International

I have been using a new to me Canon 7 recently as you may have guessed from my post here.  I have not done a full review as really I think there are plenty of articles about this camera and it’s brothers & sisters.

It is possibly the most fully featured rangefinder I have used and it is really nice.  I am debating whether I really need yet another rangefinder in my tool-set however and I am sure that debate will continue.

In the meantime I will continue to try it out and find out what (if anything) turns me off.

While I was at one of my customers before the whole lock-down thing came a long I took it on a lunchtime walk. I found this old truck parked in a residential area close by and took this close up image.  I like the way that there is just enough rust with the paintwork old and faded.  Part of me wonders if that is natural or through some clever technique to make it look just like that; maybe a bit of both.

Cameras: Kodak 35 ‘special’

I bought this camera a few months ago from Goodwill and it has sat on my shelf since then; mostly due to the fact that the focusing ring appeared to be seized.  I kept picking it up and considering whether to try to take it apart and see what was wrong but each time ended up just putting it back on the shelf.

Then one day whilst pondering this camera I was thinking of ways to try to get the lens to move by applying the right pressure – I considered pliers (with rubber over the tips) and other means of gripping the front of the lens. I picked up a small rubber disk that was somehow conveniently on my desk at the time and with it in the palm of my hand pushed the front of the lens into it and tried to twist – it moved!  I tried again and moved it more; after a couple of minutes I had managed to release it enough to be able to focus fairly easily.  Now I had no excuses, it was time to try it out.

Expired film in Mamiya C330

As I have mentioned before my Mamiya C330 is living on borrowed time due to a small gear wearing out in the winding mechanism; a gear that is no longer available for replacement.

I recently bought a replacement an here are a few shots from the first roll (#25).  I used an expired roll of Ektachrome and used the +1 stop for each decade rule to compensate the exposure.

The Thirty Six: Film #18

Half way through this project now and I am pretty much on track for the year.  I am struggling a little with motivation  as I am shooting the same films a lot ( particularly in 35mm) and I’d like to shoot something else (guess I should have bought a more varied stock).  A few of these films I just don’t like as they seem to not really fit well with my subject matter and as a result I am reluctant to shoot them – ideally I’d like to swap the Kosmo Foto and/or the Fomapan for some Ilford or Portra – any takers on a 2 for 1?

I realized this week that somehow my blog settings had got changed so that it prevented any comments on recent posts; it’s fixed now.

The Thirty Six: Film #17

As (sort of) mentioned here, my Mamiya developed a fault and has been away for repair.  The bad news is that the part it needs is no longer available but the good news is they managed to get it working anyway; who knows for how long, it could be one roll or twenty so while I hunt down a replacement I will get as much out of it as I can.

As such here is a roll of very expired Kodak Ektar (EPP) 400

The Thirty Six: Film #10

Another roll of Kodak Tri-X this time in my Voigtländer Superb.  I took this on a photo walk with my local Beer and Cameras group here in LA and we walked around the fringes of the LA Art District.

The Thirty Six: Film #9 Tri-X

Another outing for the Voitländer Bessa RF this time using an expired roll of Kodak Tri-X 100.  Due to the age of this I exposed it as if it was 25 which judging by the results was just about perfect.

I am enjoying using the Bessa and established a workflow of sorts for shooting it making sure it is ready for the next shot though I am still a little off with framing on occasion. 

Cameras: Voigtländer Vitoret LR

I got this only a week or so ago thanks to Jim Grey’s thinning of the herd.   I couldn’t wait to try it out and took it to Hermosa Beach last weekend with a roll of Kodak ColorPlus film (which I have no recollection of buying).

First impressions on getting this is it sits somewhere between my Vitomatic and the Vitessa 500 SE Electronic. 

June was Pink

The next edition of my series on colours for 2018 which picks a feature colour for each month of the year; June was Pink.

Interesting mural (shot on Halina A1 on Kodak Ektar)

Cameras: Mamiya/Sekor 1000 DTL

I had no expectation of buying this camera and it is not a camera that I sort out.  In all honesty I almost literally stumbled across it.  I was out for a lunchtime walk with my Pen-F and came across a house running an estate sale.  I am someone who likes to rummage in this kind of thing and see what interesting things I can find.  As I walk in the door the first thing in front of me is a table with a few cameras on it; this one, a 500 DTL and a compact which I can’t now remember.  The condition of this one is excellent (as was the 500) and everything seemed to function.

As I said I had no desire for a Mamiya/Sekor SLR although I have a slight need for a suitable M39 (or M42) body with TTL metering to attach to my macro bellows. 

Photo on Friday

I just got a couple of films developed and thought I would share this one with you

I took this with my Voigtländer Bessa folding rangefinder on Kodak TMax.

This is the Tajunga Wash or rather the upper end of it just as it leaves the Angeles National Forest.  You might notice that on the hillside to the right is a darker patch; this was where the recent “Creek Fire” came through and was pretty much its far South-Eastern extremity – this is where it stopped about half a mile from my home.  The wash is a major feed into the Los Angeles river.

I am still impressed with the images this camera puts out, I have to get into a habit that I know when I have wound on/shot a frame if I am putting down for any length of time.

I need to use it some more and get a feel for where is excels and what film brings out it’s best.

Cameras: Kodak Jiffy-Six 16

I got this camera last year after finding it in an antique shop.  I realize this isn’t a rare piece but (maybe because it was more a US product) I had not seen one before and fell in love with it’s design.

The price was high (too high I think having seen a few more for sale since) and I wasn’t going to buy it, but my fiancé decided to buy it for me as a present for which I am very grateful.

It s in great condition and came with the original leather case; even the little Kodak film advertising inside is untouched.

Cameras: Ricoh 35 ZF

This camera is similar in operation to the Vitessa 500 in that it is a compact, zone focus viewfinder camera although this allows for full manual control of shutter speed and aperture or the semi-automatic  aperture priority .

It’s slightly more compact and simple look and it doesn’t have any exposure compensation also the batteries are more easily obtained.

Walls and fences

Just a couple of shots I like taken with the Pentacon recently on Kodak Gold

Leaf

Took this recently with the Pentacon and the Yashinon-DS 50mm lens.

I’m still deciding whether these are keepers