Category: Equipment testing

150mm f4 and a new scanner…….

Since getting my Mamiya 645 the other week I have been on the lookout for a 150mm lens to shoot portraits with. A facebook friend who just happens to run West Yorkshire Cameras  http://wycameras.com/ messaged me after reading my last blog post to say he had a Mamiya Sekor 150mm f4 for sale if I was interested at a very, very reasonable price :-).

Needless to say I bought it immediately and when it arrived it was a lovely piece of kit. The only problem now was that my scanner an Epson v330 photo would only scan 35mm not medium format so more expenditure was need, luckily there was a sale on in PC World and I managed to pickup an Epson v500 http://bit.ly/VvbQBZ

The scanner is an awesome machine I re-scanned some of my recent negatives which I was very happy with originally and there was a noticeable difference especially in the highlight and shadow detail captured.

I eagerly shot a roll of Fuji 400H pro and rushed into the darkroom to see the results the lens produced.

What I did notice after scanning and viewing in Photoshop was the extreme shallow depth of field even at f8 when using the longer focal length which when my focus was spot on really made the subject appear almost 3d.

To get the best results at F4 I would have to use a tripod and spend a bit of time making sure that what I wanted to be in focus was spot on because there is little margin for error when wide open.

The type of look this camera and lens gives me is exactly what I want when taking a portait and something I cannot come close to using my crop sensor digital slr’s.

I can get something similar using a film slr and a 100mm f2.8 but the quality of the negative is so much better at 6 x 4.5.

I now have taken over two shelves in the fridge with my films since stocking up on Kodak T-Max 100, Portra 400 and some Ilford Delta 400 in 120 format.

click on an image to view larger…….

New camera and this time its not a charity shop cheap one………..

Finally bit the bullet and got myself a proper camera… a Mamiya 645 1000s and as soon as it arrived I knew it was love at first sight….lol.

It is built like a tank, pretty heavy but not difficult to handle. I was really eager to try it out just incase of problems so I could return it to the shop … http://www.ffordes.com/home

I loaded up a roll of Kodak T-MAX 100 so that I could process it here at home easily but by the time I got in from work the light was rubbish so after learning how to use the mirror up facility on the camera and a tripod I dragged Ben out the garden and shot off 15 frames.

The settings were 1/30 sec @f2.8 so I was praying that I got something off the roll, I processed it in Perceptol 1+3 for 19 minutes as stated in the Massive Dev Chart iphone app and was astounded at the clarity and tonal range of the images.

There was a few where my focus was not totally spot on but the DOF is so shallow at f2.8 that I was not too bothered at least I know the camera and lens are keepers and that I like the look of T-Max, the grain was virtually non existant processed in Perceptol.

I will be shooting a roll of Fuji pro 400h on the weekend and getting it processed and scanned by AG photographic http://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/ hopefully to get better quality than I can at home.

Next on my list is the 150mm f2.8 and an AE Prism Finder ….  🙂

Click on an image to see full size

Thanks for looking………

 

My 99pence camera………

99pence I hear you say……well actually it was £5.99 because the postage was £5 but what a cracking bargain it is.

I am now getting seriously hooked on ebay and charity shops for old retro cameras I have just won another as I type this blog post up… A Yashica Minister-D an almost mint rangefinder.

Anyway, this little camera blew me away when I opened the parcel on the weekend it was an excellent, solid piece of german engineering (well metal not plastic…lol) only problem was I did not have any batteries to try it out so had to wait till yesterday to get them.

Luckily the sun was still out when I got home from work and I quickly loaded the batteries and a roll of cheapo Kodak Colorplus (just incase the camera was a dud) and rushed out to snap a few photos.

It took a bit of guess work with guessing the focus distance but I was shooting at f8 mainly so I was not too fussy.

I was really pleased with the photos, sharp and contrasty and the huge viewfinder was a pleasure to use, I am going to be using this little beauty a lot and would recommend anyone interested in film photography to check out eBay as there are a few about.

All these shots are straight scans un edited even for dust and hairs……lol

I love getting new camera’s especially when they are FREE………….

A few months ago a photographer friend who knew I was getting back into film photography sent me a message to say he has a Canon A1 he has never used and I could have it if I wanted it. Obviously I said YES! PLEASE! but we never got around to meeting up until last week.

After a little clean up and a visit to Camarthen Cameras   http://www.carmarthencameras.co.uk/   to get a lens, a Canon FD 35mm for a princely sum of £30 I loaded it up with some expired Agfa Vista 400 and went off to Porthcawl to try it out..

The variation in the colours of the film gave the photos a vintage sort of feel but as you can see here the camera and lens performed excellently and for a total outlay of £30 I couldn’t go wrong.

I would like to Thank Gareth for his generosity and even though I really like this camera (my 1st Canon) I will not be turning to the dark-side just yet as I am too heavily  invested in my Nikon equipment.

Vintage looking photos from Vintage Cameras ………

Here are a selection of test photographs using the 3 vintage cameras I was loaned (see last blog post).

First one is with the Agfa Isolette using ilford Delta 3200….

The next 2 were with the Zorki 4 using expired Agfa Vista 200 as you can see with the 1st shot the shutter was sticking…..

And the last selection was with my favorite camera to use the Yashica Mat using expired Fuji Neopan 400…….

I have really enjoyed using all 3 cameras especially the Yashica and considering the film  used had expired I am very pleased with the results, I am going to have to get myself a nice medium format camera very, very soon………. Thanks again to Mike and Andy  🙂

click on an image to view larger………

 

My film addiction is getting worse……….

As anyone who has viewed my blog over the last few months would have guessed that I have been smitten with shooting film again after years of digital DSLr’s.

I have been very lucky that I have a few photographer friends who have vast vintage camera collections and are very trusting to loan me a few cameras to feed my addiction…..lol

The 1st camera I tried was the Agfa Isolette from Andrew Beveridge an excellent Wedding and portrait photographer http://www.silverbirchphotography.com/ I struggled with the 1st roll as I am not used to using a light-meter or the zone focus system employed by this camera but the 2nd roll was far better after using a tape measure to make sure of the subject distance.

The Yashica Mat and the Zorki 4 were from Mike Stokes  http://www.flickr.com/photos/opobs/  also  http://www.opobs.co.uk/ He has had both cameras for many years and informed me that he has never had much luck with the Yashica Mat as it was always over exposing so he resorted to using tape on his light meter to change the exposure reading to compensate for the problem.

The very same thing happened with my 1st roll but after scanning the negs I managed to save a couple of frames, next roll I will set my meter to at least 2 stops under to see what happens.

I found out that the Zorki 4 had a sticking shutter as it has not been used for years and 1/3rd of every frame was totally burned out but after loads of clicking of the shutter over the weekend it seemed to have done the trick as the 2nd roll exposed fine.

Using all 3 of these cameras has been a pleasure and I would like to thank Andrew and Mike for letting me try them out. I will post some photos from these cameras in my next post.

Learning to use my Film Scanner………

Over the last few months I have really got hooked on shooting film again even more so since getting a film scanner and developing at home too.

The scanner an Epson v330 Photo performs great or so I thought with the Epson software that came bundled with it.

I have been scanning at nearly all of the default settings then opening the scan in Aperture or Photoshop and tweaking slightly and removing dust and hairs.

The resultant photos have been fine but the other day I shot a few rolls of expired film and when scanning them noticed that nearly half of each roll were over-exposed (or so I thought) which I attempted to get back using Camera Raw and I was pretty happy not realising that the problem was with the scanning software.

After reading up on the internet I found that the auto exposure that the scanner software was using was blowing out the highlights, I re-scanned a neg that was blown out and used the histogram in the program to correct the exposure before scanning.

I have included here 2 photos like a before and after to show the difference, I am going to go back through my negs and re-scan them as the difference in quality is great.

Thanks for looking… Please click on photos for the comparison

Olympus mju-11 & outdated Agfa Film………

Popped into Bridgend last week and noticed some old film cameras in the Heart Foundation Charity Shop most were APS format but there was an Olympus mju11 35mm amongst them, sadly not the one with the fixed prime 2.8 but with the zoom but for £5 I was not going to moan.

Eager to try it out it was loaded with some Agfa Vista 400 that expired in 2009 and out I went for a walk.

It was a very easy camera to use once I figured out how to stop the flash going off every shot and after processing the film, the results were pretty pleasing.

I will be throwing this camera in my bag and trying some street photography with it as it’s very small and compact and the autofocus performed great as long as I use fast film or shoot in the sun its a great addition to my ever growing camera collection.

Kodak T-Max 3200 on a Sunny Afternoon………..

A few days ago a fellow photographer gave me a load of different types of film of which were a couple of rolls of Kodak T-Max 3200.

Eager to try this film out and even though the weather was bright and sunny I loaded up my Nikon F90x as it has a shutter speed up to 1/8000 sec and popped up my local graveyard hoping to capture some gritty images.

I was pleased with the results all things considered but I may use the next roll on something more appropriate that requires that sort of sensitivity……..lol

Nikon F90x and some cheap Kodak film………

My wife asked me last week what I would like for my up coming birthday and was not impressed when I asked for a Nikon D800…….lol.

Instead a much more realistic possibility was another film camera to add to my growing collection, I had been looking on eBay for a good, high spec Nikon autofocus camera and plumped for the F90x.

When it arrived it was in immaculate condition inside and out so I loaded up a cheapo roll of Kodak Colorplus 200 and popped into Bridgend where there was an Italian Market event to try it out.

The camera felt great in use, the autofocus was quick using both the 85mm and 50mm f1.8 it felt just like using my D300s without the LCD screen on the back.

Eager to see if the photographs matched my joy at using the camera I got home and processed the film.

I was very happy with the results, the focus was spot on and the Kodak film gave the photos a nice slight de-saturated look especially for the portraits.

I managed to pick up a few rolls of Fuji Superia 400 at a bargain price from Sainsbury’s and loaded up a roll just to see how the camera performed with a better film stock (see main photo of my wife at top) and I must admit the photo quality was great, I shot a load of portraits at f2 and loved the results.

I am going to be using this camera a lot in the future I fell in love with the handling and the picture quality all for a bargain price of £38, you have to love eBay  🙂