Rodentstock Imogon: The Right FL and How to USE it.

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OK, I saw the Imogon threads below: very interesting, except for the "Gray Market Quarrel".

OK, having heard about the Imogon some time ago, I found one at, for me, a reasonable price and in excellent++ shape. It is a 200mm in a Compound shutter with the 3 disks but no ND filter and no instructions. Playing around with it on my 4x5 for portrait and some still lifes has produced some good results and some not so good. My questions:

1. Have I really bought the wrong one for 4x5? 2. How to properly use it. I have no instructions on it and so have just been fooling with it, experimenting to see what effect I get. Anyone have a pdf of the real instructions? I have seen some on ebay that were sold with the instructions.

TIA.

(P.S. No gray market quarrels -- please!)

Paul

-- Paul van der Hoof (ds21z@pacbell.net), December 29, 2001

Answers

Hi Paul, I've got the 250 which I use on 4*5 and 8*10, but I see no reason the 200 will not work for you on 4*5. I don't think there is any magic way to use an Imagon. Experiment. I've found what you see on the ground glass is pretty good indication of what you will get. The one piece of advice I did find useful is, focus the lens with those little holes closed, and then consider it focused. Once you've focused it, then add the flair by openning up the little holes. You can use it on shots you may have thought too contrasty before. Also, instead of using the ND filter to slow things down, try a polarizer to fine tune the flair. Best, David

-- david clark (doclark@yorku.ca), December 30, 2001.

"1. Have I really bought the wrong one for 4x5?"

Yes it does not fu;;y cover and will not halo properly at the magnifications necessary for the print sizes normally used and the H Stop normally.

"2. How to properly use it."

Hot lighting (5:1). No umbrellas or soft boxes, Focus at taking aperture only (closing or opening holes shifts focus). When an imogon is in focus a point of light will form a cross on the GG. Leave aperture in shutter fully open and leave it there! Play and practice.

The marked H stups can be used as f stops when using negative film and you meter the shadow. For other types of films or for merting highlights you will need to experiment.

Use it for 6x9 roll film at the max and 645 at the least for proper results.

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), December 30, 2001.


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