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Oxford: 5×4 street portraits with mugshot adapter

Wednesday, November 11th, 2026

Test shots with a 5×4 half-frame adapter (the kind used for police mugshots). I’ve had this adapter for many years but it took me a while to work out which camera it would fit onto. In the end I worked out it was designed for Graflex Speed Graphic cameras. It’s a little fiddly to get it to align properly but once it’s connected it’s very secure. These shots were made on a Saturday afternoon in very overcast dull light. Thanks to everyone who stopped for a portrait. I have a second batch on a different film stock still to scan. Those will be coming soon.

[Tech info:] Graflex 5×4 Speed Graphic, Rollei Heidosmat 150/2.8 for the last shot, the other three with a Carl Zeiss 180/4.5, Kodak TXP 320 (expired), developed in HC110 1+31.

20261107_Oxford_Speed-Graphic_heidosmat_150_TXP_HC110B_001_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, film, graflex, hc110, mugshot, oxford, people, portraits, speed graphic

Oxford: Graflex Super D with 7 inch Aldis lens

Tuesday, October 27th, 2026

Street portraits made in Oxford to test a lens I’ve adapted to my Graflex Super D. The lens is designed for quarter plate but covers 5×4 at portrait distance. The problem with my Super D is the internal mirror is quite large and this lens has a long protruding rear element which means when the lens is clear of the mirror swinging up the furthest I can focus is approximately 2.5 metres. Ideal for portraits but not great for group shots of three people. This is what lens testing is all about, to learn these things. The last shot is out of focus because I had to move the lens forward to allow the mirror to swing up but I like it despite the softness. On the day I chose to make these portraits the wind was so strong it almost knocked over my camera with the tripod a few times but I held onto it and made these images in short order. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D, 7 inch Aldis lens, Kodak TXP 320 (expired), ISO 200, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

20261025_SuperD_7inch_Aldis_TXP320_HC110B_01_web

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Posted in Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 5x4, aldis, b&w, film, graflex, oxford, super d, Tri-X

Oxford: Graflex Super D with 200/2.5 Hektor lens

Saturday, February 1st, 2025

Here are street portraits from my first outing with this camera and lens combo in Oxford. It attracted a fair bit of attention and I enjoyed chatting with people about it, I also had some patient volunteers to help me with my testing. The Hektor lens is from a projector and doesn’t have any aperture control. This means the depth of field is wafer thin and exposure can only be controlled by shutter speed which is limited on my Super D. If those limitations weren’t enough, the furthest focus distance is approximately 1.5m because the lens has to be quite far forward for the rear element to clear the mirror. I enjoy portrait photography so this is not a problem.

It seems the more limitations I have, the more enjoyment I get out of photography.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 5×4, 200/2.5 Hektor lens, Fomapan 400 @ ISO 200, Developed in Adox XT-3 stock.

Super D Hektor 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_001_web 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_002_web 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_003_web 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_004_web 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_005_web 20250125_Hektor_Foma400_006_web

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Posted in Equipment, film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 5x4, b&w, film, fomapan 400, graflex, hektor, oxford, portrait, super d, xt-3

Oxford: first outing with Marion Soho reflex 5×4 camera

Monday, November 18th, 2024

Here are some pictures from my first outing with a Marion Soho reflex camera I recently had serviced. The camera is probably around the 100 year old mark but it has been well looked after by the previous owner(s) and certainly doesn’t show its age. When I bought it the shutter curtains were dry and jammed which is very common with old reflex cameras which either haven’t been used regularly or have been stored in poor conditions (heat/humidity). The shutter curtains in mine have been replaced with cloth supplied by Custom Bellows UK and now the camera works like a dream. It’s smaller and lighter than my 5×4 Graflex Super D which makes it more comfortable to carry on my back while cycling into town.

[Tech info:] Marion Soho reflex 5×4, Fomapan 400 developed in Rodinal 1+25.

20241117_Oxford_Marion-Soho_5x4_Foma400_Rodinal_01_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, film, fomapan 400, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal

Oxford: large format film street portraits

Friday, September 20th, 2024

Recent street portraits on large format film. Making the most of what will probably be the last week of warm weather this year I took my camera gear into town to make some portraits as the sun was rapidly dropping. There is a glow to some of the skin tones which I think might be down to the warm colour temperature of the early evening light. The camera is from somewhere around the 1950s, the brass lens is around 150 years old, the film is fresh. Thank you to everyone who stopped to be photographed.

[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic, Dallmeyer 2B petzval lens, Fomapan 400 film rated at ISO 200, developed in Rodinal 1+25.

2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_01_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, dallmeyer 2B, film, fomapan 400, graflex, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, speed graphic

Oxford: large format portrait

Sunday, May 5th, 2024

Here’s a quick large format portrait from last weekend when I was testing a 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens. Thanks goes to these guys who were very obliging. I believe this was at f6.8.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 5×4, 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens, Ilford FP4 film, ISO 80 (expired but stored frozen), developed in Promicrol 1+9 5 mins.

20240504_Oxford_Chamonix_210-4.5_FP4_Promicrol_1-9_02_web

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Tags: 210mm, 5x4, black&white, film, fp4, ilford, oxford, people, portraits, promicrol, students

Oxford: Xenotar lens test

Wednesday, December 27th, 2023

Some shots from yesterday when I was testing a Schneider Xenotar lens I recently picked up. Very overcast flat light but the results are OK.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 45F2, 135/3.5 Xenotar lens (yellow filter apart from the portrait), Fomapan 100 @ ISO 64, developed in ID-11 1+1 for 10m 30s.

20231226_Chamonix_135-Xenotar_Foma100_ID11_1-1_02_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, Chamonix, film, fomapan 100, ID11, oxford, xenotar

Oxford: portraits by the river

Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

A few portraits made by the river to test a lens I’ve had for a while. Aperture used for these was f8-f8.5.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 45F2, 10 inch f6.3 Kodak Commercial Ektar lens, yellow filter, Fomapan 200 film @ ISO 100, developed in Adox XT-3 stock for 6 mins.

20230921_Chamonix_10in-Comm-Ektar_Foma200_XT-3_003_web

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Tags: 5x4, black&white, Chamonix, ektar lens, film, fomapan 200, oxford, people, portraits, xt-3

Oxford: Misty morning

Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

Some misty morning shots from April this year. I have photographed this location with various different cameras but this was the first time with a wider format. I feel 6×12 worked perfectly for these shots.

[Tech info]: Wista 5×4, 90mm Schneider lens, Ilford FP4+ developed in Adox XT-3 stock.

20230422_6x12_90mm_FP4_XT-3_stock_07_web

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Tags: 5x4, adox, black&white, film, fp4, ilford, mist, oxford, wista, xt-3

Oxford: Aero Ektar lens test

Wednesday, December 7th, 2022

Here are a couple of pictures made with my Graflex Speed Graphic 5×4 camera and Kodak Aero Ektar lens. It’s been a very long time since I last used this set-up so I decided to test it out in Jericho, Oxford. I always envisioned this camera/lens combo for making portraits and was very fortunate to have a friendly couple that were willing to stand very still for me. The camera movements are very limited but I used some front swing to try to bring both faces into focus without stopping the lens down too much (I think I was at f4). The maximum aperture is f2.5 which gives a razor thin depth of field on 5×4 film.

[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic 5×4, Kodak Aero Ektar lens, Fomapan 100 film (expired), developed in HC110 1+63 for 10 mins.

20221112_SG_AE_Foma100_HC110_01_web

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Tags: 5x4, aero ektar, film, fomapan, hc110, jericho, oxford, speed graphic

Oxford: Speed Graphic street portraits – part 1

Wednesday, August 24th, 2022

After being on a bit of a roll with my large format street portraits I decided to take my Speed Graphic out with a lens I’ve been meaning to use for a while – 165mm f2.7 Zeiss Tessar. I repurposed the lens from a folding camera which was well past its best with a perished shutter. Steve at Chroma Camera kindly designed and 3D printed a custom lens board for me. It’s a lot lighter than my Aero Ektar lens but gives a very different look. Depth of field is very shallow as you’d expect – most of these were shot around f4.5.

[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4, 165mm f2.7 Tessar lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6mins.

20220811_Speed-Graphic_165mm_HP5_HC110B_01_web

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Tags: 165mm, 5x4, black&white, film, graflex, hc110, HP5, oxford, people, portraits, speed graphic

Oxford: Graflex Super D street portraits – part 1

Monday, August 22nd, 2022

After the focus issues I was having with my Gowlandflex I decided to take my Graflex Super D into town after work to use it for some more large format portraits. The benefit is I’m able to cycle with the Super D in a rucksack, my Gowlandflex is too large to fit into any rucksack I currently own. The lens I used was designed for aerial photography during WWII and is uncoated which gives a low contrast almost dreamy look which I like.
[Tech info:] Graflex Super D, 8 inch Pentac lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.

20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_05_web 20220815_Nicola_Rad-Sq_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110_06_web SuperD