Wednesday 27 January 2016

Week 317 - Kodak No.0 Brownie Model A

Kodak No.0 Brownie Model A
This is one of the very simple wood and cardboard cameras made in large numbers by Kodak, this particular model was introduced in 1914 and discontinued in 1935. It uses 127 film, which was introduced in 1912, and discontinued in 2012, but there are now a couple of manufacturers who are once again selling the format.
I found this one in a charity shop for £3, the cloth hinge is hanging off, but with the aid of a couple of elastic bands, the camera can be held together.

Friday 22 January 2016

photo from week 316 - Halina TeleDisc 328

Retirement Party Wheel of Fortune
I only really need to post one photo this week, as it covers all 15 exposures.
This is a scan of the whole disc from a Halina TeleDisc camera, taken at a retirement party. The camera, and the film, are 30 years old, which was around the time that Elaine joined the practice. The technical quality is predictably poor, and the viewfinder accuracy leaves something to be desired!

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Week 316 - Halina TeleDisc 328

Halina TeleDisc 328
I still have a handful of unused discs, though the youngest of these is over 20 years old. Many disc cameras had built in, non-replaceable batteries, and inevitably these tend to fail after 30 years, but the Halina takes AA batteries so that wasn't a problem here. It boasts two lenses, 12.5mm and 25mm, the flash works, and although it sounds a bit hesitant, the motor advance the disc. I intend to take it to a retirement party and take a wheel of portraits, something I have done before.

photo from week 315 - Rollei XF 35

red chairs
When the exposure system was working, and the focus accurate, the results weren't too bad, this one is OK.

photo from week 315 - Rollei XF 35

reflected self-portrait with Rollei XF 35 camera and fur hat (square crop)
The camera has a "B" setting, but it sets the aperture to f2.3, with no opportunity to alter this, so focusing, especially at close range, is critical. I gave this about 4 seconds.

photo from week 315 - Rollei XF 35

Lego St. Pancras
I wanted to like this camera, it is from a well known maker, and looks the part, and feels quite well put together when you lick it up, but once you start using the controls, it feels very cheap and fragile. The shutter noise is more like what you expect from a disposable single use junk camera.
There is no manual override, so the camera sets teh aperture and shutter speed combination, the only thing you can do is focus. I think there is some camera shake in this indoor photo of a Lego model of St. Pancras station.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Week 315 - Rollei XF 35

Rollei XF 35
This is a compact rangefinder camera with a fully automatic exposure system which selects the aperture and shutter speed according to the light level. The chosen combination is shown in the viewfinder, though there is no option to manually override them. It seems that the exposure system is faulty, giving values which underexpose by around three stops, I hope I can get around this by setting the ISO to 25 for my ISO 200 film.

photo from week 314 - Canon Zoom XL

giant insect
This giant insect was part of an exhibition at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. I took a chance on being able to hand hold this indoor shot, but I seem to have got away with it.

photo from week 314 - Canon Zoom XL

reflected self-portrait with Canon Zoom XL camera and peaked cap
This self portrait was taken using the detachable handheld remote control, which when not in use slides into the bottom of the camera.

photo from week 314 - Canon Zoom XL

just after midnight
Within seconds of the new year beginning, I shot my first film photo for 2016. The Canon Zoom XL has an "infinity" button to avoid the auto-focus struggling in circumstances like this, so I used that, the exposure was around 2 seconds.

Friday 1 January 2016

Week 314 - Canon Zoom XL

Canon Zoom XL
New years day coincides with the start of week 314, the first week in the seventh year of my project.
This one was a charity shop find, I can't remember what I paid for it, but it was less than £5, there was no battery in it, so I took a gamble on whether it worked or not. All seems to be OK, but this is the first film I have put in it, so I won't know for sure until I've developed it.