Vintage Cameras – Page 5 – tim dobbs photography

Testing my Canon AF35M with Ilford FP4@200…….

I picked up this little point & shoot a while back now it was only a few quid off e-bay but have not had much chance to try it out.

As I have a couple of days off work I thought it was time to see if it was working or not.Before we braved the cold and frost I loaded up some ilford FP4 and rated it at iso 200, popped in a couple of AA batteries and shot a quicky of one of my camera shelves with the inbuilt flash.

We then went for a walk in the bright sunshine but freezing temperatures.After developing the negatives I was extremely pleased with what the camera produced, lovely and sharp with great contrast and only 2 shots actually missed focus and they were most probably my fault as I was slightly too close. This camera is slightly bigger than my fav Nikon L35AF which fits my pocket perfectly which was the only thing that I didn’t really like about this excellent little camera.

The picture quality well exceeded my expectations, I will put a roll of Ektar through it next and will post the results.

Thanks for looking……..

Pentax Program A & C-41 process B&W film testing………

I picked up a Pentax Program A SLR off ebay last week for less than £10, I couldn’t resist a bargain even though I have an ME Super and MV1 the benefit of the Program A is slightly lost on me as I don’t have any Pentax A lenses but for £10 it was a no brainer.

I also had the opportunity to try out some of West Yorkshire Camera’s C-41 process 400 iso Black & White film which I processed myself at home.

I popped along to a local derelict factory with the hope of capturing some nice contrasty images and I was not disappointed with either camera or film.

All the images were shot using the Pentax 50mm f1.7 lens which gave me lovely detail even shooting at f4.

I don’t normally use C-41 B&W film but I must say this film gave me great results and at the bargain price they charge its definatly worth a try.

Thanks again for looking….

comments most welcome 🙂

also check out my other blog at usingfilm.wordpress.com for more film only stuff

Toy camera time……..

I have a few older film cameras that sort of give the Lomo effect which I sometimes like the look of but I wanted to get a proper Lomo camera so managed to pick up this Holga 120gn off ebay for just £6.

I wasn’t really expecting much when I opened the parcel but it was still a slight shock to feel how cheap the camera was. Nevertheless I proceeded to load her up with a roll of Ilford Delta 400 only to find out it did not have the film masks so I was only able to shoot 6×6 but that was ok.12 extremely quick frames later and into the darkroom I went wondering if anything was going to appear on the film. It felt a little strange shooting every frame at 1/100sec @f11 as that was the only setting when sunny but every frame came out albeit slightly up and down in exposure but nothing that could not be tweaked while scanning the negs.

Here are the 12 shots in all their glory….lol

ps. the double exposure portrait of me was shot by Ben, a happy accident which is one of the reasons to shoot this Lomo style 🙂 click on an image to view larger……….

I also have a dedicated film blog over at http://usingfilm.wordpress.com/

feel free to pop over and have a look

Found my new Favorite Film Compact 35mm Camera……..

I have over the last 12 months been buying cheap film cameras from various places like ebay and charity shops etc hoping to come across a camera that may be comparable to my various SLR’s image quality.

I know that its not really the camera but lens that gives the quality so I searched the web for some information on compact cameras and found a lot of recommendations for the Nikon TW20.

I found a couple on ebay ranging in price from 99 pence to £50 so I bid on one and managed to get it for £8 inc postage……… Bargain 🙂

It arrived quite quickly but to my complete annoyance didn’t have a battery and as it used a type that I have not got in any of my other cameras I had to wait a few more days to test the supposed image quality 😦

As soon as the battery arrived I immediately rushed out with a roll of Kodak T-MAX 400 and shot away on a nice mountain walk up here in the lovely Garw Valley.

The results from this cheap and rather ugly little camera were totally amazing, the sharpness was stunning.

I am so pleased with this purchase I cannot recommend this camera more highly, its not the most compact of things in fact its quite large for a so called compact but the images this produces really makes you forget what the camera looks like.

I would have quite happily paid £50 for this beauty and its going to be in my camera bag every time I go out.

click on an image to view larger………

Thanks for looking 🙂

Zorki 4k with Cheap Agfa 200 film……..

I saw that my local pound shop were selling new rolls of Agfa 200 iso film at £1 a roll (obviously) and picked up a load just to use when testing any old camera I pick up.

I loaded up the Zorki 4k and went out looking for anything slightly colourful on a really drab day here in the South Wales Valleys.

After developing the film and scanning it in I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Agfa film performed, there was a slight magenta look to the images but apart from that I was pretty pleased with the overall look.

I am getting used to using the Zorki’s viewfinder and managed to not cut off anything and also getting the focus spot on even at f2.8.

I think another visit to the pound shop is in order and stock up on a few more rolls is in order this weekend 🙂

Thanks for looking………….

Pocket size Rangefinder……..

I bought this camera off eBay ages ago and was not sure if it was working properly as the battery test light didn’t work but as the shutter fired I assumed it was ok.

So a few weeks ago I loaded up a roll of Ilford HP5+ and rated it at 800 iso and popped out for a short walk to eventually test the little camera.

Its is essentially a point and shoot like the Trip 35 but with rangefinder focussing which was nice and bright and very easy to use, in fact after seeing the results I am looking forward to giving this camera a run out doing a bit of street shooting.

Here is a selection of the images, the exposures were very good and so was the focussing. The sharpness of the Zuiko 38mm f2.8 lens was also very impressive.

Thanks for looking…..

More film loveliness over on my other blog at

http://usingfilm.wordpress.com/

Zorki 4k & Ilford HP5+……..

A week or two ago my wife got me a Zorki 4k for christmas so before she wrapped it up I insisted on putting a roll of film through it just to make sure all was well.

We bought the camera from West Yorkshire Cameras who specialise in affordable film cameras, I must say that they are great lads and highly recommend that if you are interested in film photography to pay them a visit.

I have bought numerous things from them and their service is excellent.

http://wycameras.com/

I used some Ilford HP5+ and processed it in ilfotec DDX.

The viewfinder was reasonable bright considering its age and even though the weather was poor focussing was not really a problem but I did find that composing in the portrait format was hit and miss as I am used to an SLR.

I just took a load of random shots using the light-meter app on my iPhone to set the exposure and was pretty pleased with what came out.

The 50mm f2.0 Jupiter lens was pretty sharp when stopped down a little but still looked nice at f2.8 as you can see with the first shot of the barbed wire fence.

I am pleased that after shooting the first roll all seems well with the camera and I am looking forward to trying a bit of street photography with it.

Thanks for looking

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.