photo from week 230 - Coronet Viscount

This time the sun was shining, so I decided to try a handheld shot, the shutter was set to 1/3oth and the aperture to f8, so the ISO3 film was only slightly underexposed.

photo from week 230 - Coronet Viscount

With a film rated at ISO3, long exposures were inevitable, the Viscount has a "B" setting, so long exposures are possible, but there is no provision for a cable release, so it is difficult to prevent camera movement during the exposure. I think I just about got away with it here, the exposure is around 30 seconds, and you can see that I was unable to keep completely motionless, but the camera and the background seem OK.

Week 230 - Coronet Viscount

The Viscount is one of many cheap and cheerful cameras made by the Coronet company of Birmingham. At first glance it might be a 127 camera, as it has a red window on the back for viewing backing paper numbers, but it seems more the size of a 35mm camera. In fact it takes the long obsolete 828 roll film, which is unperforated 35mm film with a backing paper. The frames are 40mm x 28mm and there were 8 or 12 on a roll. I have been on the lookout for an 828 camera which has a "B" setting, as I was sent a couple of rolls of unperforated microfilm by Six Gates Films in Milan. The problem is that the film is very slow, with an ISO rating of 3, meaning that long exposures are likely to be needed. I have a number of 828 cameras, but none have "B", so until now I have not tried to use the microfilm. I re-spooled some onto an old Kodachrome backing paper, though there was only enough film for perhaps 9 exposures.

photo from week 229 - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle camera

A twisted tree which vaguely matches the line drawing of the turtle.

photo from week 229 - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle camera

The film was probably at least 20 years old, and will have been stored in sub-optimal conditions (to put it mildly). Blotches, spots, grain and light leaks abound!

photo from week 229 - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle camera

I worked out that the little cartoon would appear in the bottom right corner, so I tried to avoid dark or detailed subjects in this part of the frame.

Week 229 - Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle camera

A novelty 110 film camera from the 1990s, this puts a cartoon image of a Ninja Turtle in the corner of each and every photo. There were worse cameras available, there was even a talking one that said "Kowabunga!"
I loaded it with an already part used cartridge which was in another 110 camera that I found in a charity shop.

photo from week 228 - Silura Nemrod underwater camera

This little white flower was illuminated by a shaft of sunlight in this quiet woodland setting.

photo from week 228 - Silura Nemrod underwater camera

The ISO400 film was probably too fast for bright outdoor conditions, but it came in handy for this indoor reflected self-portrait.

photo from week 228 - Silura Nemrod underwater camera

I decided against attempting to use this camera under water, the focus is fixed relatively close, approximately 1.5-2.5m, so I looked for subjects at around this distance.

Week 228 - Silura Nemrod underwater camera

This Bakelite monster was made in Spain, it takes 120 film and is basically a simple box camera in an underwater housing. Inside the cylindrical body there are lead weights and a battery and capacitor to power the flashgun, which takes standard glass flashbulbs.
There is a single fixed shutter speed, no focusing and no choice of aperture. I've loaded it with Ilford Delta 400 B&W film, but I don't intend to take it underwater.

photo from week 227 - Canon AE-1

Another photo from Mr Straw's House, again at the limits of hand-hold-ability in the dark attic space.

photo from week 227 - Canon AE-1

Another National Trust property, the Work House at Southwell, has a dressing up area for visiting children, I managed to try on three different hats while no one was looking!

photo from week 227 - Canon AE-1

I was planning a visit to Mr Straw's House, an Edwardian semi-detached house in Worksop that has been preserved as its inhabitants left it, with much unchanged since the 1950s or earlier. The Canon AE-1 with its f1.4 lens was useful in some of the very gloomy parts of the house. I used ISO400 film, but even so, this one was taken at f1.4 and 1/30th sec.

Week 227 - Canon AE1

This was a recent charity shop find, it came with the 50mm f1.4 lens and the much sought after 135mm f2.0 lens. The AE1 was made between 1976 and 1984 and was apparently the first SLR to use a micro-processor to control the exposure system. Over a million were made, and they seem to be quite common. I've never used a Canon SLR before, and this one seems quiet and efficient.

photo from week 226 - Zorki 1

Chesterfield Flea Market, where I've picked up a few cameras over the years, the Zorki isn't one of them, but the Konica AA-35 that I used in week 222 came from here.

photo from week 226 - Zorki 1

You'd never guess this wasn't a real Leica would you?

photo from week 226 - Zorki 1

It was a dull wet day when I took the Zorki to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, but at least this allowed, indeed forced, me to use a large aperture in conjunction with the only working shutter speed, 1/200th sec. Focusing on the nearest object has thrown the more distant things out of sharp focus, which I think works quite well.