Old one from the Nettar

Civic Square.

Holga 120GN

It arrived today: A Holga with a glass lens (AKA Holga 120GN, Woca). Why? For uni. I've decided that it's important to use this particular camera for whatever project I decide to run with.

Now, all I need is some Shanghai GP3 and I'm set...although my heart tells me to spend a bit extra and get Ilford Delta 400 or HP5, or even some Fomapan.

...And here I am.

I have been quiet of late with the film. Partly because it was somewhat disheartening to go from 80c per scan from 120 to $3.50, which means using medium format is now so prohibitively expensive that I may as well give up on it. Or I could just fork out for a scanner of my own.

Last week, I enrolled in the local university's summer school program, undertaking the decoratively-titled "Dialogues in Black & White". It's a 10 day course in January on B&W film photography. This includes access to the university's wet darkroom. Nice.

In preparation, I am going to order myself a Holga GFN (aka 'Woca') and a bunch of film.

I'm excited.

Moskva 5 - first results

There seems to be a funny sort of light leak in the form of a reddish "stain" on the top right of the image (therefore bottom left of camera), I'll have to figure out if this is from the bellows or  perhaps the body of the camera itself.

Speaking more about the camera itself, it is a weighty sort of thing but feels good to use. I've never quite liked the way the shutter has to be cocked with folders, and this one is no exception - feels a bit tough. But I do like the focussing mechanism (this image being out of focus is my issue, not the cameras) and it's not an overly complex camera to use. This one will definitely get more use in future.

I need to come up with a name that isn't such a mouthful as "Moskva", though. I thought about "Moscow", but eh. Perhaps "The Mok5"?

Agfa Isola - first results

Again, there appears to be light leakage from the lack of tightness of the roll. It wasn't unexpected.

This isn't too bad a camera, but it feels awfully light, and it's only marginally more complicated than a Holga, so it might not get a lot of use. But I do like it.

Zeiss Ikon Nettar - first results

Not too shabby. The results are probably on par with my sadly defunct Isolette. There appears to be a bit of light leakage around the bottom of most of the images, which stems from the roll not being very tightly wound. If anyone has tips on how to avoid this, it would be helpful.

I think this would make a good camera to take when my wife and I got for day trips hither &/or thither - it's fairly compact, simple to use, and in such good condition I could never imagine a situation where it would fail completely. I just have to get that winding issue sorted and I think it'll be close to perfect.

Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16

Just arrived today from Solingen, Germany. I am amazed at the condition and quality of this camera. Not only is it in perfect cosmetic condition (VERY minor wear, but you'd have to be looking hard), it works like a dream.

I am so excited about using this camera. I believe they weren't an expensive camera when they were new (Between £9 and £16 in the early 1950s in the UK), but you can feel the quality. From a perfunctory look, you'd guess it was similar in quality to the Agfa Isolette. However, even with the difference in condition between the Zeiss and my (sadly dead) Agfa, you can feel that the Zeiss is the superior camera.

Maybe this weekend, I will give it a burl along with the Moskva.

New additions

Agfa Isola and Moskva 5.

The postie was kind enought o deliver the Moskva (right) on Saturday morning. I was please to finally have it, I've been eyeing this camera off for a long time. All I can say right now is that it feels like the most well-engineered Soviet camera I've had yet. And it is hefty - somehow it makes the Kiev 6C feel kind of empty and cheap! I haven't used it yet - I want to make sure I know exactly what I'm doing first - but I really look forward to working in 6x9 format.

The Agfa Isola (left) was a find at a small brac-a-brac/junk shop in St Helens. It cost the princely sum of $20, and is in absolutely perfect condition - I'd be surprised if this camera had ever been used. It feels quite light, plasticy, and a bit toy-like. My feeling is it wasn't a particularly expensive camera to begin with. I put a roll through it the same day, results to follow soon.

On Four Corners Dark's blog, there is an interesting history of the Holga written by the people who make them. Includes this nice little fun fact:

Lovers of the cameras in China even created the cute name “Big Brother Monkey” which is a Chinese phonetic approximation of “Holga” pronounced in English...

Holga weirdness & Kodak Ektar vs. Echo

The top three images are from my first roll of Kodak Ektar 100. I am most impressed. It's close to replacing Reala as my favourite film already. We'll see what further films come out like. The kitten in the images is Echo, our new bundle of destructive joy.

The bottom two images came form the Holga. I can't explain the rather unexpected effects (although the usual light leaks seem to be at least some of it). Why the numbers & symbols from the backing paper are burnt onto the negative is beyond me. Having said that, I don't mind the images themselves...

Kiev 6C photos

Latest photos from the MURK. Took about 3 weeks for it to come back via the local camera chain, and cost a small fortune (thanks to someone requesting high-res scans.

Top one is my birthday cake as presented by my wife a few months back.

The three in the middle are of our cat, Ava. She doesn't usually play up to the camera like this. Poser.

The bottom two are from Bridport in NE Tasmania. Nice beach for swimming. People love it. I don't blame them.

I'm loving the MURK. It's one hell of a camera. A bastard to load the film if you're in any kind of a hurry, though. But so far, it hasn't let me down in the quality of images it produces.

And as I am currently prone to making broad sweeping statements of love, I'd like to go on the record as saying I now love square format. A lot.

Bad News - Agfa Isolette

My beloved Agfa Isolette II is "buggered" - I think. The shutter cocks, but stays cocked even after much coaxing, tapping, shaking, and (inevitably) shouting. It just sits there waiting for something to happen, but refuses to tell me what I should be doing.

I'm not sure if this is a common problem or not. If I'm feeling plucky one day, I might take it apart (plenty of guides online for doing this) and see if I can fluke a fix.

It'll be a damn shame if it's permanently broken. I quite like how compact it is for a 120 camera, the photos I've taken with it came out amazingly well, and it looks awesome. But it is about 55 years old, and considering it was $25AU in a junk shop, it's amazing it even still worked.

Here's hoping it's only a hiccup on an otherwise uninterrupted long-term photographic partnership.

Kiev 6C - first results...

The first roll from the Kiev 6C (AKA "The MURK"). I'm pleased, even if the shots aren't that particularly interesting. I don't think I've metered the images well as the water is washed out in quite a few of the images. Either I didn't meter well, or the meter isn't metering well.

Either way, I'm encouraged by the Kiev's performance on this occasion.

Kiev 6C

KNEB has landed in all his massively impressive glory.

I've decided that "The Beasht" is a bit of an obvious name, so this one will just be KNEB (the K is definitely not silent), in honour of the English rendering of the Cyrillic letters for "Kiev", as seen on the front. And he's definitely a boy.

Just for the sake of knowing, I weighed KNEB on the kitchen scales, and he weighs in at just over 1.5kg - about twice the weight of the Zeiss Ikon, which is small, solid & nuggety. KNEB is just a monster.

Took me a while as well to realise this morning what was so different about the view-finder: everything's in mirror-image. Bit odd at first, but I'm sure i'll get used to it with a bit of practice.

Welcome to the family, KNEB.

Agfa Isolette: focus ring reborn

A few weeks ago I picked up an Agfa Isolette II, a wonderful German 120 folder from the early-mid 1950s. It all seemed in relatively good condition until I did a bit of research & found there are a few common problems which plague these cameras: the bellows leak, and the focus ring gets stuck.

Fortunately, the first was solved by a liberal application of liquid electrical tape, and being super gentle when folding/unfolding the bellows (if I fold them up at all, which I try to avoid).

The second wasn't so urgent, as the focus ring still moved with a fair bit of pressure. Bit annoying when you want to take up-close photos as well as landscape shots, though. So last night I thought I'd have a go at fixing it myself. Virtually all I did was use a very fine paint brush (and a bit of folded card) to scrape away some of the Agfa "green gunge" (the grease used to lubricate Agfa cameras tends to turn into a thick, sticky green gunge over time), then used the same brush to apply olive oil to the thread. Mind you, I used the tiniest amount of oil possible, as I have heard that the oil can get into the lens or (much worse) onto the aperture blades, causing major problems. Then I just worked the focus ring a few times between close-up & infinity to get the oil into the right spots.

It seems to work fine now, quite smooth - and no oil on the lens or aperture/shutter.

NB: I take no reponsibility if anyone tries this method to fix the focus & it turns out badly! I was doubtful it would work at all, I'm pleased with the result but still expecting I've fucked up somehow that I just haven't realised yet.

Agfa Isolette II

Latest acquisition - Agfa Isolette II, 6x6 120 folding camera from Germany.

From a small second hand shop in Longford, for the princely sum of $35. I'd never been in the shop before, and it was more of a last minute decision, and we weren't hoping for much. However, this was in a cabinet on the counter, and scattered around the shop were a variety of Brownies (in good nick), some Kodak 127 cameras, and some more (much rougher looking) folders.

I know very little about these cameras, but I've always wanted a folding 120 cameras as they are so easy to carry. I was carrying my Zorki at the time, which just made my coat look ridiculous. This will be much more practical.

I also look forward to having something that takes square images! I might have to invest in a film scanner, because I don't trust the local camera monopoly to scan them properly - last time I had 120 developed & scanned, the images on the CD were distinctly rectangular...

Post: After a bit of searching on teh net yesterday, I've discovered these cameras are notorious for their leaky bellows. Especially seeing as they're now in their mid 50s. I've tried liberal amounts of nail polish, and might try some electrical tape (liquid or real) as well. Not sure I can afford a new set of bellows just yet...

Mode: Acquire

Recently I've just been buying film, not shooting it. Apart from the brief hiccup that was International Commie Camera Day, I haven't taken a single photo, let alone had anything developed.

Anyways, in the latest instalment of my saga to give the local photography chain store a "go", my order of Pan F came in...in 120. Useful, seeing as I don't own a manual 120 camera. I doubt the Holga would deal with a fim so slow (or more correctly, I wouldn't have the patience to make it work). So it'll be another week or so now. Patience, patience. I did buy some Fuji Pro 400H to compensate, although I am still also waiting for the 800Z to come in.

Honestly, it would be much easier for me just to go to the Fuji Pro Shop in the UK, but the postage cost annoys me a bit. If I had someone to go halves with, I wouldn't hesitate...

What's in my cameras?

I have a habit of putting film in a camera & then not finishing it for a while. Probably because I have several cameras which all have their own quirks & character, so they don't suit all situations. Not a particularly committed photographer, am I? True, I do leave film in the camera for a while...unless I have a specific purpose, like International Commie Camera Day.

Anyways, the purpose is to remind myself of what I have in what, and maybe shame myself into doing something about it:

Fisheye2: Agfacolor 200
Minolta*: Fuji Reala 100
Pinhole: Agfacolor 200
Holga: Fuji Reala 100
Zeiss Ikon: Agfacolor 200
Vilia: Fuji Neopan 400
Zorki: nil.

* not working at this stage anyway, so finishing off the film will be dependent on me getting it going again.

I've been wanting to put some 220 into the Holga upside down to play with the redscale thing, but as I'm only 3 frames into the Reala, it'll be a while before that happens. Ditto with the pinhole - I'd like to try redscale in that, but as it's super-basic, I have NO IDEA how far I am into the roll - or even if the results are worth developing. I think I tried some star trails & night-time stuff with it last winter, but I really can't be sure.

--

In other news, I visited Stallards the other day to see if my Pan F & Fuji Pro 800 had arrived, and the order hadn't even been placed. Hmph. It'll have to wait until next pay now, but that's okay - no rush. As long as I have the 800 before we go down the west coast (the extra sensitivity will help), I'll be happy.