Do I really need this….

As I sit here I am staring at my Canon 7 rangefinder camera.  Arguably the most sophisticated non-Leica rangefinder out there and at it’s time of release probably the most feature-rich rangefinder available.  It has everything you could possibly want in a camera; built-in light meter, multiple bright lines in the excellent viewfinder, easy film loading, shutter speeds up to 1/1000 and an excellent range of good quality lenses.

Due to all of the above and an opportunity to get one at a reasonable price I bought it late last year.  

It arrived and I immediately I  found a problem that was not expected from the sellers description.  But being a reputable dealer they took it back, did a CLA on it and returned it too me in good shape.   It came without a lens but I already had a Jupiter lens with the LTM mount and started shooting a film straight away.  The results came back as slightly mixed, some shots were well focused/exposed and some were not.  I wasn’t sure whether this was operator error (probably) or an issue with the lens; these Russian lenses are known to sometimes not be exactly correct for all LTM cameras.  Also, my particular lens has a very loose aperture ring and it is very very easy to accidentally move it meaning DOF is not what I am expecting and exposure is off.

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.

3D: light meter cover – Canon 7

Last time I talked about the 3D printer I said I was going to design and make a cover for the selenium meter on my Canon 7 rangefinder and here it is!…

Okay so I didn’t design it!

The world of 3D design and printing is fast moving and before I could get around to completing my design for a little cover someone else beat me to it.

Out in the country with the Petri

I took these a while ago and hadn’t posted them until now.  They were shot with the Petri 2.8 Color Super on Fuji Pro 400 and came out a little on the hazy side for some reason and I hesitated to share.

I suspect that the lens has some issues which weren’t fully apparent previously which I guess a good clean might resolve.

Mamiya 35 Executive

As well as being roll 22 and 24 of my 36, this is also a review on another new to me camera; the Mamiya 35 Executive.

I am not really sure why I bought this as I have several other 35mm rangefinders two of which are very good and my ‘favourite’ brand.  But Mamiya is also a trusted brand for me and when browsing recently to find a replacement for my soon-to-be-dead Mamiya C330, I stumbled across this.  It wasn’t cheap so I can’t use that to justify my purchase.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I didn’t actually know that Mamiya made 35mm rangefinders and so seeing this, I was intrigued. 

My Top Five (film cameras)

So this year I got close to owning 50 cameras.  I know there are those that own way more than that (or have) but for me it’s just a little too many.  To settle this, I have been trying to whittle the numbers down and pass some cameras on to new owners; I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be and for some of them its a painful experience to let go.

It’s also not helped by me continuing to acquire more 😀

In the process though I am identifying the few cameras that I really like, use regularly and expect to do so more going forward.  Those few will get (or already have had) a CLA so I can be sure they are in good shape to provide me with years of enjoyment and reliability.

So what are those few favourites and why do I like them?

In no particular order….

The Thirty Six: Film #21

I shot a roll of Fuji Pro 400 using a new camera acquisition in the form of the Mamiya 35 Executive; I’ll do a full review of the camera in a later post when I have shot another roll (or two) through it.
In the meantime this roll came out really good and I’m very happy with the results that this camera returned.

I shot some of the film on the streets around where I work just capturing scenes that I saw.

The Thirty Six: Film #20

This the second film from the recent UK trip (see the first here).  I took used a roll of Ilford FP4 this time; one of my favourite black and white films.

I only took the one film camera on this trip so again this is using the Voigtländer Prominent.

Took these around the beach are at Southsea

The Thirty Six: Film #19

I went on a trip back home to the UK last month and took my Voigtländer Prominent with me.  I started the trim with a roll of Porta 400.

The first day my daughter and I went to Bletchley Park famous for the code breakers during WWII.  It’s an interesting place with lots to learn about.

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 #15

Just got my Prominent back from a full CLA and slapped a roll of Kosmofoto in there as soon as I got it home.

Decided to underexpose this roll slightly as previously I have struggled with the extreme contrast of this film with blown out highlights – I think it prefers the northern Europe weather.

The Thirty Six: Film #12

My Bessa got another outing, this time on a weekend trip to Monterey, CA.  I decided to shoot Ilford Delta 100 and both the camera and film performed well.

The Lone Cyprus

The Thirty Six: Film #11 with Petri 2.8

I took this roll during the Beers and Cameras photo walk the same day as the last roll (here) but this time it was 35mm Fomopan 100 and I was using it to test my newly acquired Petri Rangefinder; this post is also a review of that camera.

I have been intrigued by Petri for a few months particularly since readying this post on 35mmc not too long ago.  Then browsing Goodwill I spotted this one and hey presto! for very little investment it was mine.

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. 

The Thirty Six: Film #8

Another roll through my Voigtlander Prominent? Well not quite, this is a different Prominent; slightly older than the one used on this post. That one is away for a CLA so using the spare and prepping it for sale once the other comes back.

Film of choice this time was Kodak Portra 160

 

This was the first time using the 100mm Dynaron lens and I had mixed results which I don’t quite understand; some of the shots are perfectly focused others are just waaay off. I’m not sure whether it was operator error, an RF issue or if the lens wasn’t properly mounted –