October 4th, 1933 The AMTEUR PHOTOGRAPHER 1 6 CINEMATOGRAPHER a J etters to the Editor The Editor is not responsible for the opinions of his correspondents. PICTORIALISM AND SIZE. Sir, — May I reply to Mr. J. Radford’s letter appearing in “ The A.P.” for September 6th ? Surely, ’ he writes, it is time somebody pointed out that print size has nothing to do with pictorialism.’’ In the same paragraph, "Far better would it be for a postal club to restrict its members to one make, size or type of apparatus, in this case members would then be competing in technique as well as pictorial ability.” I would not guarantee to retain true perspective (shall we say) were I to defend both statements. It remains to be seen whether there shall arise among pictorialists those who can best handle a theme in a print not exceeding a size to which I would be most unwise in limiting myself or anyone else. There is nothing " mystical ” in the difference between the technique and stories of E. A. Poe and Balzac and Dostoiensky ! Who would limit workers in either field to a certain number of words ! Wasn’t it Michael Angelo who used as a canvas the roof of the Sistine Chapel ? The keener, the more original the worker, the less use has he for a club or society of the ordinary kind. I wrote, for August 10th, 1932, “ Your true artist creates ; he has got to find his own way of doing it.” I shall never forget my first sight of F. J. Mortimer's imDressions of the sea, nor the work of Leonard Misonne, nor Alex. Keighley. Such works are responsible for my interest in pictorial photography. I know now what the print can do, irrespective of size, and what it must keep on doing. — Yours, etc., C. S. GRANT. FROM THE FAR EAST. Sir, — I refer to a letter published in your issue for June 28th, wherein “ H. M.” (Hong Kong) mentions his inability to obtain Ilford Hypersensitive plates and Ilford S.R. plates in that city. This sort of thing should not be interpreted as neglect of their overseas markets on the part of British manufacturers. Firms like Ilford, Ltd., manufacture an enormous variety of plates, films and papers, and it would be manifestly impossible for any overseas agency to stock the whole range, and in a wide variety of sizes, in order to cater for a necessarily restricted demand. All sensitive material, it must be remembered, is of a perishable nature, especially in hot climates where even the highest class photographic .goods are susceptible to de¬ terioration in course of time. In reply to “ H. M.’s” enquiry, I doubt whether any British firms would supply papers direct to users abroad. The bestknown and most dependable manufacturers have overseas retail agents, and as a rule such agents offer a reasonably efficient service when their clients’ requirements are known. Some little time ago, when in a similar predicament to that of H. M.,” in that I was in perplexity as to the most suitable paper for my style of work, I sent Ilford, Ltd. (through an agent) an order for £1 worth of assorted samples. In due course I received a good big packet of representative grades of bromide and Clorona papers in contact and enlargement sizes, and was very shortly able to make up my mind as to what to standardise upon for further orders. There is surely an Ilford agent in Hong Kong from whom “ H. M.” could obtain any out-of-the-ordinary supplies to special order. I have used Ilford Soft Gradation panchromatic plates ever since they were first put on the market, and am now switching over to the Ilford Hypersensitive plates. These ultra-fast plates are not stocked in this country, so I have to get my supplies to special order. I place my orders with the local agents well in advance of requirements so that I never run short. The local agency is a dispensary, and instead of having my sensitive materials sent by parcels post I have them sent along with a case full of the dispensary’s general wholesale druggists’ supplies, thereby achieving a very worthwhile economy in transport charges — in fact, I pay no more than home prices plus 10 per cent for handling. This method of obtaining photographic supplies has the further advantages that I get exactly what I want, and the material is absolutely fresh and can be depended upon to store for considerable periods without deterioration in a humid and very trying climate. I have proved that plates thus supplied will keep in the Tropics for the following minimum periods. Ilford Special Rapid panchromatic plates, one year to eighteen months ; Ilford Soft Gradation panchromatic plates, and Wellington Soft Spectrum plates, eight months : Ilford Hypersensitive panchromatic plates, four months. No loss of speed could be distinguished in any case. Photographers in the Tropics should recollect that for a trifling extra charge all Ilford plates and papers can be des¬ patched in hermetically sealed tins. Contact printing papers are packed flat in rectangular tins and the bigger enlargement sizes can be sent rolled in tubular containers. I keep my plates in their original tins until wanted, and thereafter keep the unused balance in a large lever-lid tin (a 2-lb. Glaxo tin holds three i-dozen boxes of 4EX3E plates). — Yours, etc., F. J. B. M. (Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States.) LABELS ON BOTTLES. Sir, — Having read with interest the contribution “Are You Bottle Proud ? ” will you allow me a little space to make two further suggestions which may interest my fellow-readers ? The first consists in the proofing of bottle labels against chemical action by means of “ hard paraffin.” This substance may be purchased quite cheaply at any pharmacy. It is melted in preferably an open shallow vessel over a low flame. The label is coated with the melted liquid by means of a brush which is a little wider than the label itself. One applica¬ tion is sufficient. The second suggestion will interest mainly those readers accustomed to handling either the paint or water-colour brush. In this instance the wording is painted on the bottle with Japanese lacquer, obtainable at hardware stores. The brush should be cut if necessary to as fine a point as possible, and keeping the letters horizontal and of uniform height is facilitated by placing rubber bands around the bottle. When white lacquer is used on dark brown or black bottles, the labels stand out in vivid relief. Even workers who have not tried this method will find that it does not require a great deal of practice to execute a quite respectable job. May I assure any who feel disposed to try either method, that the labels remain permanent for a remarkable length of time. — Yours, etc., W. H. LEWIS. EIGHT OR FOUR EXPOSURES. Sir, — I believe there were recently published in your columns several letters from amateur photographers requesting British manufacturers to supply them with a film of less than the usual eight exposures, as they often wished to develop the earlier photographs taken on the roll without waiting until all eight had been taken. I think the best solution to this problem can be found in a film I have recently used on the Continent. This film, instead of having all the eight exposures on one piece of sensitive material, has two pieces of film each of the size to take four exposures. After having taken the four exposures a few turns of red paper are wound on and when “ stop ” appears the camera can be opened and the used film taken out, by tearing across a dotted line provided. All that is needed to use the remaining film is a spare spool. The chief advantage of this type of film is, of course, that either four or eight exposures can be taken on the one roll, as if desired the film can be used without bothering to change after four exposures. I hope this may be of interest to some of your readers who have not already come across the idea, as it certainly seems a better solution of the problem of having to take eight photographs before seeing the results of the first few.— Yours, etc., PHILIP H. BEALES. 2 1 320