Tuesday 28 June 2011

photos from week 77 - Finetta

The Black Cloud - diptych by pho-Tony
The Black Cloud - diptych, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
These are 2 consecutive frames from the Finetta There is uneven frame spacing throughout the film, sometimes there is a several millimetre gap, other times, as here, there is a slight overlap, which helps to make this pair come together.

Sunday 26 June 2011

photo from week 77 - Finetta

Heeley City Farm by pho-Tony
Heeley City Farm, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I set the focus to around 5ft to catch the foreground letters, and selected a small aperture to ensure that there was a chance of getting some detail in the middle distance.

photo from week 77 - Finetta

At 1/25 sec and f4, this indoor photo was considerably underexposed, but some correction in photoshop has rescued it.

Friday 24 June 2011

Amateur Photographer Magazine

short and to the point by pho-Tony
short and to the point, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This letter was printed in last week's AP

Week 78 - Agfa Parat-I

Agfa Parat-I by pho-Tony
Agfa Parat-I, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is a half frame camera, taking 72 frames on a standard 36 exposure roll of 35mm film.
Made in 1963, it has a 30mm f2.8 lens and shutter speeds from 1/30 - 1/125.
I've loaded it with expired Ektachrome p1600 slide film, which I plan to cross process in C41 chemistry.

Sunday 19 June 2011

photo from week 76 - Franka Solida II

blue gun on a blue door by pho-Tony
blue gun on a blue door, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This week's photos were a bit of a disappointment, but that shouldn't really come as a surprise, the film expired more than 30 years ago, and I have no idea what conditions it was stored in, It seems that the film has lost sensitivity over the years, I exposed it a box speed of ISO400, but it looks about 3 stops underexposed. I've done the best I can to salvage the images in post processing, and they have a certain charm, but technically they are a bit of a disaster.

photo from week 76 - Franka Solida II

The Black Cloud by pho-Tony
The Black Cloud, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This week's photos were a bit of a disappointment, but that shouldn't really come as a surprise, the film expired more than 30 years ago, and I have no idea what conditions it was stored in, It seems that the film has lost sensitivity over the years, I exposed it a box speed of ISO400, but it looks about 3 stops underexposed. I've done the best I can to salvage the images in post processing, and they have a certain charm, but technically they are a bit of a disaster.

Saturday 18 June 2011

Week 77 - Finetta IV D

Finetta IV D by pho-Tony
Finetta IV D, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This chunky little camera was made in Germany around 1950, it has an f4 43mm lens and a 3 speed (plus B) shutter.
It feels quite solid, and the wind on and shutter release feel nice and definate.
I've loaded it with a roll of Rollei Retro ISO100 black and white film.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

photo from week 75 - Korelle 3x4cm

This was handheld at 1/25th of a second, the aperture was f5.6, so there wasn't much depth of field to play with, but I think I got away with it.

photo from week 75 - Korelle 3x4cm

Kermit on a large motorcycle by pho-Tony
Kermit on a large motorcycle, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This was taken on an extremely sunny day, so the camera has passed the test for light tighness!

Friday 10 June 2011

Week 76 - Franka Solida II

Franka Solida II by pho-Tony
Franka Solida II, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I acquired this camera many years ago, I can't remember where I found it, possibly a jumble sale, I didn't pay much for it. Made in the 1950s, it takes 12 square (6cm x 6cm) photos on 120 rollfilm, but also has a mask to allow you to take 16 4cm x 4cm exposures, presumably to use in the "superslide" mounts which were in use at the time.
The Prontor SVS shutter has a full range of speeds from 1 sec to 1/300, and the lens is an f3.5 80mm Xenar.
I will be loading it with a roll of expired (1979) Kodacolor 400 film.

photo from week 74 - Ricoh 500 GX

double sycamore by pho-Tony
double sycamore, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
An unusual feature of this camera is the multiple exposure capacity. This is a double exposure with the camera rotated through 90 degrees between shots.

photo from week 74 - Ricoh 500 GX

highland cattle by pho-Tony
highland cattle, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
These Highland cattle were very wet after heavy rain, but it didn't seem to be bothering them.

photo from week 74 - Ricoh 500 GX

This mirror self portrait was taken in artificial light, the exposure was around 1/30th at f5.6

Saturday 4 June 2011

A Collectors Life For Me

A Collectors Life For Me by pho-Tony
A Collectors Life For Me, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

The second of my monthly columns in Amateur Photographer magazine, this one is about the Minolta 24 Rapid which I used in week 31.

Week 75 - Korelle 3x4cm

Korelle 3x4cm by pho-Tony
Korelle 3x4cm, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This is the little brother of the Korelle 4x6.5cm camera that I used in week 17. They both take 127 film, but this one uses the "half-frame" format, and so takes 16 exposures per roll, compared with 8 exposures on the bigger model.
This class of camera, the pre-war 127 folders, are probably my favourites, they are smaller than the 120 versions, and seem to me to have more character.
I've loaded it with Macocolor film, though when it was made it would almost certainly only have been used with black and white film.

Friday 3 June 2011

photos from week 73 - Pentina M

tower in the clouds by pho-Tony
tower in the clouds, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Another picture taken with the 30mm Lydith lens

photo from week 73 - Pentina M

This week's mirror self portrait taken with the 135mm lens.

photo from week 73 - Pentina M

This was taken with the 135mm telephoto lens, can't remember exact settings, but it was a near full aperture.