It’s sure hard to hold this sucker still. Yes this camera creates very large 6×9 cm negatives but the problem is that to get sharp images you really need to use a tripod. All of these shots suffer from some motion blur when you look close enough or if they were enlarged. Also the fact that you only get 8 frames on a roll puts them in the $2 per exposure cost range.
I’m not sure why but a picture of an older dryer at a laundromat just seemed to be the right fit with my Polaroid a week project. Maybe it’s because at the height of Polaroid is also about the time in my life where I used a laundromat, traveling and working away from home. The two must just converge in my memories. Again I was also reminded about why Photography is such a great social medium, the owner of the facility was very nice and accommodating as well as the other people there. In case your wondering it’s Old Country Laundry in Aldergrove and the decor was every bit as interesting with old photo’s and collectibles. Certainly more to look at than clothes spinning in a dryer although I think that has an appeal too.
The sophomore of images. Week two in my Polaroid a week self imposed challenge. This one is from Bradner BC.
Another day another walk. Photography can be a great reason to get out and get some excercise, even just a lunch time walk.
The 35mm focal length was very popular on fixed lens compact cameras so you might be forgiven for thinking they all perform the same. If I’m to be totally honest that’s what I was thinking when I tried this camera. So the 35mm f3.5 Elmar did do a great job with sharp clear images, but what really set this camera apart for me was the accuracy of the center weighted metering, it got all 36 frames right. There are few controls, primarily flash auto,on,off and infinity focus as well as a self timer and that’s it. Simple yet effective. Now for the downside. It’s not that durably built, it has a fair amount of barrel distortion and some vignetting when it uses large apertures.
Most of the images I took on this roll were reference shots for future paintings so I don’t actually have that many images to include.
By the way this is my 200th post, just saying, I don’t need a cake or anything but it’s 200 posts after all.
What to say about this camera, well it takes 24x36mm negatives like it’s name says. It’s a camera like it appears to be. Oh and if you point it at the sun you get the greatest lens flare, which may be reason enough to own it. The lens quite frankly is poor the viewfinder is poorer and it’s usability is poorest. It’s a zone focus camera and not a rangefinder. It’s greatest technological achievement is that it has a double exposure prevention mechanism but does require setting the shutter separately from winding the film. Maybe someday in the future when I have forgotten all these flaws I’ll shoot another roll with it.
Some more images created with the Sony DSC-V3 and an infrared filter. The available light was very low so really I should have removed the neutral density filter that I use with this combination but I didn’t and so the image sharpness suffered for it as I ended up with shutter speeds in the 1/4 second range while handholding the camera. There is no excuse for laziness, at least that’s how I think the saying goes but you can always claim that that was the look you wanted.
This could also be titled the camera that makes you ask “Did I advance the film?” This is a medium format camera that you can actually put in a pocket, as I do. It folds so compactly and flat that it can be easy placed in cargo pants pockets or a jacket. The main drawback to the camera is that the film advance is not tied at all to the shutter, what this means is that you can easily double expose an image or forget that you have already advanced the film and leave one blank. It forms an image on the negative that is 42mmx 55mm with the 55mm comprising the vertical. So you get 16 exposures from a roll of 120 film, at least you would if you remember to advance the film at the right times. The 75mm lens provides an angle of view of about 48 degrees that would be roughly equivalent to a 50mm lens with 35mm film. The compur shutter reaches 1/300 second at it’s fastest and the cocking mechanism is at the lens. The shutter is then tripped using the lever on the right front, this requires the use of the left hand to trip the shutter which is different from what you would expect from any modern camera. And by modern I mean any camera made in the last 60 years. The film advance does move the film forward one frame and then locks, the film is then advance-able again when you slide the film counter lever to the left. The camera opens via a button on the bottom but then requires pressing against the bellows supports until they click into position. The Bellows are folded back in by pressing against the supports in the opposite direction and then gently pushing the bellows back inside.
Camera dimensions Width (128 mm),Height (89 mm), Depth at side (30 mm), Depth at lens (42 mm) Weight (515 grams)
You may have noticed that the image dimensions I provided differ from 4×6 or even the 4.5×6 that you may have found elsewhere but they are the area of the negative each frame takes up and not the actual image size.
In my next post from this camera I will provide some sample images.
I didn’t take many images with my Nokia N95 when I visited Seattle but the ones I did pretty much sum up my trip; train,walk,bus,train.
Here are some example images of the Pentax FA50 shot wide open, an F-stop of 1.4, using the K-7 DSLR. Having a lens this fast is nice as it allows you to maintain faster shutter speeds as the light level drops. It also provides a very shallow depth of field that can be used to isolate an element in an image.
