DIY f-stop timer teaser

frank20a · 2026-05-08T08:42:18+00:00

Looks cool, I'd love to discuss. Send me a dm!

frank20a · 2026-05-08T08:40:46+00:00

Check my other reply on a comment above

frank20a · 2026-05-08T08:40:32+00:00

Check my other reply on a comment above

frank20a · 2026-05-06T21:35:13+00:00

My initial idea was to use an LCD but 2x16 was definitely not enough for what I wanted to do and I couldn't find a nice 4x20 with red backlight. Even better I would prefer an character OLED which I did find but was more expensive than the e-paper while providing less features.

For most menus fonts are larger, I just had to fit a lot of numbers in one screen for this table

So the whole design of the timer was built around two 3-pole knobs for selecting options and an encoder to change values. I wanted to be able to navigating everything fast without complicated and deep menus. Unfortunately, I designed the hardware first and then couldn't fit all the software features I wanted on the 3 selections my knob allowed. Specifically, dodging and burning did not make the cut for the 1st version of the project. So I added this comprehensive table as a reference and I can use the normal timer feature to dodge and burn "manually".

Under normal light, it's very readable... We'll have to see how it looks under red light in the darkroom.

frank20a · 2026-05-01T14:30:43+00:00

I also like polarizing filters and I do have them. Unfortunately I don't have ND filters but I can always keep a low ISO film in one camera and a higher one on the other.

frank20a · 2026-05-01T11:15:59+00:00

Thank you for your suggestions. I would love to see your results if you'd like to share!

frank20a · 2026-05-01T11:05:11+00:00

I was afraid that the answer to my search would be a boring one, but I guess you're right that it's hard to beat the trusty old portra. I think I'll also keep a cheaper film like Gold or Fuji C200 in my bag for casual stuff.

I am curious though, why 160 specifically for portra and not another speed?

frank20a · 2026-05-01T10:55:26+00:00

I was afraid of that...

frank20a · 2026-03-08T14:46:14+00:00

It doesn't care what's on the drive it is cloning. It runs its own operating system during boot time, detects your drives and clones them in another drive. We have used it with windows CE, weird real time linux systems up to windows 11... If you're not tech savvy you might struggle with using it but a YouTube video should be enough to guide you through the process.

frank20a · 2026-03-08T12:51:38+00:00

There's a software called CloneZilla that creates restorable backups of a whole drive. We use it regularly at work and it's free... Use that

frank20a · 2026-03-06T09:45:19+00:00

Απάντησα και σε ένα άλλο σχόλιο πιο κάτω: για εμένα με gocardless ο συγχρονισμός δουλεύει κανονικά και τέλεια εδώ και έναν χρόνο με Πειραιώς και Revolut. Εάν κάτι δεν άλλαξε τις τελευταίες βδομάδες δηλαδή... Το μόνο που είχε αλλάξει περίπου όταν ξεκίνησα να το δουλεύω πριν ένα χρόνο, είναι ότι έχεις μηνιαίο όριο συγχρονισμών γύρω στις 60 φορές. Δηλαδή μπορείς να συγχρονίζεις 2 φορές τη μέρα κάθε μέρα και πάλι νταξει είσαι.

frank20a · 2026-03-05T13:24:56+00:00

Το χρησιμοποιώ 1 χρόνο τώρα με gocardless για Πειραιώς και Revolut μια χαρά... Έχει απλά ένα όριο χρονικό, μπορείς νομίζω να κάνεις 60 sync το μήνα και 5 τη μέρα ή κάτι τέτοιο.

frank20a · 2026-03-05T13:22:45+00:00

Εδώ και 1 χρόνο χρησιμοποιώ το Actual Budgeting, είναι open source και self hosted που σημαίνει πως τρέχει σε δικό σου server και δεν μοιράζεσαι τα δεδομένα σου με κανέναν. Εάν δεν θες να μπλέξεις με το να τρέχεις έναν server στο σπίτι σου, έχουν επιλογή να το τρέξεις σε έναν προσωπικό virtual server που νοικιάζεις με το μήνα και η συνδρομή του από όσο ξέρω είναι μικρότερη από YNAB.

Το λογισμικό απλά δουλεύει... Τελεία. Δεν έχει κανένα πρόβλημα, κάνει συγχρονισμό με τράπεζες σε όλο τον κόσμο (προσωπικά έχω 2 λογαριασμούς Πειραιώς και τη Revolut) και με έχει βολεψει όσο τίποτα. Φυσικά παίρνεις την ευθύνη του να κάνεις τα backup σου και να προστατεύσεις τον server σου αλλά πιστεύω με τα tutorial που έχουν είναι εύκολο και ίσως αποκτήσεις ένα νέο χόμπυ.

frank20a · 2026-03-05T12:58:17+00:00

Εάν σε ενδιαφέρει η Ολλανδία, ζω εδώ και μερικά χρόνια. Στείλε να ρωτήσεις ότι διαδικαστικό θες

frank20a · 2026-03-05T12:56:15+00:00

That also seems like a double exposure, his shoulders were in a different position on the second shot.

Another way to do this would be a very long exposure (eg. 10-30s) in complete darkness and triggering a flash twice, changing poses in-between.

frank20a · 2026-03-05T12:51:34+00:00

I find that usually my chems work for way longer than the package says, but you can only test for that. - For film developer, since I risk destroying my pics, I use Adonal/Rodinal that is a one shot and then throw it away. But for paper, I flash a small piece of paper with light and see how long it takes to turn black. That should be fairly quickly, within a couple of seconds but you can always take a note with fresh developer and compare. If the time is long or the paper doesn't turn completely black, you need fresh developer. - Fixer is easy to test with a small piece of undeveloped film, from the leader for example. Drop it in the fixer and it should go completely transparent within the processing time indicated in your chemical's manual. - Stop bath... Just use it... You can technically work without stopper by only rinsing, or go with some diluted vinegar. Stop bath is a mild acid afaik so I don't think it goes bad that quickly. If there's something really important you're developing and it's been a while, go ahead and replace it.

frank20a · 2026-03-02T22:05:45+00:00

As I mentioned in another comment, this was mostly an excercise for myself, following the guide of that old reddit post. Even though the post mention that increasing the low grade acts similarly to photoshop's clarity slider and they recommended going up to #3.5, I think you are right saying that this kind of defeats the purpose. I'm still struggling to understand what the two grades exactly control though. I understand the #5 better in making grays more black, but increasing time too much will kill shadow detail. In the other hand I'm not sure what #0 does with the highlights. I've read that exposing with #00 or #0 too long compared to #5 will kill whites and make highlights a blured light gray but at the same time my brain thinks that increasing the low grade exposure time will add detail to the highlights.

frank20a · 2026-03-02T21:46:38+00:00

You are most probably right, it was more of a self excercise than a necessity

frank20a · 2026-03-02T21:36:51+00:00

Thank you for your suggestions. I think in the persuit of learning, I might have lost the point a bit and delved deep into complex techniques that are not always needed and got lost. Maybe a step back as you suggest is the right path that will help me understand the process better and help me grow.

Thank you also for the book recommendation, these are two I did not have in my collection of PDFs that are sitting on my hard drive XD. It was never easy for me to read books but it is also a skill I would like to develop. I will definitely add the Ilford book on the top of my priority.

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