Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Released in 2000 the Canon Z90W (Autoboy Epo) has a 28-90mm f4.5-9.9 lens which is  slow at the telephoto end but the quality of the optical system overall is quite good.  Being from 2000 its just new enough to find internet reviews from the time the camera was released.  The best part of this camera is the large mode dial on the back, with 7 different positions, the most interesting to me being ‘Personal’ which lets me configure the flash to be off at all times.  This is done be selecting Personal on the dial and then pressing the mode button then using the zoom buttons to toggle through the available flash choices; Auto,Red eye,Flash on,Flash off,+1.5 exposure comp.,-1.5 exposure comp., and slow sync flash.

Of the point and shoot film cameras with zoom lenses that go down to 28mm this is the best.  Used at the 28mm wide end it compares well with fixed focal length film compacts.

Using a half frame camera gives you 48 pictures from a regular 24 image roll.  It’s very freeing to have all those extra pictures but not crazy like digital.    I was shooting this roll of film to create in camera diptychs and these are just the images that were not in pairs.  Yes I know there is a fiber that shows up at the edge of all the images, someone should really do something about that.

I’m missing a major part of this camera which renders it a point and shoot in the strictest sence.  I can’t even over ride the flash.  originally this camera had a cover that also functioned as a controller that could be moved from the front of the camera to the rear or as a remote using IR.  It’s not a common camera, in fact mine is the only one I’ve ever seen,  so the prospect of finding one with the cover is low.  Once my limited supply of APS film is gone there may not be much reason to keep this otherwise interesting camera.

This is what APS film looks like if you were wondering, the scanner at the lab jammed and it had to be extricated.

I just picked up my Q to K-mount adapter so that I can use the lenses from my DSLR or Pentax K-01 as telephoto lenses.  The crop factor in terms of 35mm film for the Pentax Q is a whopping 5.5x.  What this means is that my 100mm macro becomes a 550mm equivalent lens.  Even a 50mm lens gives a field of view that a 275mm lens would on 35mm film or a “full frame” digital sensor.  When I choose to add photographic equipment I ask myself  “Does this expand what I am able to do photographically?”, the Q with this adapter certainly does provide me with something I didn’t have before.

I only had about an hour of fading light at a nearby park to make a few test shots but even in that short time I was able to see there are some new possibilities with compressing the view (extreme telephoto) and macro where the small sensor gives more depth of field.  All of this takes up very little extra room if you are already carrying the lenses for use on a camera with a larger sensor.   The limitations with the Q relating to its small sensor and high ISO performance are brought to the foreground with the need to use higher ISOs to achieve fast enough shutter speeds.  With further testing I’m sure I will find the point at which I can balance these competing parameters and achieve a result that I am happy with.  For now though here are images from my first foray into K-mount lenses on the Q.

I used the DFA 100 WR macro, the SMC Pentax-M 1:1.7 50mm and the SMC Pentax-A 1:2.8 28mm.

I love when cameras exceed my expectations.  You might, like me, think that a camera from 1960 with a programmed shutter and aperture would be questionable,  not in this case though.  The Minolta Uniomat has a selenium meter just bellow the shutter button that moves a galvanometer on the top plate. If you adjust the exposure ring around the lens it moves an arm also in the window with the galvanometer needle, when the arm and the needle match that is the suggested setting for the scene. When adjusting the camera like this you actually have no independent control over the shutter and aperture it follows a set program line. I’ve created this handy little chart which does actually give an indication of the aperture and shutter speed for any EV setting.

You can see in the pictures where I allowed direct sunlight to reach the lens that the images are quite washed out, I think quite a bit of this came from the original uncoated Minolta filter that I left on for the testing.

I’ve had my new Pentax K-01 for just over a week now and have been trying it with different lenses to see what works best.  Ergonomically the K-01 is not the best camera but once you adapt it is fine, there aren’t any obstacles that permanently get in the way of taking pictures.  The camera seems best when paired with smaller lighter lenses like the SMC Pentax-A 1:2.8 28mm but I was also surprised to find that the DA12-24 is also a good match, the DA*16-50 and DA*50-135 however seem too front heavy.  Manual focusing is great with  focus peeking and the autofocus is fast and accurate (I have the latest firmware Ver 1.03).    And ultimately what really matters is that the image quality is great.

Design wise it certainly is different from other cameras on the market but I don’t see it as being quite as radical as some people have made it out to be.  As is well known it was designed by Marc Newson  for Pentax, it’s just too bad he didn’t get a few more opinions on the button layout.  The look of it though has grown on me and composing with the rear LCD has its own appeal.  You can keep both eyes open and remain aware of what is around you and all the information you would want is available right on the screen as you compose your picture.

The perfectly matching strap was just a matter of luck.  I bought it from Couch Guitar Straps who specialize in hand-made guitar straps but make other items too.  Not only does the Yellow and Black Racer X strap look good on the K-01 it fits perfectly for wearing it across the chest and the width is also super comfortable.  Straps used to be this wide what happened?  My new favourite strap, there isn’t even a second place anymore.

How about these beauties?  Sony makes an inordinate number of appearances and the other Pentax should be easy to spot.

More pictures will come as I continue to test different lenses on the camera but for now here are a few yellow tributes

As a side note the lemons are shot at 3200 ISO, which is a very usable sensitivity with this camera.

I picked up the Fuji ST701 because it was slightly smaller than the Pentax Spotmatic but it has more than that going for it.  Size wise it is narrower than the Pentax but slightly taller.  It makes a surprising difference in feel and I think I would be more likely to find the room for it in a camera bag.

Another thing that elevates this camera above others from its time is its bright viewfinder.  I have no way of measuring how much more light it is transmitting but comparing it to the Spotmatic it is ‘clear’ that it is brighter.

The focus screen of this camera is a split image surrounded by a circular microprism screen on a matte field,  It works very well and it is very easy to confirm focus.

The depth of field preview is the best of any camera I’ve ever used.  It is a large well place button beside the lens that operates smoothly and quickly.

The lens that came with the camera is the Fujica 55 f1.8.  The build of this lens is superb and it has the smoothest focus of any lens I have.  Better than the best Takumars, which are also excellent but this lens has absolutely no discernible looseness or play at any location.  The Fuji ST701 is an absolute gem.

These images are a mix from either the Fujica 55/1.8 or the Takumar 200/3.5

If I were shipwrecked on a desert island and I could only have one camera it wouldn’t be the Yashica Electro 35GX.  Why? I couldn’t bring myself to break it to use the lens to start a signal fire of course.  Of all the fixed lens 35mm rangefinders this must be one of the best, I don’t know of one better.  Every time I get negatives back from this camera I am pleased, the images are sharp and the way the lens renders the out of focus areas is smooth and delightful.  I also like the 40mm focal length, it may be the Goldilocks between 35mm and 50mm.  As an example of the sharpness of the lens and just how fine grained Kodak Ektar is here is a 100% crop from one of the images.

Scanned at 3200 DPI the resulting file is about the equivalent of a 13 mpixel digital capture.  Not bad and films ability to preserve shadow and highlight detail in the same image still exceeds digital for now but that’s not really why I shoot film.  It’s still all about the cameras for me and this one is great.

More images and information I have written about this camera can be found here Oct 2012 and here Cross Processed Velvia and Canon Ql17 vs Yashica Electro GX there are more so maybe using the search function on my blog is a better idea.

Hello 1983, keep the hair we will keep the cameras.  Nikon refers to this camera as the “Pikaichi” which apparently translates as “Top notch” and they were quite proud of it.  The lens is unique in that it has a focal length of 35mm yet is a Sonnar design which is more commonly associated with 50mm and above.

It seems to be a pretty good performing lens, unfortunately I used the Cherry wide angle and telephoto adapters on most of the pictures so the true performance is somewhat obscured.  The nice thing about this adapter set though is that they come with lenses for the viewfinder so you get the proper field of view but putting them on and taking them off is cumbersome.  So what I like about this camera is the little focus distance scale in the reasonably large viewfinder and the feel of the camera.  While not a light camera it fits nicely in one hand with its front grip and textured pad for your thumb.  See the early 1980’s weren’t all bad.

What can I say, I like shooting in the rain or at least not worrying that my camera gear will be damaged by it.  I’ve seen pictures taken with this camera completely submerged but Canon did not actually claim that this was an underwater camera despite the obviously robust sealing.  In fact the WP stands for water proof which is what you expect when you’re talking about a jacket not something to be dunked.  The manual even states “This camera is designed to be water proof and can be used in the rain or splashed with water with no ill effects. However this is not an underwater camera.” So user beware.   I really like the control dial although I’m not sure why the subject needs to see it instead of the photographer.  I do suspect it is a necessary engineering decision considering that you need to open the back to put film in.  With the dial you can turn the camera on and disable the flash in one operation which is a bonus as I rarely want to use the flash built into these compact cameras.  It is also a very quiet camera in all it’s operations which only slightly counteracts its garish appearance.

My previous thoughts on this camera “Fred Herzog and the Canon WP-1“