Peter Figen wrote:
Wayne - I grew up in Monterey so we went there as a family from a very early age. Probably started in the very early 1960's. When I go there to visit my Dad, I almost never go in anymore. The lines are just too long, especially on weekends, although I have friends living in Monterey who do go during the week and say it's not too bad. Here's a PKM Kodachrome image from Pt. Lobos that has the vibe that makes me want to go and spend the day there. Maybe on the next trip.
What a very beautiful and atmospheric scene Peter! I can smell the salty air now.
I feel I have to share it with you all as I think you will understand more than most. I apologize for the non-film image.
31 years ago, I was a 10 year old kid that had moved to Germany with his parents and was fascinated by what he saw. He had a Canonet, but his neighbor had a really cool camera setup. One day I knocked on his door (he lived across the hall, his wife ran the movie theater on the base) and wanted to show him some shots I took with my Canon. He liked what he saw and I asked if I could see his camera. At first I thought that he had Minolta gear, but low and behold, he was a Nikon man through and through. He had an F2 and about 16 Nikkor lenses. His favorite lens was the 55/1.2 SC that he got from his dad's estate. I thought it was super cool and he said I could borrow it some day. I loved the shots he took with that setup, mostly planes and other shots like it from around the base... The day never came that I could use his, but I always remembered how it felt and how I knew that one day, one day! Well that day was today. When I got the F2 home today, the first thing I did was mount my 55/1.2 AI. It was quite an emotional moment for me. It is one of the very few positive links between my present and past selves. I am not afraid to say that it made me tear up a bit. Hell, typing this is making me tear up again...
So, although this is from my iPhone, I would like to introduce you all to my dream setup. I have waited 30 years for this day to come. This camera and lens will never be sold unless I absolutely must.
These are from my very recent trip to the Eastern Sierra. Bear with a short narrative.
The trip was a bit more than we planned. When we left early Sunday morn, Tioga Pass was open, but Sonora closed. By the time we got to the turn off, Tioga was closed. Ended up costing us a 5 hour detour to Monitor Pass. But it was worth it as you can see.
The 1st shots are of a very old, like 4000 years+ Bristlecone Pine at 10000ft. When we arrived early Monday we were greeted with a slight snow-flurry. This was dream shot opp I've wanted. Fortunately they didn't close the road to the groves. These were taken with both the 4x5 & the Mamiya 7
Souped all the B&W this morning. Sending out the color 120 roll stuff but the lab is leaving negs pretty dirty.
Toyo 4x5 Fuji Acros 90mm
Toyo 4x5 Delta 100 90mm
All Mamiya shots are with the 65mm
Mamiya 7 - Ektar
Mamiya 7, converted Ektar
Mamiya 7 - Fuji Acros
Mamya 7 - Fuji Acros
A few notes to self about rangefinders...
I left the lens cap on AGAIN. I guess when your tired & cold, mistakes will happen.
Still mess up on hyper-focal a few times so distance focus is a little off
Nice work Dan. Beautiful tonality too. We've all forgot the lens cap. And on the Fuji 617, in addition, I've also forgot that you can't change lenses in mid roll. Well, at least without completely fogging what's in the camera.
Peter, well I'm going for a crutch.
Got a 3rd party cap & will either put a tether on it or something glaring like a Boa feather
Probably a thin plastic flag.
I've been wanting to try pushing Kodak Ektar 2 stops for a little versatility in dim lighting while traveling/on vacation but hesitated to do it because I could find little info on expected outcomes on my google searches. Finally got around to shooting a test roll last month and thought I'd post some examples.
I would just shoot something like Portra but I wanted a bit more saturated color. There are so few choices for medium format 400 speed color film these days.
Overall, I was happy with the results. To be honest I was expecting them to come back with a terrible color shift and unusable strong contrast. The contrast was increased but not too bad and the color looked very close to Ektar at regular speed. I am definitely trying it again.
All are Ektar shot at 400 and pushed 2 stops in processing with a Mamiya 645 Pro and 55mm f/2.8 lens. All processed and scanned by Indie Film Lab.
Nothing special here. Just some test shots from around the house that I thought others might find useful if they've ever thought of pushing Ektar.
Jon Buffington wrote:
Out and about around the town of Cumberland Gap, TN. Oly XA, kentmere 400, hc110 dil h, agi every 2min at 14min total time. Pakon scanned, lr5
Jon, that Kentmere looks nice, especially the 1st image of the cafe.
Can't see any grain to speak of & tonal quality & contrast looks great.
I may get a few roll for my 35mm gear
From this summer. I acquired a Yashica T4 super at the thrift store for 2.99 (a heckuva find!). From my first test roll to check on how the meter handled backlight situations and the lens handles sun. I had heard the meter is very hard to fool which is important in a P&S with no ability to compensate exposure. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed. Film used was gold400, processed at home with a unicolor kit and scanned with the pakon. Minimal adjustment in LR5 (levels, sharpening). Nothing special, just test shots.
Any other P&S and foreground would be black and there would be major ghosting and flaring. Not so with this Carl Zeiss T* 35/3.5.
Yup, the deals are out there. I make my rounds weekly, often without any luck whatsoever. But persistence pays off every 6 months or so. This was my best find though monetarily speaking.
Ektar 100 rated at ISO100 scanned with a Nikon Coolscan 9000. PP in photoshop and lightroom. Developed with the Tetenal C41 kit for 6min at 35'C. Have finally managed to find the right workflow to scan this great film properly and correct for the colour cast in the shadows.
