Tea Tree Bay #3

[Maris]

Tea Tree Bay, #3.
Gelatin-silver photograph on Ultrafine Silver Eagle VC FB photographic paper, image size 19.6cm X 24.4cm, from an 8x10 Efke IR820 infrared negative exposed in a Tachihara 810HD triple extension field view camera fitted with a Nikkor-W 210mm f5.6 lens and a IR720 filter.

I remember complaining about the loss of infrared sensitivity in this old film. Using the IR720 filter reduced the effective Exposure Index to 0.16. That's sloooow! But the long exposed blurred the white water enough to counterpoint the rain cloud above it. No (pre)visualization, just luck.

[Barry Kirsten]

You saw the great composition though, and with the film/filter combination there was a good chance things would turn out well, and they did! I never used the Efke IR film but I've seen many great images done with it. It was a sad day when Efke closed down. I have some Efke 25 4x5 in the freezer and I use it sparingly.

[Mick Fagan]

Very nice Maris, as Barry mentions, you saw the vista and managed to record it for posterity.

The falloff to the edges are really helped by the general lighting situation of the scene; you couldn't have ordered it better.

I've wondered about using IR film in a view camera, but I only have an IR filter with 52mm thread size. I can use this on my 150mm lens on 4x5" but somehow I would like a greater lens possibility. I have been looking for a 67mm IR filter, but haven't seen an affordable one in over two years of looking. Then there would be IR film needed; not in a hurry.

Mick.

[Barry Kirsten]

Hi Mick,

Have a look at Green.L filters from China. I have several of their IR and ND filters in various sizes and cannot fault them. Their 67mm IR is described here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-L-67mm-I ... SwM7lcb2Xu

They only have a narrow range of filters, but from my experience they're terrific value. I have their IR720 which I've only used on MF with Rollei IR film, but am very happy with the results. I also got a 49mm IR760 from them but found this wavelength unsuitable for the Rollei film.

[Mick Fagan]

Barry, I have been sporadically looking for secondhand ones from Hoya, which are not cheap, these look quite interesting and the price is right, around $26.00 AUD delivered.

Might have to see if I can allocate some time resources to that. Currently outfitting a new camping vehicle, which takes time, effort and money. This is the priority at the moment, but come spring, I feel that I may get one of those 67mm filters.

Hoya only made their IR filters around every 18 months or so, and then they only did certain sizes each manufacturing run. I waited nearly 2 years to get my 52mm IR filter. That was around 35 years ago, things sure have changed.

Better check on my bellows for IR, not sure if they can handle it.

Many thanks, Mick.