More Cameras (they just come to me) 5/12/18
So, as recent as this weekend, I have had two of my friends give me their old film cameras that they either 1. don't use anymore, or 2. their parents don't use anymore. Yes please. Even though I still visit Facebook marketplace and the Craigslists and Letgo's of the world to try and find bargains.
The first camera I received was a LOMO LCA from a friend who no longer shoots film, and just didn't want it in the back of her house anymore as she's downsizing. It needed what I thought was new light seals upon first glance, but I figured I'd grab three 357 batteries and go shoot it anyway using some expired Fujifilm Superia 200. I had to watch a couple of videos on the thing to see if there are any meters or anything. The film speed dial is in an inconspicuous place right near the viewfinder, and I could barely read the ISO numbers, so I broke out the magnifying glass. Finally was able to dial in the 200 speed, and once I got the batteries in, just started shooting. After getting the film developed (and using sunny16 rule) I noticed I was able to receive 18 decent frames out of 24.
The LOMO definitely likes shooting in bright conditions! Of course, as a rule, without flash, you're not really supposed to shoot dark conditions anyway using 200 speed film, but I wanted to see what this would do under varying conditions. I gotta say, I didn't expect too much as the camera seemed toyish, but was pleasantly surprised by the results on my first test roll. These were taking in multiple conditions over the coruse of last weekend, inside, outside, and during daylight hours on Mother's day. It could be the film, but the LOMO really shines most in the bright of day. See what I did there?
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| Nuclear Fog after the Officer Down Memorial wreath was placed |
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| kiddo in darker conditions to test the fstop in darker conditions |
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| Elephant garlic at neighbors Mothers Day crawfish boil. Sunny conditions |
So, needless to say, after the test run, I'll be toting this one along with me when I'm in the sun, set that puppy on f16 and work on the street photos.
THE DONATED KONICA AUTO S3
So a week after taking some failed Polaroid pack film attempts at my friends house during a Kentucky Derby gathering, some more good friends of ours saw the camera I was using an decided to ask some questions, later telling me that his father had an older one, and he always took care of. Well that one was the beautiful Konica Auto S3.
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| The Black Beauty. Konica Auto S3 |
Even though I've been having some loading problems with my bulk loader, I never unfortunately know until I go to develop as to how they'll turn out. This roll was a new one, so I'm not sure whether the leaks were from the camera or the person developing the pics or the film loader (me!) So, we'll run multiple rolls through it and see how it goes. Here are a few from the entry roll.
Everything feels right about this camera, in my hand, the rangefinder window (and yes, it needed a little scrubbing and some cleaning and shining but not too much) and figuring out the workings of it. Of course the battery was dead (it was still the Mercury EPX battery, which I think I left in my car), but easily replaced by a 357 from batteries plus bulbs. I didn't screw it in tight enough when I first tried, so I thought the battery didn't work in the camera, but I tried again in the car and it worked perfectly. It basically tells you what Fstop your shooting at based on film speed, so I'm guessing that's the reason for the Automatic designation on the camera. The first few were sunny 16 based on speed only and an unknown 400 speed bnw film inside, but once I got that meter up and running, I was off to the races with it, shooting the test roll of the kids, wife, yard, plants, whatever, to get thru the roll. I developed it tonight with the roll I had from the quirky Canon and will post results soon.
Amazingly, both black and white rolls turned out very well--I'll start shooting this one alot too!
Canon Super Sure Shot AF35ML
The final camera is one I've been watching for awhile. A very speedy 40mm F1.9 lens (from what I read, the fastest ever on a semi-compact) on this puppy. Since I'm probably going to put my Stylus Epic 2.8 on the market to finance some of our summer trip (sell high!) I figured I might need another fast compact.
I saw it on Saturday, there was a price drop from $35 to $10. I ended up driving 30 minutes to get to it before our bike ride that day but it was worth every second of the trip. Better yet, the guy I bought it from was a professional photographer for 35 years, had changed completely to digital and was selling all his old cameras--most of his really good ones were already gone though. I love meeting super friendly people selling stuff they don't need anymore! The camera sat in his garage/studio and was in need of a good cleaning, but luckily it took 2 aa batteries. We talked for what seemed like an hour or so about photography, photographers, careers, differences between film and digital, and where the world is headed in photography. He has the same ideas as I do. Anyone can take a pic with an iPhone and spend some minutes 'doctoring perfection' but the film aspect is the actual learning curve!
Needless to say, I figured I'd run the ML thru the hoops for the Pcola Slow ride, and will bring the LOMO too for good measure. The Canon had a built in flash and by the time 7PM rolled around, my good friend took a true liking to it and started shooting it, which I had no problem at all with. It was love at first sight for her. She told me she forgot how much fun point and shooting was. With all the fun we had, unfortunately while at one of the pubs after dinner, i managed to knock it off the table, and having it hit the brick pavers from about 4 feet below. I was bummed, but luckily it did not appear broken. We shot it the rest of the night.
The next day I took it to the local film store for the negative development. Unfortunately I had to wait 3 days to get them back as they were backlogged due to the machine chemical malfunction. I wasn't too happy when I only got back 8 pics. The rest of the film was gone. It must have gotten exposed when the camera hit the ground. I tested it again with a 13 exposure roll of bnw film I rolled over the weekend. We'll see if it's a disaster, or a recovery! These will also be shown tomorrow, hopefully after the development process gets scanned. Luckily, the negatives look good so far. Here were some of the party pics taken from us and by me. I'll even include the pic where it hit the ground so I can recollect what happened.
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| My buddy who fell in love with the ML. I gave her an Olympus Stylus Epic zoom 80 as a parting gift :) |
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| the DROP incident+ |
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| always have to have the bluetooth speaker for the slow ride on the tandem! |
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| my first shot with the ML. The hibiscus in the courtard. |
This camera is interesting. I used it today (5/20/18) as I drove to town to buy seafood at Joe Pattis--there were all sorts of pics to take--Old cars, people, Joe Patti's seafood market itself--I'm just hoping they turn out well.
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This pic could be from 1930's had it not been for the golf cart
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| Old ford--guess the no parking signs don't matter for the classic antiques |
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| Tried to get me and cam in rearview mirror--fail! |
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| foggy office space at work |
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I have had some focus issues (which I've read about already) with the camera. Sometimes if the focus is not set, you need to try and re-compose until you see one of the icons to the left of the screen. A 'single face' (if you can call it that) for portrait mode, A group of faces for a little bit further away mode, and a mountain to take a landscape pic with basically everything in focus. I remember there were a few frames where nothing showed up and as I tried to take my finger from the half-depression, got the shutter click anyway!! Like the LOMO, it is a happy camper in bright light situations, even with flash, especially with the ISO maxing out at 400.
All in all, a neat point and shooter, and, with the prices I"m starting to see on this one in the $100+ range, I'm on the lookout for more-here's to hoping it still works!
So all in all, a fantastic camera acquiring weekend, much to wifey's chagrin. We'll have to see what we can find at some Estate Sales this coming Saturday. I see a few I'll be looking at if we can get there on time!
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