Diafine, I like it!

In case you haven't heard me rave about this Diafine before, I'll explain my relationship. Diafine has been my experimental film developer for a few months now. It comes in two parts, a solution A and solution B, each one ships as a powder and is mixed with water to make a gallon. It's a pretty impressive developer, especially for those on a budget.

Here's a quick run down of the high points of Diafine:

The suggested operating temperature range is 70 to 85 degrees. I no longer have to hunch over my faucet adjusting the knobs trying to hit 68 on the nose. To be honest I just use it at room temperature most of the time, unless it's at one extreme or the other, and everything seems to work just fine.

In most cases it adds a stop or two in film speed or gives a range of acceptable exposure values. For example: I can shoot Kodak Tri-X 400 at ISO 800, 1250 and/or 1600 all in the same roll and I don't have to change how I develop the roll. Everything will come out the same. Lovely!

I suppose I should explain the developing process for Diafine at this point. It's so easy! Any film, shot at any speed is developed the same, WHOA! No pre-soak needed. Three minutes in solution A, two inversions and two taps every minute. Don't rinse it! Follow with three minutes in solution B with the same two inversions and two taps every minute. A quick rinse to spare your fixer and then fix as normal.

Next awesome point! After you develop you pour both solution A and solution B back into their respective gallon containers. You save it! Forever! Because the two solutions don't mix in large quantities, they should stay stable and potent for a long time. As in, a year or longer. That's impressive.

Last but not least, the stuff is cheap! I buy mine at freestylephoto.biz and it's only $14.00 for a gallon and both A and B. $14.00 a year for developer? Yes, please!

NEXT TIME! Developing color c-41 film in Diafine?! NO WAI!

A New Rangefinder

Last weekend I went to the VDO (Village Discount Outlet) on State Rd. and found a nice little Yashica MG-1. It looked very clean, had a lens cap, and all of the actions (film advance lever, film rewind, shutter release, rear door etc.) seemed smooth and accurate. The view finder was a bit dim but I figured that could be fixed with a little cleaning here and there which I'm sure the thing needed anyway. The price wasn't bad either, only $20.00 for a, probably, fully functioning 35mm rangefinder camera. The only problem is that I already have a Yashica MG-1. Oh! what to do?

So, I sat on the idea for a while. I looked over the MG-1 that I already owned, played with it a little; subconsciously I really wanted that camera. I started to notice all the little imperfections that my MG-1 had and I even wrote myself a reminder note on my dry erase board to go back to the VDO in a week. A week later I went back and sure enough, it was there with a discount, now it was only $12.00! Not only that but I had forgotten that it had a Yashica CS-12 flash unit on top of it. Sweet deal.

So now I has twin Yashica MG-1 cameras, one in black and the other in Silver/Black. The flash is crusty packed with dried battery acid, so that thing is going to need a lot of love, cleaning and possible rewiring: joy.

Oh, and I should mention that while I was at the VDO for the second time there was a Kodak Brownie type camera (honestly I can't remember the model, they're all so similar.) I'll probably end up going back for that one, too. It takes 620 film, which isn't available, and the film advance lever is missing so I didn't grab it when I was there BUT it was $4.00 with an orange sticker and the girl behind the counter said that orange was going to be one of the colors starting Thursday. I could pay $2.00 for a Brownie.

The girl behind the counter was probably only 18, maybe 20 at the most, and when I asked to see the Brownie she didn't believe that it was a camera. I had to open it up and show her where the film went, where the view finder was, how to hold it and how to snap a shot. I love that about old cameras. To so many people it's either a great source of nostalgia, remembering the old family TLR, or to the younger folks it's a great mystery there there isn't a slot of a memory card, no viewing screen in the back, no auto focus or movie features. It's a great way to start a conversation with strangers but I worry. In ten years, will young people still know about 35mm film? Is film really following LPs and VHS tapes?

p.s.
It snowed again.