New rangefinder and a new type of film :)

Mycroft H

Bought a vivitar 35ES online a few months ago of 60 euros. Its basically a copy of the Konica S3, mainly sold in the US. Took it on holidays in connemara there a few weeks ago with a new type of film for me - black and white.










I used HP5 400 for the first time - an interesting experience. They turned out more grainier then I expected. Got them developed and scanned in camera exchange, though would have got them done in Gunns but they were on holidays

The N59 near Letterfrack took during a cycle.




Omey Island on the same cycle




Asleagh Falls




North of Lettergesh




To me it seems a decent little rangefinder - far more compact then any slr. Now Im not too sure whether the meter is entirely accurate but I'm happy.


Any opinions on the above photos would be nice

sNarah

Ooooh liking the results! Only point of "critique" I think of is that the contrast could be pushed a bit more and bring out the blacks, but that's how I like B&W. Lovely images.

Mycroft H

sNarah wrote: »

Ooooh liking the results! Only point of "critique" I think of is that the contrast could be pushed a bit more and bring out the blacks, but that's how I like B&W. Lovely images.

Thanks sNarah

Didn't do too much pp except on the first shot where I decreased the brightness slider a little bit. Might have another go editing them tomorrow.

Edit: The full set is on my Flickr

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> here

Fajitas!

From the thread title, I thought there was some product launch I'd not heard of, and there was going to be a brand spanking new rangefinder and a new film format for us to all give out over. Disappointed

But, back on topic, yes, excellent! I think every photographer should have a cheap rangefinder they can stuff in their pocket when they don't want to drag around a full kit.

I really like this one too; http://www.flickr.com/photos/52047412@N03/4796346456/ - Even with the finger in

Simplicius

Couple of comments on your results:

You have a great little camera. The metering seems fine to me, standard for these centre weighted rangefinders.

The lack of contrast evident is probably due to the following. (Here start the assumptions in order of probability)

1: you didn’t have a colour filter. You should nearly as a rule of thumb have a medium yellow filter for Irish weather. This would give more separation in the clouds and better contrast overall.

2: Development in Rodinal, I suspect most places these days are using one shot long life developers for simple economics as there is not enough turnover for developers that age poorly or need replenishment and the time involved in same. HP5+ in my opinion doesn’t like Rodinal and gets too much grain. XTOL or Ilfosol give better results (this is subjective and eventually these preferences become fixed and part of your style)

A few other things I have noticed about HP5+. Regardless of developer, it scans very grainy anyway. When actually printing in darkroom, this does not materialise until very large sizes. So if you take these to darkroom, expect less grain unless you are printing very large.

Also, if this is like other rangefinders from this era, it should have exposure lock. I.e. when doing landscapes etc. you should be able to meter from somewhere in the foreground, like rocks. To get the shadow detail and let the highlights of skies come out where they may. This is done usually by pressing the shutter release half way to hold meter reading while you recompose your shot. What prompted this is your flickr page has waves crashing on rocks, where sky was not a major part of shot and waves are nice whites and rocks rich black.. So it seems the meter is fine.

Overall these cameras are fantastic pocket cameras and so fast to use or you can carry them in your hand and almost forget they are there.

Mycroft H

Fajitas! wrote: »

I really like this one too; http://www.flickr.com/photos/52047412@N03/4796346456/ - Even with the finger in

It was a big rock that i was using as support when I was caught short without my tripod. Even with the framing lines its a little bit more difficult to make sure stuff is outside the frame compared to a slr

Simplicius wrote:

1: you didn’t have a colour filter. You should nearly as a rule of thumb have a medium yellow filter for Irish weather. This would give more separation in the clouds and better contrast overall.

Your dead right, I didn't use a colour filter at all. Must pick one up online

Simplicius

landyman wrote: »

Your dead right, I didn't use a colour filter at all. Must pick one up online

Stay away from the cheap filters like Jessops or china specials .. you might as well take a yellow highlighter to a milk bottle and stick that in front of your lens. If you are a nikon or canon user you will have a generic filter size. Nikon's 52mm is a catch all size for most prime lens, I think Canon is 55mm. I simply use step up rings which you can get for a song on evil bay from china. I've all varieties now from 30mm upwards all stepping up to 52 and they work like a charm. Hoya are a good middle quality brand. Also means you can use your existing UV and polarisers for colour film.

davmigil

Lovely shots!

Give Fuji Neopan 400 a try, I think you will like the results.

magicbastarder

neopan can come out very contrasty from development in rodinal too, btw.