Paris + camera reviews

Went to Paris, took lots of photos. Posted them all on Flickr, and a small selection on Exposure.so, a new gallery/photo curation site that has a lovely layout and is so easy to use. Have a look here: http://portfolio.35millimetre.co.uk.

Took the Olympux XA4 (for b/w) and the Fuji Tiara (for colour). The percentage of shots shows which one I enjoyed using the most - the XA4 is just so quiet. So easy to use, the shots come out so nicely. I can't fault it, it's the perfect snapper's film camera. It needs a clean though, on the outside anyway - it's covered in drawer crud from living in my parents' kitchen drawer for years and receiving no love. I'll get some isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds and have at it over the holidays, I think. Re-discovered how much I like Ilford HP5+ too - such contrast and deep blacks, I forgot how nice it was, and how it fits my ideal of what a black and white photo should look like.

Just before the holiday I also splashed out on a Zorki 4K, a Russian "Leica copy" with a nice Jupiter screw-mount lens.

Phwoar, look at the knobs on that.

It's in absolutely gorgeous condition, the camera and lens. The case is a little battered but looks like it's been kept on for most of the camera's life. I'm looking forward to learning all its little quirks - like not setting the shutter speed until you've advanced the film wind lever. And using a proper rangefinder, which I've not done before. The lens would also work on any of the early Leicas, should I win the lottery and choose to go down that mad path. Hints and tips for the Zorki very gratefully received!

Grubby little camera...

As any parents are wont to do, mine took photos of my brother and I when we were little. Trips to the beach, to grandparents' houses, holidays, sports days, the lot. I remember one camera being used throughout my childhood. It was black, a clamshell design, and there was a dent on the back cover. The dent was from when my parents went on holiday to Portugal, while my mum was pregnant with me - it got dropped by a swimming pool.

So this camera is now 27 years old. My parents stashed it away in a drawer, no longer wanting to bother with the hassle of getting film developed - my mum takes all her photos with her Android phone now. For a while I'd been thinking about it, but today I decided to dig it out. It was none other than the (rather rare) Olympus XA4, a wide-angle rangefinder. I was over the moon - I was expecting the much commoner XA1 or 2.




It really needs a clean, as it has accumulated the kind of unspecified grub only found at the bottom of kitchen drawers. But after two new batteries, the shutter seems to work fine on all speeds. I can't wait to put a film in it and get using it!

Mamiya C33

I picked up this beauty from a guy on Gumtree, a gorgeous Mamiya C33!

 Ooh baby, bellows money shot.

It weighs an absolute ton (well, about 2kg), as it should, being made mostly of girders. It came with the 80mm 2.8 Mamiya-Sekor lens, which focuses really close, and beautifully sharp.

It needs a bit of a clean, as the outside is a tad grubby, but the lens is clear. The focussing screen could do with a wipe, but it looks like this can be removed with a couple of screws. The bellows seem in great condition, no cracks or holes, no ominous creaking. The back door of the waist-level finder sags out a bit too, I don't know if this affects viewing through the screen or not, doesn't seem to.

Can't wait to run some test film through it!

Super wiiiiiiiide

New lens o' clock! Picked up a Sigma EOS-fit super wide, fixed 24mm, f/2.8 lens off eBay the other day, it arrived in great condition and very well-packed today. Always something of a gamble, buying lenses on eBay, but it's done me right this time. Here it is on the lovely EOS 600 given to me by a friend:

It was cheap as chips, but the downsides are that it is both heavy and really loud. I've got a neck strap on the way for this camera and I'll really need it, it's not a light beast.

It focuses very close, and pin-sharp too. Really chuffed. I need to clean the prism inside, I think, there are little black spots I can see (on all lenses), but looking forward to seeing what I get back from this roll. Going to Devon soon for a short camping holiday, hopefully the wide angle will make for some pretty shots. Can't wait!

Came across an image that made me go: "HUH?"

Yelp! What's going on here?! Old-style cameras, but new, but not new, but by Samsung?!?! What are they? I want one!

It was from this article, about Samsung lenses, which I have no idea about really: http://www.samsungimaging.net/2011/05/17/how-the-nx-lenses-are-launched-into-the-world-part-ii-the-nx-lens-planners/

Anyone got any clues? Must know!