Happy 3rd Analogversary!

Three years ago, on December 11th 2010, I posted my first film picture on flickr. Three years later I continue taking pictures almost exclusively on film and I still enjoy using old cameras for it. Although this third analogic year has seen a strong decline in the number of films that I put through my cameras and to the number of posts in this blog as well, there has been no decline in my commitment. I guess the reduced action has probably more to do with rising our one-year-old son, an enterprise which unfortunately (or maybe gratefully so) does not leave one with many opportunities to take pictures, especially with certain cameras.

I am happy this year because I kept on doing my own camera repair and servicing and, although not always with a happy ending (the film advance in a Contina Ia is still waiting for my fourth attempt), I've managed loosing the fear and feeling almost comfortable around dismantled shutters and the smell of lighter fluid.

In this third analogic year I shot 32 rolls of film (13 black&white, 12 color negative and 7 color slide) using 16 different cameras. The camera that I used most often has been a new acquisition: I shot 6 rolls with an Exakta Varex IIa that I got looking for the origin of those uncountable many SLRs with interchangeable optics that we have today (and that already existed yesterday). The discovery of the Exakta has been probably one of the three highlights in camera collecting this year. I do not see myself as a camera collector but as a camera user, because I really use all my cameras, and acquire them solely with the purpose of using them. Nevertheless, I guess to compensate inconsciously for not being able to photograph as much as I wanted to, this year I ended up acquiring a little more cameras and especially accessories than I used to in the past. Living now in Vienna and having a much easier access to many sources of cameras and gear has for sure been another factor. As I said, my Exakta outfit with four lenses and two viewfinders is proof of that.



The second highlight has been undoubtedly the resurgence of Voigtländer. I have always been a deep admirer of the fine cameras and lenses coming from Brunnswick. In fact, the Heliar f/4.5 lens on my Rollfilm 5x8 was my self-given gift for my first analogversary. Ever since then, I dreamed about owning the second variant, Heliar f/3.5, but unfortunately the price tag on them were just too much for me and my moral. This fall I had the chance to acquire this lens, attached to a most wonderful Bergheil 6.5x9 plate camera, for a very reasonable price. And then I remembered just how much of a jewel these cameras are and why do I love them so much. Later on I was able to secure a Vitomatic IIa 35mm rangefinder camera (I already owned a non-rangefinder Vitomatic Ia and gave it away) and a Bessa 6x9 rollfilm camera (which I always wanted) both for ridiculously low prices, ending up with a nice happily growing Voigtländer family.



The third highlight, though, is the one that makes me the most happy. Last year I already wrote about my quest for a camera made in 1912, a camera that would be 100 years older than our son. There have been a number of candidates and near-hits this year: a Vest Pocket Kodak that ended up being autographic and thus some years younger, an Icarette 6x6 from 1918, a much battered and ugly Ansco Vest Pocket No. 1 which could be it but I suspect it to be from a little later, ... Last month I got a non-autographic Vest Pocket Kodak, the camera that many American soldiers (ilegally) had in the trenches during World War I. The production run of the non-autographic VPK is quite short, 1912-1914.



My camera has a fairly low serial number, around 30000, although serial numbers seem not to be a very reliable dating feature for Kodak cameras. I guess I'll never be completely sure if this camera was indeed built in 1912, but I like to think that chances are good. I will try to make this camera fit to take pictures again. It won't be easy, since the body seems to be bent sideways and the camera does not close properly. The shutter is almost working (still have to figure out how can an actuating lever be a fraction of a millimeter shorter than it should) and the receded meniscus lens looks fine.

For my next analogic year I will try to photograph a little more and collect a little less. We recently got a scanner that can properly handle film up to medium format. Until now I have been digitizing my pictures basically by taking a backlit digital picture of the negative. Not comfortable and definitely not fun, especially when it comes to inverting colors by hand in the computer. This year I let my lab scan many films and many others are still patiently waiting to be digitized. There's going to be some learning about scanning film properly this next year. But the photographic challenge I am most excited about is to do my own film development. For my birthday Mar got me a film development starter kit, with a daylight tank, a thermometer, bottles and everything I need. I plan to start with black&white but I still need to do a little research about chemicals and options. And, yes, there is also this very exciting caffenol development thing... :)

I hope that you keep sharing this photographic journey with me! :)

Happy 2nd Analogversary! :)

Two years ago, on December 10th 2010, I posted my first film picture on flickr. One year ago, I already celebrated my first "analogversary". Today, one year later, here I am, still going strong on my commitment to film photography with vintage cameras.

This second year has been one of more mature camera choice and use, in general a year of more thought of photography. All in all, I exposed 71 films (22 black and white, 32 color negative, 17 color slide) using 14 different cameras. The camera that I most often used was my Rolleiflex Old Standard 621 (18 rolls). The color negative film that I most used was again Kodak Portra 400 (8 rolls), for black & white Kodak Tri-X 400 (3 rolls) and on color slide Fujichrome Velvia 50 remained a favorite (5 rolls).

In this year I got 5 new (old) cameras (Rolleiflex, Contessa, Ikonta, Super Ikonta BX and Rollei 35). In order to balance the energy, I also gave 5 cameras away (Polaroid, Vitomatic, Flexaret, Beltica, Hapo). As it seems, I am taking a more mature stand to vintage camera use, since I only got cameras that have some kind of significance, some meaning.

Another reason I am happy with my second analogue year is that I managed to accomplish one of the challenges that I set myself last year: doing my own camera repairs, which is a natural step when the objects you are trying to work with are (almost) all many years older than your parents. I got tons of patience, some specialized tools, and lots of information and good advice from websites and flickr pals. I managed to recover all speeds of the Compur shutter on my Rollfilm 5x8, to repair the jammed film transport in my Contessa 533/24 and to lubricate the focus system and recalibrate the rangefinder on my Super Ikonta BX 533/16. Oh yes, and there were some fun experiments with junk Compur shutters, too... :)

I will definitely keep photographing on film with vintage cameras next year. My next project, though, has all the meaning of the world for me: 6 weeks ago Mar gave birth to our first born. Long before I could hold him in my arms, I thought I would try to find a camera from 1912, a camera 100 years older than our child.



This camera, a Vest Pocket Kodak, could have been the one, since it was introduced in 1912, like the 127 film that it takes (and it fact, 127 film was especially designed for this camera). Some of its features (lens, body finish, autographic feature, engraved patents), though, point it to a little later (1921-1926).

The quest, thus, is still open. I'll be happy if you keep sharing this journey with me! :)

Happy Analogversary! :)

One year ago, I published my first film picture on flickr. In fact, I had already posted a couple of shots taken with the Diana Mini, but it was with this picture, taken with the Kodak Retinette IA, that I realized that film photography was truly something worth spending my energy and devoting myself to, that it could replace and multiply the joy that I got from digital photography. Film photography became, thus, a project on its own.


(Retinette IA, Kodacolor 200, ISO 200/24°)
For me, this picture represents the beginning of an amazing year, photographically speaking, rich in surprises and full of fun and learning. In this year I published almost 300 film pictures to my flickr photostream, from them 120 on black and white film, 90 on color negative film and 90 on color slide film.

I exposed 86 films: 38 on 35mm format, 45 medium format, 2 film sheets and 1 instant film pack. The most used black and white film is tied between Kodak Tri-X 400 and Ilford FP4 Plus 125 (both 3 rolls). The most used color negative has been Kodak Portra 400 (4 rolls) and the most used color slide film Fujichrome Velvia 50 (9 rolls).

I used 12 cameras: six 35mm cameras, four medium format cameras, an (almost) large format camera (Ideal 250/3) and an instant film camera. The one that I used the most has been my beloved Flexaret VI, with which I exposed 25 films this year.

How much did I learn this year? Really a lot, but hopefully not half of what I am going to learn next year. Because my head is boiling with new challenges and exciting projects! :) Thanks for sharing this journey with me! :)

A photographic story - #2 Awakening

In summer 2002 Mar and I spent a week in Azaila, Teruel, to stay in an old house that belonged to some relatives of hers. For that trip we borrowed my sister-in-law's film single-lens reflex camera, which she calls by the nickname Eduvigis.


(EOS 350D, EF 50mm f/1.8, 2.5s, f/11, ISO 100)
Eduvigis is also known as Canon EOS 3000N and sports a 28-80mm zoom lens. This was the first time I used a zoom lens and I remember being fascinated by the "live" change of framing you could actually see through the viewfinder as you turned the zoom ring on the lens. But what I found the most fascinating of all was the autofocus: I remember playing and playing with the camera, pressing the shutter button halfway and marveling at the speed with which the subjects got sharp, with a double beep that, in fact, is still there in Canon's modern dSLR cameras.

I remember taking pictures of Mar while visiting the ruins of an Iberian settlement and marveling at the way the infinite landscapes in northern Teruel got blurred. I remember the uneasy silence filling the abandoned streets of Belchite Viejo and not really knowing how to take pictures there. To transmit the deserted look of the ruins, broken by the bombs of the Spanish Civil War, required much more "photographic eye" than I had back then.

Anyway, and in spite of using full automatic exposure mode all the time, the pictures came out really nice and we loved them. In fact, two portraits of us, taken with Eduvigis in that vacation, are framed in our bedroom since then.

A photographic story - #1 Prehistory

[EDITED on May 2nd to add a picture of my dad's camera]

My first real recollection of myself using a camera goes back to 1988, as I was 12 years old. I went to Mallorca on vacation with my school class for a week. My dad let me have his camera, which had always fascinated me and had not been allowed to even touch unsupervised until then. I remember feeling a little afraid of breaking it but, at the same time, quite proud of myself.

The camera was a Yashica Minister D rangefinder, sporting a Yashinon 45mm f/2.8 lens. The Minister D was a very beautiful camera, kind of professional looking in my eyes. I felt a little weird because all my classmates had point&shoot cameras that didn't need any focusing, metering or, in fact, any user operation other than the pressing of the shutter button. I remember being ashamed of taking the camera out in front of the others, because it was quite sure someone would say something to me or laugh at me for, you know, being different.


(EOS 350D, EF 50mm f/1.8, 1/40, f/2.2, ISO 400)
I received a photography crash course from my dad. I don't remember the part about aperture at all, I guess it was something like "set f/8 and do not change it". What I do remember quite well was my dad telling me about shutter speed and how I should normally use 1/125 except for freezing a moving subject, where I could go up to 1/250. This one got stuck in my mind.

We were attending a show at a marine park and I remember thinking as a photographer for the first time in my life: if I wanted to freeze the movement of the dolphins jumping out of the water, I should set shutter speed to 1/250. I think I set it even to 1/500, but I am not quite sure. What I do remember was how proud of my "photographic thinking" I was back at home, as we got the prints and there was this one picture of three dolphins jumping in my direction, perfectly frozen in the air thanks to my remembering my dad's photo teachings.