Category: 35mm

Gear Talk: Exakta VX

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I was doing a test shoot yesterday, and what better subject than a classic film camera, the Exakta VX 35mm (made in the 1950’s). An interesting note about this camera is that it does not have the SLR’s familiar pentaprism/Eye-level viewfinder (although one was available and could easily be swapped in, due to the camera’s modular design). It has a pop-open waist-level viewfinder (like a Rolleiflex TLR) that you look down at. The view is right-side up, but laterally inverted (mirror image).

For me, this Exakta exudes the “essence of camera,” with all kinds of knobs, dials and little complexities that are fun to geek out on. As a left-hander, it is interesting to note that the shutter release button and film wind lever are on the left hand side! 🙂

RB67 Test

At the Beach

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Ilford HP5+ is a film that I’ve never had luck with in 35mm; it’s always been just too grainy when I develop it. And that was certainly true with the latest roll, so for this image I decided to bow to the inevitable, and accentuate the grain with some post processing. I captured this image at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto, while waiting for a model to show up; it was a very grey September evening, and this part of the beach was certainly not busy.

At the Beach

Film Photography Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive!

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I took this picture last Saturday in Bluffers Park, Toronto. I shot it with a Yashica FX-D 35mm SLR. I got this camera on eBay, and because part of the exterior was in really rough shape, I got it for a song, not much more than the cost of a couple of disposable cameras. It is in good working order however. The film I used was Polypan F. I got some rolls of this film from my friend Mike in exchange for a developing tank, as detailed in this post. I then went online and bought 90 metres of this film (almost the length of a football field!) in bulk so I can roll it myself, for about $40 after shipping. And since I develop my own, I save there too.

Who says film photography has to be expensive?

Bluffers Park, Toronto

Everyday Item

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I’ve walked past this fire hydrant many times on the way to work, and always found it interesting, because of its texture and symmetry. I took this picture with a Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR and 50mm f2 lens, a combo I got on eBay for not much more than the price of a couple of disposable cameras! It is the beauty in my recent Beauty and the Beast post. It’s a lovely camera to hold and use.

Fire Hydrant #1

In Stereo

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Earlier this year I bought a Stereo Realist 35mm camera. You can see it featured being held by my good friend Andrea Ross in a post I did awhile ago. The two models in the image, Memento Mori and No3rdAngel are two great women I’ve worked with before, and both were fascinated to be part of this shoot.

In order to see the stereo effect, you need to use the “Cross-Eye” viewing method, described here:

www.neilcreek.com/2008/02/28/how-to-see-3d-photos/

It can cause eyestrain for some people, so please heed the warnings on the page! Also, the effect works better for some folks than others.

3D Stereo modelling session

A Different Brush, Part 2

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Another new old camera I’ve been trying recently is an Olympus Pen EE-3 half-frame camera made sometime in the 1970’s. This camera uses  regular 35mm film, but as the name implies, only uses half of each frame, doubling the number of images per roll. The really interesting thing about this (and other) half frame cameras is that when you hold the camera up to your eye, the default orientation of the image is portrait (height larger than width), rather than the landscape orientation we are so used to. It takes a conscious decision to turn the camera to shoot landscape.

We have all seen images in landscape that would have been so much better in portrait orientation, and I find with this camera I am forced to think about whether landscape mode is the best way to go. This is a cheap little camera and I may not use it much, but as a different brush, it gets me thinking about how to frame and compose using my other cameras.

 

Dead Tree In Earl Bales Park, Toronto, Olympus EE-3

Time Warp Tuesday: The Dancers

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I am reinterpreting Time Warp Tuesday again, by not posting an old image, but rather trying to go for a timeless feel. This image was taken at the Ballet dress rehearsal I mentioned in my previous post. By using black and white analog film I feel I was able to capture the timeless nature of the ballet; an artistic discipline that on one had is very proscribed and restricted, but on the other still manages to allow talented dancers to create something special within its confines. A ballet could be a hundred years old, but I don’t think I could ever use the term “period piece” to describe it.

By not trying to be “the new thing” art can liberate itself from the timeline.

Dancers

Time-Warp Tuesday: Just a Memory

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Today’s image is from the summer of 1977, and I again go back to my grandparent’s acreage outside Truro, Nova Scotia. This old see-saw, like everything else there, is long gone. Only the silver in the negative seems to be immortal.

SeeSaw in Old Barns, Nova Scotia
I don’t remember if I ever printed this negative back in the 70’s, and certainly never looked at it all that closely. What amazes me is the sharpness of most of the image. My old Yashica TL-Electro was very much a budget model, a few rungs below the Nikon, Canon and Pentax classics of the day. But the 50mm f1.9 lens that came with the camera had a reputation for amazing sharpness, and that reputation was deserved.

Baring My Soles

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Today’s picture (taken with my Nikon FM, using recently discontinued Fuji Neopan 1600) is an image of perhaps the most comfortable pair of slippers I have ever owned. My mother-in-law knitted them for me many years ago, and as the image below indicates, they are somewhat worn.:-) I just can’t seem to part with them though, as they are so comfortable, and do a great job of keeping my feet warm. I feel the same way about my film cameras, although they are are in much better shape than these old slippers.

Baring My Soles