photo from week 182 - Bencini Koroll II

Piazza Duomo in the rain, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

There was something of a heat wave in Milan, with the temperature up to 35 degrees at time, there was a brief rain shower on the last evening, hence the wet paving in this photo.

photo from week 182 - Bencini Koroll II

reflected self-portrait with Bencini Koroll II camera and pilot's hat, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

It was fortunate that I had some ISO 400 film, as even at maximum aperture (f8) and slowest shutter speed (1/30th) this was slightly under-exposed. The camera focuses down to 1.2m, so I estimated 60cm in front of the mirror in order to be in focus.

photo from week 182 - Bencini Koroll II

Galleria Vittorio Emanuel II, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This is one of the photos I took shortly after buying the camera in Milan. I've scanned the whole width of the film to show how 24 exposures are fitted onto a roll, this is achieved by "wasting" a strip of film, seen here below the image.

Week 182 - Bencini Koroll II

Bencini Koroll II, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

This week's camera is something of a record. I was in Milan last week, where the Bencini cameras were made, and spotted one on a flea market I stumbled across, the vendor wanted 5 euros for it, and was keen to explain to me that it was impossible to use as it only took film. I have several Bencine cameras, but not this one, so I bought it, and as our hotel was only a 3 minute walk away, I popped back and loaded it with a roll of Ilford Delta 400 that I'd brought with me along with another Italian camera (the Ferrania Astor from week 176). Less than 15 minutes after acquiring it, I was out on the streets and shooting, so it became camera of the week, jumping the various models ahead of it in the queue!

photo from week 181 - Sirius Action Tracker

glass dome, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

If the subject isn't moving, you can always move the camera to get a slightly different image on each of the four frames. This is the huge glass dome over the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan's 150 year old shopping centre, a design copied the world over in some of our worst contemporary shoppings malls, Meadowhell in Sheffield comes to mind...

photo from week 181 - Sirius Action Tracker

reflected self-portrait with Sirius Actiontracker camera and pilot's hat, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

It's always a challenge taking mirror self portraits with a camera that only has a single shutter speed intended for bright outdoor conditions. There was a shaft of light entering the bathroom here, but even it is probably rather under-exposed.

photo from week 181 - Sirius Action Tracker

tight rope, a photo by pho-Tony on Flickr.

I took the Actionsampler with me to Milan, this is someone walking a tightrope of the Naviglio Grande canal, the temperature was well in excess of 30 degrees, so it was no hardship to fall into the water!