It arrived today...

It's beautiful. Not as heavy as the Zeiss Ikon, but a lot more compact, but like the Zeiss (West Germany/FDR), it was made in a country which no longer exists (USSR/CCCP). Extra bonus points for that.

We'll see how it goes. I'll be studying the Zorki 4 manual (in English) quite thoroughly before putting film through it.

I also must remember the golden rule of FSU cameras: "Cock the shutter, Change the shutter". Important to get it in that order, it's an easy way to end up with a paperweight, changing the speed before you cock the shutter...

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In other news, I've asked the local camera monopoly to order in some Fuji Pro 800z, and some Ilford Pan F 50. They seem to offer a fairly competitive rate for both films, but it'll have to wait until I get paid next anyway before I can afford to pick them up. Picked up a couple of rolls of Reala as well while I was at it.

Fuji disposable

Pictures taken with Fuji Disposable.

We did a bit of sea kayaking near Nelson during our honeymoon. We took a waterproof disposable camera, which thankfully was a Fuji - loaded with Superia 800. I'm quite pleased with the results. I really appreciate Fuji film, the results are always pleasing. And they seem to still care about film, and I'm not sure Kodak do.

Ebay

Isn't it a beauty? I'm sure it will be a bit more scuffed up than this pharmacy-catalogue-style image (update: camera was pretty much as new! not scuffed at all!), but I don't mind a few dings here & there (as long as they're not in the lens). I've wanted a Zorki/Fed for a while, and only recently have I managed to get into a position where I can justify the admittedly small spend. They're a good looking camera, and yes, I'm aware it's a Leica copy - but as I can't afford a Leica I'm happy to rely on the precision Soviet craft of ripping off someone else's design.

I just bought it through ebay using the buy-it-now function. Much better than the disappointment of being outbid (as always) because I have the money now, but inevitably don't when I get outbid, and hence can't afford to up my bid. Savvy?

Anyways, this is coming from the Ukraine, not sure how long it will take. With a bit of luck, it'll be here for Commie Camera Day, 1st of May 2009. If it's not, I still have the Vilia, which is a neat little beastie anyway. And I can always use it for Red Oktoberfest, the follow-up to International Commie Camera Day. Honestly, I am not making either of these celebrations of communist cameras up

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In other news, I am planning on putting the Contaflex to work doing star trails this week. It's the only camera I own which accepts the cheapie cable release I bought last year. I've never done star trails before, and I'm sure it's something that's done to death...doesn't mean I don't want to try it myself!

Film arrival

My Fuji order arrived yesterday. That meks it 7 days from the UK. Not bad for a parcel destined for the antipodes.

They also gave me a nice choose-film.com pen.

Now I have to find an occasion to test the 160S. I've been promising to do some portrait shots for some friends whose wedding i missed while I was overseas (a gift of contrition), so I'll probably use that as it is supposed to be good for skin tones & stuff.

The Neopan? I just got it because I wanted to have a nice stock of B&W film.

And these last few days I have been eyeing off the Holga thinking "what can I do with you?", so I may even see if they have any short-dated 120 film, as the exchange rate + the postage makes for a good deal at the moment. I had a look at Calumet's website & they wanted to charge me $70US for the same films, + $111US postage! No thanks, I'll stick with the mother country, thanks.

I'm just not sure what to take photos of now. I like taking photos, but I have no idea what I really like to take photos of. Except Heidi & Ava. And one of them's a cat.

NZ Photos

A small selection of the first bunch of photos from the NZ Honeymoon. Developed three rolls, straight to CD. I like the results. Beautiful colours, and the Minolta did an exceptionally good (quite sharp) job. First time I've taken the Minolta overseas, now I really wish I'd taked in to Europe, but ehhh...too late now.

I'm impressed with this Reala stuff. Might have to get some more soon.

film order update

I've ordered:

10 x Neopan 400
5 x Fuji Pro 160S

from Fuji Lab UK. A much better deal than ordering from Vanbar, despite the higher postage. It helps that the films are short-selling stock, but the Neopan is still good until July, and the Pro 160 is good until April. I understand that it will still be fine well after it's "expired" (it's like a serving suggestion), so I'm not too fussed. Even a slight colour shift or minor fogging can be corrected these days.

It's sad that it's a better deal to order from the UK (on the other side of the planet) than to order from within Australia. But I guess the issue is that Vanbar probably pay postage to get their stock, and then add their markup. Can't blame them, but then I can't be blamed for enjoying the benefits of a global marketplace. I prefer to buy local if possible, but if the deal is significantly better non-local, what would you choose?

New film purchases, Zeiss Ikon film, and NZ...

Some new film purchases from Vanbar. They seem to be trying to move a lot of their obscure B&W films, and my stocks are depleted since New Zealand, so I thought I'd pick some up:

5 x Paterson Phototec 400 pan 36exp
5 x Lucky SHD 100 36exp
5 x Maco -UP 400 plus 36exp
5 x Paterson Phototec 100 pan 36exp

I have no idea if they are any good, although I think I read that the Lucky 100 is supposed to be similar to TMax. We'll see! And I'm sure I'll just send it up to Black & White Photographics in Invermay to get developed/printed. The gentleman there did a good job with the Rollei Disposables from the wedding.

UPDATE: Vanbar just rang to say they only have the Lucky film. Not really worth it now! I wanted a good stock of miscellaneous B&W film for cheap-ish, so I think I'll just cancel the order and re-think my re-stocking strategy. It's a bit annoying, as this is the second time I've ordered something from Vanbar from the website which they didn't have in stock. If I knew of a better place to order film internet-wise, I'd use it...

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I've just put my first roll of film (some recently expired Agfa colour 200) in the Zeiss I purchased in February. I haven't taken many shots yet, and I'm relying on Sunny-16 as the light meter appears to be buggered. We'll see what the results are like...

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I will start getting film developed from NZ this week. We have about 8 rolls of Reala and 2 rolls of Velvia 100, I think the Velvia will probably be the last off the rank as I think it's going to cost $26.95 for develop & mount. As for prints or scans, I might have to wait! Expensive, but I seem to recall Black & White Photographics charging exactly the same 6 years ago when I was at uni.

A couple of photos from Strathmore, a property behind Evandale. Incidentally, this is where I was married 4 weeks ago. These shots are from the morning after our celebration (bear in mind this is not representative of where our wedding actually took place...that was in the garden area around the other side).

Ilford XP2, Minolta XG-M, 50mm lens. And, if I remember correctly, the first time I've used the UV filter. Whether it had any effect on the resulting film is difficult to say; some say UV filters are only good for protecting your lens from scratches. I have a weak theory that as we have higher levels of UV in our skies down here (thanks to proximity to the ozone hole), it's not completely unneccesary. But I have nothing to back that up.

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Following this wonderful day, we spent three weeks in sunny New Zealand by way of honeymoon. I took 10 rolls of Fuji Reala 100, 2 rolls of Fuji Velvia 100, and picked up 2 rolls of Kodachrome 100 (which went unused). I think I have 3 rolls of Reala left. I'll be developing those in the next few weeks - more correctly, Stallards will be developing them, and I will be paying them - so I'll post the results as they happen. First time I've used Reala or Velvia, so it'll be interesting to see the results. The Reala I shot at 80iso on advice from a friend, the Velvia I shot at 100 as I've heard horror stories about correct exposure...and as I'm new to Velvia (and slide in general), I thought it best to stick with the safest path, and branch out if I feel like it later.

I'm excited to see how the Reala comes out, as I've had nothing but good results with the standard consumer-level Fuji film (Superia 100, 200, 400), and Reala is supposed to be the bee's knees of Fuji neg. Green is supposed to come out wonderfully vivid, so we'll see...Heidi kindly obliged by buying and wearing a wonderful green knit from Akaroa on our third day in NZ, I guess that will come out pretty amazinglier and stuff.