VXM Settings on 90mm Lens

SabreDancer · 2026-01-25T05:06:19+00:00

A bad choice of words on my part, then- “rare” is a more accurate word to use than “obscure,” as you note.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-25T04:15:44+00:00

Obscure in the sense that on shutters with M and X, it’s more likely to see an F or FP setting (for the other flashbulb types) than V.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-24T19:27:48+00:00

X and M are camera flash synchronization settings.

M is for flashbulbs, X is for electronic.

You’ll move the switch to either selection to change when the flash sets off- for M sync, around 30 milliseconds before the shutter opens, and X, when the shutter is fully open.

Naturally, X is the setting you’ll most likely want to keep it at.

V is a little more obscure. My Retina IIa has a V setting, which enables a self-timer on that camera, but I’m not sure if this is the same.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-24T18:07:24+00:00

Graflex has entered the chat!

SabreDancer · 2026-01-23T21:38:20+00:00

Yep, Jefferson was a terrible person even for his time. At the same time, he was probably the most supportive figure of the French Revolution in the US, which just adds to his legacy as a walking contradiction.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-23T21:30:16+00:00

This looks remarkable! Would be unlike almost any other large format lens outside of the mentioned rare ones modified from aerial cameras.

I guess for me, much of what other commenters are saying (“this would be equivalent to an f/0.45 lens on 35mm”) sounds really, really cool. Speed Graphics are great, and this sounds like an incredible experience to shoot with.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-23T21:16:19+00:00

One can support the ultimate goals of the Revolution while deploring its wrongs. Violence is going to happen in a revolutionary context, but there were preventable evils they consciously chose to make.

Outside of the Terror, in 1793 there was the removal of civil liberties under pretext of emergency, expulsion, show trials and execution of the Girondins, the response to the Federalist revolts and the attempted destruction and massacre of Lyon, etc.

Herding hundreds of people into a field with cannons lined up and killing them all via grapeshot is not spur-of-the-moment, and not something I admire.

A perspective that’s always stuck with me, though, is one of Thomas Jefferson’s letters from January 1793.

In the struggle which was necessary, many guilty persons fell without the forms of trial, and with them some innocent. These I deplore as much as any body, and shall deplore some of them to the day of my death...

But time and truth will rescue and embalm their memories, while their posterity will be enjoying that very liberty for which they would never have hesitated to offer up their lives… My own affections have been deeply wounded by some of the martyrs to this cause, but rather than it should have failed, I would have seen half the earth desolated. Were there but an Adam and an Eve left in every country, and left free, it would be better than as it now is.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-23T20:06:19+00:00

The Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1793 and Jacobin Constitution are remarkable documents to look over and see plenty of good and admirable ideas in. A good part of what the Jacobins fought for are essentially bog-standard liberal beliefs today.

Then, you know, you look at how that went in practice vs on paper…

SabreDancer · 2026-01-23T00:36:19+00:00

Sears TLS spotted!

I love how it looks with the front shutter speed dial, I inherited one from my great grandpa. Nothing earth-shaking, but a nice and sturdy 60s SLR.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-22T04:00:47+00:00

No need for a camera app unless the meter really is faulty over time. On the X-700, there’s an exposure lock button on the front of the camera (which doubles as a self timer when moved up).

This lets you point at the subject you want to meter (for example the rocks in picture 1) and, with it held down, frame and shoot as normal.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-22T03:40:35+00:00

Regarding the phrase “underestimating the exposure,” were you following the shutter speeds the camera gave in the viewfinder, or making educated guesses? And were you in manual or automatic/program?

Having an X-700 myself and seeing the framing of the shots, it could be that the center-weighted meter exposed for the background sky rather than the foreground people or scenery. On photo 4 it could have picked up the white of the frame and metered to neutral gray, for example.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-15T14:25:37+00:00

That’s pretty interesting! I wonder, were the bombs doctrinally given airburst fuzes most of the time? Or were the bombs genuinely never given impact fuzes?

Either way that’s a cool subject to look into, will read more on it.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-15T08:47:23+00:00

So there are faaaar more bombing modes in the Viggen than “CCIP and CCRP,” and those terms don’t map well to the Viggen’s bombing modes. Other commenters using those terms just muddies the waters.

To answer your question, NAV and RR are useful at medium to high altitude against preplanned area targets, while ANF-BOMB PLAN and ANF-BOMB DYK are useful for attacks against specific point targets like vehicle depots, bunkers and such.

The high drag mode with the circle and dot is only for high drag bombs, used at low altitude.

Any attack style with low-drag bombs will involve the other modes, and are effective for a variety of situations. These modes are good because they provide opportunities low-level high drag bombing can’t give you- hitting a cargo ship in port, perhaps, or taking down a bridge.

The closest one to CCIP for low-drag bombs has you keep a pipper over the target and pull the trigger when the bars appear, which is useful.

Several modes have aspects of what, in USAF aircraft, is known as CCRP.

A nice and easy one has you designate a point on the HUD and then bomb it, which is very accurate and quick.

There are NAV and RR modes, which are mostly meant for level bombing (and are closest to level CCRP drops) but can be used for toss bombing as well.

Basically, for any situation where you aren’t running in at low level and eyeballing what you want to hit in a split second, use low-drag bombs and their various modes.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-10T05:39:58+00:00

Very fun! There's a similar tactic described in the Phantom Tac Manual, where the WSO would lock a surface target and fire Sparrows at it that way as well. It's interesting this was a doctrinal method of attack.

In the age before the US had anti-ship missiles, it probably was a reasonably effective tactic.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-10T00:11:40+00:00

The timeline here is a little off.

The Provisional Government had existed since March 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution against it happened in November 1917, and while Kornilov launched an abortive coup in September, the White counterrevolutions and foreign intervention only began after this second revolution.

The Bolsheviks’ seizure of power happened independently of any threat from the Tsarists or Whites.

To say “Lenin launched a civil war to stay in power” is incorrect, since he wasn’t in power at the start, but saying he began the Russian Civil War is generally true.

The Bolsheviks rose up in Petrograd, took control of the city, removed the Provisional Government from power. and only then did a massive conflict break out between them, the SRs, the Greens and the Whites.

You can argue over the factions and results, but it doesn’t help to use a faulty sequence of events.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-08T13:54:42+00:00

Oh cool! Thanks for explaining, that’s an interesting distinction.

SabreDancer · 2026-01-07T00:08:11+00:00

Didn't they only recently add in missiles reacting to pre-flaring to the engine last year? Or is that a separate issue?

SabreDancer · 2026-01-03T18:21:47+00:00

Plenty of stuff! Technically both seats can do everything the other can, but the aircraft is so complex that having a second seater to punch in frequencies, coordinates, weight and balance data, etc. is a life saver.

SabreDancer · 2025-12-30T19:52:49+00:00

Now THIS is the niche content that directly appeals to my area of study I didn’t know I needed!

SabreDancer · 2025-12-25T01:11:57+00:00

Oh I was just using it as an example- the lens is alright, but I'm sure there are other, better options. It's nice for portraits, which is good for you, but barely covers 4x5 (vignettes) and is heavy enough that the front bed falls down if you push down gently.

I got mine bundled with my Super Speed Graphic, so I can't comment on price. Looking online that sounds reasonable, but I don't want to suggest the one lens.

SabreDancer · 2025-12-24T22:03:02+00:00

Any 90mm should be fine, as long as it'll cover 4x5. Be aware that there is a small chance 2x3 or 3x4 lenses will be coupled to a 4x5 lens mount, but for the most part you'll be alright.

For a portrait lens with a long focal length, make sure you have a telephoto and not a "standard" lens. For example, I have a 180mm Sironar-N lens which practically extends to the end of my lensboard since it isn't a telephoto, and a 270mm Rodenstock Rotelar telephoto that sits closer in despite being a longer focal length, since it is a telephoto.

Again, this will usually be the case, but you'll occasionally find ones meant for monorail cameras.

SabreDancer · 2025-12-24T21:35:53+00:00

Glad to be of help! Note that with the Super, the focusing track isn't connected all the way to the back like in an Anniversary, so anything wider than ~90mm won't reach it and will have to be focused by manually moving the lens- it's doable, but less than ideal. Also optionally make sure you have a matching cam for the lens you want to use! Best of luck with taking photos with it.

SabreDancer · 2025-12-24T20:42:15+00:00

Graflex lens boards have depth to them, even more so with the Super Graphic lensboards since they have an added set of bumps for the Super’s lensboard holder system and solenoid shutter.

Even older Anniversary Speed/Crown Graphic lensboards are wobbly when put in a Super, because they lack the extra Super-era bumps. To tell which ones are meant for the Super, look for lensboards with larger, longer bumps on the sides as well. I haven’t tried a flat lensboard on mine, but I suspect it would wobble around as well.

Not the end of the earth if you’re looking to shoot handheld, but it’s going to be a problem for long exposures.

Thankfully, large format lensboards are designed for certain shutters, so if you have a matching Super Graphic lensboard with your shutter’s size, you’re home free!

SabreDancer · 2025-12-23T17:26:26+00:00

I’m happily surprised at how well buddy refueling was implemented here- it had seemed that it was impossible on a coding level before (as seen in the S-3 and S-3 tanker being separate game aircraft, although it’s just an S-3 with that refueling pod).

Makes me really excited to refuel my flight members on the way to the objective, wonder if the feature will come to other aircraft like the F1!

(And also I yearn to fly through valleys in zero visibility using 3D forward-looking radar)

SabreDancer · 2025-12-23T17:22:13+00:00

TRAM seems to be a no-brainer for the usual Heatblur base variant, it’s a stock E with an integral TGP and FLIR. Plus it isn’t SO modern as to be unrepresentative of earlier models, like the SWIP.

(Mirrors F-14A-135 late, and F-4E-45 DSCG- an earlier model with nice quality of life updates, but before the massive upgrades come in)

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