"You too?"

When I'm out walking around I must admit I do what I believe that most other people - that are interested in cameras and photography - do: I check out other people's camera gear.
In these 'digital days' I have on several occasions noticed that there is some sort of acknowledgment or 'nod' between people that sport some sort of film-camera and it often leads to a casual, passing conversation about the equipment used.

Browsing a larger department store a few weeks ago I came upon a gentleman that I spotted - or should I say his Leicaflex - at quite a distance. I was carrying a black Olympus 35SP over the shoulder and the previously described 'You too?' expressions were soon exchanged - along with a photo. The 'unknown photographer' was visiting from Taiwan and when I commented that it was a great camera he had brought with him he was quick to comment on that the Leicaflex SL 2 was a much better version. A few minutes later we were both on our separate ways, disappearing into a sea of camera phones and digital points-and-shoots.

Leicaflex SL user
Olympus 35SP, Kodak Tri-X 400

Camera Heaven

They are disappearing - but when you find a good one it's truly heavenly..
I'm talking about good old fashioned camera stores.

In 2003 David Tran opened up his camera store Camera Heaven in what is now San Francisco's "Little Saigon" neighbourhood. It's one of those smaller stores that it would be easy to walk straight past if you didn't know it was there - but once you step through the door you can feast your eyes upon hundreds of cameras ranging from older models from Rolleiflex, Contax, Leica and Canon to the latest in digital P&S and dSLR's.

David himself is often found behind the counter with camera parts in his hands as camera repair represents a significant part of his business. On my latest visit a few weeks ago he happened to mention that the sale of film cameras was steadily going up. Maybe there is life after the pixels.

If you get a chance drop by. Who knows - maybe you'll walk out with that nice, black little Contax I or Pentax Spotmatic I saw there.

David at Camera Heaven
Photo taken with an Olympus 35SP and Kodak BW400CN film

Note: Little Saigon is part of the Tenderloin district and spreads over about two city blocks. While it may not be the most upscale area of the city it is the home of many smaller, quality stores such as Camera Heaven. In 2004, with about 80% of the store owners being of Vietnamese heritage, the area applied for - and received - a $20,000 neighbourhood fund from the city that is being used for clean-up and branding.

What a Trip - Part #1

Introduced in 1968 the Olympus Trip 35 camera still have a huge user base and is somewhat of a cult camera.

Being a fan of the Compact 35-line of Olympus cameras I obviously have one (actually two or three - but who's counting) but the sad thing is that I couldn't remember how well - or if 'well' at all - it performed so I loaded it up with a roll of Tri-X 400 and took it to the streets of San Francisco this past weekend.

I will post the actual results in a few days but until then here is some information about the camera itself.

My black Olympus Trip 35

Another 'glamour shot' of it

Production
As mentioned above the Trip 35 was introduced in 1968 (even though you may read some incorrect statements about 1967 on some sites) and until the production was discontinued in 1984 supposedly 10 million cameras were produced. This also means that finding and buying a Trip 35 today is very easy and you won't have to break the bank to get one (expect to pay anything from $5 - $40 depending on the shape the camera is in).


Using the camera
When talking about the controls of this camera 'less is more' comes to mind.

First of all there are no batteries in this camera. It has a built in selenium meter (the metering cells are located in a circle around the lens giving the camera that special look that some love - and some hate) that works independently of batteries. What is interesting here is that selenium cells don't last forever and many cameras that depend on them are no longer functioning - but the meter in most Olympus Trip 35s seems to hum along just fine (however DO ask if the meter is working before buying one because if it doesn't the camera will not work).

Tip: One easy, rough test to see if the meter is active is to 1) point the camera towards a very dark - or very bright - area and press the shutter. If the meter is active a red flag should appear in the viewfinder and you won't be able to take a photo (this also implies a shutter speed slower than 1/40th or faster than 1/200th) and then to 2) use the camera in daylight where you should be able to fully depress the shutter.

So how do you focus? Well, the camera is using what is commonly referred to as 'scale focusing' (also often referred to as 'guess focusing'...). Note though that when shooting at 1m (or closer) you should pay attention to the small 'parallax frameline markers' in the viewfinder).

As far as aperture settings are concerned you have four options: 'portrait', 'couple', 'group' and 'far away' - these settings are all available on the lens mount, represented by icons, and is the only kind of focusing you will have to worry about.

When you are looking through the viewfinder the distance-icon you selected is cleverly displayed in the lower right-hand corner as per below:

In the smaller window one can see that the (A)utomatic and 'couple' settings are active

Tip: If you look at the opposite side of the lens mount you can see the 'actual' distances that these icons represents (1m, 1.5m, 3m and infinity).

There is no way of adjusting the shutter speeds. Unless you're using a flashgun - set the aperture ring to "A" (for automatic) and the camera will automatically determine if to use 1/40th or 1/200th (which are the only two shutter speeds available). In 'manual' mode only 1/40th is made available.
Note: See in the Link-section below for some 'advanced' tips on how to modify the camera to work around this limitation.

The lens is a four-elements (in three groups) D.Zuiko 40/2.8 and I will hopefully later this week find out for myself if how it performs but knowing the Zuiko line of lenses I have fairly high hopes.

So far it's been a really fun camera to use and when the photos comes back later this week I hope I will be able to recommend it based on performance as well. For approx. $15 it seems hard to go wrong...


Trivia
* A series of Olympus TV and print commercials in the 70's and 80's featuring the famous British photographer David Bailey using the Trip 35 helped elevating the camera to the cult status it holds today.
The catchphrase from these commercials was "Who do you think you are - David Bailey?"
One of the original commercials can be seen here: LINK (requires Realplayer).

* Bailey is still actively involved with Olympus and their advertising work - example.

* The Trip 35 came in three versions;
a) Chrome body and chrome shutter release (first version),
b) Chrome body and black shutter release,
c) Black body and black shutter release

Version 'a' above features a brass gear driving the take-up spool while versions 'b' and 'c' uses a Delrin (plastic) gear.

*Filter thread is 43.mm and the camera will accept a hood as well


Related Links
Olympus Trip 35 - Scanned Manual (PDF)
Adding manual shutter control
Another manual control modification
Olympus 35 Site with photo gallery
Olympus History
Japanese Trip 35 Ad
Japanese Trip 35 Ad #2
Olympus Trip 35 Flickr group

Silverscreen Legends

A few months ago the Castro movie theatre in San Francisco featured all three of the 1950's Creature from the Black Lagoon movies - in true 3-D !!
After taking off the 3D glasses and clearing the head a bit (those plastic, coloured glasses makes you dizzy..) one could go upstairs and meet two of the original cast members: Julie Adams (the beauty) and Ben Chapman (the 'beast') - (a photo of both of them from the movie set: Beauty and the Beast).

The light was dim up on the second floor where autographs were being signed and various pieces of Lagoon-memorabilia were on display (and for sale). I wish I had brought some faster film but below are some snaps of the two actors - using a Leica M3 and Tri-X 400 (at about 1/15th).

Ben Chapman signing autographs
Leica M3, Summicron 50/2, Tri-X 400

Julie Adams - still looking good
Leica M3, Summicron 50/2, Tri-X 400

Belated Halloween Photos

The Castro Halloween party is a tradition in San Francisco where thousands of dressed up people take to the streets and create a visual fest where it's as important to see as it is to be seen.

Unfortunately the event has been plagued by an increase in violence in the past few years and this year was no exception with a shooting injuring nine people and its future is uncertain. It was my first - and most likely last - visit to the event.

Walking around with my Leica M3 I took two rolls of Delta 3200 and I finally got around to developing and scanning them. I am not used to film faster than 400 (occasionally 800 and 1600) so the high amount of grain in the Delta 3200 film caused a bit of a post-processing pain. I ended up settling on a work-flow where I increased the contrast more than usual and the applying some grain reduction through NeatImage which gave me a look closer to what I liked.

Below are some sample photos from the two rolls:

Contax IIIa in the park

Took my Contax IIIa with a Sonnar 50/1.5 lens with me to the park a few weeks ago. It was one of those overcast days that lends itself so well to black and white photography - but in all honesty I just wanted to finish the roll of Tri-X that had been held captive in the camera for weeks and weeks :)

It was also nice to shoot some 'real' black and white film after having used so much C-41 film over the past few months.

Contax IIIa, Sonnar 50/1.5, Tri-X 400

Contax IIIa, Sonnar 50/1.5, Tri-X 400

Upgraded to Blogger Beta

A few days ago I took the leap and transferred my blog to Blogger's new Beta version.
So far everything looks OK..

There are some administrative options that makes this version a step up from the older one and publishing new posts is significantly improved.

Both uploaded and linked photos are displaying OK and the slidebar from slide.com is working as before.

No big changes for the reader - but I hope you'll continue to enjoy the site anyway.

Getting Closer....

The results I got a few weeks ago from using the NOOKY inspired me to try to get even closer to the subjects while still using my Leica III (F). After some googling and general browsing I found something that may prove to be an interesting option - Leica Close-Up filters.

My friend eBay was kind enough to sell me an ELPIK (#2 magnification) and ELPET (#3 magnification) for the agreeable sum of $0.99. It cost more than that to have them shipped from the Czech Republic where the seller was located but they finally arrived - and in great condition:

Now, anyone who knows anything about rangefinders will by now raise the question "How does one use close-up filters on a camera where you don't look through the lens?".
Leica came up with a quite brilliant and simple solution - that also can double as a deadly weapon for pets and plants around you - the BEOOY!

Photographer with a BEOOY adapter and a #2 or #3 supplementary front lens
Photo © Leitz Auxiliary Reproduction Devices, 1939

Assuming the cat was not impaled on the extended focusing legs the result would look like this:

Unharmed cat
Photo © Leitz Auxiliary Reproduction Devices, 1939

The 'setting device' BEOOY, shown two photos up, screws onto the lens and helps determine the correct distance and perspective when using one of the close-up filters. Depending on what filter you use - you adjust the legs and then 'frame' your subject by the four legs and move the camera until the legs touches the subject (or in the case of a cat - until it's 'close enough').

Another photo showing how framing and distance settings are accomplished using the BEOOY below:

A far less dangerous use of the BEOOY
Photo © Leitz Auxiliary Reproduction Devices, 1932

The BEOOY is a slightly different device compared to the other Leitz close-up devices from that time (BELUN, BESUM, BEINS BEKUR and BEHOO) in that there is no extension ring mounted between the camera body and lens. It is not able to go quite as close as the other devices - but it's more compact, allows for more rapid mounting and was - in the 1930's - the cheaper option for those that wanted to get closer to their subjects:

1939 price-list:
BELUN: $10.80
BESUM: $10.80
BEINS: $9.00
BEHOO: $15.00
BEKUR: $12.00

BEOOY: $7.80

It may not sound like a big price difference but $7.80 is about $120 in 2006-money and with an average yearly salary in 1939 of $1,368 that eight bucks could sure mean a lot (by the way - a Hershey bar was $0.05).

So, I got the close-up filters and now I'm on the look-out for the pet-piercing clamp-on legs before I can put them to use and post some sample photos here.

Also:
Note I: There was also a #1 close-up filter produced named "ELPRO"
Note II: Leitz also sold a close-up adapter named BEVOR that as far as I can tell is identical to the BEOOY. If anyone have any information about any differences between the two please do let me know.

(For more in-depth information about how to use the BEOOY see the pages below):

Olympus 35 ECR - Abandon all control

In my continued efforts to try to run more film through my less used cameras (in some cases the first roll through them...) I this past weekend decided to take my Olympus 35 ECR out for a spin.

Now, first a small disclaimer/explanation: The Olympus 35 ECR does NOT work without batteries and it will be the first battery-dependent camera I am talking about on this blog. I'm simply including it as it's a rangefinder camera in the classic Olympus-35 series (well, that and the fact that I felt like posting something) that I found that I liked more than I remembered.

About the Olympus 35 ECR

This is a very small, compact camera that sports a true rangefinder (with a fairly good viewfinder and focus spot). 'ECR' stands for Electronically Controlled Rangefinder and 'electronically controlled' in this case means that you abandon all control over the exposure settings. After setting the filmspeed (up to ISO 800) all you do is focus and shoot as the camera automatically determines the correct exposure. You won't even know what settings were used as they are not displayed in the viewfinder. In a way this puts this camera in the point-and-shoot category - but hey, it's a P&S with a rangefinder!

The lens is, as far as I've been able to tell, identical to the lens found on it's bigger brother the Olympus 35 RC. As such, the five elements 42/2.8 E.Zuiko lens is an excellent performer and provided both sharp and contrasty images.

The shutter is a Seiko-ESF leaf shutter with speeds between four seconds and up to 1/800th and is, as mentioned above, fully controlled by the built-in CdS meter.

Battteries. Yes, batteries. They are required here as the camera will not function without them. Should you ever come across one of these little beauties on eBay the odds are high that the seller will describe the camera as not working. Pop two A640PX 1.5v batteries in and the camera may well come back to life. (Batteries can be purchased from a number of places, including photobattery.com).

Using the camera is a nice 'break' and quite liberating in that composition and focusing are the only things in your control. Walking around with the camera I found myself working much faster and really enjoying myself.
It is no Leica when it comes to build-quality. The thumbwheel on the back of the camera (instead of an advance lever) feels cheap and it's also hard to squeeze off the shutter which may make this less of an ideal camera in low-light situations.

In summary I really enjoyed using it and would recommend anyone interested in a 'point-and-shoot-rangefinder-camera' (come on, who isn't?!) to take a second look at this 1970's compact jewel.

What to pay?
I believe I paid about $15-20 for my camera and that still seems like a likely price point. How's that for a good deal?

Some photos from the past weekend's outing with this camera (oh, and it's so small that it fit into my jeans pocket) using a roll of XP2 Super:







A scanned copy of the manual is available here.

Halloween

Hope you all had a happy - and safe Halloween!

Leica M3, Summicron 50/2, XP2 Super

Leica M3, Summicron 50/2, XP2 Super

Ragnar Axelsson's "Faces Of The North"

Some months ago I stumbled upon a book by Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson with some of the more stunning photos I've seen depicting life in rural areas where snow, cold and wind is an almost constant factor.

The book, titled "Faces of the North", features about one hundred powerful images taken over the past decade and a half. Through the images the reader gets exposed to some of the vanishing lifestyles in the North Atlantic (Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands) and the struggles - and joy - of life in these regions.

Born in 1958, Ragnar Axelsson is probably Iceland's most famous photographer. He has worked as a staff photographer for the Icelandic newspaper "Morning Paper" since 1976 and have had his work published in Life, National Geographics, Time and others.
Ragnar is also a recipient of the "Oskar Barnack Award" (2001) that is awarded to photographers whose "powers of observation most vividly express man's relationship to his environment".


Ragnar was kind enough to send me a free, signed copy of his book - and just returning from an assignment up in the mountains where he photographed sheep roundups across over a hundred mountaintops he was more than happy to provide some additional information about his photography.
=======================================================================================
What camera(s) were you using for taking the photos in the book "Faces of the North"?
Ragnar: I used a Leica M4-P and Leica M6. I also use a Mamiya 7 (6x7 images), Linhof 6x12 and a few shots are taken with a Pentax 6x7.

Do you have any film preference when you go on assignments like these and if so which one(s)?
Ragnar: I used mostly Kodak Tri-X - but I did end up also using Kodak Technical Pan 25 which I rated at 50. I find it to be a difficult film to develop - but the results are great. I am currently trying to use Kodak TMAX 100 and I like it a lot as the grain is very fine - but Tri-X is still close to a perfect film I think.

How did you end up using Leica cameras?
Ragnar: I've used Leicas since 'the beginning' since my father, who was an avid photographer himself, used them and I find the lenses to be great.

How did the Leicas perform during what seems to be quite extreme weather conditions?
Ragnar: In the colder climates like in Greenland it was the only camera that still worked perfectly through the cold without getting stuck. I can't say the same about my Mamiya and a Canon that I tried out on that trip.
The cold got down to -40 Celcius (-40 Fahrenheit).

What lenses do you bring with you when shooting images like the ones featured in this book?
Ragnar: Most of the time I used lenses with a focal length from 21mm up to 50mm on my Leica(s) and a 43mm on my Mamiya 7. I also brought a 200mm lens for my Pentax camera in case there would be polar bears coming in a bit close. I prefer wider lenses and really only use long lenses when I do editorial work in sports and news for my paper. Doing documentary work I much rather prefer wide lenses.

Who are your own icons - or who inspires you?
Ragnar: There are many. I look at photographs from all around the world and many photographers makes me feel happy just seeing their work.
I do like the old masters like W. Eugene Smith a lot and the old LIFE photographers which I think were great and they inspiered me a lot. Mary Ellen Mark is a good friend of mine and I like her work and her passion for photography a lot. Henry Cartier bresson is also one of my favorite.
Nowadays I think James Nachtwey is one of the greatest ones - he is quiet and is always showing some great stuff.
=======================================================================================

I personally really enjoyed "Faces of the North" and can recommend it to anyone interested in photography with a strong human focus. The book - which is in tritone B&W and printed on high quality paper - can be ordered from the publisher (Edda Publishing) by emailing them at edda@edda.is

For more information and images see Ragnar Axelsson's online site

Audio-Photo Slideshow

Remember in school when you were forced to sit through those narrated slideshows about everything from 'Life on the Farm' to 'Secrets of the Depth'? Well, they're back. They're on-line and growing in popularity.

With so many more people accessing the internet through some sort of high-speed connection streaming audio and still images/videos are getting more and more popular. You will find this 'new/old phenomena' everywhere - from personal blogs and homepages to online newspapers and photo agencies (Magnum Photos being just one example).

A few weeks ago, Rob Galbraith wrote an interesting article about the growing popularity of online slideshows that you can read here.

I got curious and created a small test show myself named '94114'
(Click on the image below to view it - don't forget to turn up your volume).

(If the link above doesn't work try this one).

It was surpringly easy - and fun - to put together and it took less than two hours to create the slideshow. Much of that time was spent playing with the features and if I was to create a new one it could probably be done in an hours time (using recorded voices/ambient sound would ofcourse add significant editing time but could make for a much more interesting showing).

The tools I used for this test were all free;
* The Soundslides tool (not free-ware but allow you to use a demo-version until you've figured out if you want to purchase a copy),

* Free hosting of the files.
Note that soundslides doesn't create one quicktime file (or anything along those lines) but rather utilizes flash technology. This requires you to uplod a number of files/directories to a server that you then can point to (as in my link above). If you already have a server this is not an issue for you - but if you don't you will need some sort of free host. The one I used was www.webNG.COM. (Caution: It's free but the allocated bandwidth you get is pretty limited so if you are expecting a high number of people to access your slideshows it will most likely make sense to rent some server space from one of the many hosting services around).

So - you may have thought that the days of the A/V clubs were over but beware..they are alive and kicking..and they are coming to a site near you...

The Elusive One

The Olympus 35UC is often referred to as 'The Elusive One' or, equally jokingly, claimed that it is made out of 'Unobtanium' - all due to the rarity of the camera.
The 35UC is funtionally identical to the 35SPn cameras - and optically identical to the 35SP and 35SPn. The differences are purely cosmetic with some added black plastic around the view-/rangefinder windows and the version lettering. Therefore one could argue that the only reason anyone would seek out the 35UC over any of the other cameras mentioned above would be to expand their camera collection.

For some time ago I managed to end up with two of these cameras - without paying a huge 'collectors fee'.

Photo of one of my 35UCs:

I must admit that they have not seen much use since I bought them two-three years ago so it felt good when I took one of them out with me a few weeks ago when I headed down to San Francisco's Mission district. Its f/1.7 lens combined with some fast Neopan film allowed for some fun low-light handheld street shooting.

Olympus 35UC, Neopan 1600

Urban Dogs

People love dogs. People in cities love dogs. Here are a few snaps of urban dog-living from when walking around here in San Francisco.

Leica M3, Summicron 50/2

Leica M3, Summicron 50/2

Contax IIIa, Sonnar 50/1.5

Canon VT deluxe, Canon 50/1.4

Leica M3, Elmarit 90/2.8

Contax IIIa, Sonnar 50/1.5

8mm

I recently, by the spur of the moment, 'invested' seventy dollars into a kind of camera that is completely foreign to me. It's not 35mm, not medium format, not large format and not some obscure disk or glass-plate camera (even though I secrely probably would want one of those as well) - it's an 8mm Film camera.

The Bolex film cameras have a special reputation within film photograhy and even today you will find active users of their regular/double 8mm camera as well as the super-8 and 16mm formats.
Film and development options are still available online as well as over-the-counter.
Some cities like San Francisco are fortunate to have places like ActionCamera that provides a number of services for film photographers.

My Bolex D8La was the last version in the elegant line of regular/double 8mm cameras that the Swiss company Bolex Paillard put on the manufaturing lines in the 50's-60's.
It's a fully manual camera (with a built in CdS meter) that in this version takes up to three lenses. The lenses are mounted on a turning turret which makes changing focal-length a breeze.
The camera is a gorgeous piece of machinery covered in English leather.
It looks, colour, build quality - and even size reminds me of my Leica M3.

New in the mid-60's this camera and lens-kit sold for about $450 dollars - that is about $2,700 in today's money. Not an insignificant amount of money.

My particular camera is in need of some lubing and if all goes well I am hoping to shoot my first roll of Tri-X in it next week. Moving Tri-X. The mind boggles.

Below are some photos of my latest no-batty camera - this time a bit different.
(Coke can included for scale)

Ethel

A few weeks ago the Ethel Merman Experience was performing at the annual Castro street festival.
Below a photo taken at the end of the excellent performance.

Leica M3, Summicron 50/2

Hello - Anybody out there?

I thought it would be fun to see if there is 'anybody out there' that reads this blog - and if so where in the world you are located. All you need to add is your name and location and you'll appear on the map. :)

To Add yourself: Click 'Add' on the map below and enter your name and location.
To See the map (and the people on it): Use the zoom-tool (right side of the map) and then drag the map around around the world.

Get your free film

Kodak US is as part of promoting their new Portra film giving away 20,000 rolls for free.
To get your four rolls (35mm or 120) go to this site: Kodak Offer and sign up.
Offer is valid until Nov 22, 2006 and only available to US residents.

Update: As of Nov 13, 2006 this offer is no longer valid as the 20,000 available rolls have all been asked for.

Night Creatures

It had been quite some time since I last used my Hasselblad so one night I decided to take it out for a spin.
It happened to be 1am at night so I brought my newly acquired tripod with me as well (where the old one went I have no idea). I am by the way a notoriously horrible tripod buyer and user. People talk about Manfrotto/Bogen/Gitzo and various heads, etc, etc. I personally tend to go for the 30-40 dollar cheapo tripods that you find in the windows of your local Ritz or Wolf camera - designed to lure customers in with their low prices where they are talked into buying something better and more expensive. If it wasn't for me there would not be any rotation on these cheap display cameras.

I loaded up the camera-back with some Tri-X 400 in 120 format and into the night we went...

Night Creatures

Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm Planar, Tri-X 400

Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm Planar, Tri-X 400

Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm Planar, Tri-X 400 (pushed one stop)

Hasselblad 500C/M, 80mm Planar, Tri-X 400 (pushed one stop)