This was a loaner camera sent from Hasselblad for the review. It was returned to the company when I was finished.

Now THAT'S interesting. This makes perfect sense. You've taught me something.

@@danielarmstrong2144 Pinned!

Haha glad to hear it helped you out! As for Death Valley, if you've never been in the area the first time you witness just how vast the place is can be a bit overwhelming. I'm not sure how far off the blacktop you're planning on venturing but the only advice I can give is to of course be prepared with plenty of fuel, water, and food...but to also not underestimate just how established the main part of Death Valley is, especially in the Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells areas. There are restaurants, bars, golf course...pools, ect. It's not as inhospitable as it is made out to be by some. There is guess at the Stovepipe Wells store but it's alarmingly high, which is understandable really. I would highly recommend making the trip over to Death Valley Junction right on the border of the Park. It's a tiny town, getting sort of more well known now, the biggest draw is the Amargosa Opera house. Something to keep in mind is that when it's hot...it's HOT. Sure, a dry heat, but 125 is still 125 and in the summer it is brutally taxing on your body in places like the salt flats. Anyway, there quite a few backcountry places that I could tell you about IF that's something you may be planning on doing. Feel free to find me via the contact form at my website www.aphotographist.com with any questions along those lines and I'll help if I can. Best wishes to you and your own adventure!

Glad you enjoyed it! That's a very good question and honestly I'm still not certain how to actually gauge the thickness of the yarn. Sorry I can't give a more accurate answer.

Very interesting. Do you mean the linen tape on these particular holders or just in general? This coating (on these particular holders) wasn't vulcanized as far as I could tell. Very much an extremely soft, surface coating. Or at least that's what it felt to be at the time.

@@AdamWelch hi Adam. I had been given a roll of that tape in the 70’s by the owner of a camera shop. I bought a used graphlex from him for 20.00. He gave me the roll of tap to repair the bellows and the film holders I lost that roll somewhere in the move from NY to New Orleans. It was Amos like he cloth tape that electricians used Very tacky. .

Huh, well that's actually good to hear (of course not for you) because I've never encountered it before. It does appear to be on Arista, Foma, Holga films but I've never seen it on a Rollei. The stock in the video was I THINK Arista EDU Ultra 200. You may already known this, but Foma, Arista, and Holga are all the same film stock, rebranded under their respective resale titles. I'm sure that's why it shows up across the brands. Quite strange.

Glad you enjoyed the video. Kodak released a study back in 1998 finding that a small amount of dust of a certain size (no larger than .2 micron) does help the overall function of the camera. Have you read that study by chance?

@@AdamWelch No I haven't read the Kodak study.

Wow. You actually edited that....

Unfortunately, the reversal you are witnessing is an optical effect which is inherent with these viewfinders and other non-prismatic SLR viewfinder systems. It it helps at all, you WILL get used to it with practice.

@@AdamWelch thank you very much ~

@@theenchanteduniverseoflife1450 There's not a lot of information as far as serial number/date look ups for the Electros (that I'm aware of at least) but the Chrome GSN like mine was produced from 1973-1977, as well for the black version (GTN). From information provided to me by the son of the original owner of this camera I THINK this was likely a production model released towards the later end of that range. Although I'm not at all certain.

Aw thank love your vids I have one myself I'm glad to see another person with the same camera keep up the good videos! 😊​@@AdamWelch

Unfortunately, any weight reduction I obtained from all the seat and hardware removal was canceled out by the additional bulk of the rest of the build. Still, I hover around 17.2 MPG these days with full load. That includes water but not the extra fuel.

Glad you enjoyed it, Tom! I'm looking to get out and about more with my 135 cameras so my Electro may be getting some exercise again soon.

@@AdamWelch thank's

No

I'd be more than happy to offer and help or advice I can. Oddly enough, I might be re-opening a sort of camera repair side business in the coming months now that I'm in a more stationary spot and can set up a real workshop. All that being said, Holgas are quite straight forward and there's not just too much that can go wrong which can't be either fixed or replaced. Depending on what your camera (or future camera is doing) I might be able to offer some ideas on what's going on.

@@AdamWelch thank you so much for responding. I decided to buy the for parts Holga. It’s coming from Australia, so it’ll take a while to get to me. But the issues with the camera is missing the flash connector piece that pops in on the flash Holga models- the narrow rectangular piece that pops in & has the 2 springs on it, is what I need. So I’ll unfortunately have to buy a cheap CFN Holga model just to get the part. The second issue is the shutter button has somehow popped out. So maybe the seller pulled apart the Holga at some point & couldn’t figure out how to get it back attached. I really hope these are easy to fixed, or it’ll be a bummer. I still think there’s hope. How can I be put in contact with you? (For advice/help) appreciate you!

@@BoxOfShockolates As for the shutter button, that's so strange. Like you said, it's possible that perhaps the owner disassembled the camera and the button just fell out. Which is quite easy since it literally just rests inside the housing of the shutter mechanism/lens attachment housing. So, unless it's physically broken, you should be able to just put it back in the camera and be good to go. You cdian see a bit of this during the part of my video on the Super Holga during the portion where I am working on the shutter button extension. I've never worked on a flash Holga but hopefully you can just switch out the entire portion from the other CFN and be ready to go with that as well. You can get in touch with me through my contact form at my website www.aphotographist.com That will go to my email.

@@AdamWelch hello again! It actually arrived today, so I’m going to mess around with it and see what I can achieve on my own first before pestering you. I’ll try not to need you. I’m excited to have it. It’s a limited edition purple with the glass lens. Thank you for being so responsive and friendly. It’s the southerner in you.

@@BoxOfShockolates Well I'm once again alarmingly behind on comments! And you're most welcome, anything I can help with let me know, but I'd have to say if anything it's the camera freak in me more so than any southern hospitality. 😅

Good to hear from you guys again! So glad you found what seems like a great spot. I love that area. Leia and I send love and greetings from North Carolina!

Extremely good question. I feel it's an issue of variance between each individual Holga camera and some of the built-in levels will be more accurate than others. The only way to check for sure is to use another leveling device (such as a torpedo level) to compare. Place the level on top of the camera and see if it closely matches the built-in bubble level. In practical terms, I don't think it's truly imperative to add additional levels like I have done here. Really, the main reason I added them was to protect the cold shoes, and having the built in levels was somewhat of a bonus. I seldom reference them when shooting, especially handheld.

Ok thank you very much, I have another question, since I have a small nut compatible with flexible shutters I was thinking of inserting it inside the front body, with the help of a precision drill. As far as you know, is this feasible and is there room for a hole or not? thank you so much, great vidio​@@AdamWelch

@@Bellofigosium Hmmm just to make sure I understand correctly, you're asking if it would be possible drill a hole in the area of the current shutter lever on the Holga and add a threaded nut that can accept a cable shutter release right? If so, I think it SHOULD work. Depending on the size of the nut there will probably be room. Just be sure that the plunger of the cable release is long enough to pass through the nut and actuate the shutter mechanism of the Holga. This was an issue I ran into with this build.

Nice, thank you so much

Glad to hear it! I've actually just released an updated version of this episode just a couple weeks ago kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Zsx2ac95lbC4lXk.htmlsi=TQec8I_xdMqXK_6s

Oh don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you'll find some way to contribute to society eventually. Keep your chin up.

Glad to hear it helped you out!

James I can't tell you how absolutely THRILLED I am to hear this report haha The reason being after I posted the episode, I conversation with a friend of mine that made me realize I don't actually remember where I first learned of the fabric softener sheet remedy. I know I didn't come up with it on my own...or at least I don't think I did...but I can't find it mentioned anywhere else thus far. So that got me worrying and hoping that somehow this fix was only working for me and my particular holders, even though these were the fourth different set of holders I've used it on with the same great results. All that rambling to say I'm so glad it worked for you!

Oh man, what a wonderful compliment to read first thing on a Sunday! Thanks so much for the kind words. Ironically, and I've been saying this for months now, I intend on doing an update episode on my cyanotype printing that folds in literally everything I know and have been working on for the past couple years. It will include the basic chemistry, of course, but also a talk on papers and washing methods with considerations for developmental adjustments, digital negatives, toning, and my cyanotype on glass process which I've MOSTLY got down to a good working formulae. I've actually just had a very weird (but good) life even take place which is likely going to put me in a place with a lot more space and resources to help present all these things more efficiently and accurately. I wouldn't be surprised if a giant cyanotype update episode popped up in the coming months :)

A very bittersweet comment to reply to because I've recently sold my entire Bronica kit just a few months ago haha This reply may get a bit lengthy but there really a few things to consider when it comes to shooting vertical with the GS-1. Most of it has to do with the setup of the camera. Shooting vertical generally requires some type of prism viewfinder if for no other reason than it's quite difficult to get things level and composed vertically with a waist level finder. So really, if you can on vertical work (even on a tripod) you'd really want some type of prism viewfinder so you can manage the camera and composing more easily. As far as actually handling the GS-1 (handheld) for verticals I had absolutely no trouble. Granted, I'm a weirdly proportioned giant with big hands, so maybe that helped, but I think for even average sized people (at least in North America) physically reaching the shutter and focus wouldn't be an issue. Furthermore, if you happen to have what's called a "speed grip" attachment, vertical shooting is absolutely painless when paired with a prism viewfinder. It's difficult to explain, but the GS-1 just feels like you're using a big SLR-type design like a more traditional modern camera. Literally switched between vertical and horizontal is no more difficult than using say a DSLR. Bottom line, and maybe a little unsolicited advice, I would actually much prefer a non-rotating back camera with a prism viewfinder/speed grip over the extra mass and complications of the rotating back and bellows focus of the RB67. Of course, absolutely just a personal opinion. Oh and in case you're wondering, the only reason I parted with my Bronica is because I invested in a Hasselblad 500 C/M kit. I wanted a fully mechanical system and owning a Hasselblad 6x6 was a personal goal for me. If it wasn't for that I'd probably still be slinging my GS-1 all things considered.

@@AdamWelch oh wow, i really appreciate your thorough response! Thank you this means a lot to me!

@@micorogers5344 Happy to help if I can! Bronicas will always be a soft spot for me. If you're interested, here is a MASSIVE review I did of my GS-1 a couple years ago. It has a ton of pictures and information on the cameras and accessories. It's paywalled over on my Medium page but this link should let you read it free of charge. Let me know if it doesn't work. medium.com/@Adam_Welch_Photographist/i-dreamed-of-bronica-zenza-bronica-gs-1-massive-review-a2a6423236ab?sk=b5956c304b8bb2215c3951e37b1ced6e

Cool idea, Darrell. Just might do that next week. I'm actually about to draft up an overly massive email to send your way.

Glad you liked it!

Very much so.

Glad to hear it! I'm probably about to do a short on how to use the pickup locations which don't have lockers.

The Hasselblad is more or less double the resolution as the A7RV and of course the sensor is spacially much larger. Aside from that, I'm sure the Sony would outperform the Hasselblad in every way, of course they are two entirely different cameras intended for two very different shooting experiences.

@@AdamWelch ok I have Leica m11 and Sony A7Rv thinking to pull the trigger on X2D

Ooof. I definitely don't think you'll be disappointed, especially with that new XCD glass. It was brilliant, however, you might not be gaining too much practically unless you're after that geometric appeal of the medium format sensor. Of course, just an opinion.

You'd be surprised how often those two characteristics have collided in my life 🤣 Btw I've all but decided to go ahead and order the new PCB. I found one for $40US and also a new primary ribbon cable for $12US just in case this one has a micro cut. I figure for $60 I might as well try.

@@AdamWelch Did you solve your issues ?

@@Iwtfgege I've unfortunately not been able to revisit the repair. I hope to give it another shot (with those additional parts I mentioned) very soon.

As it turns out my filters were extremely bad and I didn't realize. The finished product was in no way indicative of a #5 grade so the bleaching was no doubt a result of the faded filtration.

Not in this economy.

@@AdamWelch I dig your videos. Just pull over while you're filming. For safety's sake.

@@ArthurFellig Safety? Arthur, do you have any idea how much Vaseline and rum is in this car??? We're living on the edge here.

@@AdamWelchHaha, well alright! I hear you. Just consider it. I'll settle for that.

💯

The physical wooden platform on that side is 79 inches end-to-end. Taking into account the curve of the rear hatch, you can tack on about another five inches to that for the true space. It's a bit deceptive, though. I'm 6'4" and while the virtually seven feet sounds great, I have to tilt the passenger seat all the upright due to the angle. I have JUST enough room to stretch out comfortably. And I'm glad you enjoyed it! If you have any questions I'll try to answer as best I can.

@@AdamWelch After removing the rear seats and moving the front seats fully forward with in upright positions, approximately how much length would you have available at the floor level? I am also 6' 4" and want to know if the 4Runner is suitable for sleeping at my height?

@@codywy5579 From where my head rests to the area where my feet reach towards the rear door is about 85-85 inches. I have a dog platform in the front passenger seat so I can't move the seat all the way forward, meaning you would have considerable more room if you did, especially if you sleep closer to the floor. Speaking of, you'd definitely need some type of leveling system because the 5th Gen 4Runner has about a four inch step mid-way in the floor. Back when I would travel and sleep in here before I built it out I used a rolled up yoga mat to help even it out.

That was 💯 my thoughts, Jeff. I wasn't sure what to make of the temperature rating thing. I've got it in an email and I think I'm going to go back and look again just to be sure I completely understood the context. At any rate, I've got an "Amazon special" set on the way. I'll be reviewing those over on the other channel in a couple weeks. About a 1/3 of these, so we shall see.

A likely cause might be that you're cropping your image prior to applying the border as I show. I assume you're in Lightroom? If so, simply complete all your edits, cropping, ect., then export your photo, then import it back into Lightroom again. This time you should be able to adjust the scale to add the border without it looking wonky. Let me know if that works for you. I'm actually going to do a quick update episode on this in a few days just to show the updates in LR and PS.

@AdamWelch oh my word I think it's that! You clever person, thank you so much , really appreciate your super fast reply ! 🥰

@@sophsaund304 No worries and I hope it works! You're comment made me decide to go ahead and make that update. About to film it now ha

@@AdamWelch haha brilliant!!!

As long as that make that Folger's high octane so I could use it for my developers! Five pounds would be a gold mine....

It was a bummer. And while definitely it would be better to actually have a functioning set, I don't actually have any real complaints...which is weird to say.... Incidentally, I've ordered the "El cheapo" set I mentioned in this episode. We'll see how those go. $70 for an entire set.

Just my personal opinon, I would recommend the "Pacemakers", which is the model I have and show here. To me, they are just the pinnacle of the design and hit the sweet spot of the camera. They have the body front mounted button-style shutter release and an easily reachable selector switch. To me, these are just the most user-friendly versions of the Speed Graphics. If you haven't already, graflex.org/ is a GOLD MINE of information on all things Graflex. I'm sure you can find infinite info there to help your decision. I hope you end up coming over to the Graflex Club haha

Yes just a fact of life I suppose. I purchase both batches of these back in 2017. They had been cold stored and I shot with them in Yosemite and through the south west with decent results. Then I stored them and didn't shoot for some years. This was just me hoping for the best and figured I might as well try and use them. As you said, the chems where just power at this point. R.I.P. Polapan.

Unfortunately not. The true Polapan was ended around the late 2000's I believe. Up until a few years ago Fujifilm still produced their FP line of slightly smaller instant film packs (used with a different holder than shown here) but those have been discontinued as well. A smaller company named "The Famous Large and Small Format Company" (yes that's the name) was producing a version of 4x5 instant called 'New55' which I did try a few years ago but was unfortunately underwhelmed. I think the entire line has been discontinued but you can have a look here the-famous-large-small-format-photography-co.myshopify.com/ As far as I know, Polaroid began producing some 8x10 instant packs a few years ago, but those seem to now be perpetually out of stock. They were reasonably priced (under $200/ten packs) but 8x10 Polaroid is a completely different animal compared to 4x5 requiring not only a special holder but also a special processor and as you can probably guess...they ain't cheap.

Very cool info, Thomas. I hadn't thought of the glue, definitely something to consider. And I'm originally from west Tennessee but live on the road full time now. I grew up roughly an hour and half due east of Memphis.

Darrell! I've been meaning to email you but of course my mind keeps failing me. I completely agree, even smaller format holders have skyrocketed in recent years. Like you said, with these older/larger cameras most people using them are of the more "esoteric" minded types anyway, tinkering is just part of the love. A good friend of mine who does leather/woodwork watched this episode and text me how he may try his hand at making a holder...got him right where I want him. Haha incidentally he's the same guy who made the "Bad Motherfucker" strap for my Hasselblad. Speaking of, prepare for me to name names and embarrass the hell out of you once I finish up the Packard install :D

I am getting my 11x14 studio camera ready, so I will need one or two more film holders. The hunt will begin soon for some used ones. Keep those hacks coming!