Vintage Cameras – tim dobbs photography

New/Old Camera … Zeiss Ikon Nettar & HP5 ….

I was watching a youtube video a few weeks back … it was “Shoot film like a boss” which is a great channel for anyone interested in film photography and darkroom stuff … Where an old Zeiss Ikon Netter was featured and I was impressed with the results it produced considering its age and especially as it can be picked up pretty cheaply for a medium format camera these days.

There are quite a few different models of this camera, the one I bought was the 517/16 with the 75mm f4.5 lens.

Once the camera arrived I couldn’t wait to try it just to see if there were any problems with it as it looked in excellent condition but looks can be deceiving.

I loaded it with some expired ilford HP5 that I use when testing cameras and went for a quick local walk.

I set the lens to the marked red dots so I didn’t have to mess about as this isn’t a rangefinder and I am useless at guessing distances.

I processed the roll in ilfotecHC 1+31 dilution for 6.30 and scanned with my Epson V600.

The results were great, very sharp and contrasty and also in focus ha ha!

I would highly recommend anyone interested in getting into medium format film photography to consider getting one of these especially as if you set the aperture/focus like this you more or less have a point & shoot.

Here is the whole roll …

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

Also still have a handful of zines over on my etsy store as well as some hand made film canister keychains … https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/timdobbsphoto

Testing a new camera .. Olympus XA with kentmere 400 …

A few weeks ago I bought my first camera this year from a Twitter friend … I have wanted an Olympus XA ever since using my Olympus XA1.

The XA1 is very limiting with very little control over the camera other than point and shoot which is still fun and I am not knocking it but being able to have a pocketable little camera that has full control of all of the variables was very tempting.

As most people who read this blog probably know that film cameras have sky rocketed over the last few years especially the better more sought after models like the XA so I didn’t buy one until I was offered this one for and excellent price.

Anyway once the camera arrived complete with the flash which I was not expecting I was eager to try it out so I loaded it with a roll of Kentmere 400 and went out for a little walk.

The camera was a joy to use even the rangefinder focus was pretty bright and easy.

I developed the roll in ilfotec LC29 1+19 dilution for 8 minutes and the results were just as I hoped, nice sharp and contrasty images , OK nothing special to look at as I just wanted to make sure that the camera was working but as they were all in focus and exposed ok I was well happy.

I have a roll of Agfa Vista loaded as I blog this so I may add them to this post once I have finished them.

So here are the images …

Click on photo 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

Also still have a handful of zines over on my etsy store as well as some hand made film canister keychains … https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/timdobbsphoto

Mamiya C330 and Fuji Neopan Acros …

The Mamiya C330 is a camera that I always seem to get great results with no matter what film or subject matter but it seems that this year this is only the 2nd time that I have shot with it.

I was going through my camera bags trying to sort out what cameras were stored where and I came across the trusty C330and decided to take it out for a change as I have been neglecting it.

I have a few rolls of Acros that I was kindly given that had expired back in 2019 so I wanted to see how they performed.

I have a couple of lenses for the C330 55/65/80/180 and 250 .. I mainly use the 55mm when I am out shooting landscapes but I decided on the 80mm f2.8 as it was very overcast and shooting 100 iso film meant I was probably going to be shooting shallow DOF stuff pretty much wide open.

After my little walk I developed the roll in ilford LC29 1+19 dilution for 5 minutes and scanned with my new Epson V600.

Considering I shot most of the frames at f2.8 the images were lovely and sharp with good contrast .. I have shot very little Acros in the past but I can see why everybody likes it.

Very smooth grain and punchy sharp images I will have to get hold of some of the new Acros to compare.

So here are the images .. comments most welcome

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

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

I also have some zines over on my Etsy store if anyone wants a look .. or message me to buy direct ..

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/timdobbsphoto?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Another roll of Ektar in the Mamiya 645 ….

My first blog post this year was a roll of Kodak Ektar using my Mamiya 645 and I pointed out that I rarely shoot Ektar but here you go I have shot another roll using the same camera.

Ektar is a pretty sharp film stock especially when you shoot it in 120 format and with good light which really shows on this roll which I was really pleased with.

I developed it with the Tetenal C41 kit and scanned using my Epson v500 which gives pretty good scans with 120.

So here is the roll .. I have only posted 12 frames as I duplicated some of the tree at the end of the roll which were all more or less identical.

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

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

I also have some zines over on my Etsy store if anyone wants a look .. or message me to buy direct ..

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/timdobbsphoto?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Fomapan 400 in 120 format is a revelation ….

I have shot Fomapan in both 100 and 400 iso in the past on 35mm and have tried different developers but have never been all that impressed with the results I have achieved.

I have seen lovely images shot using this film so I bought some Fomapan 100 and 400 in 120 format to give that a go.

I also bought some ilfotech LC29 developer at the same time so I loaded my Mamiya C330 with a roll of 400 and on a really cloudy overcast afternoon I went out and shot the roll at my local haunts where I have had nice results in this type of weather/lighting before.

Even though it was not the brightest of days I still managed to shoot most of the frames at between f5.6 and f11 hoping to test how sharp Fomapan 400 is.

After development the negatives looked pretty contrasty so I was excited to scan and see what I had.

The initial scans using my Epson v500 and Epson scan were promising and once in Lightroom/Photoshop the images blew me away … really nice contrast, not too punchy and sharpness in spades.

The C330 always gives me contrasty sharp images on most film stocks and didn’t fail here either.

Fomapan in 120 is like chalk and cheese compared to 35mm, I never got anything like this even from Fomapan 100 yet alone 400.

Suffice to say I immediately bought more Fomapan 400 and will be shooting it much more in future.

Here is the whole roll .. comments most welcome

Click on an image to view larger

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

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

I also have some zines over on my Etsy store if anyone wants a look .. or message me to buy direct ..

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/timdobbsphoto?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Sunny day walk with my Daughter & some Kodak Portra 400VC …

I have been working all the way through this pandemic lockdown which is a blessing as I think I would have gone nuts if I had to stay home so on the weekends I make the most of it by going on a long walk here in our lovely Garw Valley.

Most weekends if she isn’t working too I have been joined by my daughter who has been eager to explore the many different walks we have here in our vicinity.

I bought quite a few rolls of Portra 400VC from Mr Cad ages ago so I thought it was about time that I shot some of it so I loaded my trusty Mamiya 645 and went out on a hot Saturday morning to do a 8 mile trek around our valley.

After developing the roll I had some issues namely strange light leaks in different places and of different intensities so I immediately thought the camera was at fault even though I have never had a problem like this on any other rolls.

After posting on Twitter asking if anyone had any idea what it could be most people suggested the camera which would have been the obvious choice so I loaded up a roll of ilford SFX and shot that the following day under the same sunny conditions only to find they were all perfect … no leaks so on this occasion I think the problem was with the film itself.

I bought about 20 rolls and have shot 7 or 8 previously and all were fine except this one.

As most of the leaks occurred on the edges I managed to salvage quite a few frames with a little cropping which was pretty easy as it was a 6 x 4.5 frame.

See this original scan sample here

Anyway here are the final images … please click 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 🙂

Enjoying my Pentax Super A with some Lomo CN 800 …

I blogged a while back how I managed to stupidly lose my 1st Pentax Super A after only shooting a few rolls with it.

Since buying another one I have been shooting it quite a bit and being extremely careful not to take it (or any other camera) out whilst partaking in some alcohol .. this isn’t a problem at the minute due to this worldwide Coronavirus lockdown.

I love the Lomo CN400 colour film stock and would go as far as to say it’s my favourite colour film by a country mile.

When I replenished my Lomo film stash a few weeks ago I also bought a few rolls of CN800 just to compare it to CN400.

I have shot CN800 at night before and blogged it here .. Lomo CN800 at night

I am pleased to say that when it’s shot in good light that it gives excellent results too.

The colours are lovely and very comparable to CN400, the grain is definitely more pronounced but not so much as to be distracting and to be honest you have to zoom in to really notice.

I would be happy to shoot this film any time as it gives you the added bonus of using it when the light is less than good without having to push the film.

Here are a selection of the best frames ….

Please click a photo 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 🙂

Testing my 2nd Pentax Super A with Kodak TMax P3200 ….

About 6 months ago I picked up an SLR that I have wanted for ages a Pentax Super A.

I already have a few other Pentax’s including a Program A which is very similar but the Super has a top shutter speed of 1/2000 sec compared to 1/1000 which also shows on an LCD panel on the top.

To cut a long story short I somehow managed to lose that camera on a night out (Don’t ask) so I really wanted to get another one.

Super A’s are not that easy to get hold of especially in good condition but I managed to get one that was almost perfect but I needed to test it just to confirm I had a good one (as it was not cheap).

I had a few rolls of TMax P3200 that had just expired from Analogue Wonderland, I had already shot some before and were fine so I loaded up and went out for a local walk.

As you can see from a selection of images the camera worked great and I felt happy paying slightly over the odds for my 2nd copy.

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 🙂

Taking the Leica M2 for a walk in the fog …….

I waited years to eventually get to own a Leica and when I did I seemed to use it every week but during the last year my poor M2 stayed in one of my bags while I tried and tested loads of new cameras that I have been adding to my ever growing collection.

The other weekend the weather was it’s usual pants this time of year but I do like shooting B&W then conditions are bad so I was going to shoot my newly acquired Mamiya RB67 with some Foma that I received for Christmas but whilst sorting out which bag I was going to put my stuff in ( the RB67 is a monster) I came across my lovely M2 and immediately changed my mind and went back to the fridge and got a roll of Agfa APX400 which I wanted to try and loaded up the little Leica.

The camera was a joy to use and I quickly sped through the roll wishing that I had brought along another.

The M2 and my Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 are a perfect match.

I developed the roll using Eco Film developer from Bellini Foto 1+1 dilution for 12 minutes which gave me really punchy negs that scanned really well.

Considering the weather I loved how the images came out with plenty of contrast and sharp.

I need to get back to using the M2 on a more regular basis as this camera makes me happy every time it’s in my hands.

Here is a selection of images from the roll, I shot 2 frames of most of the compositions at different apertures so I have not posted any of the duplicates.

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 Lomography Potsdam Kino 100 ….

It’s great that in the last few months there has been a few new film stocks hitting the market which can only be good for us film shooters.

Potsdam Kino is a B&W cine film along the lines of the Berlin Kino film that was launched previously by Lomography.

It is 100 iso film with a supposedly wide exposure latitude according to reports on the interwebs so I loaded up my Mamiya C330 on an overcast yet quite bright day and went out to see how it performed.

I developed it in ID11 1+1 dilution for 7 minutes.

The negatives looked great out of the tank .. nice and punchy looking contrast and pretty sharp at first glance.

Once scanned and into lightroom a was pleased to say very little editing was required as the scans yielded excellent shadow and highlight detail and apart from slightly bringing down the highlights and pushing the shadows a bit they looked great, contrasty and sharp.

I have some in 35mm format which I am looking forward to trying just to see if I get the same results as sometimes I find it a bit harder to pull out detail in the shadow areas when using 35mm compared to 120.

So if you like punchy/contrasty/sharp images with minimum grain then give this film a go and you won’t be disappointed.

Anyway here is the whole roll … comments most welcome