Wallace Koopmans Artlog

Some images from the ever versatile Pentax 24EW shot in Niagara Falls Canada.  More on it can be seen here The Ewwwww  and here E X T R A   W I D E  and here  Snow Pictures Pentax 24EW and even here Wide Angle Point and Shoot

and searching for 24EW here on my blog gives even more results so that is pretty much why I’m not writing too much about this camera in this post.

Some key features of the Pentax 24 EW that set it apart from the rest of the cameras in the recycle bin.

Lens:  24-105mm F4.9-12.5  (7 elements in 5 groups)

Macro: 0.3m at 24mm,  0.5m  at 105mm

Shutter: 1/400 to 2 sec auto exposure

Exposure compensation: +- 3EV in 1/2 steps

Bulb Timer:  1 sec, 5, 10, 15, 30, 1 min, 2, 3, 4, 5

The second half to my Adox Colour Implosion post the first part can be seen here Half Frame Implosion

While in Niagara Falls Ontario I had some time in the late evenings to walk around and take a few pictures.  I chose to use Cinestill film for this because of its tungsten colour balance and how it reacts to light sources with a certain glow.  I also chose to use the Canon QL17 both for its fast 40mm F1.7 lens and that it can be used completely manually.  While it does lack slow shutter speeds I wouldn’t have a tripod and these are all hand-held so the 1/4sec slowest shutter speed is leisurely enough.

Cinestill 800 is an interesting film because it is actually motion picture film, specifically Kodak Vision 3 5219 that has had its Remjet layer removed to allow for it to be processed using regular C41 and its then packaged in a 35mm still film cartridge.  The effect of pre-removing the Remjet layer is that its antihalation properties are also removed.

What this means is that light can pass through the film and be reflected back striking the emulsion layers a second time which creates halos which are particularly noticable around bright light sources.

It gives Cinestill 800T a different look that isn’t easily duplicated and I kind of like it for that.

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  I had this already out of date film in the camera for several years treating each frame like it was some sort of precious commodity never to be seen again, which it pretty much is.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.

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 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’

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.

There is plenty of information available about the Canon AE-1 so I won’t spend too much valuable photography time writing about it but I will say that it leaves something to be desired in terms of ease of use.  My primary complaint being the lack of any feedback in the viewfinder (in manual mode) as to what the camera is set to.   Also the lack of exposure compensation beyond a hard to locate +1.5 EV backlight compensation button make it less versatile than other similar SLR’s from that time even a basic Pentax K1000 using metered manual is easier.

Used in shutter priority mode which is really its native setting it’s fine and the viewfinder is big and bright.  There are many FD lenses available with the 50mm 1.4 being a great example and reason enough to shoot with this camera if you are willing to take the time to adjust to it’s controls.

They really aren’t kidding with this film when they say handle in subdued light.  I thought that for the most part I had been careful yet the film ended up being heavily light struck.  All indications are that the light came in through where the film exits the canister so none of this would have been while the film was in the camera.  What makes this film unique is that it doesn’t have the usual orange dye masking of nearly all other c41 colour negative films.  This is supposed to make it easy to scan and more versatile in different lighting.  Unfortunately for me the light leak over rides any other factor of this film.  That being said even those images struck by light have a certain look that makes them unique and clearly sets them apart as being from film.

I shot this roll of film in my trusty Yashica Electro GT