Category: Uncategorized

It goes all the way to 1.1 …..

A twitter friend posted the other week that he was selling a recently purchased lens for a really good price that I could not refuse.

I have the Voigtlander 35mm Ultron f1.7 for my Leica M2 so the chance to add a 50mm to my bag was welcomed.

The 7 Artisans 50mm f1.1 is a pretty impressive piece of kit to be honest, it felt really well built and is pretty heavy to boot.

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And when attached to the M2 it felt well balanced but it was noticeably heavy when carrying but was great to shoot.

I loaded a roll of Kodak Ektar and set out to test how well it performed.

The viewfinder on the M2 is lovely and bright normally but maybe it was in my head but it did seem brighter and the focusing patch was very easy to get focus quickly.

The lens barrel did creep into the finder but not into the 50mm framelines so it was not a problem.

Anyway here is a selection of images shot at various apertures … only the one of my son at the end was shot wide open at f1.1 as it was too bright when I was out and didn’t have an ND filter with me.

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar002

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar003

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar005

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar004

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar007

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Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar009

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar027

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar029

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar020

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar034

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar023

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar032

Leica M2 - 7 Artisans - Kodak Ektar035

Overall I am extremely pleased with the lens, it is not as sharp as the Ultron wide open or even at f2.8 but how it renders the out of focus areas is lovely so its a keeper for me for sure.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

#BIFScale18 … my keepers from 2 rolls of 35mm Redscale …

Nikon F100 - Agfa Vista Redscale020

Just like last year over at Believeinfilm.com there is a challenge to shoot and post Redscale images during February with the added bonus of prizes on offer.

Here is the link … believeinfilm.com/BIFscale18

Anyway here are my images that I liked taken with my Nikon F100 and both 50mm f1.4 & Nikkor 24-85mm VR.

I made some of my own Redscale using a roll of Agfa Vista 200 & Kodak Colorplus 200.

You can find my link to a post I did for emulsive.org here … Making-and-experimenting-with-homemade-redscale-film-agfa-vista-plus-200

Shooting Redscale film is fun and the resultant images do surprise sometimes but also disappoint too … I was happy with 11 frames from my 2 rolls to be honest.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

Sunshine & Shade .. Provia 100F and my Yashicamat 124G ….

The weather here in South Wales has been pants over the last few weeks and I have some E6 chemistry sitting in my darkroom quickly going off as I have not had the light I need to shoot my recently acquired Fuji Provia 100F.

But last weekend we had some reasonable sunshine breaks so I loaded up my Yashicamat and went out to chase the sun.

But as it turned out there seemed to be more poor cloud cover than sunshine so as you can see from my 12 frames here how Provia changes its look depending on the conditions.

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It goes from a cool, subtle palette to a vibrant glowing look when the sun shines.

I quite like both looks to be honest.

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I was happy that my Tetenal E6 chemistry still had some legs on it and I was very happy with how the roll looked …. and managing to get 12 out of 12 keepers was a bonus.

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While on my walk I met 3 gents who were quite taken with the Camera requesting a photo be taken which I duly obliged.

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Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

“There’s mist on them hills” .. testing my New/Old lens …

 

A few months back I picked up a Nikkormat FTn from an old photographer who was selling a few bits and pieces, I bought it without a lens as I have plenty of Nikon F mount lenses ( or so I thought ).

Once I got it home I mounted my 50mm f1.4 only to find that I couldn’t meter properly as the lenses that I had with an actual aperture ring didn’t have the little aperture lug thingy that is on the older Ai lenses which tells the camera meter what aperture was selected.

I did however find out that there is a way of using the stop down metering method which I tried and it worked fine but I wanted to get one of the older Ai lens just to use it properly.

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So 2 weeks ago I was in Cardiff visiting the David Hurn “Swaps” exhibition in the National Museum of Wales and I paid a visit to a few of the little camera shops only to come across this Nikkor 35mm f2.8 Ai which was in excellent condition and just as importantly it was in my price range.

To test the combination I loaded up some ilford XP2 and went out into the wonderful welsh weather and shot away.

The lens was great to use, very smooth and I love the 35mm field of view so all was good.

I developed and scanned the film and here are the results.

I am very happy with how they both performed especially the lens which is sharp and contrasty given the condition that I was shooting in.

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The camera shop that I purchased this lens also had 2 Nikon F3’s and a Nikkor 28mm Ai which I played with a bit but held my nerve and left them in the shop … until next time I am in Cardiff (I don’t have an F3 in my collection) 🙂

 

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

December’s #FP4Party entries all together ….

FP4-200_002

This month’s entries were taken using my Nikon F100 with the 50mm f1.4 on ilford FP4 rated at 200 iso and developed in ilfotec HC.

I only manage to get through one roll so I was pleased that I had quite a few keepers on the roll to post.

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Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

I have made my 1st Zine … anyone want a copy? …..

 

Over the past few weeks I have been buying zines from fellow photographers that I am friends with on twitter and other social media which encouraged me to produce my own.

I have an ongoing personal project that features artists of various differing types in their place of work which is a thoroughly enjoyable thing to do personally but also gives me plenty of material for this type of zine.

Here are a few sample pages ….

X-T10-0470

X-T10-0471

X-T10-0472

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It’s been great fun to do and the finished zine was everything I hoped for also artist”Kevin Sinnott” whom this zine features also loves it which is a bonus for me.

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This edition is a limited run of 30 copies 28 pages full colour on 150gm silk paper of which I only have a few left thanks to some of my twitter followers and Kevin himself who wanted some for his studio.

If any of you lovely followers of this blog wish to purchase a copy then either contact me through Twitter @timdobbsphoto or via email at timd.photography@gmail.com for details

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

Lomography Color Negative 400 is becoming my most favorite colour film …

OM2s_Lomo400_008I recently did a post about my 1st time shooting Lomography Color Negative 400 film in 35mm and this is a sort of follow up or my 2nd roll if you like.

This time the light was pretty dull unlike the bright sunshine I enjoyed with the 1st roll but I was good as it allowed a comparison with similar subject matter.

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It would be fair to say that the film performed just as good in poor light as it did in bright sunshine giving excellent sharpness even shooting at wide apertures using my Olympus OM2s & 50mm f1.4.

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The colours are still pretty vibrant just a little more subtle which lends itself to maybe shooting portraits which I think will be my next subject with this film.

This film is excellent value costing around £4 a roll in the UK here is a link direct to the Lomography site but a quick Google search will bring up some even cheaper prices.

lomography-color-negative-400-iso-35mm-3-pack

 

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

1st time shooting Bergger Pancro 400 …

Bergger_Pancro400_018A few weeks ago while buying my usual selection of film stock I also bought a couple of rolls of the new Bergger Pancro 400 to try and see how it compares against my favorite ilford HP5+.Bergger_Pancro400_012I loaded up my Leica M2 and went out for a quick walk hoping to miss the rain that had been forecast.

I rated the film at box speed and processed it in Rodinal 1+25 dilution for 8 minutes.

Bergger_Pancro400_030When it emerged from the tank I was happy with the overall look, pretty good exposure and contrast.

The 1st scans confirmed my initial thoughts and the film scanned very well.

I always try to scan as flat as possible and then increase the contrast in Lightroom.

The level of detail was very good as was the grain and what was really impressive was how much detail I got in the shadows while also retaining the highlights.Bergger_Pancro400_020

Bergger_Pancro400_014Overall I was very happy with how this film performed at box speed but I think I would like to push the next roll which is something that I nearly always do with HP5+ with brilliant results.

Anyway thanks for looking ….

Click on an image to view larger

All images on my blog are available as prints just drop me an email

I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂

A Month with my Leica …

I have been thinking about and then putting off buying a Leica M for an absolute age.

I don’t really know what the actual reason for putting it off was to be fair … everytime I saw one I liked and put it into my online basket something stopped me pressing the checkout button.

Well last month I bit the bullet and got hold of an M2 which was made the same year of my birth which made it that little bit extra special.

I got it without a lens from Red Dot Cameras but purchased an adapter for my Jupiter 8 50mm f2 as a stop gap until I decide which lens I am going to get.

Here follows 4 galleries featuring a selection of images shot on 4 different film stock all processed and scanned by myself.

The Jupiter 8 really impressed me with the colour rendering and sharpness/bokeh … God only knows how excited I will be when I get around to upgrading this little beauty.

Click on an image to view larger ……..

  1. Kodak Ektar

    2. Ilford XP2

    3. Agfa Vista 200

    4. Kodak Tmax 400

    Overall my 1st month with my 1st Leica has not disappointed in the least … this little camera oozes class and charisma it is such a pleasure to use.

    I now know why photographers heap praise on the Leica M even a 50+ year old model works like a dream and it has to be said .. this is the best camera I have ever shot with … I don’t mean in techy imagey sort of way but as something that makes you feel happy everytime that you use it

    God I even like just looking at it … ha haThanks for looking ….

    I also have a film only blog over at  usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want a peek 🙂