18 February 2009

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super BC

I just picked this up today at the Evandale Tinker, located about 25 minutes drive from my home. We (myself & "the tinker") had a bit of trouble riddling the shutter out - I took one shot & it all went black - before he decided I could take my chances for half price ($40 Australian).

After a bit of reading & frustration, it turns out that the winder just needed a bit of "encouragement". So while it looks beautiful, I discovered it might not be the most reliable of beasties. It also came with a brown cover & some magnifying lenses.

I'm quite pleased. Google tells me it's an all mechanical SLR from the 1960s. The lens was probably made in Jena, Germany (my favourite "went-through-without-stopping-on-the-train-wish-I'd-stopped-now" place), and the cameras are supposed to be fairly unbreakable - I'm guessing all that brass & steel would contribute to it's considerable heft.

It has a light meter (supposedly TTL) which I'll need to take some time with to figure out, and the mirror doesn't return when you take the photo - hence the moment when everything went black & I got a considerable discount - but all in all I'm happy with it, and I look forward to putting a roll of Reala through it some time after NZ.

06 February 2009

Fujicolour 200


Non-expired Fujicolour 200. Much better. Where's the poo?

Also, these last two images came with my first use of a UV filter. I'm not sure whether it's had any effect (common opinion seems to be that UV filters are good for protecting lenses, nothing else). Might have an effect when we're out & about in NZ/Tasmania, what with all the extra UV we get down here at the mouth of the ozone layer hole.

Fujicolor 1600HG (expired '92)


Chalk this one up to a learning experience - if it's 17 years old 1600iso, it's probably going to have grain the size of rabbit poo.

A bit of despeckle in GIMP will tidy it up a little, but then you lose sharpness & a bit of definition. Still, passable for small prints; not worth the gamble for special occasions.

If anyone knows what the HG stands for in Fujicolour 1600HG, I'd like to know.

03 February 2009

wedding shots


To be used on the wedding day - separate from our official photographer, of course. The idea is that these will be left beside a guest book. When guests get the urge to leave us a note (hopefully not "I kill you scums"), they will be urged in turn to take a photo of themselves using one of these bad boys. The photo will then accompany their note when we can be bothered getting the photos developed.

These disposables are loaded with Rollei Retro 400, which as I understand it is a true B&W film that imitates the look of 35mm films from the 50s & 60s: fine grain, high contrast, etc. Some examples can be seen in the dedicated Flickr group. I'll entrust this to Black & White Photographics on Invermay Road for development.

I also picked up some Rollei Pan 25 for use at a later date. I'm thinking a trip into the highlands, but I'm undecided. Not until after the wedding for that one.

Incidentally, I have always pronounced it "rol-eye" (as it's a German company), the person I spoke to at Vanbar favoured "role-ee", even picking me up on my "error".