Category: Gear

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

Beauty and the Beast

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These two cameras were both made by Pentax, and both are Single Lens Reflex designs, but that is where the similarity ends. One (the ME Super) is a beautifully compact and nimble 35mm model, the other shoots large 6×7 cm negatives on 120 size roll film. I had both cameras with me yesterday on a photo shoot for my “Women and Cameras Series.” The Me Super is a little motor scooter of a camera, and the 6×7 is a truck. 🙂

Beauty and the Beast

After the shoot as my subject and I were walking down Queen Street East, a guy at an outdoor cafe spotted the ME Super my exclaimed “is that a Pentax ME? I used to have one!” He had a huge smile on his face, and it was great to see a film camera bring back happy memories to a total stranger.

The other item of note from yesterday is not so positive: I had arranged to meet my model at a park on Queen Street. I get there, and the park (containing a playground and wading pool) had a good number of children and their caregivers present. I realized that as a middle-aged man, unaccompanied, with a camera over my shoulder I would be the subject of suspicion at the very least, and perhaps hostility (especially if I had my camera anywhere near my eye), so I felt it prudent to sit on a bench by the sidewalk, as far from the children as possible. It was one of those guilty until proven innocent situations that are sadly so common today.

My New Beast

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This picture was taken this past weekend at Fort George in Niagara-On-the-Lake with a new (to me) camera: a Pentax 6×7. This is a beast of a camera, shooting 6×7 cm negatives (400% of the area of a 35mm negative) on 120 film. I’m in love 🙂 The 6×7 is the love child of a camera and a tank.

Behind a shed, Fort George

Tools of the Trade

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This is one my favourite pieces of photography gear, a “Seneca NoSlip” splt-back contact printing frame from the early twentieth century. I use this device to sandwich my negatives with paper coated with either Cyanotype or Van Dyke Brown chemistry. The term split-back refers to the ability to unfold part of the back to check on the exposure, while the paper is still held securely in place; this feature is crucial for the kind of prints I am doing.

In addition to its utility, I like the rich colour of the wood, and the patina of the brass fittings; it exudes history and tradition in a way only an analog device can.

Tools Of The Trade: Antique Contact Printer

Gear Talk: Universal Mercury II

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Every now and then, I want to talk about gear, instead of the photo, and today I want to talk about the Universal Mercury II 35mm half-frame camera from 1945:

DSC_0001

Some people have described this camera (and its predecessor) as the ugliest camera ever made, and while I am not sure I’d call it that, its look is certainly unique. Today, with so many cameras looking so similar, it is fun to look at a single example from an era where so many cameras had distinctive designs and looks.

The most distinctive feature is the large semi-circle, which contains the unusual shutter, which operates in a circular fashion. Multiple knobs, dials, DOF charts etc. makes this camera reek of the essence “gadget.”