Macroscope

Have you ever looked really closely at an object and thought ‘Wow’? I have all my life. As a really young child people would call me ‘The Little Scientist’ because I was always looking at plants and insects really closely (little did they know that I was actually going to become one). My fascination with things close up still remains to this day.

One of the big issues I had with communicating my passion for looking closely at things in photography was that all the cameras that I used couldn’t get close enough – this had to do with the fact that they were either cheap film or compact digital cameras. Even when I started playing around with SLRs I couldn’t really get in close, and I’d use a telephoto lens to do so (which made me lose detail).

Thankfully a conversation with a student a month or two ago at work put me on the right track – a set of cheap close-up filters off eBay would convert any of my SLR lenses to macro! I couldn’t believe it, but I forked out the AU$25 or so and got a set sent to me. I’m glad I did. They convert the 60cm minimum focusing distance on the 50mm lens to about 5cm. Just remember that if you’re going to use them to have a really small aperture (I almost always have it at f/22) to adjust for the lack of focus.

Let’s fast forward to today. For the first time since getting the filters I’ve stuck them onto a film camera – my Nikon FE which is loaded with Fujichrome Velvia 100. I used my 50mm f/1.8 lens, but from using the filters on digital I knew I needed to keep the background clear from outside debris and other crap which may draw the eye away from what I want. (even though it will be really out of focus). Thus the ‘home studio – daylight’ was born with a stool, some black material and my FE on a tripod. It was all set up on my veranda, and as you can see from the picture below it worked out well with the diffused light coming in. I set the automatic timer on the FE, focused and let it go. Most of my shots were of plants, but I got a few bits of mail photographed as well.

I was going to plug in my 1000w halogen lights (my ‘studio’ lighting) to increase contrast and put some awesome shadows in, but I decided against it, mainly because I’m testing to see how it all goes.

We’ll all have to wait for the results – one of the issues with film I’m sad to say. There should be no reason for it not to have worked – I checked the image at f/22 before every shot. And so you aren’t left hanging I’m putting in one of my other up-close shots taken with my D90. Enjoy!

Sunday Morning Fish.

Morning. It’s Sunday here in Australia and I’ve been fishing for trout. I didn’t get anything (which is a shame) but I did get to spend some tome on a very nice stretch of river. Plus what’s better to do on a Sunday morning than to be out and about in the world, having a look around? Not much!

Not the river I was fishing on today, but one about five minutes from where I live.

This post is really here to remind all my intrepid readers (of which I am now thinking there must be millions) about where they can find my pictures, and other sites that I have got.

Firstly, I have my Flickr page (found at www.flickr.com/photos/postafrontale). It holds all my ‘ok’ to ‘awesome’ shots. I’m surprised with flickr – there’s a lot of good stuff on there (as well as really helpful forums).

Secondly, I have a DeviantArt page (found at http://postafrontale.deviantart.com/). It has some of my photos (but the same ones can be found on flickr). I had high hopes for DA at first, but I’ve got to say that it’s mostly full of pasty emo teeny-boppers in poorly made costumes from anime, or computer-generated anthropomorphised animals. Disappointing.

And last I have my own personal portfolio site (found at www.jclayphotography.com). I made it just for showing to galleries and the like for shows. So far I haven’t sent the link to anyone, but I am going to soon. There’s an amount of somewhat unnecessary concern that I have with asking galleries to peruse my stuff – a fear of being told “Ah, it’s really crap”. I’ll get over it one day I suppose.

I’m Back! and Film Camera Breakdown.

Good day all. It’s been a while, and I was thinking of shutting the blog down for a long time. But I’ve decided against it and will start writing again. I reckon that the amount of blog posts is directly proportional to amount of stuff I have to do at work – although that is still just a theory…

What’s a good subject for a new post? What’s happening in the world of my camera collection is what! Lots has happened since I last wrote – I’ve upgraded my D5000 to a D90, bit the bullet and purchased a rangefinder, got a pile of lenses to play with and have been shooting a lot more film. It’s a lot to put into one post, so I’m going to split it into a few (more for ease of writing than anything else). Today’s subject then: my film cameras.

The Viewfinders: Olympus Trip 35 (1967-84) and Balda Baldessa I (c.1957)

Both these cameras came into my possession for no cost whatsoever, and both have taken really good photos.  They are viewfinders – the focusing is done externally (and is largely an educated guess) by turning the focus ring to the distance that your main subject is from it, and the window you look through is a rough guide to what is going to be in the frame. Don’t think about getting objects where you precisely want them – parallax isn’t addressed in either (which I can personally attest to with pictures where the subject was in the centre in the finder but came out looking skewed and dodgy).

The Olympus Trip 35 is an automatic, aperture-priority camera with a 40mm f/2.8 lens. ISO range is from 25-400, and it has two shutter speeds (1/40th and 1/200th of a second). The determination of shutter speed and aperture is done entirely with a solar cell (located around the lens), meaning that it does not need batteries. If there is not enough light, a red ‘tag’ will pop up in the finder and you won’t be able to take the shot. Composing shots is difficult for close-ups, but pretty good all up for landscapes. Ken Rockwell has a page for the Olympus Trip here.

Taken with the Olympis Trip 35, Ilford XP2 Super

The Balda Baldessa I is a manual un-metered viewfinder probably made in 1957 (in 1958 a design change was made to the finder to help with composition) with a 45mm f/2.8 Westanar lens and a Pronto-SVS shutter. The trippy thing with the Baldessa is that the film advance and rewind levers are situated on the bottom of the camera. This is really easy to adjust to, and it takes really crisp photos. Another big thing with the Baldessa is that it just looks good – and that makes up for the fact that you need to use an external light meter and that it’s a viewfinder camera.

The base of the Baldessa I showing the film advance (left) and rewind (right) levers. The advance lever is flipped up, showing the frame counter. The rewind lever is unlocked by flicking the T/R switch to R.

Taken with the Baldessa, Ilford XP2 Super.

Despite the fact that the viewfinder is a setback (as far as composing goes) to the cameras, they are dirt cheap. I purchased another Trip 35 for AU$15 off eBay, and Balda cameras usually pop up with a price-tag between $10-50.

The Rangefinder: Yashica Electro 35 CC

The latest in my collection of cameras, the Yashica Electro 35 CC has really impressed me in the short time of ownership with the exceptional focus, clarity and contrast of the pictures that it takes. I understand how photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Willy Ronis and Robert Doisneau spent their careers shooting with rangefinders!

It is an aperture-priority automatic camera with a rather wide 35mm f/1.8 lens . There is no shutter speed control, and the speeds go from 1/250th to 8 seconds. There are two warning lights (in the shape of arrows) in the viewfinder – a yellow one that tells you that the shutter is going to be open for more than 1/30th of a second (so put it on a tripod), and a red one saying that the shutter speed is too slow for the light and the photo will be overexposed. ASA/ISO setting go from 25 to 500. The size means that I can (and do) slip it into my backpack so I’ve got an excellent camera at my disposal at all times that is able to accurately focus and expose shots.

If anything (especially after shooting with this one), I would like to own one of the really nice European designed rangefinders (e.g. Leica or Voigtlander), but the price tag is enough to make anyone (except the craziest and wealthy) whimper. The Yashica will do me well for many years to come!

Above and Below: Yashica Electro 35 CC, Ilford XP2 Super.

The SLR’s: Nikon FE (35mm) and Bronica ETRS (6x4.5cm)

 

As my first film camera, the Nikon FE did (and still does) everything I needed and more. It is both aperture-automatic and manual, with a whole pile of features that most SLRs have – except it can take every lens ever made by Nikon from 1959 (except for some extremely rare and old fisheye lenses). The only beef anyone could have is that it isn’t an autofocus camera, but that’s something that I know taught me a lot about photography in the short time since I’ve been serious about it. The match-needle shutter speed indicator is analogue, and is really easy to read (but you need light travelling through the lens to be able to see it – a hitch in very low light). It’s simple to use, robust and is able to correctly expose photos in near darkness when in AUTO (just remember to pack a tripod!). On top of all of this, it is smaller and simpler to use than my old D5000 and D90 and it gives better photos.

The lenses I have for the FE are also useable on my D90 (although about half don’t have metering which is a pain), which means that I don’t need to have two sets of lenses for digital and film. I’ll go into my lens fetish in detail in another post.

Above: Nikon FE w/ 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor Lens, Ilford XP2 Super. Bad scan done by camera shop…

Above: Nikon FE w/ 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor Lens, Ilford XP2 Super. Better scan that I did.

 

The Bronica ETRS is – simply put - a big bastard of a camera. This thing takes 6x4.5cm negatives, which are worlds more detailed than 35mm film and even digital photos. Because of this it is a heavy camera, but is really useable. Just like the Baldessa I it is un-metered, which means that you need to carry around a light-meter to tell you what you need to shoot at, but if you have a self-powered light-meter like my pre-cold war Metrophot meter which is small, light and easy to use your time trying to work out what to set your camera at becomes really short and fun. The 80mm f/2.8 lens takes nice clear photos, and the waist-level finder makes focusing really easy to do – but there are times when I’m glad I also have an eye-level finder.

With the larger film size comes issues with developing – I can take my 35mm film to Big W for processing and printing and it will cost $7.00, but one roll of 120 film will set me back $20 at a local camera store. Finding a mail-order lab in a capital city usually drops the price of developing significantly (I’ve found a place in Brisbane that will process and do hi-res scanning for $18 a roll).

Overall, I’m really happy with the ETRS. If you’re thinking about getting one (or any medium format camera for that matter) I say go ahead. You will love it.

 

Bronica ETRS w/ 80mm f/2.8 lens, Kodak Ektar 100.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this. It’s good to back into the swing of things, and I’ll be back to write some more. Until next time!