Tuesday 31 December 2013

photo from week 208 - Agfa Silette

Park Hill street by pho-Tony
Park Hill street, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The rectilinear nature of this brutalist architecture seems to lend itself to black and white rather than colour, so I converted it after scanning.

photo from week 208 - Agfa Silette

The daylight was quite poor on xmas day, so I carefully measured the distance as I was using full aperture. The colours or more natural than I was expecting from this cross-processed film.

photo from week 208 - Agfa Silette

big yellow fish by pho-Tony
big yellow fish, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The film here is Kodak Vision Cinema Pro from Six Gates Films of Milan. It's a movie film which has been loaded into 35mm cassettes.

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Week 208 - Agfa Silette (Type 1)

Agfa Silette (Type 1) by pho-Tony
Agfa Silette (Type 1), a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The Agfa Silette range evolved over several years, this is one of the early ones, now 60 years old it still works well (at least I hope so, I've never actually put a film through it!). It feels solid and well made and has a basic range of shutter speeds together with a scale focussing 45mm f2.8 lens.

Monday 23 December 2013

photo from week 207 - Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1)

ruins and trees by pho-Tony
ruins and trees, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Few 35mm automatic point and shoot cameras have double exposure options, so I thought it was important to try the FX-4 in this mode. This is an example taken at Waverley Abbey.

photo from week 207 - Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1)

Previous experience with auto focus cameras had made me wary if mirror shots. The FX-4 has a manual focus option, so I chose this for my self-portrait, I also had to remember to switch the flash off.

photo from week 207 - Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1)

The Kenox is quite a bulky camera, and I found it difficult to use the viewfinder, but it works OK and the autofocus seems accurate at close range, though it struggled with distant subjects.

Saturday 21 December 2013

Week 207 - Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1)

Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1) by pho-Tony
Kenox FX-4 (Samsung ECX 1), a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
Allegedly designed by Porsche, this is a rather bulky if streamlined fully automatic point and shoot 35mm camera from the 1990s.
There are a number of settings, including the facility to shoot frames at intervals from 10 seconds to an hour or more. I've loaded it with a roll of Agfa Vista ISO200 colour negative film from Poundland.

Sunday 15 December 2013

photo from week 206 - Ensign Selfix 16-20

Saluting Battery by pho-Tony
Saluting Battery, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The saluting battery in Valletta fires a cannon twice a day at noon and 4pm. This is the 4pm cannon, a big bang and a spectacular cloud of smoke!

photo from week 206 - Ensign Selfix 16-20

For the self-portrait, I used the slowest shutter-speed (1/25th) and full aperture, as the was barely enough light in the bathroom. I think I just about got away with it.

photo from week 206 - Ensign Selfix 16-20

Triq Santa Lucija by pho-Tony
Triq Santa Lucija, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The "half-frame" Selfix makes a good holiday camera, and I packed it for a short trip to Malta. I shot a roll of colour film first, but this one is Rollei Retro 400S black and white.

Friday 13 December 2013

Week 206 - Ensign Selfix 16-20

Ensign Selfix 16-20 by pho-Tony
Ensign Selfix 16-20, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
There were a range of Ensign folding cameras, this one takes sixteen 6cm x 4.5cm exposures on a roll of 120 film, the so-called "645" format, or sometimes "half-frame".
It's fairly light and compact, so I took it away with me on a trip to Malta.

Thursday 12 December 2013

photo from week 205 - Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim

on the square by pho-Tony
on the square, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
The Ultra Wide & Slim is an ideal holiday camera as it weighs next to nothing and as the name suggests is quite slim. The ISO800 wasn't necessary on this occasion, so the negative is over-exposed, but I quite like the effect.

photo from week 205 - Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim

The ISO800 allowed me to scrape an indoor exposure when it was clear and bright outside.

photo from week 205 - Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim

top deck sun down by pho-Tony
top deck sun down, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I chose to use ISO800 film this week, as the daylight is not very strong in December. The "Viv" is revered for the spectacular flare it delivers when the lens is pointed at the sun, this shot demonstrates the effect quite nicely.

Monday 2 December 2013

Week 205 - Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim

Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim by pho-Tony
Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This simple plastic camera has something of a cult following, with its 22mm lens is it wider than most other simple plastic models. The price peaked a couple of years ago, with some selling for more than £50 on eBay. Since then a clone the "Slim Devil" has been introduced, and although it is expensive for what it is, it has eased demand, and therefore prices for the original "Viv".
I paid 50p for mine, and have put several films through it, but it has never been my camera of the week. With the weak December light in mind, I've loaded it with some ISO800 film.

Sunday 1 December 2013

photo from week 204 - Halma Flex

Grinders' Hill by pho-Tony
Grinders' Hill, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
This is an occasional subject that I return to, it's in a dimly lit passage, and I rested the camera on the railings, though it could have been hand held, as I deliberately used the maximum aperture to create a narrow depth of field.

photo from week 204 - Halma Flex

This time I had a tripod, but I don't have the fitting required to use a cable release, so I used the self timer for this one second exposure to ensure that I wouldn't jog the camera when operating the shutter release.

photo from week 204 - Halma Flex

hiding behind the furniture by pho-Tony
hiding behind the furniture, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.
I took this one in a bit of a rush before the Dalek turned nasty. It was a poorly lit room, and with no tripod, I rested the camera on a workbench and guessed the exposure at 1 second and around f8. The composition could be better, but the exposure is about right, and I managed to keep the camera still.