Thursday 24 March 2016

Confessions of a closet Hipster




(CLICK ON A PIC AND IT WILL GO BIG)



Well not really however the numbers are adding up. I like old lenses and shoot film and consider myself a bit of an artist. Oh and I'm, erm, sort of, starting to grow a beard! But more to the point I've spent a wet and windy Thursday scanning the few films I've played with over the last six months. This has always been the stumbling block. The cameras, the film, the developing (Sent away) has been fun it's the getting it into the computer that's been a pain. I started by getting a Pentax Bellows which came with the film duplicator adapter on the front. Great bit of kit but I haven't got a flash and daylight didn't get good results besides it was a lot of faff. Next up was a dedicated lens with a film slot at the front. It looks like one of those old kaleidoscopes you used to have as a kid. At the time I only had my 70D so being a crop sensor didn't work with this thing. Finally I plumped for a wonderful thing called a Honeywell Universal Repronar. It's a beaut. Great thing is it came with a mint condition 50mm f4 Macro SMC Takumar. That was added to my collection and replaced with a Bellows 100mm f4 Takumar lens. These are designed for just this job and have a very flat image.


The kit in question with Canon 6D and flash triggers (You need these to stop your camera going bang anyway) all connected via Canon software to laptop for direct picture download.

These pics were then put through Lightroom to invert and sort the levels out. So on with the show. These were taken in various locations from Scotland to Herefordshire to Hamwall.

First up are 35mm on Ilford FP4 Plus. ISO 400 does seem to be a bit grainy particularly in the sky but that's not such a bad thing as it adds to the effect. These were all taken on a Canon EOS 1VHS. This was the film camera of the 90's and early 00's for the professional. You can hammer nails in with this thing. It's absolutely solid, the most comfortable grip I've ever tried (Even my brother agrees and he's a Nikon guy with an F5) and can shoot 14fps which until the 1DX was the fastest camera of either film or digital. The AF is amazing with phenomenal low light ability and super fast. The lens was probably the 50mm f1.4 Takumar, it's been that long. As for settings erm!










































Next up are the colour ones using the same kit with Kodak Ektar 100. The white balance needs sorting but the colours are very nice and the grain is better.














This is an Eider Duck up in Scotland (Heavy cropping)





Finally the big daddy Pentax 6x7 Mk1 and 55mm lens. No meter so I used an app on my phone. The mirror goes bang. You know you've taken a picture with this baby. Film was Ilford 100 Delta Pro. I do like the different DOF you get with medium format. I like it. All taken at Burrow Mump. The digital version is HERE










Me


So there you go, my first efforts with film. I like to think I've come a bit further after using the digital over the last year or so and future pics may be more interesting. I'm also realising how to use film more for it's own means. Colour will be strictly digital and the film will be more the Pentax 6x7 rather than 35mm. I'll need to sort out the scanning better as the film touches the glass and causes 'oil marks' and I'll have to rig up a better carrier on the Repronar. Happy days. I'm a fan. Hope you are to? The beard is staying.......... for now!






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