Lightbox Wednesday #5

I am attempting an orderly transfer of the photographs I have taken over the past eight years from on old MacBook Air to a new MacBook Pro. In the process, I am gutting many, keeping the ones I like. It's fun to look back. Just like a song, a photograph can put you right back in the moment.

In September, 2013, I was shooting quite a bit of Tri-X film in a Nikon F2S that had just been serviced by Sover Wong. I took the Nikon to San Francisco for the weekend. Since living in the Bay Area, I had been meaning to go see the Painted Ladies, the City's famous row of Victorian houses made famous in the television series Full House.

I am not much of a street photographer, but I seem to be able to get my nerve up a bit more when walking the crowded streets of Chinatown.

Looking through the images I shot that weekend, I remember it was hot for September. I took the trolley down to Fisherman's Wharf, walked around a bit there and then started thinking about getting back to the car which was parked near the Ferry Building. San Francisco is a great city for walking but with the heat that day, I had about enough. I flagged down a bicycle taxi and rode back to the car in comfort. I got this shot of my driver as I neared the parking lot.

I feel like I used to re-visit my work more often in my pre-digital days. If I didn't print a photograph in the darkroom, there would at least be a contact sheet around somewhere. The lightbox always had negatives or slides on it and somewhere in the house; an old shoebox with snapshots. This transfer process has been a good exercise in looking through the pictures I have made since returning to film in 2009. It's helping me learn and grow. If, like me, you've not looked back through your digitally stored images in a while, try it. It's a healthy and fun process.

Lightbox Wednesday #4

Two years ago this month, I shot my first roll of film in a Contax RX camera I bought from B&H Photo in New York. I was a bit nervous taking a new-to-me camera out for a test drive during a weekend trip to San Francisco, but I shouldn't have been. The RX turned out to be a great camera to shoot and the Zeiss lens never fails to satisfy.

Contax RX, 50mm f/1.7 Carl Zeiss Planar with yellow filter, Kodak Tmax 100

Canon F-1n: First Impressions

I've been dabbling in photography since the early 1970s and for as long as I can recall, there's been a Nikon camp and a Canon camp. I've always belonged to the former, never warming much to most Canons I've tried. I had a TL once. It was clunky. And none of the 1990s era plasticy blob-like Canons appeared interesting enough for me to try. A friend of mine, firmly rooted in the Canon camp, loaned me one of his pro-level DSLRs once to try, but its multi-function switches and fiddly menus turned me off. The only exception so far was the Canon P rangefinder, a circa 1960s Leica screw mount jewel that's a minimalist joy to shoot. But that's it; one lone photographic antique from a time when SLRs weren't even a glimmer in Canon's eye.

Until now, maybe. You see, I've been keeping a casual eye out for a Canon F-1 or F-1n ever since my photo-blogging friend Jim Grey matter-of-factly mentioned this camera to me a year or so ago. Jim knows I lean towards metal, gears, minimalism and great glass.  He was the one who suggested I try Pentax. It was a great suggestion. I've since fallen hard for the Spotmatics. So I trust this guy and when a fine, slightly brassy Canon F-1n presented itself, I took the plunge.

The original Canon F-1 was to the Canon camp what the Nikon F2 was to Nikon shooters; an overbuilt, heavy, metal, pro-level workhorse. The F-1 came out in 1971, around the same time as Nikon's second F. The F-1 was a manual focus, manual exposure system camera. Canon promised they'd keep the F-1 in production for a decade and they did. As Nikon closed out the F2 era with the introduction of the F3 in 1980, Canon debuted their "new F-1" not longer after, in 1981. The New F-1, soon to be called just the F-1n, offered several finder options including aperture-priority auto-exposure with the AE-FN finder. My F-1n came with this finder and a very nice Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens.

I've just loaded some Tmax 100 into the F-1n and here are some thoughts so far...

1.  It's a heavy camera alright, but it is well balanced and easy to handle. Canon seemed to really like putting those big 6V batteries in cameras of this era so, like the AE-1 Program, it has a raised compartment on the front of the camera to accommodate the battery chamber. Unlike the consumer-oriented AE-1 however, the battery chamber on the F-1n fits better, feels nicer and seems to be more part of the camera body rather than an afterthought. This compartment also provides a secure place to grip the camera.

2.  This camera has an unusal dark gray matte finish, similar to what you might find on a gun or rifle. It is very different than the black enamel finish on my Nikons and Spotmatic bodies. The camera I bought is starting to reveal some nice brassing on the top and bottom plates. The more I handle this camera, the more I like the finish. With use, based on how it's wearing now, it should develop a wonderful patina.

3.  The viewfinder is big and bright. Super easy to focus with the standard split image focus screen. In manual mode, the match-needle exposure information appears on the right side of the viewfinder screen. Switch to AE and the manual information disappears and the AE information appears on the bottom of the screen. Nice--you always know what metering mode you are in!

4.  Shutter speeds are from B to 1/2000th. This is a hybrid shutter. Electronics control the slower speeds and the rest are mechanical--good news if that big 6V battery hanging out front dies. 

5.  Shooting in either manual or AE modes is pretty intuitive, even for a visitor from the Nikon camp. The camera controls all feel nice, firm and clicky. The Canon FD lenses, which were phased out after the F-1n, are well built with a nice focus feel.

6.  Ever since I had my laser cataract surgery, I don't need viewfinder diopters any longer, but if you do, this camera will accept screw-in ones like the Nikon F2. There are also a number of different focus screens available.

I'm shooting my test roll in the F-1n both in manual and AE modes, carefully logging each shot in a little notebook. I bought this camera from a very reputable camera shop down in Marin County and their in-house camera tech checked this camera before I bought it, so the meter should be accurate, but it'll be nice to have good notes when I get the scans back from the lab.

Unlike the Nikon F2, you won't find page after internet page or oodles of YouTube videos gushing praise on the Canon F-1n. Nikon really dominated the pro photography world at this time, so I imagine a lot more F2s were sold than F-1s, meaning lots more survivors. Or the film photographers still shooting their F-1s aren't as vocal a bunch. I'm not sure. What I do know is that this is the first Canon SLR I've really liked right from the start. Thanks Jim!

Lightbox Wednesday #3

I am not sure why I get so much satisfaction from this shot I took two years ago in a little shop in Northern California that sells kitchen/cooking goods, but I do. My Leica MP was loaded with Kodak's wonderful Tmax 100 film. I was using the 35mm f/2 Summicron lens.

Lightbox Wednesday #2

Each Wednesday, I toss an image onto the digital lightbox. This is from November, 2011. Shot with my Nikon FE2 on Kodak's now discontinued BW400CN film. One of the few images I shot with this C-41 process film that satisfied me. 

Spud Point Marina, Bodega Bay, CA

New Years Day at the Pt. Reyes National Seashore

It's become somewhat of a tradition to take a New Years Day hike out to the tip of Point Reyes; starting the year with fresh air, exercise and photography. Last year it was Portra 400 in the Nikon FM2n. This year, black and white Tmax 100 in my Pentax Spotmatic SP. I've been shooting with the splendid 55mm f/2 Super Takumar recently, a lens I like a lot. This camera body was recently serviced by Eric Hendrickson.

Pentax Spotmatic SP with 55mm f/2 Super Takumar

I've done this hike in all kinds of weather, so I'm usually layered up for warmth with a water-proof outer shell. New Years Day 2017 was deceptively mild and sunny when I left the house, so it surprised me when I arrived at Pierce Point Ranch to find a fierce and biting cold wind blowing in off the Pacific. A half hour down the Tomales Point trail and the ocean blow was biting right through my North Face jacket. This wasn't fun at all. I decided to turn around and try and get some shots at the more wind-protected ranch and perhaps down at McClure's Beach; a short but steep hike from the ranch site. The trail was muddy and I found the beach full of big tide pools.

McClure's Beach at Pierce Point Ranch, Pt. Reyes National Seashore

Conditions weren't much better ocean side. The wind mixed with the salt spray at the beach. It was cold! I only spent a few minutes there before heading back up the trail to the ranch. 

The house and most of the out buildings at Pierce Point Ranch were built in the 1870s. They are maintained by the Park Service and a Ranger lives on site. The ranch buildings are situated between several bluffs which form a very effective wind break. Making images around the ranch, while still cold that day, was far more comfortable than the trail to the point or the beach.

The ranch house at Pierce Point. 

I've said before that I could wander around the Point Reyes National Seashore with a camera and film for the rest of my days and be quite content. It's a beautiful and inspiring place, even when you're freezing your butt off!

Quite unexpectedly, I am really loving these old Spotmatics and Takumar lenses. Simple cameras and great optics. Stop-down metering is the only hassle with these cameras, so I have a Spotmatic F in Eric Hendrickson's shop now for CLA. The F allows full aperture metering and should be an even more pleasant Spotmatic to shoot.

This warms my heart!

Kodak brings back an iconic film! Ektachrome 100 returns!!

Lightbox Wednesday

Back in the days when I had a darkroom, I would routinely pull out sleeves of old negatives and throw them on my Portra-Trace lightbox. The Portra-Trace is a metal box which contains a cold light source inside and white translucent plexiglass on top. You place negatives or slides on top, the light would shine through them and you could decide which ones you wanted to print. I'd revisit old negatives and print them again or even discover negatives I hadn't printed before and give them a shot.

My lightbox and the darkroom are long gone, but I've been going through a similar process as I migrate my life over to a new MacBook Pro I bought over the holidays. My seven year old MacBook Air began dying a slow death in November, so rather than have a digital catastrophe, I began moving files to a G/Drive in anticipation of an orderly transition to the new laptop. In the process, I've been looking through lots of photographs I've taken sine re-entering film photography and it's reminded me of my darkroom light box days. Looking through these images again has been fun. So, in the spirit of the old analog lightbox days, I am launching a digital version every Wednesday here on the blog, sharing some of the photos I've shot since 2010.

Here's one from 2011 taken not long after I moved to Bodega Bay. I shot this with a Nikon F2 on Kodak Ektar 100 I think. One of the things this lightbox process has taught me is that I need to keep better notes on what camera, lens and film I use when I make photographs.

Miss Hailey, Bodega Bay CA, May 2011

Spa Time

One of my goals in 2016 was to show some love to the cameras in my collection that I enjoy using often. In most cases, this involved a CLA or Clean, Lubricate, Adjust.  With a few cameras, this required some more extensive repair and in one case, a modification.

If you enjoy using classic cameras, there is nothing quite like getting one back from the repair shop operating as close as possible to the way it was designed to. Knowing that you can head out for a day of photography with a  30, 40 or even 50 year old camera and depend on it to work flawlessly is very satisfying.

Modifications allow you to add some modern conveniences to old cameras making them more pleasant to use. And the more you use your cameras, the better it is for the camera and your photography skills.

I've used my trusted sources again this year: Sover Wong for Nikon F2 and Youxin Ye for Leica and Canon LTM. I've also tried three new repair shops and I'll share those experiences with you here on the blog in the New Year (just in case you're needing to send one of your cameras to the spa). Until then, Happy Holidays and all the best for 2017.

Nikon F2 with modified DP-11 finder

The Disregarded Normal f/2

Normal (50-55mm) f/2 prime lenses seem to be the most dismissed and disregarded of all the normal lenses for 35mm film photography. "Fast glass"...f/1.4, f/1.2 and even silly f/.95 lenses are sought after, bragged about and fetch the highest prices. The f/2 and, to a lesser extent, f/1.8 lenses were typically sold as kit lenses with SLR cameras during the film era. Like many gear-obsessed photographers, I have often found myself yearning for the fastest lens in a given focal length even when I rarely find myself in situations where I need to open my lenses all the way up.

When I started exploring Pentax M42 mount cameras and the extraordinary Super Takumar lenses of the Spotmatic era, I naturally opted for the 50mm f/1.4 Super Tak as my first Pentax screw mount lens. Based on my first few meager attempts at using the 1.4 and better yet, looking at what more talented photographers have posted on Flickr shooting this lens, the f/1.4 Super Takumar and Super Multi-Coated Takumar are probably right up there with some of the best lenses ever made for 35mm photography. Even today on digital cameras, these old Super Taks really perform. 

From my research, it seems that the Asahi Optical Company (Pentax) was very obsessed with Leica at this time. More than obsessed, they wanted to beat Leica in the quality of lenses. Well engineered and finely made, it is said that Pentax couldn't charge enough to re-coup their costs on the early Super Takumars. Having shot Lecia Summicron lenses, I will say that these Pentax lenses do have a unique, silky-smooth focus and satisfyingly clicky aperture ring. Why is all of this important? Well, a camera and a lens have to have a certain feel to them to get you to want to pick them up, hold them and shoot them. These Takumars really do!

One of my first Nikon lenses was a pre-Ai 50mm f/2 Nikkor. It's super sharp and it was super cheap. My latest f/2 normal lens is a 55mm Super Takumar that came mounted on a black Spotmatic SPII I bought. Having already acquired the 1.4 version of the 50 and the 1.8 version of the 55mm, I didn't give much thought to the slowest of the normal Super Takumars. The f/2 version of the 55mm lens was created as a less costly lens to bundle with Spotmatic bodies, but the quality-obsessed engineers at Pentax just couldn't find many ways to cut costs. I really think the engineers pulled the wool over the eyes of Pentax management because I can't find any difference between the feel and performance of this lens and the more costly Super Taks.

I took my black Spotmatic, this lens and a roll of soon to expire Portra 400 out for a walk on the Bill Kortum trail along the Sonoma Coast. It was a sunny day with some fog drifting in. Twenty feet down the trail, I came across this bird on a post.

I shoot far more black and white film than I do color and I am rarely satisfied with my color work, but when I got these scans back from the lab, I was very pleased. The colors delivered by the f/2 Super Tak are very pleasing to me and expressed the vision I had when I pressed the shutter.

The Kortum Trail crosses several wetland areas along the coast. In these areas, boardwalks have been created to protect the fragile environment.

I visit this trail often because it is close to my home, often affords nice photo opportunities and is a great place to clear my head. I often see people just standing along the cliffs, staring off into the ocean. Look closely at the photo below and you'll see someone doing just that.

I love the light fog and misty sea spray along the coast, but I've had a hard time capturing it properly on film. The 55mm f/2 Super Takumar is the first lens I have used that did an accurate job of capture.

The sun started getting low in the sky, so I headed back to the car. I spotted this couple posing for what I can only imagine were pre-wedding photographs. I didn't have time to meter, just dialed up what I thought would work and clicked the shutter. Despite the flare, this lens did an amazingly accurate job of capturing the late afternoon light and the scene as I saw it.

Back at the car, I snapped this shot of the Pacific. 

Back in town, I stopped to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner. I tool this photo of some boats at the dock. I didn't compose well. Just clicked off the last frame on the 36 exposure roll. I don't even remember metering. When I got the scans back, this was the image that pleased me the most because it is a very good  example of what happens when a fine lens gets everything right. The colors in this shot are nearly perfect: the sun on the canopy of the boat in the foreground, the color of the orange buoys and the blue containers on the dock. The sky. Even the color of the water that day. The 55 f/2 Super Tak got it all right.

I don't know that I would have gone out looking for this lens. I probably never would have given the 55mm f/2 Super Takumar a second look if it didn't come mated to a body I was buying. This is a lens that handles so nicely, it wants you to shoot it. And it delivers images so nice, you certainly will. I love this lens!

Between The Storms

Of the six Autumns I have lived in Northern California, this one, the locals tell me, has been the most normal. I've only known California in drought, so the wet weather that filled the final weeks of October and two November storms are a new experience for me. It's been nice to see the reservoirs fill and the hills turn green. Between the storms, it's given me a chance to meander down to the beach on the weekends and use up film I had loaded in my Olympus OM-4 and Pentax Spotmatic.

Olympus OM-4 with 50mm f/1.8 Zuiko

Olympus OM-4 with 50mm f/1.8 Zuiko

The shots below were taken with my Pentax Spotmatic on Kodak Tmax 100 film. I was flipping back and forth between my 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar and the 50mm f/1.4 Super Tak. I also just picked up a minty 55mm f/2.0 Super Takumar.

Less daylight means less weekday photography for me. It's dark when I leave for work in the morning and dark when I get home in the evening. Makes these weekend walks so precious.

Five Dollar Fun

When I wrote a while back about my Pentax Spotmatic camera, fellow blogger and photographer Mike Connealy mentioned in the comments section that I might like adding a close up lens to my Takumar lens kit. Doesn't take much more prodding than that to get me onto eBay looking at photo gear and I was quite surprised to find an OEM Asahi Pentax close up lens for five bucks with free shipping!  

Pentax Spotmatic SP II with Close Up Lens and Case

My filter arrived on a rainy day, so I took the opportunity to experiment a bit. The Spotmatic was loaded with Eastman 5222 Double-X black and white film which I was shooting at 200 ASA. My cameras are always a favorite photo subject of mine, so I shot my Nikon F2.

And my Dad's Kodak Retina.

Rain drops on my window...

My JCH film canisters, loaded with film for my trip to New York...

The latch on my porch gate...

And a Pentax lens on my desk...

Eastman 5222 is not the best choice for macro photography, but that is what was in the camera, so I went with it. I'm also a bit handicapped right now as I've been shooting with my left eye while I await cataract surgery on my right (shooting) eye, making focusing more difficult for me. It'll be nice to have that right eye back again.

Mike was right! This inexpensive little close up lens is going to be put to good use this winter as the rainy season envelopes the Sonoma Coast. Best five dollars I have ever spent. Thanks Mike!

Classic Cameras

It's taken me about six years of buying and selling and lots of trial and error to final settle in with a collection of classic film cameras that I enjoy using. When the weekend comes, I feel like the wealthy guy who has a garage full of classic cars--"Let's see, which one will I drive today?" My investment in vintage Nikon, Pentax, Canon and even Leica is modest in comparison to classic car collecting, but the hobby gives me priceless pleasure and satisfaction.

One Sunday a few weeks back, I headed up the Northern California coast a bit to Salmon Creek. Word around town was that a fishing boat had washed ashore on the beach there and I thought it might make a good photographic subject. I went to my "camera garage" and pulled out the Nikon F2A and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens. The 1.8 is probably the most common manual focus normal Nikon lens and the least expensive, but I have always found it to be very sharp. Some of my favorite images have been shot with this lens.

The beached fishing boat was just a short walk from the parking lot at Salmon Creek. The day was nice enough, so I slipped off my sneakers and sunk my feet into the warm sand as I scrambled over the dune to the beach.

I'm used to seeing lots of fishing boats like this one at Spud Point Marina in Bodega Bay. It was startling to see the sad Verna A II sunk into the sand, listing to port.

Beached Fishing Boat, Salmon Creek, Sonoma Coast

It was nice day and the beach was crowded. I am sure many of the people who came out to enjoy an early Autumn walk along the coast were surprised to see this boat stuck in the sand. It was hard to get a shot without lots of onlookers in the frame.

The Verna A II, home port Fort Bragg, CA

This was the first roll of film I had run through my Nikon F2A since getting her back from a Sover Wong tune-up. I think the F2A's old meter did a pretty good job helping me with my exposures on this slightly hazy day. The afternoon was perfect--a slight breeze and warm sunshine. I wandered down the beach and clicked off a few more frames of Tmax 100.

I feel that I am in sort of sweet spot now in my film photography hobby. I have a "garage" full of working vintage cameras, most of which have been restored to as designed functionality. It's fun to pick up a camera I haven't used in a while and get to know it again. While not as thrilling as taking a classic Porsche or an old American muscle car for a Sunday spin, my little collection of old cameras has provided hours of fun.

One Little Thing

With all that's going on in the world, it's easy to think that the little things just don't matter. It's a pretty big planet and it's hard to imagine something you or I can do that'll much make a difference anywhere. I think about that sometimes when I stop to separate my trash from the recyclables or make a conscious effort to use less water. At my age, at this point, do these little things really matter?

My thinking on all this got a kick in the butt last weekend as I stood in the drizzle on Scotty's Beach on the Northern California coast and watched volunteers from the Marine Mammal Center release rescued seals and sea lions back into the Pacific Ocean. Each year, scores of local volunteers respond to calls about injured animals. Once the calls come in, the Center responds and evaluates the sick or injured animal. Seals and sea lions that are treatable are transported to facilities in Sausalito where they are cared for and nursed back to health.

Once these treated animals have recovered, they are released back into the wild. During the release I witnessed, two sea lions and a harbor seal scampered happily down the sand and back into the ocean. Anyone who has visited the Northern California coast knows that the Pacific Coast Highway clings for dear life along the cliffs and beaches here. Parking is at a premium, but on this morning a local rancher opened up one of his pastures and volunteers escorted everyone through the cow pies for easy parking on the inland side of the highway. Several folks held taught a heavy rope so those not so sure footed could make a safe decent from the roadside down to the beach. About 50 or so onlookers shared umbrellas as a rare October storm blew through before clearing just a few minutes prior to the release.

Looking north up the Pacific Coast Highway at Scotty's Beach

My motor-driven Nikon F4 with a nice telephoto, loaded with some high speed color film would have been the better choice for this event, but I had no idea what I would be seeing that day and the rainy morning kept me from bringing my more valuable gear. My Pentax Spotmatic was loaded with Eastman 5222 black and white film so I grabbed that thinking I could keep it dry under my windbreaker. Excuse my exposures, messy compositions and flare from shooting into the sun which just broke through as the little harbor seal left his transport and headed home.

We were told to be quiet during the release so as not to distract the seal. Volunteers held wood boards to coax the animal back towards the sea if it ventured into the crowd. Outside of the sound of the surf, all I could hear were the people standing next to me gasping in amazement as the little patient made his way back into the water, finally disappearing into the foam. The crowd applauded and I looked around and watched people wiping tears from their eyes, everyone realizing at once how special what we had just witnessed really was.

Next up, the release of two sea lions which had been transported from Sausalito to Bodega Bay in a special container built by inmates at San Quentin Prison.

The folks from the Center told us that the two sea lions might touch noses, a sign of affection towards each other, as they headed towards the water. To everyone's delight, they did just a moment after I took this photo. No motor-drive...drat!

As they headed home, they would occasionally stop and survey the humans along the barrier ropes. I considered that maybe they were stopping to say "thank you." It's easy for us to try and transpose human thought and emotions on other creatures, but it didn't really matter. As strange as it may sound, for that moment, on that beach, I felt a bond. Mammals helping other mammals. And then, they were gone.

The crowd dispersed slowly, quietly. It was almost as if we had all attended a religious ceremony. It was for me. A representative from the Marine Mammal Center told us that the merchants down in Bodega Bay were donating a percentage of their profits that day to the Center and I saw familiar faces from the release event back in town, shopping and having lunch. I know, in the big scheme of things, returning a seal and two sea lions to the ocean doesn't change much, but it made me realize that people CAN individually and collectively do really good and important things. 

2016 has been a year of startling environmental awareness for me. As I drove into the Southern entrance of Yosemite and saw the effects of California's long drought on mountain vegetation or shot photos of crab fishing boats at Bodega Bay idled because warmer ocean waters grew algae that made the crab toxic, it's become evident to me that we need to take action...now.

All the good little things we do ARE important because they add up to big things. 

A Sunday Walk on The Beach

During the nearly three decades I lived in Arizona, it was common each Summer for the multitudes of desert dwellers to make a seasonal trek over to the beaches of Southern California to escape the heat. In San Diego, they even had a name for us--Zonies. Just like the "Snowbirds", those Winter visitors from Minnesota, Illinois and other snowbound states who stream into Arizona around Thanksgiving each year to flee the cold, the Zonies would flock to San Diego, Orange County beaches and Santa Barbara to frolic in California's near perfect Summer weather.

SoCal beaches are packed during the Summer, so it always amazes me when I can take a Sunday stroll on one of the beaches close to my home on the Sonoma Coast and hardly see a soul. Such was the case on a recent Sunday. The sun was out and the temperatures were warm (by Northern California standards). A perfect day for a Sunday walk on the beach.

Pentax Spotmatic SPII with 50mm f/1.4 Super Multi-Coated Takumar

I'm still getting to know my Pentax Spotmatic and decided to load it with some Ultrafine 100 black and white film. I bought a stash of this film a few years ago and each time I have used it, the results have not been satisfying. The Ultrafine I bought came in 24 exposure rolls, which I thought would be perfect for a Sunday stroll. And with so many rolls of this stuff staring at me from the refrigerator shelf, it was time to start using it up.

As you can see, I had the beach pretty much to myself...

I've found that a bright day on the beach with sand, water and rocks can mess up some in-camera meters, but the old Spotmatic's TTL meter did a decent job I think.

Some spot metering on the rocks in this next shot would have helped me bring out the detail on the rock faces, but it's not bad as is...

I came across a couple sitting on the beach, letting their little dog play in the waves. I had a good time watching this pup dart in and out of the water, running for his life as the big-to-him waves came slapping back against the shore.

My results this time with Ultrafine were pleasing. There's nice tonality, sharpness and relatively little grain. Perhaps this film just finds it's sweet spot through these Super Takumar lenses. Maybe the light was just right. 

I grabbed one more shot of this guy, contemplating the sea before the sun set.

I've really been thinking a lot that I should find one black and white film and use it exclusively. Really learn how to expose it correctly. Start processing it at home and find a developer that really makes it sing. Just about the time I think that film is Tmax 100 or Acros or Tri-X, I shoot a roll of something else and it makes me pause. I've pretty much settled on Kodak's Portra 400, exposed at half the box speed, as my color film. The clear choice in black and white emulsions in still elusive.

The Spotmatic

There really aren't a lot of advantages to getting older. The "with age comes wisdom" thing is overrated. Your hair thins or turns gray or both. You put weight on more easily. Your knees hurt, your joints ache. You find yourself saying the same things that made you cringe when your father said them..."Things were certainly a lot better, simpler, quieter, easier back in my day."

I suppose one advantage to being around this long and living during the five decades that the world transitioned from analog to digital, is that the expensive cameras that I looked at as a kid through the window of the local camera store or stared for hours at in the pages of photography magazines are now readily available, inexpensive and serviceable. Better yet, the affordability of analog cameras has given me the opportunity to try some that I never would have if they weren't dirt cheap. And several of these have pleasantly surprised me.

One such camera was the Olympus OM-2n that I wrote about a while back. More recently, it's been the Pentax Spotmatic. This is a camera that I have mostly always ignored for its quirky stop down metering and reliance on Mercury batteries. Recently though, I've been reading up on the Spotmatic years at Pentax and the incredible Takumar lenses that they were making for these cameras. I was surprised to learn that Asahi Optical Company (Pentax) was the first camera manufacturer to put through-the-lens (TTL) metering in a 35mm SLR. Now back in 1963, TTL metering was space age stuff! This new method of metering made it simple for photographers to take better pictures more consistently. The Spotmatics sold like hotcakes!

This was also a time when Japanese camera and lens manufacturers were striving for high quality. Asahi Pentax was set on outdoing Leica and the story goes that the 50 and 55mm Super Takumars cost more to make than the company could competitively sell them for. The more I read, the more I wanted to try some of this great Pentax glass. And what better platform to shoot them on than the cameras they were designed for.

It took me a while to find a decent Spotmatic. While there are lots and lots of them for sale on eBay, many of them have been used hard and not stored properly. The first one I bought for $24 arrived with corrosion around the lens mount which was not evident on the photos and not disclosed by the seller. The second one I bought seemed to work ok at first, then the mirror locked up. Once I got it unstuck, oodles and oodles of black specks of mirror foam and other nasties came pouring out of the camera. In addition, upon close inspection, the battery chamber had some corrosion which had crept deep into the camera body. I'm only $32 out of pocket at this point, so I decide to try another route. 

Sometimes, the best place to buy an old camera is from the few people left out there who are servicing them. I found Eric Hendrickson on the Web. Eric specializes in restoring Pentax film cameras and I wrote and asked him if he had any Spotmatics for sale that have been CLAd. A few emails back and forth and a freshly restored Spotmatic SP was waiting for me at the Post Office! 

The camera I received from Eric worked as designed. I also picked up a 50mm f/1.4 Super Takumar on eBay. The Super Tak I bought is one of the "radioactive" Pentax lenses. Lens manufacturers were using the radioactive element Thorium on lens elements in those days. It's what causes the yellowing you see on lots of old Takumars. I don't know what effect the yellowing has on photographs. I imagine it acts as a mild yellow filter in black and white photography and perhaps adds a yellowish cast to color photos. I'm not sure. I haven't shot any color film in my Spotmatic yet, only some expired Kodak Plus-X. Here's a shot of a really expensive bottle of wine I decided to open one night. The Pentax lens gave this a buttery, dreamy feeling.

One of the issues I have with lots of cameras is the ability to focus correctly with my eyesight. I wear +1.75 readers and on my Nikon cameras I use a +0.5 diopter. Some of my cameras, like the Nikon F4, Contax RX and Olympus OM-4 have built in adjustable diopters. The Spotmatics don't and without having a split-image focusing aid in the viewfinder, I had some difficulty knowing if my shots were in focus. I've since picked up a little +1.00 diopter lens that slides over the Pentax viewfinder and presto--clear focusing! Out on my deck, I snapped a shot of a fishing buoy that I found on the beach. I hung the buoy up and I like looking at it, wondering where it's been. I think the old metering cell in the Spotmatic did a good job here.

The Spotmatic arrived a few days before a planned trip to Yosemite. I tossed it into my bag along with the Nikon FM2n (loaded with Portra 400) and the Olympus OM-2n (loaded with Tmax 100). I thought it might be fun to shoot some vintage Plus-X in the park.

The porch light outside my room at the Ahwahnee Hotel.

And one of a million shots I took of Half Dome.

I found the Spotmatic to be a pleasant camera to use. I liked it a lot more than I expected. The stop down metering is a bit awkward at first, but after a while it becomes second nature. This is a camera that can teach beginners quite a bit about the fundamentals of photography: exposure and depth-of-field. It also turns out that the 1.35v Mercury battery thing is a non-issue. The Spotmatic has metering circuitry that works just fine with 1.5v button cell batteries. The Mercury cells were a little larger than the 1.5v versions, but Batteries+ sells one with a rubber grommet attached and it works just great! Once I got my hands on a Spotmatic that was working properly, I found myself wanting to shoot it more and more. I have quite a few rolls of film yet to develop. 

I went looking for another Super Takumar lens that didn't have the yellowish tint and that lens came attached to a Spotmatic SPII. I also picked up the last in the Spotmatic line, the ESII. ES stands for Electro-Spotmatic. This final camera in the series features aperture-priority automation and open-aperture metering. I also bought a 28mm Super Tak on eBay and that lens came with the H3v body, which is the father of the Spotmatic series. This entire Pentax adventure has cost me less than one of my Nikon F2 bodies.

The Spotmatic is a well made, minimalist camera that mates with very a impressive arsenal of fine optics. There are also lots of M42 Pentax screw mount lenses from other manufacturers that work on the Spotmatic. I'm looking forward to trying some of those as well.

I need to get to know this camera system better, but for right now...it's a keeper!

Cheers!

My Continuing Adventures with the 55mm Micro-Nikkor

I've gotten more use out of and had more fun with my 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens than any other piece of photographic equipment I own.

Nikon F2AS with 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor Lens

As I've been sorting and archiving some of my photography to back up cloud storage, I am realizing how many pleasing images I have made with this lens. Mostly just shooting around the house on an otherwise boring and unproductive day. Here are some of my favorites.

Prices on these lenses go up and down. I've seen them as cheap as a buck a millimeter and as high as $200. They are readily available. Since the front element is recessed, the glass on these is usually scratch free. And the 55 Micro-Nikkor is from the metal and glass Nikon lens era, so they're virtually indestructible. If you shoot Nikon F mount, this is a fun macro lens that you can also use as your walk around normal.

Rainy day selfie, Nikon F2AS, 55mm Micro-Nikkor

Reel to Real

When it comes to developing my own film, I've never become proficient at loading film on to stainless steel reels. I tried it 40 years ago and fumbled around in the dark so much that I ended up buying the Paterson ratchet-load plastic reels and tanks and have used them ever since. They're easy...super easy to load.

That doesn't keep me from admiring and buying a few stainless steel tank sets every now and again. I use one on my desk to hold odds and ends. And over the years, they've become favorite subjects of mine for close up photography.

Nikon F2 with 55mm Micro-Nikkor

Nikon F2 with 55mm Micro-Nikkor

iPhone 5s

Olympus OM2n

After shooting my way through Nikon, Contax, Pentax, Leica, Hasselblad, Canon, Mamiya, Konica and a few others, I am going to make a pretty bold statement here. And I've given a lot of thought to this, because I sometimes read camera reviews where the author says things like "I'll never need another rangefinder" or "the best darn SLR bar none," and then a few reviews later, is making even grander statements about his or her next camera. Believe me, I understand how easy it is to jump up and down about a new/old camera.

Here, I try and be as objective as I can when I write about cameras, but the truth is that I love learning about them and using them. Sometimes, it's hard to be objective when you've spent months looking at and researching the subject of your photographic desire, searching the eBay ads or the listings at KEH Camera, then finally finding just the one you want at just the price you can afford. It arrives, you carefully open the box and hold it for the first time. Enthusiasm and pride swells. You hold the camera to your eye, push the film advance and fire the shutter. Ahhh. Bliss. This new camera euphoria can last for a while and I find it best not to put my thoughts down while I am under the spell because I will most likely gush praise. After a few weeks and a roll or two, after carrying the camera around on a busy street or up a hiking trail, after having it along side me for a bit, I am in a better position to write a more honest piece.

So now back to my bold statement: If I had to sell all of my cameras and keep just one, it would be the Olympus OM2n. Yep...the Olympus OM2n. Now I hope I don't have to sell them anytime soon and life certainly wouldn't be as much fun if I did, but I'm pretty sure I could snap away for the rest of my days with this cool little SLR and be very happy. This is a camera that just makes you want to pick it up, hold it and use it. After living with it, using it, carrying it around...this is a wonderful camera!

Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko

The OM2 was a 1975 improvement over the revolutionary OM1 which debuted in 1972. The OM1 was a manual, mechanical SLR. The OM2 added aperture-priority auto-exposure driven by a revolutionary TTL/off the film plane metering system.

Olympus turned the camera world on end when it introduced the OM cameras. Up until that time, SLRs were getting bigger and heavier. Olympus went the opposite direction and shrunk the package down to a very compact size. I'm beginning to appreciate small, light cameras. I suppose this is what I like so much about the Leica M bodies. So it's no surprise that these OM cameras feel so good in my hand. Olympus designers took their cues from the Leica M rangefinders, so much so that the OM1 was originally called an M1, until Leica threw a fit and Olympus conceded.

The first OM cameras sold like crazy. Nikon and Pentax took notice and downsized their cameras as well, beginning a trend towards more compact and feature-laiden cameras that would last until the end of the film era. Olympus would release four OM single digit cameras for professional/advanced users: OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4.  Refinements to each would add a letter: OM1n, OM2n, OM3T, etc. The consumer OM cameras got two digits: OM10, OM20, etc.

I bought my OM2n from Camera West here in California for $85. They installed new seals for me for free before shipping, one of the benefits of dealing with a retailer who values satisfied, repeat customers. I had already picked up a 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko OM lens in anticipation. 

The first thing you notice about an OM2n compared to say..a Nikon F2..is size and weight. The OM cameras are much smaller and lighter, yet feel just as nicely made. Maybe I am imagining it, but the OM2n feels more "dense" than my other SLRs. I suppose because there's so much packed into a smaller package. One also has to get used to the shutter speed control around the lens mount rather than on the top of the camera. Beyond the unusual placement of the shutter speed control, everything else on this camera is traditional,  well placed and intuitive. 

Top view of the OM2n

The camera takes two common SR44 batteries. There's a four position switch on the top of the camera that you push up for battery test (a red LED glows on the camera back if the battery is good), down once for AUTO mode, down one more for OFF and straight down for MANUAL control.

The viewfinder is HUGE. I say that again...the viewfinder is HUGE! It's one of the things that makes this camera such a delight to use. The metering display is joyfully analog simple. AUTO mode displays a needle showing the shutter speed that the camera has decided on, based on the aperture you've selected. MANUAL mode shows a + and - . Center the needle and you've nailed exposure. 

I carried the OM2n most everywhere with me for a couple of weeks. It's so small that it disappeared into my HEX laptop bag that I carry to the office with me each day. I've worn it for hours over my shoulder on a Think Tank gripper strap and hardly noticed it. In use, the OM2n feels just right in my hand. This is a thoughtfully designed, solid, metal, well balanced SLR that feels so good, you just want to shoot and shoot.

I loaded up a roll of Kodak Portra 400 in the camera as my first roll, only remembering after I had advanced the film to the first frame that this roll was from an expired batch. Oh well, it wasn't that expired. My first shot with the OM2n was on my way to work one morning. I dropped my mail at the little Post Office in Bodega and grabbed the camera from my bag to get a shot of the local surf shop across the street. This little business is a repeat subject of mine. The colorful store front graphics look good in color and black and white.

Surf Shop, Bodega, CA  Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko on Kodak Portra 400

I've gotten to the point in my life where I need to shed a few pounds, so I've made some lifestyle changes. In addition to a new gluten free diet plan, daily exercise is part of my day. Mostly brisk walks around my neighborhood. I carried the OM2n with me and got some late season blooms.

Coastal Flowers   Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko on Kodak Portra 400

Coastal Flowers   Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko on Kodak Portra 400

It's a luxury living close enough to the beach to be able to take a walk along it whenever I want. It's a luxury I never take for granted. Here's my path down to the sand.

Path to Doran Beach, Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko, Expired Portra 400

It was an overcast day with a fairly calm sea. Perfect for kayaking.

Kayaker off the Sonoma Coast   Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko on Kodak Portra

Even an overcast day is a nice day on the beach...

Sonoma Coast   Olympus OM2n, 50mm f/1.4 Zuiko on Kodak Portra

And of course, when I got home, the obligatory selfie...

Me with the OM2n on expired Portra 400

Olympus never achieved the status of Canon or Nikon during the 1970s--what I consider to be the Golden Age of 35mm film SLRs. Even though they offered motor drives and a suite of really good Zuiko lenses, their big Japanese competitors dominated the professional and advanced amateur markets. I realize now how much Nikon and Canon's marketing and dominance still influenced me 40 years later, making me come very late to the Olympus party. I'm sorry now that I waited so long. The Olympus OM2n is an impressive, very capable camera that is still very relevant today for anyone wanting to shoot film. 

How much have I loved shooting the OM2n? Enough to buy a second in black!

Double trouble

A few shots from a Sunday stroll...

Each time I load a roll of Kodak Plus-X 125 into one of my cameras, the importance of the moment is not lost on me. I'm down to just a handful of rolls of this iconic film. Yeah, I know...it's just film...but Plus-X, along with venerable Tri-X, were the films I cut my photographic teeth on. I like shooting it, both for the nostalgic pleasure and the satisfying results it provides.

Spooling some Plus-X into the early 1960s vintage Leica M2 with same vintage Canon 50mm f/1.4 LTM lens and I've got a retro and fun kit for a beach stroll. It was a Sunday afternoon and the sun began burning through the marine layer, so I headed out. Here are some shadows on my deck...

Some foam on the beach...

As is typical along the Sonoma Coast, the marine layer obscured the sun not long after I started walking the beach. Not a great day for a slower film like Plus-X, but still okay...

Of course, by the time I returned home, the sun was again poking through the gray. Here's a closer shot of shadows and light on my patio furniture.

The Leica M2 is my favorite M body. It's simple, small, feels great in your hand and I think it has the most satisfying shutter sound of any Leica. I just love using it! The Canon 50mm f/1.4 is a mate to my Canon P rangefinder, but with the M to LTM Leica adapter, the screw mount Canon lens mounts nicely to the M2 and brings up the 50mm frame lines perfectly. And I think this vintage lens renders nicely on Plus-X.