The FED 5

Posted on Jan 7, 2022Jan 7, 2022 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film Photography, FranceTagged advice, amateur photography, analog, analogue, black and white, Black and White Photography, camera, communisme, daughter, fed 5, fed5, France, French, hp5, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, matt day, Nantes, opinion, photogeapher, photographe, photographer, photography, portrait, portrait photography, Portraits, rangefinder, review, russian, slrLeave a comment

Back in 2009 I had a camera that died on me. It might only be a camera to you but to me it was everything. It was my first camera. I was heartbroken. To those of you mocking me, just think back to your first car and to your first accident in that car. Alright, you may not be shedding a tear you unemotive bastard, but you might just have the smallest of inklings about my loss. It was my fist camera that had taught me the basics of photography, and since 1987 had been a relatively constant companion, and part of me. My son now has it on a shelf looking pretty damn cool on one of his shelves.

It was at that time that I had come back to film from digital. Why bother using filters that would emulate film photography when you could get the same thing straight out of camera without going through the rigmaroles of messing around in Photoshop to get that result? At that time, although digital gave me a lot, there was something missing. Like most of us I was looking for something authentic.

I went to the camera shop to see if anything could be done to repair my camera and bring it back to life. With hope I entered the shop that would become a familiar haunt, and had to face the brutal truth. My Praktica MTL3 was dead. It had passed on, this camera was no more. It had ceased to be. It had expired and gone to meet its maker. It was a stiff. Bereft of photographic life. It was resting in peace. It was pushing up daisies. Its metabolic processes were now history. It was off the twig. It had kicked the bucket. It had shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bloody choir invisible. IT WAS AN EX Praktica MTL 3! Any similarity to a Norwegian Blue parrot pining for the Fjords is a mere coincidence! So I asked him if I could buy the one in the display cabinet and he said of course I could and that yes it was a little expensive, it came with a 6 month guarantee, and here was a film for it, and no mention of Bolton or Ipswitch. Although not exactly the same it was a purchase that set me off on a series of events that lead me to “collecting” a certain quantity of cameras. It was either that or becoming a lumberjack.

Through YouTube, articles on the net, and my own research, I learnt about some of the iconic cameras that I never had, and at that stage, the hipsters hadn’t bought up everything on EBay and you could still get something very decent for un £50, which now of course might set you back between £150 to £200! So I was very fortunate to start collecting when I did.

On the famous YouTube, and its infamous photography videos that I still seem to watch on a regular basis, I went down the rabbit hole of specialising in film cameras. There was one guy, called Matt Day, who waxed lyrical about his Leica M6, and how much he loved using it to take images from his everyday life. I started thinking, could this be my next acquisition. And then I started looking at the prices that these things cost. Megabucks, which is something that I don’t have and even if I did, such a purchase would be grounds for divorce. It’s cheaper to keep her, as the classic Rhythm and Blues (before it became R’nB) so wisely reminded us.

Therefore, what is the difference between my new old Praktica MTL3 and a Leica M6 I hear you say. Well, both are German. One is a classic camera from a West German manufacturer, and was the gold standard of 35mm cameras from pre war times right up to the modern day, and was a rangefinder, the other one being a relatively cheap and yet very solid SLR from the old East Germany.

So both were made by the Boche, one further to the left that the other. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth two thousand words! Earlier I talked about a certain Matt Day, well here is a video of his from last year talking about the differences. I’ll let you watch it, and then we will be both on the same page! I can tell you’re impressed.

Soooooo, I wanted to learn about a rangefinder and see how they worked out in real life. But, as I said earlier it’s cheaper to keep her, so I was going to have to find another way of doing things. As many photographers on a budget but wanting to get some half decent materiel, I looked East, towards Mother Russia. Communism is messed up, but it did leave some rather solid cameras, and to the rangefinder aficionados, the names Zorky, and FED will be familiar. The Zorky looks very vintage, rather sexy and exclusive with its Cyrillic writing on the top of the body, but I was not comfortable about using a camera without a light meter. The Sunny 16 rule should be easy enough to follow, and with the latitude that black and white film photography gives you, you shouldn’t go too far wrong, but I was being stubborn, which is so out of character for me.

I moved on to looking at the FED 5, especially since I had found one for only 15€ imported directly from the Ukraine, which at the time was not at war or hadn’t been annexed either by Mother Russia. Oh you naughty boy Vladimir!!

Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. The FED 5 was produced in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov from 1977 until 1990. It is a 35mm format rangefinder camera, with interchangeable lenses with a Leica M39 screw thread, (mine has a 35mm f2.8 lens, which is great for street photography). It has a focal plane shutter, shutter speeds of 1 second to 1/500th of a second, bulb mode, and the flash sync speed is 1/30th of a second. What more could you ask for. The film loading is similar to the Leica where you remove the base of the camera, load your film etc. and then put that base back on. Because you know that it’s about the bass, ‘bout that bass no treble…

To do the metering you have to put your faith in the selenium cell light meter, on the top right of the front of the camera. This will give you a reading on an EV meter on top of the camera next to the “calculation wheel”. One dial is for the speed of you your film. Now don’t go looking for Din, ISO, or ASA, but look for GOCT, or GOST. 90 GOST is 100ASA, 180 being 200ASA etc. For 400ASA I just turn the little dot to the S in GOCT. It’s one of those Soviet things that is just a quirk of this camera. This will give me a reading on the outer dial with my shutter speeds and F Stops combinations to nail that exposure!

As with other Soviet-era rangefinders, the shutter-speed selector rotates when the shutter is released, and this should not be changed “until after” the shutter has been cocked. If you change the shutter speed before you cock the shutter first, the setting pin can be broken when you advance the film and cock the shutter! Don’t even bother trying. I never have, and it still works today!

Focussing is easy which is always something that catches my eye, no zone focussing, and it’s slightly different to the SLR. As you saw in the video, there is a ghost image in the middle of the viewfinder and as soon as that ghost image disappears, it means that you have focussed successfully.

Anyway, I paid my 15 Euros and a Ukrainian camera arrived two weeks later in an original box which is still in a display cabinet in my hallway. The leather case still smells of leather! So I tried the damn thing out. Worked out how to load the film which as completely foreign to me but still doable and not too demanding even for me. It is supposed to be the street photography camera par excellence for a few reasons. Firstly it looks pretty sexy around my neck and the leather is top notch without necessarily having a leather fetish, but each to his own! You can use zone focussing with the lens as you can see at such and such an F-stop, the part of your photo which will be in focus is shown on the lens. There is no mirror that slaps up, and the camera is relatively silent, and can be used to close to your subject and get that trendy and yet timeless street portrait. Shooting from the hip.

I can hear you saying, well thank you Ian for all this information. Really great, and almost useful. But pray tell, is it any good? What’s it like to shoot with? Is it worth me looking into? Can I buy you a Leica M6 for your birthday?

Well Dear Reader, let me address your interrogations. Firstly is it any good? It is definitely slightly sexy and certainly looks the part! I wasn’t used to the focussing of a rangefinder but found the focussing to be spot on. I’ll let you have a look at the photos and let you judge! What’s it like to shoot with? Once you get used to the way a Soviet camera functions it’s actually pretty neat! What I do like is being able to get my exposition without having to look through the viewfinder. You know that you’re going to be spot on, and indeed I was. That’s half the battle won, which is what we’re all about. It works mate, it works! You need to be able to get that sot that you want and I think that’s pretty simple to do. Is it worth me looking into? All depends on what you’re looking for. If you can get one for a relatively cheap price then get one just to try out; you can always sell on. I certainly have no regrets and it’s still in my collection which just goes to show you! Can I buy you a Leica M6 for your birthday? Who am I to refuse such generosity?

The photos in this article were taken in Montaigu, Vendée in 2016 and feature my daughter. The film is Illford XP, which is a black and white film that is developed with colour film chemicals and processes. C41 for those in the know. It’s always strange seeing photos from nearly 6 years ago and I remember that outing with my daughter as if it were yesterday. It was one of the ways I used to cope with my depression. I might not know what day it was but I remember taking each photo. We all cope in our own individual ways I suppose…

The Contradictory Contradiction

Posted on Oct 8, 2021Oct 8, 2021 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film PhotographyTagged analog, analogue, architechture, Archtitecture, autumn, Bicycle, bicycles, bike, black and white, Black and White Photography, contradiction, contradictory, development, farming, fencepost, fields, film development, Film Photography, France, French, french countryside, fujifilm xt2, good old days, grandfather, grandmother, hp5, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, John Mc Byrne, kodak Portra, mesuper, Nantes, nostalgia, pentax, Pentax ME SUper, photogeapher, photographe, photographer, photography, rollei, rollei rpx 100, Saint Hilaire de Loulay, street photography, Street phtoography, streetphotography, tree, Trees, Vendee3 Comments

I have a friend here who said that I am always contradicting myself and that it isn’t logical and how can I say two things at the same time, and I replied that the two things, although contradictory in appearance, are both as true. That person is a production of French education with philosophy as the subject that all French teenagers go through to learn how to think the way the Education Nationale tells them to think, under the guise of learning all about freethinking and critical thinking. I, however, am a lot less French despite what some people might like to think, and I will think any blooming way I desire, with or without contradictions.

I’m not talking about my mental state, for once, but photography. I love both digital photography and analogic photography. I am bewildered by modern technology and could be classed as a geek, and yet the experience of using old technology that is obsolete for some gets me all excited as a small child waiting for Father Christmas, but being told by their mother to go to bed, otherwise, he won’t come. It didn’t stop me from waking up at the crack of dawn, and I think my parents might have regretted the decision to buy me a guitar for Christmas and hearing me playing at some ungodly hour of the morning. As a 49, fat middle-aged gentleman, I can understand them, but my 6 or 7-year-old self didn’t and couldn’t imagine the disturbance that I had caused them.

Oh, how times change! While I’m on the nostalgia train going to the “good” old days, I have vivid memories of a drawer at my grandparents’ house, where my mother was brought up, and in whose room I would be staying. Inside this drawer, many “old” things just fascinated me. It could be my grandfather’s old plumbing ruler or golf tees. It could be anything but it was an entrance into another world for me. My grandmother’s kitchen, because at that time, my Grandfather wouldn’t be in the kitchen, was a place where everything was from the 1930s and it all just fitted together. There was the Anderson shelter, which had been turned into a proper pantry, was a relic from the Second World War where they would have sheltered from German bombs falling on the town and trying to stop my Great Uncle’s shipyards from operating correctly. My Great Aunt would drive around in an ambulance taking care of casualties. Amazing people from an amazing time.

What does this have to do with photography? Not a huge amount, but is that a problem? Oh yes, it tells you about my fascination for the old and very new. I have “a number” of cameras, the eldest being from the 1940s and the newest from 2021, with nearly every decade being represented in-between the two dates.

So I was going somewhere with all this. Ah yes, lately I seem to be getting back into film again. In the last but one article, you may have seen the photos from the Mamiya, which is a relatively modern camera being from the early ’80s. Well, this time, I’m still using a camera from the 1980s, the Pentax ME Super. For once, I wasn’t using Ilford HP5, which is my “go-to” film. No, I decided to be different and get out of my comfort zone, and use a new film. I say new film, I mean Rollei has been around for donkey’s years, but this was a “new to me” film. May I introduce you to Rollei RPX 100. I never use 100ASA film, but was turned by Fomapan 100, which you can see in the photos from the Hangar à Bananes. A fine-grain film, especially when you compare it to the grain from HP even when shot at box speed, let alone 800ASA or even 1600ASA.

The film was developed in ILFOSIL 3, and I thought it was great. I tried in town and country and was thrilled. The thing that pleased me the most was that it kept flat, which means a lot to somebody who has ever tried to scan film. The last time I bought a film I played wild cards, and it was also a lot cheaper than HP5 which is a very convincing argument. I still dream of Kodak Portra 160, but it is getting more and more scarce, and therefore more expensive. A beginning of the month kind of film. Oh look at that, my pay has just gone in…

So yesterday evening I was scanning a film my son had shot on a 1960s Kodak camera, and thinking about how he has changed since 2016 when I picked up my Fuji XT2, a slightly more modern mirrorless digital camera. I hadn’t used a modern camera in quite a while and it almost felt foreign to me, and yet familiar at the same time. My fingers seemed to find the controls without looking very far, and it felt very natural. Maybe my love of digital and analogue isn’t that contradictory after all?

Now it’s time to show you the results of the Rollei RPX 100. I liked it and am happy I bought more than one roll. The camera, as I think I said earlier, was the Pentax ME Super.

September

Posted on Sep 24, 2021Sep 24, 2021 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film Photography, France, Landscape PhotographyTagged analog, analogue, autumn, birthday, black and white, Black and White Photography, country, countryside, daughter, dog, fall, fields, film, film development, Film Photography, France, french countryside, holiday, holidays, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, Landscape, levoyageanantes, mamiya, mamiya c220, medium format, medium format photography, nature, photographer, photography, rural, Saint Hilaire de Loulay, summer, tree, Trees, Vendee, village, Voyage à nantes2 Comments

Hello Dear Reader. I’m not talking about the song by Earth Wind and Fire, but the month. At least it’s being an ear worm and I can hear you hear you singing it in your heads. I’m talking about September, the month, the return. We have accomplished our re-entry into our everyday lives, and the routine that was missing in August is back. The days are slightly cooler and have become more agreeable. Instead of 33°C, we are back down to 23°C. The nights are slightly cooler too and we no longer need our fans on all night like we did in August. When it’s hot, some people are in their element. I, however, am not one of those people. When you’re cold, you can always put a jumper on, and have a cup of tea and go inside. But as contradictory as I am, as one friend recently pointed out to me, I do enjoy sitting outside on a Summer’s eve having a beer or three…

I love the holidays that August is famous for, but the obligation to enjoy yourself every day during these days of relative freedom is a pain in the arse. I don’t want to be melancholic, but this forced enjoyment of a good time is too much for me. Club Med would be a nightmare! I like my routine back. Back at work and happy to be there. We still have our weekends and can still enjoy them. The jumpers are still in storage, but you hear the word “mi-saison” as the announcer of a more bearable climate. The French news has gone the rentrée clips to showing how our Dear President has not been as good at selling submarines as other countries that can offer different and possibly more desirable options… The Voyages à Nantes is over, and we will look for those works of art that have become permanent. You can see grapes in the supermarkets, and other more autumnal products. Soon we’ll be talking about the wine harvest… In the UK it will be words like “chilly” making their return to everyday usage. The merits of a “nice cup of tea” which will warm you up will become an object of conversation once more. Biscuits or cake?

My daughter was born in September and this week is her birthday. She will be twelve going on thirty. I think she should run for President, as she seems to know everything already. Let her fix the country. If people go on strike, she could always sulk in her room and go on her phone… That’ll show them! At least she takes the dog out for walks around the village. As any doting gather, I think she’s brilliant and can be hilarious and despite hating and eye rolling at my dad jokes, she still seems to enjoy them. She can also turn into a she-devil at any instant and I’m trying to work out whether this is traumatic for me or just making life a little more interesting than it once was.

Molly, I think I’ve introduced her to you, is now a deb at the grand old age of 10, and has made her grand entrance in the pub, where I can be found from time to time, enjoying a pint of overpriced Guinness. Me, that is, not the dog. That dog of ours is one clean living dog, or a total abstainer! She attended a Saturday night at the pub, and was noticed and loved by everyone. She received strokes galore, was made a fuss of, and even had a couple of chips as a treat from the chip shop down the road. My major concern was that I would lose her, but my hand stayed firmly on the lead, and the only trouble was her getting tangled in chairs. I was amazed by the reaction to her, and she might be allowed to come out with me more often. She’ll keep her canine eye on me, making sure I don’t get into any trouble. It’s amazing how that mutt has worked her way into my heart and is a real doggie dog, and always seems happy to see me. To be honest, she’s happy to see everyone, but she knows how to make you feel special, in a way that only a dog can. Unfortunately she can, with time, and dirt on her, become a little stinky-poohs, and on Tuesday I came home and gave her her cuddle, discovered a dog that had been to doggie hairdressers and was now as soft as you wish, trimmed up, and smelling lovely. Maybe not as pleasant as finding a banknote hidden away in your wallet, but not half bad anyway!

This is supposed to be a photography blog, or at least from time to time, so let me tell about where I am on the photographic plain. I’m still there. Last weekend was the Journées du Patrimoine. I could have gone into Nantes with my camera, and visit all those places not usually open to the public and get some more “exclusive” photos, but went to Clisson instead. I never got there. I had the Mamiya and a couple of rolls of film with me. Exploring some of the local villages near where I live, I even managed to go to the Château de la Preuille, a local castle that has been a favourite of mine since arriving in St Hilaire in 2001. With Medium format film, you get 12 images with each film when shooting with the Mamiya C220, and the amount of detail that is captured on the negative is amazing. The project was to take pictures locally and see what I could get, and the restriction of 24 shots was interesting too. It obliges you to make that little extra effort when composing your images, as you don’t want to waste that special film. If this article has photos, then it means that I have developed my film before Friday at 17h. Otherwise, they’ll have to be added later on. UPDATE: It appears that you will have to wait for the photos of Château de la Preuille but they will be put on here. For the moment, you get a bit of Saint Hilaire.

I shall continue to revel in this comparatively cooler weather, with the sunshine, and not much rain forecast for the next ten days. I look forward to seeing you in my next article. Until then, be good, and if you can’t be good, then be careful!

La Rentrée 2021

Posted on Sep 5, 2021Sep 5, 2021 Posted in Architecture, Art, Black and White Photography, Film Photography, Nantes Photography, street photographyTagged 50mm, analog, analogue, Anneaux de Buren, architechture, Art, art gallery, art installation, back to work, Bicycle, bicycles, bike, bikes, black and white, Black and White Photography, covid 19, covid19, development, film development, Film Photography, Fomapan, France, French, furniture, Galerie HAB, grue titan, HAB Gallerie, hangar à bananes, hp5, Ian James Myers, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ile de nantes, ilford, ilford hp5, la Rentrée, Loire, mamiya, mamiya c220, medium format, medium format photography, Nantes, passe sanitaire, pentax, Pentax ME SUper, pentax mesuper, pentaxmesuper, photo reportage, photo walk, photogeapher, photographe, photogrpahy, street photography, streetphotography, summer, technology, wife, wind band, windband3 Comments

My Dear Reader, welcome to yet another article where I will try to find something interesting or witty to tell you. I have neglected you over August, but as most French people do, I closed shop and was on holiday. Since Covid and the world going base over apex, my company has decided that we only need three weeks’ holiday in August compared to the more traditional four weeks. I am about to sing the praises of my wife, so for those of you who hate the luvvy-duvvy side of things, turn away now. I take it you have all turned away.

For the first ten days of my holidays, I was camping in my living room. My wife and I literally carried our bed downstairs and set up camp. That was the less agreeable part of those first ten days. However, my wife had decided to decorate our bedroom and change all the furniture and replace it with nice new furniture from the infamous Swedish flat-pack place that we all know. I have a love-hate relationship with flat packs. Firstly, they’re heavy and hardly fit into the car without all the seats down and your wife in the back of the car telling you how to drive, you bloody moron! Secondly, they take up an awful amount of space in the garage whilst your wife gets to grips with decorating the room. Painting the ceiling, putting up wallpaper you agreed to ages ago because it’s easier and you love avoiding conflict. You don’t sleep well because everything feels strange in the living room and it’s hot too. Thirdly, they have to be taken upstairs to be put together and there’s always something missing, and you know it’s going to be your fault, you useless fool!

Anyway, with the help of friends, my son, and a mad screaming bitch, sorry, wife, we now have a haven of peace. We not only have a haven of peace, but fitted wardrobes that took three days to put together, but look great, and I have a cabinet for all my photography gear and, most importantly, a desk.

She is a champion, and let me assure you all, she has become human again! It has been a life-changer.

During the pre-let’s get this done otherwise I’ll go mad, clear out, we found some films that needed to be developed. You do not know what might lurk on those reels of film, but you tell yourself that you must have taken them, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I took in 9 rolls of film in. I was told by the amiable lady that if any of them hadn’t been exposed that there would be no charge for the development. Seems fair.

I returned to get the films and the contact sheets. That still sweet lady told me I would be in for a surprise! She was right. I looked through the sheets of paper and saw images of my son, who was still a toddler, and having baths, and being dried by his mother and his godmother. It took me right back to the end of the last century! My beard was in colour in those days!

Encouraged by all this photographic success, I went out and took even more photos. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, or Instagram you will have seen the stories and saw the cameras for the day: the Mamiya C220, and the Pentax ME Super, which were both gifts from a former teacher, and now a friend of mine! Merci Mr McM!

I do like taking photos and using cameras. There’s something I don’t think you knew!! It was good to be back out. I am now double jabbed. Thank you to that lovely lady at the chemists who reassured me and said that I wasn’t the only guy in the world that has a phobia of injections. Not only am I double jabbed, but I also have my Covid Passport, so I can go to the pub again without having part of my brain scraped out by a nurse with a long plastic thingy! I have rejoined the general population.

If you’re wondering what the French title of this article is doing there, let me explain. Quickly though, I’m already at 750 words here. The Rentrée is the re-entry into normal daily life after the summer holidays where people just weren’t there. The children go back to school. Those of use in employment, go back to that employment. Our extracurricular activities start again. Last night was my first wind band rehearsal in over a year (thank you, COVID), and it feels as if some relative normality has come back into my life.

Back to the photos. I shot the square photos on the Mamiya C220, using Ilford HP5+ film shot at box speed, developed in Ilfosol 3, and I took the other photos on the Pentax ME Super, using Fomapan 100 film developed in the same chemistry. Fine grain with the Fomapan and not something I’m used to, but a change is good, right? Oh, and I took them at the Hangar à Bananes, and HAB Gallerie in Nantes.

The Olympus Trip 35

Posted on Jul 10, 2021Jul 10, 2021 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film Photography, Reportage, street photography, Travel photographyTagged analog, analogue, black and white, Black and White Photography, Canary Islands, film, Film Photography, holiday, holidays, hp5, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, Lisbon, olympus, olympus trip 35, photographer, photography, Portugal, Spain, street photography, summer, Travel photography2 Comments

After the success of my review of the Fuji Film X100F, I thought I might have to present another camera to you. For the non-techy of you, don’t worry, this camera is a doddle to use, and my daughter was using it when she was a seven year old! It won’t get complicated.

I wanted to use a film camera to do it. I will presume that you have no experience of using a film or vintage cameras also, so Millennial friendly, and after a certain age, you will be meeting an old friend. I would like to introduce you to the Olympus Trip 35.

As the name might suggest the Olympus Trip was a camera designed for travel photography and for the mass market in the 1960s and 1970s (production stopped in 1988). A point and shoot. No gimmicks. Although this is not a style or fashion blog, this camera is a beautiful object, and if you thought you had people coming up to you and telling you how sexy your camera was with the X100F, then you’ll get even more people coming up to you telling you how gorgeous your camera is. It is one of those timeless cameras that just oozes sex appeal. I replaced the original wrist strap with a more chunky and comfortable version from Amazon.

There are some things that you will not be able to do with this camera. You won’t be able to add another lens. You get a 40mm Zuiko F 2.8, however the 40mm focal length will have you covered for the majority of situations for your photographic trip, and also gives beautiful results, especially with modern emulsions!. Just look at the X100F photos and it will be self evident. You won’t have all the modern conveniences of a Modern DSLR or even mirrorless camera, but you won’t have any problems with batteries. There aren’t any. The power for the metering comes from the selenium cell (which contrary to appearances isn’t a New Romantic group from the 1980’s). You will have get film for it. It take film from ISO (or ASA) 25 to 400 which, for when you’re on the road is fine, and will cover most eventualities.

Loading film is so simple that a child of seven could do it, and my child, when seven years old did it easily. Then basically, you’re ready. Off you go and explore. I haven’t talked about how to focus the camera. So…. The camera uses the principle of zone focussing. You turn the lens and you will see a face, a couple, a group of people, and then a mountain. If you turn the camera around so the top is the bottom, and the bottom the top (Pride reference, even if I am slightly late), you will see the distances marked out: 1m, 1m50, and 3m to infinity, but not beyond. We’re talking photography, and not a film based on Ants, or Seven Samurai.

There are two shutter speeds, 1/200^th of a second and 1/40^th and the camera chooses which one it uses. But 1/40^th with a 40mm lens shouldn’t give camera shake. So you can cover light from F22 at 1/200^th of a second to F2.8 at 1/40^th of a second. You will see an F stop dial on the camera, and that you will see in the viewfinder. When not using a flash, just put it to A (automatic). If ever there is not enough light, there is a little red flag that pops up into the viewfinder, and the camera shutter won’t fire. It’s idiot proof!

I will include a video from YouTube to show you how to load the film as it will be easier than describing to you in written language.

So get out there and start taking some photos! Go on the streets. Go on a Trip. Just get out there and start using it. Have fun and share photos if you want! Mine are from a trip to Portugal and the Canary Islands from 2016 taken on Ilford HP5 Plus. Make of them what you will…

My Mamiya C220

Posted on Jun 1, 2020Jun 1, 2020 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film Photography, Nantes Photography, street photographyTagged analog, analogue, architechture, black and white, Black and White Photography, blog, Bouffay, Bretagne, britanny, eglise, film, Fomapan, France, French, Galleries Lafayette, hp5, Ian Myers, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, mamiya, mamiya c220, medium format, medium format photography, nantais, Nantes, photo walk, photographer, photography, quartier, sainte croix, street, street photography4 Comments

My Mamiya C220, aka my little baby, aka possibly my favourite camera, has just been repaired. It is a Twin Lens Reflex, or TLR for those in the know. Why is it my favourite camera? For a few reasons.

Reason 1. I can actually see what I’m doing. I look into the viewfinder and can see everything really clearly without my glasses. The perception of depth of field is amazing and it’s almost like looking at a 3D tv screen.

Reason 2. It looks so cool! When I’m out on the streets the camera becomes a conversation piece. If I’m taking photos with my Canon 6D and zoom lens, people can get slightly tetchy and think I’m up to no good. Going for the understatement of the year award. However with the Mamiya they seem to think a guy with that big a camera around his neck deserve special respect, even though size doesn’t really matter and it’s all about the moment you’re capturing on film. It starts a conversation and therfore an exchange. You tell them that it’s Medium Format and what that entails. which leads me up to Reason 3.

Reason 3. It’s a Medium Format camera. Now, all the hipsters started discovering film a short while back, and talked about how awesome it was Dude! They were there with their Canon Ae1’s feeling so “with it” because “film is just so authentic man,” and because “film photography is real photography”, and that “digital just isn’t the same man!” Well guess what, you bearded little hipster you, film is how we OG’s rolled back in the day, because that was all there was. That was with 35mm film photography with 135 film. Medium Format just blows their minds because it’ 6 x 6, which translated means each negative mesures 6 centimetres by centimetres. Yes, size does seem to count again. You’re basically getting a huge amount of information on your negative.

Reason 4. Because of the depth of field you get with that 80mm lens. Alright you can get the same depth of field with a smaller lens, but it’s not the same. I’m worried that size is becoming a theme in this article and may show lack of confidence and hidden insecurities…

Reason 5. Did I say it looked really cool? I’ve just looked further up and it appears that I have already said that. Remeber what I said in a previous article about the importance of the “film process” which takes you from buying the film, putting it in the camera, taking the photos, right through to developing, and then scanning your negs, etc. When I use digital, it’s great. I love it. It is so dependable. I press a button and the camera can do so much. It’s like driving my Renault Scénic to work every day. It does the job and does it really well, and I still enjoy it. Taking the Mamiya out for a spin is like getting that beautiful vintage MG out of the garage and driving out to the coast, and just enjoying the wind in my hair, or my memory of what that felt like. It’s a camera that gets me excited to go out and take photos.

Was it good for you too? Right. Let’s get down to the nitty and the gritty and show you some photos. I used two rolls that day. One was Fomapan 120 format ASA 100, and the other was Ilford HP5 shot at box speed. The C220 doesn’t have a light metre so I calculated exposition using “Sunny 16.”

The Lockdown Diaries Part 2

Posted on May 22, 2020May 24, 2020 Posted in Black and White Photography, Film PhotographyTagged 50mm, analog, analogue, anxiety depression, birds, black and white, Black and White Photography, Canon, Canon AE1, canon AE1 program, church, coronavirus, countryside, covid 19, covid19, daughter, duck, duck pond, ducks, eglise, film, Film Photography, France, French, french countryside, hp5, Ian Myers, ijm photography, ijmphotography, ilford, ilford hp5, mental health, mental health awareness, mesuper, nature, pandemic, park, pentax, pentax mesuper, photo walk, photogrpahy, reflection, Saint Hilaire de Loulay, Vendee, village, Virus5 Comments

If you’re still here then it means that you’re still alive and not dead from Covid 19, or the light beer virus for those in the know, which is a good thing after all. Soooo…

Lockdown is officially over but it doesn’t really feel like it. People are still covering their faces with masks, which would have been a motive to arrest people during the Gilets Jaunes demonstrations. Strange how things change so quickly.

I have a tendency towards social anxiety that can be treated with beer, but not the light variety. I tend to withdraw into my room and not come out. For the others it must be like living in a Victorian Mansion where you don’t go onto the East Wing despite the ominous noises that come out from there. Or me being a legend like the depressive yeti, where it was once seen near the fridge but then vanished. I think I mentioned that my son’s girlfriend was living with us during lockdown, and then one day there was a knock on my door, and she told me she was going home to her mother’s. That came a bit out of the blue, and I went into anxiety overdrive, like why is she leaving, what had my son done, what had any of us done, I’m sure I always flushed the toilet, didn’t I buy her her favourite jam for breakfast etc. Apparently it had been planned all along. She was just there for the duration…

It’s strange how you can get used to a situation and then all of a sudden everything changes and you don’t know what world you are living in anymore. It’s like entering the Twilight Zone, nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah….

Things are open here like shops, Mac Donald’s, schools and the like, but it’s not the same. The omnipresent fear of the dreaded virus is strong. No touching people, no being close to people, changes at work…. I hate it. Sometimes I’d rather be dead. Human kindness seems to have packed up ship and buggered off. Human warmth doesn’t exist. There is just this fear. People being short tempered and distant, and complaining about everything. Not just suspicious minds, but suspicious everything. The authorities say one thing one day, and then it changes. When we need strong leadership we realise that they are as shit scared as the rest of us and don’t know much more than we do. And yet life goes on, but I hate this life.

So what can I do about it? Not a lot. When I get to work I have to go through a checkpoint managed by my workshop bosses. They take my temperature, and put a small amount of gel into my hands. Nobody shakes hands anymore and you just go to your work station. The coffee machine has been shut off, and I really feel isolated in my stores. People used to come in and have a chat, but that’s gone. And I’m the lucky one. I have Alexa with me who plays me BBC Radio 2. The presenters do a great job, and it makes me feel less alone, but it’s not the same.

I know I shouldn’t complain and just keep calm and carry on, take it on the chin, and stiff upper lip and all that, but this situation is without precedent in my lifetime, and is slowly wearing me down. Thank God I still have my photography. It really is my only therapy and gets me out of the house and doing something constructive.

Talking about photography, let’s please, move onto something les anxiety inducing. The following photos are of the pond and prairie that I talked about in my last article. There is a mixture of digital and film photos. I have been exploring the notion of pushing film. This not involve putting a film canister in the table and nudging it forward gently, but not exposing it at box speed.

Let me explain. I buy Ilford HP5 Plus black and white negative film. Normally it is to be exposed at 400 ASA. However, by under exposing and extending the developing time you can get a little more contrast on the negative. Other consequences are that with less light, I can still have smaller apertures and get more in focus. I will get more grain but that’s fine. It adds to the analogue photo I think. You’ll see what I mean when you see the photos. There will be three galleries, one showing digital images, one showing the images from the film exposed at 800 ASA, and the last gallery showing images exposed at 1600 ASA. How does that sound?

This first gallery was taken with the Canon 6D Mark II and the 16-35 mm F4 lens.