Today the Fed 5, I bought on Ebay from a chap in the Ukraine, arrived in the post. The Fed 5 was produced in the Ukraine from 1977 until 1997. So far I have familiarised myself with the controls and I've taken one or two shots indoors with and without flash. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be able to go out and really test out this green machine.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Alan Smiths pinhole photography Culture Culture | Click Liverpool
Alan Smiths pinhole photography Culture Culture | Click Liverpool
If you're in or around Liverpool, this exhibition of analogue photography looks like it might be worth checking out.
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If you're in or around Liverpool, this exhibition of analogue photography looks like it might be worth checking out.
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Polaroid 'Instant' Film Could Be Back, Thanks to Retro-Loving Chemists
Polaroid 'Instant' Film Could Be Back, Thanks to Retro-Loving Chemists
A private enterprise in Holland is trying to resurrect a Polaroid factory and start producing instant film once again. I think they may be onto something as we still get quite a few enquiries for Polaroid in our shop.
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A private enterprise in Holland is trying to resurrect a Polaroid factory and start producing instant film once again. I think they may be onto something as we still get quite a few enquiries for Polaroid in our shop.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Replacement Battery Arrangement For Minolta Hi-Matic E
Unfortunately the original PX640 batteries that powered the Minolta Hi-Matic E, that I recently purchased, are no longer readily available. When I received my Hi-Matic a week ago the batteries it came with were dead so I had to look for another power solution. After doing a bit of research on the web I discovered people were using the cheap and plentiful LR44 batteries to power their Hi-Matic E's. The problem is the LR44 cells are like half the size of the PX640's. The way I overcame this problem was to take one of the battery contacts out of a disposable camera and as shown in the picture use it to make a bridge between the two LR44 cells. This arrangement seems to be working fine with my first roll of film coming out with correct and even exposures.
Hands-on: Vivitar V3800N 35mm manual film SLR [Update]
Hands-on: Vivitar V3800N 35mm manual film SLR [Update]
Vivitar have just brought a fully manual 35mm SLR to the market. At $170 it has a lot of stiff competition from the deluge of good second hand equipment available at the moment. It's good to see Vivitar still believe there is still a big enough base of film users in 2009 to warrant a new analogue product.
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Vivitar have just brought a fully manual 35mm SLR to the market. At $170 it has a lot of stiff competition from the deluge of good second hand equipment available at the moment. It's good to see Vivitar still believe there is still a big enough base of film users in 2009 to warrant a new analogue product.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Go Grab A Bargain
For the film photographer there is at the moment a huge variety of cameras to be had at next to nothing prices. On Ebay there are thousands of analogue cameras for sale and if you are prepared to spend some time feeling out the market and picking out the reputable sellers, there are some amazing good deals to be had.
I picked up the Minolta Hi-Matic E on a local auction site for R200 (less than $20). It's in mint condition and performs as well as I'm sure it did when it was new some (approx) 35 years ago. It seems possible to pick up a good copy on Ebay for about the same price. For those of you with this camera or potental buyers of this camera, the full user manual is on-line
here.
I picked up the Minolta Hi-Matic E on a local auction site for R200 (less than $20). It's in mint condition and performs as well as I'm sure it did when it was new some (approx) 35 years ago. It seems possible to pick up a good copy on Ebay for about the same price. For those of you with this camera or potental buyers of this camera, the full user manual is on-line
here.
Roadside Memorial
One of the more unfortunate sights on South Africas roads are the number of Roadside Memorials remembering friends and loved ones who perished on that particular road. I pass this particular one every day on my way home from work. It always seems to have fresh flowers around it's base. The other day I decided it was time to get a picture. This was taken with my Nikon F70 with the 28-105D and Fuji Superia 200. I manually exposed for the flowers in the foreground, it was a tricky shot as the sun was directly behind it, fortunately it didn't blow out the background.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
First Picture With My Minolta Hi-Matic E
Lisa, an ex-staff member was in the store yesterday morning and made an ideal model for the first shot with my Hi-Matic E. I was loaded up with a roll of Fuji Superia 200. I must say I'm very impressed with this camera. I took a variety of shots for my first 36 exposure, some indoors without flash and then some with flash as well as outdoors in the middle of the day and just before sunrise. Of this first roll the only duds were from my poor focusing, the camera performed perfectly. I will post some more shots from this camera soon.
Back To Film
Since 2002 I have followed the obligatary digital photography route. Starting with a 2 megapixel camera before rapidly moving on to 5 and then 8 megapixel compact cameras as they became available and then on to a DSLR as the prices became more affordable. I've had great fun with my digitals and still do, my current DSLR the Nikon D300 is a very fine camera and is capable of the most stunning results.
Late in 2006 I decided to put a roll of film in my old analogue Nikon F70, it was the first time I had shot film since going digital four years earlier. When I processed the (Fuji Colour Negative) film I noticed how strong and vibrant the colours were and how unlike digital the highlights didn't come out so bright and washed out. I decided maybe film did have a future. Since then I have been shooting film off and on with the F70 as well as a Olympus half frame camera my Father-in-law gave me and a Yashica Mat D Twin Lens Reflex I bought. The Yashica is a great camera and I enjoy the fully manual aspect of it, it is just a bit cumbersome and clumsy. I decided I needed a rangefinder which would be more compact than an SLR while offering similar levels of quality and manual control. Well, I didn't buy one I bought three, two are Russian Rangefinders which I won on Ebay and are still (hopefully) in the post. More about them when they arrive. The third was a Minolta Hi-Matic E (pictures here) which I bought on a local auction site (www.bidorbuy.co.za). Though this doesn't have much in the way of manual exposure modes it does have manual focus and auto exposure. It also has a very fast f/1.7 lens which apparently is very good. I'm shooting my first roll with it at the present moment, hopefully by tomorrow I will have my first results.
Late in 2006 I decided to put a roll of film in my old analogue Nikon F70, it was the first time I had shot film since going digital four years earlier. When I processed the (Fuji Colour Negative) film I noticed how strong and vibrant the colours were and how unlike digital the highlights didn't come out so bright and washed out. I decided maybe film did have a future. Since then I have been shooting film off and on with the F70 as well as a Olympus half frame camera my Father-in-law gave me and a Yashica Mat D Twin Lens Reflex I bought. The Yashica is a great camera and I enjoy the fully manual aspect of it, it is just a bit cumbersome and clumsy. I decided I needed a rangefinder which would be more compact than an SLR while offering similar levels of quality and manual control. Well, I didn't buy one I bought three, two are Russian Rangefinders which I won on Ebay and are still (hopefully) in the post. More about them when they arrive. The third was a Minolta Hi-Matic E (pictures here) which I bought on a local auction site (www.bidorbuy.co.za). Though this doesn't have much in the way of manual exposure modes it does have manual focus and auto exposure. It also has a very fast f/1.7 lens which apparently is very good. I'm shooting my first roll with it at the present moment, hopefully by tomorrow I will have my first results.
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