A Little Break

Nikon F3HP, Neopan 100SS

So there hasn't been much shooting in the last month. A fairly minor but annoying problem with my knee forced me to take a break from long walks, and thus also from much shooting activity. It has been resolved and I'll be shooting some more for the remainder of the year. I don't however expect to hit either my next checkpoint of 46 rolls or my final goal of 52 rolls for the year unless something unusual occurs. I'm currently at 29 rolls shot this year and I'd have to average 3 or more rolls a week for the next 6 weeks to hit those goals, which is unlikely.

That said, I do hope to finish in the mid 30's, a solid base for increasing my shooting activity for next year. And as long as I'm shooting steadily, I have a basis for improving the quality of my work at the same time.

Right now I see film continuing to increase its role in my shooting. Frankly, the D90 is not doing much for me overall. It's a competent but uninspiring camera to work with and I've also been struggling with focus issues with mine. Combine that with the fact I'm shooting more colour film and you have a situation where digital just isn't a huge need for me.

Chchchchanges...

 
Nikon N6000 (F601m), Nikon Series E 50mm f1.8, Fujifilm Neopan 100SS


Had a scanner casualty this week, my trusty Epson Perfection 4870 finally expired after more than a decade of regular use. This has been my flatbed of choice for a long time, scanning all my Medium Format & Large Format work as well as my 35mm since my Minolta Scan Dual IV died. After a quick check online to make sure my Betterscanning.com ANR inserts and 120 holder were compatible I replaced it with a V500 at a superb price. While it's technically a lower-end scanner (the 4870's modern equivalent is  the V800) the V500's faster, has better resolution and DMax and can handle all my current needs. If I ever start shooting LF again, I'll need to look at upgrading to regain compatibility with sheet film (the 4870 could do 4x5, while the V500 does 120/220 as it's largest supported film type).

On the plus side, I acquired a very nice bit of glass, the Zeiss ZF.2 85/1.4 Planar and have been shooting with it constantly. Looking forward to seeing the first results on film in an hour or so when the first roll finishes drying. I do like it on the D90, but that's a bit of a waste as an application, due to the crop factor.

A Little Action Today

 
F3HP, Fujifilm Neopan 100SS, Likely Nikkor 35/2 AI

Due to a slight change in my travel scheduling for this Thanksgiving Weekend, I got some time to get out and photowalk today. I ended up shooting 4 rolls of HP5+, bringing that emulsion to 141 total rolls and exceeding my former most used film (Tri-X 400, at 139 rolls). That also brings me to 24 rolls for the year, 2 off my initial goal of 1 roll every 2 weeks, or 26 rolls total. The next goal is 46 rolls, matching my 35mm usage in 2012.

This gave me a chance to work out the FG a little more, about half my shooting today was with the FG, I pretty much left the 28/3.5 on it and my 50/1.8 on either the N6000 or the EM. I was burning a roll on the N6000 so I could reload it with some colour film and after that was done pretty much stuck to using the FG & EM, swapping bodies as I wanted the lens mounted. It's just quicker to swap between two small bodies that to switch between two lenses on the same body and the EM makes a nice second body when shooting with the FG (and they take all the same accessories too, a nice bonus). I'm liking the FG, it actually reminds me of the X-700 a lot, just about every aspect of the X-700 that I really liked is duplicated in the FG. The only missing items are an AE-lock (and the FG has the 2-stop backlight button) and DoF preview (which I never used much). Kinda funny that the X-700 was the flasghip Minolta while the FG was a bargain-basement Nikon yet they are pretty much identical in capability.

Unfortunately, I also discovered today what has happened to film prices in the last 4-5 years. They've doubled for colour film, and gone up even more than that for B&W. I used to pay $56 for a 100' roll of Tri-X, it's $226 now. Per roll used to be $4 or so, now it's just over $12 (yep, the $5 in savings between 18 rolls of TX400 and a bulk roll make buying bulk pointless now). I guess it's too be expected as the non-serious film shooter has pretty much disappeared and they kept the prices low for the serious shooter. But on the good side, my local store, which used to be Fuji/Kodak/Ilford only, is now carrying at least two other options for B&W Film (Rollei/Agfa and Japan Camera Hunter) and is also selling imported Japanese Fuji stocks (Natura in particular). Cost is up, but so is selection again.

Still Kickin'

 
Minolta X-700, MD Rokkor 45mm f2, Ilford PanF+ in Rodinal 1:100

Yep, still around. Been a busy couple of months for me in non-photographic areas, so not too much has happened. I did still have time to shoot a bit, bringing myself up to 20 rolls for the year and around 1500 digital shots. The D90's treating me just fine for digital and I've almost got my basic film kit sorted after picking up a dirt cheap FG to replace the X-700 and a Nikkor-H 28/3.5 AI'd for a mild wide. That leaves me with a primary film kit of the FG with an EM for a backup, the 28/3.5 and a 50/1.8 Series E. I need to add a 100/2.8E or 105/2.5 to round things out for now.

I find film occupying more and more of my interest these days, so I'm expecting to see the rollcount start growing again now that the things that have been occupying my attention for the last 6 weeks should be resolved. I expect to break 26 rolls without issues this month, and 52 for the year is not out of reach at all. Heck, I might even shoot a little colour film.

16 and Counting

Nikon EM, 50mm f1.8 Series E, Ilford HP5+

Finished roll number sixteen of 2016 this morning, tying my count for 2014 and the highest number of rolls I've shot from 2013 on. It was a roll of HP5+ through my EM.

I've also sold the X-700. Great camera, but Minolta isn't where I want to go. I've finally made a call on direction, I'm going all-in on Nikon again. The system just works for me for the most part. not perfect but more than acceptable.

I'm most likely going to put together a pretty similar system to what I had before getting the D700 a couple years ago. I really don't need much. So I traded off the G3 for a D90. That gives me a body to play with on the Nikon side for now.

No Parking

Mamiya 645 Super, 45/2.8 C, TriX@1600

This is the sort of urban geographic shot that I love taking. There's a range of tones and textures all over the shot and all unique to the city. These sorts of small scenes just fascinate me endlessly.

It's also something I struggle to find these days, much of the urban light industrial character of Toronto has been disappearing into endless condo developments. While on one side this is a good thing, I do regret the loss of much of the character of Toronto's downtown core.

Ode to the EM

Nikon EM, Sigma Super-Wide II 24mm f2.8,Ektachrome 100EC

 If the Nikon FM2n is my all-time favourite camera, the EM is my favourite cheap SLR (yes, even more so than the Cosina SLR's which I love).

Simple, small & cheap. Not too complex. Slap a lens on and shoot. That's the EM. I've owned 4-5 of them over the years, including my first SLR, bought in 1993 with a 50/1.8E, Vivitar 283 and a Tamron 70-210 f4-5.6. Shot a lot with that before I got rid of it after acquiring an F801s (another camera I've owned a bunch of copies of). The only camera I've ever had stolen was an EM (with a 100/2.8 Series E)

The EM will always have an opening in my bag, especially if paired with a 35/2.5 or 50/1.8 Series E. It's too cheap and too fun not to. It's simply the camera I chose as a car/desk camera to always have around.

If you shoot Nikon MF, grab one. You'll only be out $25 or so (my average purchase price, current one was free as a rear lens cap). Throw some cheap film through it and have fun.