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More and more film fun with something other than a Leica M

darr

Well-known member
Re: So So Little

That's a nice kit, Darr. I have one of those 90mm lenses too, it's an old favorite of mine. Early examples of the 90mm were produced in Wetzlar and are identical to the Elmar-C 90mm other than the bezel and filter size. I used to have the Leica CL (actually had three of them over the years) and I've had both the Leica and Minolta versions of the 40mm. Both are very good lenses.

The CL was my favorite M-mount film camera for years. When I sold off a bunch of gear a couple of years back, it was a tussle to decide between my last CL and the M4-2, but I decided the latter was more serviceable and had the better viewfinder/rangefinder; kept it instead. But it was a close call.

I always like the CLE as well, just worried about its electronics. I suppose if you found a good one, it'll last a long time at this point.

Fun stuff, it drives me down memory lane... Enjoy the kit! :D

G
Thanks Godfrey for sharing your knowledge.

Electrical components and age, outdated technologies and parts unavailable. Oh the ebb and flow of shooting old cameras. I dread the thought of loosing some of my favorite shooting gear to this, especially my Mamiya 6. But, give me a pinhole camera and some film, I’ll survive! :ROTFL:

Best to you,
Darr
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Two from inside the redoubt of Schilde.

Main hall



Cellar


Both Minolta 505si + Minolta 17-35/2.8-4
FP4+ developed in Microphen to 200 iso, scanned on an Epson 700 and further processed in Lightroom
 

JoelM

Well-known member
Re: So So Little

Thanks Godfrey for sharing your knowledge.

Electrical components and age, outdated technologies and parts unavailable. Oh the ebb and flow of shooting old cameras. I dread the thought of loosing some of my favorite shooting gear to this, especially my Mamiya 6. But, give me a pinhole camera and some film, I’ll survive! :ROTFL:

Best to you,
Darr
My old memory seems to recall that while the 28mm was a really nice lens, it was susceptible to spotting or fungus. I don't remember exactly. You might want to research and if need be, exercise extra caution in storage.

Joel
 

darr

Well-known member
Re: So So Little

My old memory seems to recall that while the 28mm was a really nice lens, it was susceptible to spotting or fungus. I don't remember exactly. You might want to research and if need be, exercise extra caution in storage.

Joel
Hi Joel,
You are correct; the 28mm is a nice lens and some were reported not to have been coated properly from the factory. My research revealed Minolta took any 28 lens back and recoated them upon request within a certain time frame. I have a very clean 28/2.8. I did not buy this camera for the 28, but wanted the 40 and 90 lenses more. As things happened, the cleanest camera body I could find did not come with a 40, but with the 28. So I have a very nice 28 that may not get used as much.

Thank you for sharing your info.

Kind regards,
Darr
 

jdphoto

Well-known member
I love all this analog photography! I currently shoot with a Hasselblad 500cm, Leica M2r and a new Canon F1. Each one being fully mechanical and the Canon F1 having aperture priority too. The build quality of these are simply outstanding. For 35mm, the Canon F1 is the most versatile with the most lenses ever! Aperture priority on the F1 is something I've never used with film, but find it's incredibly handy when composing. Has anyone used the ARS-IMAGO LAB BOX for processing and if so, what's your review? I'm intrigued by the complete daylight film process from soup to nuts!
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I love all this analog photography! I currently shoot with a Hasselblad 500cm, Leica M2r and a new Canon F1. Each one being fully mechanical and the Canon F1 having aperture priority too. The build quality of these are simply outstanding. For 35mm, the Canon F1 is the most versatile with the most lenses ever! Aperture priority on the F1 is something I've never used with film, but find it's incredibly handy when composing. Has anyone used the ARS-IMAGO LAB BOX for processing and if so, what's your review? I'm intrigued by the complete daylight film process from soup to nuts!
I use the Lab Box as well as its inspiration, the Agfa Rondinax U35 (for 35mm) and Rondinax 60 (for 120) tanks, for nearly all my film processing now. The Lab Box is a modernized, dual format version of those. It works very well and allows use with both continuous agitation and with minimal agitation by adjusting how much developer/fixer solution you fill it with.

The only issue I've had with the Lab Box is that I haven't learned how to minimize the length of 120 film I expose at the leading edge: I usually end up losing 1/3 to 1/2 of the first frame. I think this is just my learning process ... the Rondinax 60 makes it a little easier to expose less of the film. I've only put three or four 120 rolls through the Lab Box so far, where I've probably done a hundred rolls with the Rondinax 60.

I also use the Agfa Rondix 35 for 35mm. This is a simpler tank yet: it has no reel at all, just a spool that clips to the free end of the film, and requires continuous agitation. It flips the film forwards and backwards over itself in processing, which implies the possibility of some scratches if you're rough with the crank, but it's a tiny tank and very very simple to use, clean, and re-use quickly; also uses minimum chemistry.

(The only things I don't process in these tanks are Minox subminiature film (for which I use the Minox daylight loading tank) and Washi-120 film, which is actually a photosensitive emulsion on very thin Japanese washi rice paper. The rice paper has no structural rigidity when wet so a reel-type tank can't be used; open tray development or a Kodacraft 620/120 type "apron" type tank (or equivalent) must be used.)

Lab Box is a well-done product and works well. It's nice to have a NEW daylight loading solution for both 35 and 120 film, given that the newest of my Agfa tanks is more than 45 years old now!

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
My restock order of Polaroid 600 and SX-70 film arrived yesterday. I've been most pleased with the B&W emulsion in either speed in the last batch I purchased, so most of what I bought were B&W packs, but I did buy two packs of the latest 600 Color so I could evaluate whether it had been improved yet again and what the current status was.

So just before my day's cycle ride, I loaded up the SLR670a with a pack of fresh and dandy Polaroid 600 Color film. My head was not in a very photographic way as I rode, but when I got to my usual spot to sit and eat my lunch in Japan town, I looked at the stop sign and memorial behind it, pulled out the camera, and made a snap of it. Reds have been particularly weak on the 600 film...

After talking on the phone for ten minutes, I pulled the print back out of my bag and ... WOW! That's the best color I've seen out of the re-born Polaroid integral film yet! I snapped a photo of it with the iPhone on the spot, with the original subject in the background:


There's still a little tinge of magenta in it, but the reds are so much better, the contrast and color has a liveliness that has been missing in previous generations.

I'm pretty excited by this. Time to order a few more packs of color film! :D

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Graham,

I've got to get my bicycle onto BART, get up there from San Jose, and take a ride across that new span of the Bay Bridge someday soon! :D

Anyway... I dance back and forth between medium format and instant with my film photography these days. Both are satisfying.


Rose - Santa Clara 2020
Polaroid SLR670a, latest Polaroid 600 Color film
Scanned with Hasselblad 907x + Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8

The latest Polaroid 600 color can create some terrific colors in print now. :)

enjoy,
G
 

ggibson

Well-known member
Godfrey, it's a neat ride on the new span, although the ride up to it goes past a sewage treatment plant which can be a bit odorous at times. I've done the ride a few times since I work in Emeryville. Of course, there's nowhere to go once you get to Yerba Buena/Treasure Island, but you get a nice view. You can take a bus into SF I suppose. There's a lot of construction on these two islands now, access to some of the typical spots for shooting has been changing. We were there a few months ago to take these pictures.


Adventure Days by Graham Gibson, on Flickr
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
A ride to the island, then bus into SF, ride around town*a little, then CalTrain home ... Yeah, that'd work. :)

The odiferous sewage plant is probably like taking the Bay Trail near low tide in Summer, out on the bay side of Moffett Field. You need a strong stomach... !

G
 

darr

Well-known member
Whiskers & Cathar




Minolta CLE + M-Rokkor 40/2 + TMAX 400 + FF No.1


--


From the first test roll shooting the 40/2. Cats love boxes more than the toys that come in them!

I tried Famous Format's updated No.1 monobath developer with a bunch of test rolls, as it only requires 6 minutes of development from start to finish. It has the developer, stop and fixer combined, and advertised to do more than 10/12-135/120 rolls. This will not replace my usual pyrocat developer, but for a bunch of rolls where I am testing equipment, I like it!
 
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arri

Active member
I used a Leica but a screw mount body made in 1940, type IIIb and a DIY adapted Rodenstock Karat-Heligon 2/50mm
For B&W works the old single coated lenses are for me the best choice, or an uncoated lens. I have one 1947 Heligon which waits for a M39 as well.




 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Eight exposures I found on a Minox roll I exposed in Nov-Dec 2019 ...


Waiting for a BART Train - San Francisco 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Coliseum Station - Oakland 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Western Colloid - Oakland 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Equator - Oakland 2019
Minox C + APX 100



That Evil Animal With The Knife - San Francisco 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Grafitti - San Francisco 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Balloons - San Jose 2019
Minox C + APX 100



Fence & Orchard - San Jose 2019
Minox C + APX 100

enjoy!
G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I'm recovering from shoulder surgery so barely able to lift a camera to my eye right now, and it's ill-advised as yet anyway. So I'm poking through my print and image file archives for interesting photos to post that I've not gotten to ...

A few weeks ago on a walk through the neighborhood, I became interested in the micro-graffiti at the traffic signals and other sign posts. This was the first:


Excess
Polaroid SLR670x by MiNT + Polaroid 600 BW film

While I have a couple more, I think I'll pursue this idea further when I can more easily carry a camera again. It seems that this level of graffiti is very fluid and the same signpost or signal indicator gets wiped clean and re-adorned on a regular basis ... :)

enjoy, G
 
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