Friday 30 October 2015

photo from week 304 - Agfa Solinette II

Mill Road Cyclist (panoramic crop)
The late afternoon light forced me to use a slowish shutter speed, 1/25th second, at more or less full aperture. The cyclist's movement is very apparent.

photo from week 304 - Agfa Solinette II

reflected self-portrait with Agfa Solinette II camera and ventilated metal hat
I was staying in an apartment this weekend, and found both an improvised camera support and hat. The shutter speed was 1 second, and shows that the 60 year old shutter still works well.

photo from week 304 - Agfa Solinette II

Free Library
This was an easy target on a sunny autumn day.

Week 304 - Agfa Solinette II

Agfa Solinette II
The Solinette II is a folding 35mm camera from the mid 1950s, it is very similar in style to the Kodak Retinas of the same era. This one has an f3.5 Solinar lens and a Prontor SVS shutter with speeds down to 1 second, all of which sound to be accurate.
I've loaded it with some fresh Agfa Vista ISO200 film from Poundland.

Sunday 25 October 2015

photo from week 303 - Avon single-use camera

London Road
I was trying to find a subject to suit the coloured stripe decoration of the camera, in reality this building is a lot brighter, but the under-exposure has muted it somewhat.

photo from week 303 - Avon single-use camera

urban fox
There seems to be something of an outbreak of these graffiti foxes in Sheffield at the moment.

photo from week 303 - Avon single-use camera

graffiti
The light was poor on the day I used this camera, and the expired film is probably grainier than it would have been, but at least I got some pictures!

Wednesday 21 October 2015

Week 303 - Avon single-use camera

Avon Single Use Camera
I found this in a charity shop for 75p a couple of years ago and it's been sitting around ever since. At heart it is a generic "disposable" single use camera, pre-loaded with 12 exposures of ISO200 film. This was obviously a promotional gift to advertise an Avon sun protection product.
As it happens there was no need for sun protection on the day I used it, which was a very dull October day, which will probably result in rather under-exposed negatives.

Sunday 18 October 2015

photo from week 302 - Fuji Rensha Cardia

Autumn Horse Chestnut
This is a montage of two sets of exposures, the subject is the same, but in one I kept the camera still, and in the other I rotated from left to right.

photo from week 302 - Fuji Rensha Cardia

Park Hill Roundabout
This was the only time I used the camera as it is intended, that is with a moving subject. You can clearly see the progress of the cars on the Park Square roundabout in Sheffield.

photo from week 302 - Fuji Rensha Cardia

Bingo!
Unlike the Kalimar Actionshot 16, which has the option to fire each shutter at will, the Rensha Cardia only allows a choice of the rate at which the shots are taken, once the shutter is pressed, all eight shots are take.
The camera is designed to record the positions of a moving subject, but as this subject was stationary, I moved the camera instead.

Week 302 - Fuji Rensha Cardia

Fuji Rensha Cardia
The Rensha Cardia is related to the Kalimar Action Shot 16 camera that I used in week 24. This one takes 8 shots in quick succession and uses a double width 35mm frame. It was originally marketed to golfers so they could analyse their swing.

Saturday 10 October 2015

photo from week 301 - Wirgin Baky

Molecule Man
Another shot at full aperture, this time with the focus set to 5 feet, the closest possible. You can see a band of optimum focus, with the nearer and further parts of this sculpture, which is called Molecule Man, being out of focus.

photo from week 301 - Wirgin Baky

reflected self-portrait with Wirgin Baky camera and tall hat (square crop)
This is a square crop of the full negative. For this one I used a tripod and set the shutter speed to 1 second, allowing me to use a small aperture. The 80 year old shutter still seems to fire accurately.

photo from week 301 - Wirgin Baky

A brace of Frinks
I used another of my stock of expired Fuji slide films this week, this is the Velvia 50, cross-processed in the Tetenal C41 kit. These sculptures were in deep shade, meaning that I had to use a wide aperture with consequent shallow depth of field. The figure on the left is certainly not well focussed.

Sunday 4 October 2015

Week 301 - Wirgin Baky

Wirgin Baky
As the camera's name suggests, this is a Bakelite camera, it was made in Germany in around 1934. This one has an f2.7 Trioplan lens and a Compur shutter with speeds from 1 sec to 1/250th. All the speeds seem about right, and as it takes 120 film, there is no problem using it today. It takes sixteen 4.5cm x 6cm negatives per roll. I've loaded it with expired Fuji Velvia 50 film.

photos from week 300 - No.3A Kodak Autographic

The Dappled Light of the Sun
Here are two separate exposures, they both show the sculpture "The Dappled Light of the Sun" installed at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

photo from week 300 - No.3A Kodak Autographic

Ancestor
This tall semi-figurative sculpture by Barbara Hepworth provided a good subject for the tall narrow format.

photo from week 300 - No.3A Kodak Autographic

reflected self-portrait with No.3A Kodak Autographic camera and maritime stockbroker's headgear
Using 120 film in this postcard size camera means that the negatives are long and thin, with only five exposures per roll, I put two rolls through it this week. This is from the first roll, Ilford Delta 400 black and white negative film. The exposure here was about 30 seconds, and it is clear that I was unable to keep my head as still as my hands!