Author: Eddy Young

What do you know, it turns out that C41 chemicals last a very very long time. Except for the developer component. But even then, my solution of Bellini Foto developer was two years old and had been used with 16 rolls before it was discarded. I suspected it went bad only when the plastic bottle cracked and let in air, which probably caused the chemical to oxidise.

Yesterday I made a fresh solution of the same developer from a bottle of concentrate that I’ve had in storage for over a year. I didn’t have new bleach and fixer, so I took the chance with two-year-old solutions on a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400. Before starting the development, I transferred the chemicals to new bottles that I bought to replace the cracked ones and warmed them to 41 degrees Celcius in a water bath. I soaked the film in water at 38 degrees for three minutes, poured in the fresh developer when it reached 41 degrees, agitated regularly in a figure-eight motion, poured in the bleach, agitated continuously for 45 seconds, poured in the fixer, agitated for 120 seconds, and finally rinsed three times with fresh stabiliser, which I then discarded. I hanged the negative to dry and stowed the chemicals in the usual storage place that gives them a long shelf life—the dark spot under the stairs.

What came out are probably the best negatives I’ve produced since starting C41 development.

I scanned the tab showing the exposure guide for Kodak Ultramax 400 colour film, also realising that the reciprocal to be applied in the Sunny 16 rule is 1/250 s for ISO 400 film, and not 1/500 s as I did.

Last year, I found a Kenko KFM-2100 on eBay for incredibly cheap—if you know how ridiculously expensive spotmeters are—and immediately bought it. It works very well, except that it seemed to drain batteries in much less time than the expected 100 hours of continuous use. Today was my day off, so I sat down to tackle the problem.

The battery contacts were blackened, possibly a remnant of battery leak corrosion that had not been successfully cleaned. Luckily, this could easily be solved by re-tinning them. After my attempt to take apart the meter was blocked by too many too tiny ribbon cables, I decided to tin the contacts without removing the battery compartment. I had to proceed carefully to avoid burning the plastic case with the hot tip of the soldering iron, but the repair appeared to be good, confirmed by the absence of the ‘bc’ battery check symbol when the meter is switched on.

For a more thorough test, I set up some LED lights and took pictures of various household items, using the Kenko for metering. The same battery that was previously reported as low was still working after the few hours of the session. I could now say that the repair was a success.

I then developed the film in the bathroom, P needing the kitchen to prepare dinner, and I agitated the tank in a figure-eight motion, which I had just read about—two changes to my process. The new agitation method is now my favourite, as it saves me from fiddling with the tank lid and from dealing with leaks. Developing in the bathroom was also more convenient, because I had the entire bathtub as a work area and did not have to worry about spillages.

Anyway, here are the pictures that I like from today’s development.

This weekend we are staying indoors as P continues to recover from the pain in her lower back, which had her immobilised for most of the week. She was well enough to help me fix spikes on our garden fence, which we hope will deter pigeons and neighbourhood cats—and the occasional foxes—from climbing over and making a mess.

Earlier this morning, I was of a mind to pop out to Mytchett Lake for a couple of pictures, but I lost the drive after that bit of DIY. This mood is reflective of how I have been feeling despite recent improvements in the weather.

Instead, I sat in my alcove office, dismantled the Nikon Coolscan V ED, and gave it some much needed TLC. After I put it back together, I fitted new rubber feet to the bottom, as the original feet had worn out thin.

I picked a set of negatives from 2009 to test the scanner and found these pictures reminding me of when Woolworths stores were closing across the UK.

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Nikon UK got in touch with me and offered a re-repair of the Nikon D850. This is after I remarked in their customer satisfaction survey about the washers/shims intruding onto the viewfinder area. I was reluctant to accept, explaining to them that I wasn’t prepared to have the camera sent to Europe for another month. But they promised that I would benefit from a priority repair in their UK workshop, which would take at most 10 days. I took the offer and will be posting the camera to them in the coming week. I have to say that so far Nikon’s customer service has been very good.

From a ten-year-old negative newly scanned on a Nikon Coolscan V ED, a picture of a fruit vendor at the now-defunct Farnborough Sunday Car Boot.

Yesterday and today, P and I finally hiked a new trail in Minley. It’s less than a ten-minute drive away from home, yet we put off going there for more than a year. It’s also now my favourite of all the trails near us. The terrain is quite diverse, changing from pine woodland to heathland to open fields.

Minley Manor can be seen from the trail. It has quite an interesting history: built by former colonist bankers, acquired by MoD, then presently owned by Chinese investors who operate it as a hotel, wedding venue, and Chinese cultural centre.

Hello, Spring. It looks like the good weather will persist throughout the weekend and into next week.

Today, P and I climbed up Caesar’s Camp. We were lucky to see the resident cows at the top. But I did not take any pictures because I had to stay quiet so as not to spoil the videos that P was making of them. By the time she finished, they were on their way down the hill through a bushy gully. As usual, the view from the summit made the climb worth it.

I took some test pictures with the D850 and made the same pictures with my Nikon FM2. I reckon the dappled sunlight will come out better on the black-and-white film.

I went walking for three hours, and all I shot was this lousy picture.

Yesterday, P and I hiked 15 km around Claycart Bottom and Long Valley, and today another 15 km along Basingstoke Canal and Mytchett. Physically rewarding, but photographically unfulfilling.

Nikon’s back, tell a friend.

Eminem! Got it? Never mind—

I received my D850 back on Thursday via UPS, about a month after it was posted to Nikon.

The problem with the viewfinder focus not matching auto-focus is gone. Whilst they had it, Nikon Europe called me to report that they could not find any fault. I explained what was wrong with the camera but remained anxious that they would return it without doing any repair. Fortunately, they managed to identify the problem and corrected it by adding three shims of 0.05 mm to the focusing screen.

It is now easier for me to focus on a subject through the viewfinder, which is essential when doing macro photography. My thorough checks show that everything is working. Except for one little nit: a sliver of the gold shim is visible in the viewfinder. It causes no harm other than to my obsessive compulsion, so I will have to get used to it.

Like other Nikon users have reported, the camera came back from the repair shop in immaculate condition. I had inadvertently left an SD card inside; that was returned to me. I also received some sort of Nikon-branded cloth in the box. It got me scratching my head, trying to figure out what it was. I thought it was a cloth to wrap the camera, but P thinks it is the mat they put the camera on whilst working on it. I am still curious why it was sent to me, though.

Today is a cold day, and P and I are still not 100% recovered from the flu of a few weeks ago. So we did not go out on a hike, as much as I wanted to try the D850 in the field. But I spent a couple of hours doing some flash photography.

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We did not go out also because P was excited about trying out a recipe in her new fancy air-fryer. In truth, we had lame excuses not to go out today.

I’ve been ill with the flu since Friday evening, with the usual inconveniences: body ache, alternating shivering cold and fever, sleepless nights and weird dreams.

Hiking was out of the question, and even sitting at the computer felt tiring. Instead, I spent the weekend on the couch, napping and binging on photography videos on Xiao Hong Shu.

We’ll be having dinner shortly, and I still don’t feel great. Tomorrow might be a remote work day.

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I keep receiving codes on my Facebook app, as if someone was trying to access my account.