Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Yes that’s right this little 110 film camera is actually a rangefinder with a slider on top that adjusts to bring the two images in the viewfinder together and in focus.  I had this already out of date film in the camera for several years treating each frame like it was some sort of precious commodity never to be seen again, which it pretty much is.  The camera itself probably occupies more volume than a 35mm Olympus Stylus Epic and is very heavy so you really need to want to take pictures on a tiny little chip of film to justify using it.  There is no denying that it makes distinctive looking images.  I suppose you could argue that the look might be nearly achieved with processing but where is the fun in that?  That’s also why I’ve left the area around the image in the scans why hide the origin of the images it’s part of their appeal.

I didn’t want to cut the film yet until I figure out the details of a holder for it for my scanner so I made this little ad hoc scanning set up with pieces of black paper to hold it against its natural propensity to curl into a ball like a digital photographer that forgot to charge their battery.

The Holga Tim has some serious limitations when it comes to aperture and shutter settings but what it lacks in that category it gains in others.  With it’s two lenses its possible to take all combinations of exposures from 48 half frames to 24  image pairs as well as multiple exposures and even stereoscopic 3D.  It’s the multiple exposures that I am interested in here.  Advancing the film also sets the shutter but you can reset the shutter again using the slider just above the lenses as well as covering and uncovering each lens with the ‘eyelids’.  I think I understand the appeal of simple plastic cameras but using this camera is anything but simple. When It comes to remembering which ‘eye’ to open and when to reset the shutter using the TIM becomes rather complex. So with that and it’s really limited adjustments I wouldn’t recommend this camera as a fun camera to use without care despite its smiling face.

If your wondering what that thing is it’s a Duncan’ donut

A night-time visit to the new Mall called High Street provided an opportunity to take some images. It’s always fun to compare other people’s visions, sometimes you see things in a similar manner and sometimes you see it completely differently.  I think that the second circumstance is the best, it’s an opportunity to learn from others and expand your photographic vision. Duncan of DLT Photographic has posted some images that he took at the same time and place in his blog High Street (Night Edition)

Much in the vein of other simple automatic exposure cameras from the late 1970’s the Chinon Gaf Memo 35EE allows a nice level of freedom for the photographer.  You really only need to concern yourself with focusing and framing an image.  Now it could be said that’s true of nearly every camera since but it really isn’t the same thing.  I feel obligated to be engaged with the technical side of my DSLR that is brimming with potential adjustments but with a camera like this there is no point in worrying about what you can’t control.  I think that this may be the most fun photography for me even if it doesn’t produce the best possible results.  If you look carefully at my camera in the tree you can see that I have sealed the back closed with hockey tape.  This is to ensure it doesn’t pop open or leak light as it has a dent in one corner, I think it adds character.

The Fujica 35SE is as beautiful as the pictures it can take.   I say ‘can take’ just in case you don’t like my pictures although why I can’t imagine.  Doesn’t everyone want pictures of random stuff that catches my eye?

I have had this camera for about 5 years now and it hasn’t disappointed me in any way. I would use it even more often if I didn’t have so many other cameras to play with and post about.   Another post about this camera with some images that I am pleased with can be seen here Fujica 35SE Rangefinder Respect.  I strongly recommend this camera though it isn’t all that common.  When you can find one it does sell pretty inexpensively compared to ‘it can take’ results.

The name ‘Efina T’ sort of sounds like infinity, an oxymoron because this camera uses APS film which rhymes with almost nothing which is also about how available it is.   My biggest lament amout the loss of APS film is losing the 16×9 aspect ratio which I like.  I’ve said it before about this camera and I will say it agian at a time when almost every other camera like this was made of plastic the Efina T was like a solid chunk of steel.

Previous post about this camera ‘Rhymes with Density’

This is a fantastic camera which is a real pleasure to use.  I’m not sure any other similar camera from the time can rival it for image quality.

Some more Rolleiflex post can be seen here Rolleiflex 2.8 E3 and here Pentax K-3 vs Medium Format Film and Rolleiflex Gallery

Aside from my film and other posts on Niagara Falls I have many other digital images that I would like to share that further illustrate my post Two Niagara Falls.  I am breaking this up into 3 seperate posts of 24 images each this one being the first.  There may be some cross over with my film photography as I often take one of each.

One of the great things about photography is the near limitless subject matter.  Even when presented with those same subjects or locations two photographers are likely to come away with something very different.  There is a new mall in our area and Duncan of DLT photographic  and I went to have a photographic look.  The place has many different materials and surfaces and being new also has a very modern hard-edged look.  Duncan recently posted his images in a blog post High Street (day version) and now I am posting these as a counter point.

Even though this is only  a selection from my images there really are not any images that are that similar.  So despite photographing the same place we were seeing it differently.

The Fuji Zoom Date 1000 is interesting in the world of film point and shoots for its zoom lens a Super EBC Fujinon 3.6x zoom lens; 28 ~ 100mm, f/5.8 ~ 10.5; 6 components, 6 elements and also the rear LCD and menu system.  Although 28-100mm is a nice range to have, the lens is slow and has a lot of vignetting as seen in this image.

The menu is somewhat unique because it has a four-way controller with a central menu button much like you now find on numerous digital cameras, however it has relatively few modes compared to a modern camera but that’s okay because your supposed to take pictures with it not play with the menu.

Ultimately the first try with this camera was not particularly impressive.  The images lacked any of that sort of pop that a few other similar cameras have.  For example the Canon Z90W or the Konica Zup28W but at least it betters the Sigma 28 AF Zoom which for all intents and purposes produces images with no corners.