Tag Archives: test

Testing enlarger lens coverage

When buying enlarger lenses, it is important not only to choose a lens of the right focal length to give the required magnification, but also sufficient coverage to cover the negative without vignetting. The rule of thumb with enlarger lenses is: Focal length Typical coverage 50mm 35mm 75-80mm 6×6 100-110mm 6×9 150mm 5×4″ I decided toContinue reading “Testing enlarger lens coverage”

Multi-microphone test

There’s a bewildering choice of microphone types available and it can be hard to know which type of microphone to choose, let alone which make and model within that type. I grabbed one of each of my microphones and performed a simultaneous microphone test on various test sounds. Maybe this unscientific video test will evenContinue reading “Multi-microphone test”

Lens test: Canon FL, FD and EF 50mm f/1.4 vs f/1.8

Some time ago I compared the EF and FD versions of the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens. It wasn’t exactly a fair test because the EF lens fits natively on my DSLR, while the FD lens needs an adapter with an optic. Now I am fortunate enough to own a Canon EOS M mirrorless digital camera which canContinue reading “Lens test: Canon FL, FD and EF 50mm f/1.4 vs f/1.8”

Testing toners

Toning a black & white print is a dark art (and one that I’m just beginning to learn). So many different toners exist and can be used to create different coloured tints according to the concentration, temperature, time taken and combination of multiple toners that it is hard to know where to start. To makeContinue reading “Testing toners”

Development test

This article is about something I should have done long, long ago. I regularly use Ilford FP4+ as my “standard” film but I don’t really know exactly how it behaves in different developers. It behaves nicely in all Ilford developers but for my purposes (mostly landscape photography) I would usually pull by about one stopContinue reading “Development test”