Another time machine

The mill is on the street where I was born, the camera is the ± 1930 Agfa Billy and the film is Isopan from pre-november 1966.
Yesterday's younger 135 Isopan was black, so this one was an easter-egg.

Easter Lecture 2012 "the BIG ONES"

These are the real "camerae obscurae". Nothing automatic, you take every step yourself, you can see what's happening. Ansel Adams in 2012 (well, more or less...)

 I cannot show you a wooden one, but let's see what happened in the last century.


When I got the Bob O, long ago, a gift from my Canon dealer, I didn't take it very seriously. Nice for the book-shelf. I didn't have sheet-filmholders. But a few years ago I put some 120 through, and they were remarkable. The lens holder has become wobbly, so I put a strut on to keep it firm; I can't focus anymore, but at infinite it's usable. The 125mm Ernemann Detektiv (how romantic) Aplanat is rather soft at 6.8 but not bad at all for this 95+ lady! The oil-valve shutter works fine in springtime, of course it's too fast in the summer heat, and slow in winter cold.


I also got a Kern Aarau from that dealer and took it apart, little did I know. All that's left is a picture from a ± 1971 garden-exhibition, and:
I kept the lens, made it fit to my Linhof and that does work! 150mm Swiss quality from around 1926. Very soft at 4.5 as you can see below but at F 8 it's more than okay.

The 135mm Ортагоз on my ± 1940 Фотокор on the other hand is razor sharp at F 4.5 and it has to be because the diaphragm is stuck. Otherwise no problems with this wartime-hero, and look at that cute original bakelite filter (and I have the also bakelite box)!
Nice, small, fast camera. The sheet holders a bit rusty, but so am I.

And last but very professional the ± 1960 Linhof Technika. Big and heavy, but so easy to handle and fast. And the 90mm Schneider so unbelievably good. Only the shutter has aged. (I developed the sheet very badly, look at my flickr photostream erwinruys for that.) Nice double sheet holders too.

Working with those 9x12 cameras is very slow, of course, but that means: concentrated. You don't push the button without thinking when you only have four negatives with you! And the choise of film is very limited: I use Foma, or older stuff when I can get it. But how nice is it, really composing a picture on that 9x12 finder, and, if you wish, developing individually one negative at the time.

They are not only big, they are great.

(For other "tutorials" click on the label below.)

Jessop in Montauk

WHO?! And Whère?
Well, "Jessop" film is in fact 1999EFKE R50, but Montauk is very vèry old developer, no date, but I think it's pre-sixties at least.
I bow my head in admiration.

The technical info is at flickr photostream erwinruys as usual.

20° Frühling!

Gutes Schuhwerk ist angesagt denn die Bahn streikt mal wieder, und danke der Nachfrage, ja, das Knie funktioniert wieder tadellos.
Aber dann schafft spanischer Wein was Водка Калиновая nicht schafft: der Marques Alella haut mich um. Madrid in der Bolkerstrasse. Lècker!
Pause.
Drei Segafredo bei Vecchio in der Marktstrasse bringen mich, mehr oder weniger, auf die Beinchen.
Und zuhause zeigt sich der Реактив ein Jungbrunnen für den Свема65.

1982 Свема65 in the Салют, 8 mins developed in rather old Реактив: crisp and clear, a bit contrasty and the sticky paper had dried out but I thought of that!

Pzziew...

Testing the 1982 Agfa Optima Sensor Flash Electronic (Shakespeare...) with fresh Ilford FP4plus. I hate that sensor button, (no click, but pzziew) and I am very disappointed by the FP4, in old Реактив. Very nice weather, though!

Time-machine (2)

Isn't this great: look at the shoes! Modern again - like they were 40 years ago!

With my Yashica 635 plus Sun Aux, the Plus-X prof a bit older, 1965, but  the Реактив ànd the Фиксаж very seventies.

On the small picture is my first Time Machine: 1946 Perpantic in the 1938 Leica with 1945 Elmar. More info on both: flickr photostream erwinruys.

A Russian tutorial

I decided to go all the way, today. Wow. Although I have to say that composing this tutorial, with the "help" of Blogger was the hardest part.


So I put my Industar 28mm on the FED, innocent like a child. You can see what came out, do I have to name it? Vignetting, coma, everything that's in the book. My fault: it's for the half-frame Chaika...

So beware: they are on Ebay "for Leica etc." but don't do that! And in July, at last, I got my Чаика: perfect! Very nice lens for half frame.

But what did I know. Took a modern Uсrainian Svema and remembered that double-Ilford, it was sooo thin and floppy. And I was right: the FED tore it to pieces.

The Russian standard-drum. I practised a bit, it's an inside-out half-spiral, a bit weird but not bad once you mastered the technique.

The (also Ucrainian) Reaktiv was a bit cloudy, but I used it as prescribed on the film, 7 mins and the negatives were okay, almost as I expected...

After two days the Fixage was grey/brown - never saw that, but it made the film very clear, so no problem here.







Conclusion: the fresh Svema is dangerously thin, the Industar 28mm is very "LOMO"...
Oh, and the Leningrad worked fine, indicating nicely what I expected.