As those of you who read my 1 July post will know, my recent attempt (first for a few decades) at ‘street photography’ ended in disaster but, inspired by
http://lustandrum.wordpress.com
I’m determined to use an imminent trip to Romania (which I know to be a photographer’s dream for almost any genre) to have another go. What is more, away from distractions of work and other things in the UK, I’m aiming to wander further down the path of ‘picture haiku’, trying to create haiku and picture at the same time. I’ll aim to post regularly from Romania though I won’t have the opportunity to develop film so I’ll be using the Lumix for that.
I was excited to receive seven B&W 35mm cassettes in the post yesterday morning. If I could have found my reloadable cassettes (buried in the mounds from a house move a year ago) I’d have loaded up from an unopened 50m reel of Agfa APX. As it is, I bought two rolls of Rollei Retro 400S, which I believe is an equivalent, and five rolls of Kodak 400 Tmax.
For the ‘street photography’ the B&W will go in my Bessa-T, most often fitted with a 35mm Voigtlander Color Skopar. I wish I had a longer lens for some ‘studied’ portraits – there are some wonderful character faces in Romania. (But see below for why I’ve inserted the picture above).
Persuaded by Marie in Sweden to take some of my discontinued Astia
http://shimmeringgrains.com/2012/07/07/softly-whispering-with-fuji-astia-rap-100f/
I’m asking myself whether I can carry another film camera for colour. It needs to be as small and light as possible but the Bessa is my only working rangefinder so it’ll have to be an SLR. I’m wishing I’d kept my long gone Olympus OM. But the Contax 139 isn’t so big. If I take that I’m tempted to pack a Zeiss 50mm Planar, either the 1.7 or 1.4, and the Yashica 55mm f2.8 macro and an extension to give me 1:1 (in fact a bit more as I don’t have a 27mm tube, I have a 32mm one).
I’ll be taking the Lumix GF1 anyway and, with 4/3 to C/Y adapter, can use the Zeiss and the Yashica on that, though it will usually have the Pani 14-42 zoom on for snap shots.
Having gone through all that, I just took a break from writing this to look for the Yashica right-angle finder in case I do take the SLR and macro lens. And I came across the Olympus XA, not used for two years as it seemed to have jammed. I knew it had a film inside which had come adrift from a reloadable cassette so, seeing the dark bag also, decided to take the naked film out.
Wonder! The XA is now working. (You may deduce that I sometimes write in ‘real time’, as I did while doing the post on fast food – now a page under the ‘Food’ menu).
Complete rethink. B&W in the XA; with its discrete small size and 35mm Zuiko lens it’s just the job for ‘street photography’. The light seals seem a bit sticky but, with one week to go till I leave, there’s time to renew them.
Now, shall I forget the macro and just take the Bessa, adding one of the only longer rangefinder lenses I have which will work on the Bessa, a Russian 50mm f2 Jupiter or a 52mm f2.8 Fed? The collapsible Industar lenses (which look like the Leitz) will not go to infinity. I can put a cheap C41 film through with the Jupiter and three Feds I have, developed locally in 1 hr, and see how they are. I’ll do the same with the XA to try to ensure it really is working now.
It’s tempting to leave the heavier stuff at home; we’re off to Cornwall in Lofty, the VW camper, for the rest of August when we get back on the 12th. He won’t mind the extra weight and the beach might offer some good macro opportunities.I might change my mind about it all before I leave next Saturday. Any suggestions gratefully received.
September 9, 2012 at 10:44 am
…pardon the spelling mistakes….too much firewater last night….!
September 9, 2012 at 10:44 am
great news to find another person who uses film and decent cameras! ive used the bessa many a time…and what a wonderful camera it is too…! i had a chuckle when reading about your explits in the 50s with apprenticeships etc…i hope you wont be offended if i say i wasnt even born when you were working! BUT…what i can add to your musings is yes, the world ceratinly was a different place a decade later…the fabulous mid 60s…i live in BC, canada now but at that time i was in the uk….dad used to earn around 16 quid a week…no supermatkets then…we bought all our groceries from the littel shops down the road, served by a man wearing a clean white shirt, tie and apron, standing behind a huge counter with shelves crammed with tins and stuff….a bobby on every street….coming home from school to watch jackanory on our massive b&w tv…the list goes on! them were the days, them were….!
July 24, 2012 at 11:00 am
Looking forward to the pics. I’m not a photographer (hopeless at it, actually) so I really admire great photography! Best of luck 🙂
July 24, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Thanks Dianne. I don’t think I’m likely to produce ‘great’ photography but, with enthusiasm, hopefully I’ll produce something interesting. I just got one of my test films back and trying to work out what went wrong – at the moment it looks to be the very old film I used for the test. I hope so.
July 24, 2012 at 12:11 am
Sound amazing and ambitious. Looking forward to viewing the results.
July 24, 2012 at 7:37 am
I hope not too ambitious, though it may be. I get my test films, taken at home then in Leeds and Bradford yesterday, back this morning then I’ll either be one step further or come to a stop.
July 23, 2012 at 8:36 am
Can’t help you with the choise of camera, they all are wonderful! Just treat your Astia with love and E6 developing, and you will be greatly awarded!
Can’t wait to see the reults of your photos, good luck!
Thanks a lot or the pingback!!
Have a wonderful trip!
Marie
July 24, 2012 at 8:02 am
Thanks Marie. I’ll endeavour to give the Astia a lot of love.
July 24, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Just got some great news. Not only will the UK ‘Fuji’ processing laboratory (now in Leeds) process the Astia – E6 (but also cross-processing, not for me) but they’ll take the pre-paid envelopes I have from years ago when the lab was in Warwick 🙂
July 23, 2012 at 8:20 am
That was an excellent post today. Thanks so much for sharing it. I
really enjoyed reading it very much. You have a wonderful day!
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July 24, 2012 at 7:59 am
Many thanks for the comment and ‘follow’. I had a quick look at your site. What puts me off from going any further, though I have been thinking about trying to get a little paid freelance writing work again, was the sub-head “No experience required”. I’m a very experienced writer but a very inexperienced ‘creative writer’, the latter being what I’m trying to get into now through my blog and all the great, ambitious writers I’ve come across as a result.
I’ve earned my living from writing, but what you might call ‘factual’ writing, for many years as a journalist, advertising copy writer and more recently website copy writer. At the moment I write and produce the occasional newsletter (as ‘photo-journalist’ and editor) for the small charity for which I work a couple of days a week and am writing all the copy for a new website for them due to be ‘launched’ later this year. So, having said all that, I have been wondering whether I might be able to earn a little extra writing copy for ‘commercial’ blogs.
But this blog is something very separate from that.