Article on Lomography

I found this interesting article on Lomography on the BBC web site:

Did the Lomo camera save film photography?

Hope you enjoy reading it!

World Toy Camera Day

Someone (not sure who) decided that 20th October 2012 would be World Toy Camera Day. The idea being that we should all go out with very simple cameras on that day and take some photos.
The only camera I have that counts as a 'toy' is my Brownie Reflex 20. Only problem was, I heard about this rather late and I don't have any 620 film for my Brownie (even if you can get it - you can sometimes get 620 film in the UK here). So I decided to use some 35mm film, which, with a bit of 'gaffer' tape and some foam, does fit (sort of):

By experimentation with a old film I found that 1 and a half turns are required to wind each frame on.

All well and good but the 20th October the weather was pretty awful in the UK! I ended up taking the photos around that weekend, rather than on the day. The Brownie shutter sounded very slow to me, maybe 1/15th sec. Photos are a bit variable. I used 200ASA Kodak 'Poundland' film which the camera tends to overexpose when the sun is out, so it worked best when it wasn't sunny!

This is one of the better ones, self portrait in a mirror. 

Not great composition but shows that with a very steady hand you can get quite a sharp picture.

Center Point Building in London, on a very grey day...

Well I had fun, even if the results are not great!

Spiders and webs

Amazing macro photos of spiders from the BBC web site here

I took some spider web photos myself recently. Not quite as good!

Taken with my Lumix GF3, with a close up lens.

This one I found in the garden last summer. Taken with my Nikon D70

Tom Wood - photographer

This link is to an article about photographer, Tom Wood. He has been taking street photos of people since the 1970s. Some great photos here. He has an exhibition on in London. Must be worth a visit!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19873074

Zeiss Ikon Maximar

A bit of autumn sunshine encouraged me to have another go with the Maximar. As I discovered the first time I used it, its quite a complex process. I loaded up the plates with very old FP4 sheet film, I still have problems getting it the right way around in the plate with the emulsion to the light. The film does have notches  on the top left to aid the process but I still managed to get it wrong on 2 of the 3 plates!

Focusing on the ground glass screen in sunlight is impossible so I needed my dressing gown over my head!

To process the sheets, last time I used the 'taco' method in a Paterson type tank with hair bands to hold the films. This did not work well as the hair bands disintegrated and left deposits over the film. This time I used elastic bands. This was not much of an improvement! The films were not full immersed in the developer and so have undeveloped strips on one side. I used stand development with Rodinal 1+ 100 for 1 hour. Negatives are a little dark. Maybe because the film is so old and it has lost some of its sensitivity.

This shot was taken in a mirror, dark section on the lower right is where the negative was not developed.

Focus is a little soft on this one but I think the negative was the wrong way around in the holder with the emulsion to the rear.

If its sunny tomorrow I might try again.

World's first colour film

Very interesting article from the BBC web site about a colour cine film from 1902.

Watch it here

Infra Red

A while a go I bought a couple of rolls of Ilford SFX200 . This is not true Infra Red film, but has 'extended red sensitivity'. Recently I got a chance to try the film out. The results are, at best, 'mixed'! I loaded it up in my Nikon F801and put a 25A red filter on the front of the zoom lens it has. The F801 has auto focus which is a good thing as its pretty much impossible to manually focus with the red filter on. All the pictures were of vegetation (trees grass etc) and water (lakes, canals) and I was hoping for some dramatic light coloured vegetation and dark sky. I was pretty disappointed!
Only the photos taken in full sunshine showed any signs of the IR effects I was hoping for. Here a couple of the best ones:

This photo of a tree is one of the few where the green of the tree shows up as a lighter colour

Although its not obvious on these small versions of the photos, the film is pretty grainy. I developed it in Ilford DD-X which is the recommended developer.

Sky turned out quite well on this one but hardly dramatic!

The Ilford data sheet for the film suggests getting the right exposure might be difficult, so I followed the advice and bracketed shots at -1, -2  stops but these were too dark and the F801 meter got the exposure correct. It also says that for the most dramatic effects use a R72 filter.

So, conclusions?
1) You don't get much of a dramatic effect with a 25A filter.
2) You don't hardly any effect unless the sun is out.

Next?
I will probably get hold of a R72 filter. This is a very dark red filter, which will take about 4 stops off the exposure so I will need a tripod. I will load the next roll in my Nikon F, this of course is manual focusing so I will need to take the filter off to frame and focus the photo. Then wait for a sunny weekend!

Panoramic photos

This is an interesting short news item on panoramic photos from the BBC web site:

Here

However rather annoyingly the presenter says nobody uses film any more (not true!) and then later in the item shows the Lomagraphy 360 Spinner camera which uses film!

I am certainly tempted to try the Bubblescope iPhone attachment, they have it on Amazon here, but delivery is 1-3 months!!

TTV

I have wanted to try a Through The Viewfinder (TTV) shot for a while so when I was finishing off a roll of Kodak Porta 160 in my Olympus OM-2 I took the opportunity to try a shot through the waist level finder (WLF) of my Exakta Varex 11a. The resulting photo has proved very popular in Flickr:

Spurred on by its success I tried a few more, although this time I used my Lumix digital camera. It actually is pretty tricky to get the lighting and the focus just right. The couple of TLR cameras a have (A Rollicord and a Microcord) produce viewfinder images which are really too dark. My Kodak Brownie Reflex 20 was a little better:

Here it is viewing my Varex IIa.

But I still got the best results with the WLF on my Varex. Here is the Varex IIb viewing my Zeiss Ikonta:

I think the lighting needs further work! My 'studio' set up is a little basic!:

I need to by some more powerful lights to replace my ones with home made cardboard reflectors!

I think a lot of people who are into these TTV photos make a tube with black card or something to keep stray light off the viewfinder. Maybe I will try that one day.

Film or digital?

Just back form a holiday in Gran Canaria. Not as photogenic as I had hoped, too dry and hot! I took my Exakta Varex IIa loaded with FP4, my Olympus OM-2 with some expired Kodak Portra 160VC and my Lumix DMC-GF3 for digital snapshots. Having developed the films and looked through the shots I took at home I realized I took some of the same shots on colour film and digital. For me its not about which is the best, I enjoy the film process much more than the digital one, but I thought I would compare the shots to see how they differ.

Colourful cafe in Las Palmas, with the Olympus, Kodak 160VC film 

Same shot with the Lumix

Flowers in the garden where we stayed - with the Olympus film camera

Similar shot with the Lumix digital camera, but with the OM lens

Which one is best? I have no idea! Colours are a bit off on the film photo of the cafe, mostly because I was impatient to process them and used my old Tetenal chemicals which are 10 months old and I think need replacing now. Personally I think I prefer the film photos in both, but I am biased!

The craft of photography

Recently I have been reading an interesting book called the Craft of Photography, by David Vestal. This is an old school black and white film photography book (published in 1972) about developing and printing techniques. Mr Vestal has some interesting things to say about exposure calculations, repeating the ancient photographic adage 'Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights'. He encourages making some test shots to identify the best exposure for a particular film and development combination. He talks about using a separate exposure meter, which for most of my older cameras is what I use as they don't have built in meters. The technique works like this.
1) Choose a high contrast subject with both dark and light parts to it.
2) Using the light meter measure the exposure reading from the darkest part of the subject that you want to be able to see detail.
3) Make a test shot at this exposure.
4) Open the lens 1 stop and make another test shot
5) Open the lens another stop and make another test shot
6) Make a test shot with the lens 1 stop closed down from the meter reading.
7) Develop the film in the normal way and view the results.
These are my results (taken with my Olympus OM-2 in manual mode - film is Legacy Pro 100 - a Fuji film, developed in Rodinal, stand development 1+100 for 1 hour) ):

1/60th at F5.6 - this was the meter indicated setting from the dark areas of the camera body 

1/60th at F8 - this is +1 stop from the meter reading

1/60th at F11 - this is +2 stops from the meter reading (bit dark - under exposed)

1/60 at f4 - this is -1 stop from the meter reading and was the exposure indicated by the camera's own internal meter.

Which one is best?? 

Well interestingly the camera's own meter overexposes the shot, perhaps because of the white paper under the camera. What we are looking for is the best rendering of the dark tones. If you compare the shot taken at the meter reading and the one taken +1 stop side by side:

You can see that the one on the left, which is +1 stop gives the best shadow detail and the best contrast. The conclusion is therefore to get the best exposure, take a meter reading off the darkest part of the subject then open the lens 1 stop. Which is exactly what Mr Vestal recommends in his book!.

Exakta progress

Further to the problems I had with the shutter curtain on my Exakta Varex IIa I purchased another body from ebay at a bargain price. This one has a new shutter curtain. I still have the problem of the fungus on the Zeiss Biotar lens, however the test pictures show the camera works perfectly and the lens is very sharp.

This is an enlargement of a test shot.

Here is another test shot I often do of a fern, detail is very sharp:

Its quite interesting to compare this with the test shot I did to try out stand development. Same film, same developer (Rodinal) but different camera and different developing technique, While the picture below was developed using the stand method 1+100 for 1 hour, the one above from the Varex was done 1+25 for 7 mins.

The fungus on the Zeiss Biotar looks like this. It does not seem to effect the performance of the lens.

Interestingly I also tried the Zeiss Pancolor lens I originally got with my Exakta Varex IIb and I discovered why the photos from that camera were so poor. The lens does not stop down so all the shots were at f2. Next I should try the Biotar on that camera.

Exakta repairs

Bad news I'm afraid :-(
I tried to repair the shutter curtain on my Exakta VXIIa with the liquid electrical tape. I painted it on OK.

But to cover all the holes so no light showed through I needed several coats of the stuff. Eventually no light showed through but the paint ended up quite thick and uneven.

Having left it to dry over night, as I suspected, the shutter now sticks as the paint is too thick. When I have time I will try to dismantle the shutter to see it I can fix it. Replacing the shutter curtain is possible but its pretty complex.

Results from the Maximar

I have now developed and scanned the first photos from my 1930s Zeiss Ikon Maximar camera. The film I used was some expired Ilford sheet film I bought on e-bay.

First problem was that the film was smaller than the size of the plate holders. Ok, so I thought I would slide it under the little spring flaps on the plate holders, and this would hold it firm and flat. This worked OK and I got the film loaded in my changing bag.

The camera proved to be very fiddly to operate and impossible to focus in daylight. I had to use my dressing gown over my head to keep the light out so I could focus it on the ground glass screen. I also forgot to check which way around one of the film sheets was and got it back to front. 

To process the film sheets I used the 'taco' technique in a Paterson type tank, using hair tie elastic bands I bought in Boots. This did not work well and the sheets came out of the bands in the tank during development and stuck to each other. The end result is this:

The only way I could scan it was by sticking the sheets to my scanner 120 film mask so this is only a small portion of the image.  The image is covered in small black spots which may have come off the hair bands and also quite badly scratched, this may have been me handling the film or the film may be scratched anyway. The film is over exposed, so the shutter may be slow, but it is pretty sharp for a 80 year old lens.

Another Exakta

You might have thought one Exakta that does not work very well was enough, but I have always wanted a Varex IIa. Now I have one!

This one, although it looks quite good here has fungus in the lens and pinholes in the shutter curtain. These are the pinholes:

I have heard on the Exacta web site (www.ihagee.org) you can repair these with 'liquid electrical tape' which is a sort of flexible rubbery goo. I've got some (from Amazon) and will try it out.

I'm not very hopeful this will work but there is nothing to lose. Any photos I take with the shutter like is it will  have a lot of light leaks I think.

Stand development

After yesterday's disappointment with the Contax I thought today I would try my first experiment with stand development.  This is where you go against the normal rules of film development and use a very dilute mixture of developer with almost no agitation and long times. To be sure any problem with the results were not down to the camera I got my trusty Nikon F out. Both the 50mm and the 24mm Nikkor lens on this are pin sharp.

I loaded up a roll of my 'test' film, recently expired Legacy Pro 100 and took some shots. This was then developed in Rodinal mixed at 1+100 (only 5ml of developer for 495ml of water). The only agitation used was 30secs at the start. Then the developing tank sat in the kitchen for 1 hour. After that fix and wash as normal.
I have to say I'm very impressed with the results, very nice tones, which is what stand development is supposed to produce.

And it's so easy! Just set my alarm clock and get on with something else for an hour. I will definitely use this technique again.

Disappointment!

The results from my Contax II are not good :-( The film has come over exposed, by several stops at least. I think the meter is at fault. I checked it briefly against my Weston meter and it seems to be reading only about 1 stop over. I have tried to recover the photos but they are not very good. These are the best:

Wembley stadium arch reflected in windows.

I am particularly disappointed as I was trying out a new development process. These are taken on Ilford FP4+, developed in Rodinal (R09 as it is now called) 1+25, 9mins at 20C, 1 minute initial agitation then 1 inversion every 30 secs. 

Another one of the Wembley stadium arch

All of these were taken at  a shutter speed of 1/50sec. I think this may also be slow.

Stairs, shopping center, Dunstable

The rangefinder may be out too, as close up shots are out of focus. Oh well, better luck next time. When I win the lottery I will get this camera serviced!

Zeiss Ikon Maximar 207/7

I got this beautiful camera from ebay for just £30. I was amazed at the condition it was in and what a great looking camera it is.

It has an F4.5 Tessar lens which is in excellent condition. The camera was made in 1930 and takes quarter plate 9x12cm film (in single sheets). The camera has come with 3 plate holders. These need to be loaded with individual cut film in a darkroom.

Quarter plate film is quite hard to come by now. Ilford make small quantities but it is very expensive. Eastern European makers like Adox and Forma make it but I haven't yet found a UK supplier with it in stock. Expired plate film is also often found on ebay.

As soon as I get any photos I will post them here although I'm not sure how I will scan such big negatives as my scanner can only cope with 120 size negs. I'm hoping I can contact print them but I have no printing equipment. I guess I should just wait to see how the negs turn out!

Colour developing

I used to think that developing C41 colour films would be difficult, but actually it's quite easy. I use the Tetenal kit. The chemicals I'm using were purchased in Oct 2011. I made them up in two batches, I made up the current batch in March 2012 and I have done 5 films in them and they still seem fine.

I do the development in the kitchen sink, making a bath of hot (38C) water, using a standard development tank. I use a digital thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature and add more hot water if needed but as the development times are quite short I don't have a problem keeping an even temperature
Results might not be perfect but I'm happy with them.

This one was taken yesterday in Bristol with my Canon QL19. Film is Kodak 200 - £1 in Poundland.

Little rangefinders

I love little rangefinders! I carry them everywhere I go. Just finished the film in the Canon (I will develop it tomorrow). I've always had great results from this camera.

Time to load up the Olympus with some film. So far I have only run a test B&W film through this camera so will try a colour film.

Contax

I decided to use my 1938 Contax over the next few weeks. I bought some fresh stock Ilford FP4 B&W film as I'm not happy with the results from my expired Fuji film. I also find HP5 a bit too grainy. I took this digital photo of my Contax. It all seems to work OK, I even got the light meter working.

Once the I have finished the film I will develop it in Rodinal. I'm tempted to try 'stand' development (very little agitation of the tank during development) but I will probably stick to standard development technique with regular agitation. Watch this space for results!

Old lenses

More messing about today with old 'film' lenses on my Lumix GF3. I started off with the Olympus OM 50mm and a X4 close up lens trying to take pictures of bees. The bees had other ideas and would not stay still or hold an interesting pose. This was about the best one:

Terry, out terrapin was a much easier subject as he doesn't move much:

Flowers also came out quite well:

Then I tried out my 30yr old Paragon 400mm telephone lens. On the micro 4/3 format GF3 this has an equivalent focal length of 800mm! However the sun had gone in by then and the colours are not very vibrant. Not bad tho', worth a try again if the sun ever comes out.