> The issues below are my findings as well. At first I didn't know what > caused my film flatness problems except that it happened in cold weather. > My camera back has been at service a couple of times and the last time > everything was tightened up. If anything, this made the problem slightly > worse. Last summer I shot a roll over two days. All the frames were sharp > except the second frame of the second day; ie. the piece of film that spent > the night bent backwards over the rollers. > Indeed if you shot one frame at the time in cold weather with a 645 camera > the solution is to shoot only every second frame; ie. frame 1, 3, 5 etc. In > this way, the exposed frame has never spent time bent over the rolls.
Another solution is to choose a camera that has a relatively straight and stress-free path for the film to follow. TLRs, Hasselblad-style cameras, and most 645s bend the film rather radically so the backs can be compact. Cameras like the Koni-Omega, Pentax 6x7, and Mamiya 6 are easier on the film. P.S. I am chagrined to admit that I once got rid of a camera I liked very much because I simply didn't know about this problem. All I knew was that every so often I'd get a frame that wasn't sharp, and I didn't know why. I decided that the uncertainty of dealing with that was too much of a distraction from photography, so I sold the camera. Wish I still had it. --Mike "Photography is simple. The only complicated thing is keeping it simple." (Ken Archer) * * * Find out about Mike Johnston's unique photography newsletter, "The 37th Frame," at http://www.37thframe.com. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
