Distribution of views of Blog

This map is from the sitemeter of my blog and indicates the distribution of my visitors.

35/1.2 Aspherical Nokton

Although this lens is not particularly old, it is destined to be a classic. This lens is described here and has been thoroughly tested by Erwin Puts< from the pratical perspective his review can be summed up in two quotes. First, "...the performance at the wider apertures is quite acceptable and quite uniform over most of the image area. When using films like Tri-X, its high acutance and good edge sharpness can compensate the softness of the Nokton edge detail" and secondly, "The Nokton 1.2/35mm Aspherical is a good performer at smaller apertures, but at the wider apertures, it is just acceptable". There is an article about the lens on Luminous Landscape.

I have used this lens on an Epson R-D1 and a Voigtlander R2. I have also placed it on a Leica CL. This latter combination is unweildy. Such a big lens really needs to mounted on a largish body for balance.

I used the lens extensively to produce a series on my fotopage called Edinburgh City of Darkness and Shadows. The lens was mounted my Olive R2 and the film was XP2 Super. The pictures were taken during the festival so there were actually plenty of people about (although I was careful to exclude them from some pictures. I used these to produce a slide show for my friends. I used the program PROSHOW GOLD (I am typing this on a laptop at my parents and do not have the show available but I will put on the web when I get home). Here is an example of the pictures:



Here is an example using it on an R-D1


My view of the lens is that it is good enough in the extreme circumstances that it is likely to be used.

The obvious conclusion is that if you photography is mainly in good light conditions and you wish to travel light then the Nokton is not the lens for you. However, if you work at the limits of handheld available light photography then the lens is a suitable obtion.

My 2007 calendar

Every year my colleagues at work ask meto produce a calendar they can print out at work. A pdf can be found here and it can be previewed on my fotopage here

Viewing my fotopage

In some entries, I suggest that you look at my fotopage: http://jfbell20.fotopages.com . The easiest way to navigate is to use the archive by clicking here

and then scroll down (but there are entries for every day for three years) or use the find function in your browser:



After scrolling down to, for example, Sunrise over Ely Station, from January 2004 as shown here:



You will then be able to view some sunrise photographs taken with a Rollei 35 SE camera. This is one advantage of carrying a film camera (no flat batteries - the curse of digitals) at all times.

Merry XMAS everybody

I hope this gentlemen has brogh all your photographic wants.

Voigtlander Vito IIa

As well as Tudor recreations, they also have World War II reanctments at Kentwell. I went to one such event two years ago. To get into the spirit of the event, I took these pictures with a Voigtlader Vito IIa (the first model of this series was pre-war but this one dates from 1955 - http://www.marriottworld.com/vito_cameras/folding.htm) . Unfortunately the home guard though I was a spy because it is a German camera and I had to say Wolverhampton Wanderers to prove that I was not. I did not use an exposure meter but used the sunny f16 rule. I used efke kb100 film which is a 1950s BW film . It was processed in Neofin Blue. Obviously one pictures was not taken with Vito. There are other pictures of the vent of my fotoblog (http://jfbell20.fotopages.com click on the archive a go down to July 2004). The Vito was bought on Ebay and it came from America. It was owned by a Paul Gaudette who engraved his name on the top. This and some dents put off collectors so it was very cheap.

New links

I have added some links (under Good guys) on the left. They include to UK suppliers of film and chemicals (Silverprint and Retrophotogaphic), a maker of filter (SRB filmservice) and various sources of information about cameras (Cameraquest, Butkus and Marriott - click on articles in the right side bar).

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1936 Kodak Retina 118

Recently I bought a 1936 Kodak Retina from the Czech republic from Ebay. Here are some photos of Kersey in Suffolk, a noted beauty spot and associated with the TV series Lovejoy. With the light behind me, the pictures are acceptable. Whilst it is satisfying using such an early 35mm camera, it is not really practical as a user. Note that the colour film I tested it with was particularly cheap and nasty. I used it because I have another retina that chews film up and so I tested the 'new' one with this film.

At the charity shop

This morning I went to the farmer's market in Ely. As I passed the charity shop window I noticed some photographic gear in the window. Most of it was box cameras but there were two more interesting items: a daylight loading developing tank and a old 3.5" disk box containing filters and lens hoods. The latter had a price tag of £20. I checked through them. There were 49mm and 72mm polarizers and several 55mm filters. This seemed to be a bargain.

Another attempt with my Leica IIIa

I tried out the Leica again. The above picture was taken with a lens hood (there are some on my fotopage. Unfortunately the shutter button release fell off and was lost. I am waiting for a replacement from DAG.

I think that for my next attempt with this camera I will use an industar lens.

To prepare the film to use, I had bought a copy of an ablon template from ebay. The process wrote on the envelope that the start of the film had been damaged!

My Retina IIIc

Recently I have been experimenting with a Retina IIIc (little c). When I first got it, I thought that it was jammed but I forgot the shutter locks when the frame counter gets to 1 (Details can be found in the manual here. Have you noticed that Cameras designed by or film companies are designed to stop you getting extra frames from a film.

I checked the meter and found that it was accurate enough for print film. I exposed a film largely in the Fenland village of Upwell. The Retina IIIC is really too large to classed as a compact camera despite the fact it is a folder. However, it is a reasonably easy camera to use. I am reasonably pleased with the results given that the weather conditions were not ideal.

Using folding 35mm cameras

I Like having a camera with me at all times. This is one area where digital cameras lag. They have a tendency to flat batteries. Although I have more modern compact cameras I am fascinated by older alternatives. Recently I bought a Voigtlander II. I bought mine on Ebay for about the price of the new one. The seller also included a rangefinder, lens hood and four filters (including two the seller addes to the lot because he had found them and thought they might be some use to me. I put a cheap colour film in it and walked a quarter mile to Ely park to take some pictures of the autumn leaves. There picture of the lantern tower of Ely cathedral.

There is a copy of the manual here.
Not that I really needed one. The operation of this camera is fairly straightforward.


I also have a Voigtlander IIa. There are some examples on my photoblog here
. These pictures were also taken at Kentwell Hall but it was a World War II re-enctment rather than a Tudor one. I also have a Kodak Retina IIa. There are some pictures taken with it here

Olympus 35RD

Recently I went to a Tudor re-enactment at Kentwell Hall. For the interior shots, I used an Olympus 35rd. I bought it on Ebay. This camera is known for having problems with oil and shutter blades. Fortunately my camera seems to have been rapaired. I am not sure how is lubricated because it start stiff and then the focussing become silky smooth. An examination of the screw heads revealed that they had been unscrewed. I don't collect cameras that are in pristine condition because I want use them.

One of the best features of these classic rangefinders with leaf shutters is that they are so quiet and unobstrusive.

Film and Processing

This morning I have just taken delivery of 80 rolls of Fuji film. I had had ordered 60 rolls of 100 ISO but the seller contacted me to say he had already sold it and would I take 80 rolls of 200 ISO instead (presumably he did not want me complaining to Ebay). The film is justpast its use by date but this OK. Film does not self-destruct when it passes its expiry date. I usually get the film processed at Boots (a large UK chain of chemists). I usually get the film processed and scanned on to CD. The six day service costs £3.49 and I get 1840 x 1232 pixels. When I need a larger scan, I can just scan the negatives. This is more than enough for compiling digital slideshows for computers or TV. I make my slideshows using ProShow gold. I tried many programs and slected this one because of its range of output options.

Introduction

My interest in classic cameras started when my uncle loaned me his Leica screw thread cameras: a IIIC and a IIIG (for details see http://www.ozdoba.net/leica/schraub_hist_e.html). My uncle sold these cameras years ago. More recently I regained my interest in rangefinder cameras by acquiring Russian Leica copies which I will write about in the future. In today's entry I will describe my experiences with using my recently acquired Leica IIIb with a Summar lens. The Summar lens does not enjoy a good reputation. I tested the camera at a country fair and traction engine rally. This pre-war camera and lens worked but unfortunately the lens exhibited the effect known as Leica glow (another name for flare). The photo on the right illustrates the problem. The white sections of the posts are surruunded by flare. The film used was chromegenic BW and I used the sunny f16 rule.

You can find more pictures from the event taken with a more modern Voigtlander Rangefinder here. Note there are thousand of pictures on my photo blog. I always add nine photogaphs a day. I make DVD and computer slideshows of my photographs and the fotopages imposes a discipline so I do not emd up with a huge backlog to process. It also means family and friends (and up to 200 people I do not really know) see my photographs.