The end...

...of the year, but this looks more like the end of all times. The Gevaert has definitely reached his end, but I still have some old ànd older film so next year, maybe -

Frozen gulls

It was very, very cold this morning. But I hadn't seen the river for a long time.

December grey

The colour of Coke

Christmas Lecture 2010

Ho ho ho! From the beginning of my photographic career, in the sixties, I was more than interested in telelenses. The DIY push-on thing I made for my Lubitel didn't work of course - what did I know! But on my next, a Canon FX, there were possibilities. But I wasn't the only one with big whishes and little money. So Astra and Novoflex remained a dream, but I could actually go and look at them: in my home town was a tiny shop, Steenmeijer, full of those 500 - 2000 cannons! Can't imagine anyone was rich enough to buy them.

But there were more affordable solutions: cheap Japanese lenses, and even cheaper converters and other weird auxiliary stuff.

First there were the interchangable lenses. Cheap for a reason - but sometimes you were lucky: in the seventies I had a Soligor 350, shaky thing, but the 400mm SSC Canon I could afford later was 10 times more expensive - and really hardly better!
I tested this time the oldest I have, the Sandmar 100mm US Zone Germany for Argus. Changing lenses is an Argus thing, takes minutes, but the Enna does what you expect it to do, and looks fine on the art-deco camera.

Then there is the between-camera-and-lens converter. Small and easy to use, but you lose a lòt of light and enlarge the faults of your lens. Add the weaknesses of the converter itself. The quality of my Panagor 2x is so poor, you'd better crop the picture than use the thing.

The auxiliary push-on. It's big. But in theory you only lose the 3 or 4% light of the lens-surfaces, and only add his own faults. But, alas, these are big: strong vignetting, and it is not aplanat for sure. And my Sun doesn't fit properly, I have to use felt packings. 23 Febr 2012 I solved this problem with mastic silicone kit (!) Look also flickr photostream erwinruys.
So: the pictures are mùch better without - but the looks! Impressive!

Of course I also tested a modern (hà! 1983) zoom: the Canon nFD 35-70. Never trusted them, because of the German word "Gummilinse" = rubber lens... But they are o.k. as you all know.


CONCLUSION. The stuff we bought then was nothing compared to what we can afford now. We are rich.
But the exitement we felt then - priceless!

Bleak Winterstart...

...at our local swimming-pool!
PS - the Novar is of course the anastigmat on the 1956 Contina.

1955 Peugeot

This afternoon in Nijmegen.
Expired Gold200 behind the 1938 Retina Xenon.

The big three

1956 Zeiss, 1938 Schneider and Leitz.
And today, at last, I bought myself a snow-plough...

St Petersburg am Rhein

See 7 & 10 Jan 2010 "Noviom-"
I love those candy-crisp colours in the winter. And yes, I did explain the towarishtsh afterwards how important he was as a background for the gull. This small one on <1988 Ektacolor 160.

Fun...

...with the 3D-Iloca from 1951. Zimtsterne, Lebkuchen, Glühwein, Reibekuchen, Dinkel-Butterstollen (ein Stück vom Erzgebirge!) and twenty nice stereographies. In colour.

About Colortec C41

When using Tetenal Colortec for your (old) film there is only ONE thing important: MOTION. I over- and underexposed, developed exactly 237 seconds or somewhere between 13 and 16 minutes, at 35 degrees, at 30 degrees and once even that Triple Print C22 at 20 degrees and it always went fine but you have to move. No shy turning your spiral: shake it, baby! Or else you will get stripes and problems.
The process is cheap and easy; have a try! You'll like it.

This rainy one was on <1988 Ektacolor160 in the 1962 Agfa Click-II, number 19 in the very old Colortec 30*

Early winter guest

<1989 Vericolor, but the Colortec is getting tired. In Jeroen's ±1955 Agfa Box 50

Early winter 3

Early winter 2

Early winter