picturenoise

The Carnival is over

2012-03-09T00:17:00.001Z

For years, whenever I go back to Sao Paulo I always drive by few sites where they keep discarded carnival floats, I've always thought that one day I could stop by... walk around and take some photographs.

So last year I finally decided to do... and there I met Jose Carlos (the guy on the picture), which after chatting for a few minutes he kindly gave me permission to photograph the area. He explained me that he looks after the site and work as well on recycling the puppets' structure to be used on the following carnival, in fact he was working on this year's one that it's gone.

I had my Debonair Diana Clone loaded with some Fuji Astia and my Holga with some Fuji Neopan, unfortunately the heat melt the sponge inside my Holga and I had all the films really fat, in addtion to that I didn't compensate enough for the red filter I was using and as a result quite few shots came underexposed with too much light leak.

Debonair Diana Clone

2012-02-07T14:44:00.001Z

TheDebonair camera differs almost nothing from any ordinary Dianacamera, there are few models around and the changes are mostly indesign.

Themodel above was “improved” with the addition of the focus ringoutside the barrel so you can rotate the lens just like an Slr.

Ofcourse you won't get to see the focus on the viewfinder but insteadyou have to look at the ring to check the distance, I found it easier and faster to shoot since you don't have to turnthe camera to check the distance scale, just like the Holga. Theold focus scale was replaced by a fake selenium meter around thelens.

Thewinding knob matches with the camera's colour instead of the usualblack.

The resulting images are exactly what you would expect from a Diana clonecamera...

Fomapan100 - Rodinal 1:100 1 hour stand development.

Fuji Sensia 100 ISO

First Delivery of 2012 - The Agfa Isoly

2012-01-09T00:31:00.000Z

Myvery first Toy of the year!... and I was waiting to put my hands (again) for quite some time, I say again because I had owned this camera before well back in 2006 but sold it. I can't remember exactly why but Iguess at the time I was really hooked on the imperfections on myoriginal Diana Camera and Holga that I may have found the Isolyresults a bit neat when both compared.

Well... needless to say I'd regreted ever since the camera has gone,especially because It's not so easy to find one cheap nowadays so I'm glad I got this one for a good price.

TheIsoly I sold back in 2006 gave me some good sharp pictures withsimilar results I get from my Kodak Cresta.

Thesoft focus images are my fault as I may have estimatedthe distance between camera and subject uncorrectly.

The similaritiesbetween the Diana camera produced by the Chinese company Great Wall Plastic Factory in the 60s are huge and is well mentioned over the web...pretty sure the Isoly was the inspiration.

As expected the Agfa Isoly is way better built comparing to the Diana, theplastic is much stronger which makes the camera more robust whenhandling, the top is made of metal and so are the lensbarrel. The camera It's fitted with hot shoe for a dedicated flash, cable releaseand a tripod socket, the lens is made of glass.

The Diana's locking mechanism is also written in English and in German exactly as it is on the Isoly.

Few models are available and I have the "plain" version with only two speeds (1/30 and 1/100 plus bulb) with f stops of 11 and 6.3, the focus range from 1m to infinity (reading in feet is also available) and a lock mechanism prevents double exposure which may put off some of the toy cameras fanatics. It takes 16 square pictures on a 120 film just like the Diana camera.

Gakken - Japanese Stereo Pinhole Camera

2011-12-04T16:07:00.001Z

A few pictures taken from my last holidays in Brazil with the Gakken Japanese Pinhole camera using the panoramic mode. The city scapes were taken in São Paulo and the last nine shots were taken in the town of Paraty Rio de Janeiro, where the Paraty em Foco photography event is held every year.

Films are Jessops Diamond and the Kirkland made by Agfa, they're both expired.

Rolleicord Camera

2011-11-22T01:32:00.000Z

I really have a thing for TLR cameras. I love composing the picture on the big viewfinder, there's a sense of freedom when you don't have to squeeze one of your eyes behind a camera to take pictures ( well... a bit like using a compact digital camera isn't it ?)... and let's not forget the square format which is also one of the greatest features on this type of the camera.

Rolleicords were made by Franke & Heidecke, the German company that produces the legendary Rolleiflex. They were made to be simpler and less expensive, an estrategy at that time to attract the amateur photographer who couldn't afford the Rolleiflex but wanted a high-quality camera.

The one above is from the late 30's and the resulting pictures below were taken using the Kodak Tri-x 400 Pan expired in 1968, it was then processed with Rodinal 1:50/10 minutes with 5 minutes pre-wash.

The film and camera are still looking very good after all these years...

From inside the car - Lomo LC-A

2011-11-13T19:29:00.004Z

One of the few good things when I'm not driving is that I can sit comfortably on the passenger's seat and enjoy the city view without the worry of crashing in someone else's car...

Since my driving license is expired I had no choice but enjoy a good ride, in my case with a good point and shoot camera in hands all the time.

These pictures were taken the last time I went to Sao Paulo using my Lomo LC-A loaded with an expired Fuji Superia 100 ISO

The film haven't lost the ability to produce excellent colours but I found the negatives a bit more granier than normal, some photoshop adjustments were required.

Found Film - Kodak Cresta Camera

2011-11-01T22:32:00.000Z

Very first time this ever happened to me... I've found a half exposed film inside my newly acquired Kodak Cresta camera ... how exciting!

The camera overall is really clean and the film was probably the only one ever used...

I was very curious of what could've been photographed with the camera...and here they are!

It looks like it was a nice day out in family picking up some oysters...

Well... after some 50 years or so it was down to me to finish with the film...

Comparing to the family snaps my shots came out underexposed even though the sun was shining, quite strange because it looks like the weather was pretty bad at that time on the beach …

Since there are no settings on the camera and all the pictures were processed together I wonder why this could happen. Does the image once recorded on film keeps better preserved than the unexposed film itself ?

The film is the Kodak Verichrome and it was processed using Rodinal 10 minutes /1:50 dilution.

Ilford Cine Negative Film

2011-10-19T01:29:00.007+01:00

After a long break I'm back in London and working in some of the films I shot while on holidays.

From all the films I have used, the one I was most curious to process in particular is the Ilford Cine Negative Film 35mm made in the 60's.

It's a bulk roll film and it comes on a tin containing 200 feet, you need a bulk film loader and some empty cassetes to load the film inside.

I had done some tests before I went on holidays only to find out the film speed since is not labelled on the tin, by the results I had it looks like it's around 100 ISO or maybe a bit slower.

Like the 4x5 film mentioned on my previous post this one also came vac sealed, it was in fact bought from the same seller and I had excellent results with them so I was expecting the same sort of quality.

And here are some of the results... they're taken with my Rolleiflex 35SL and processed with Rodinal 1:200 dilution / 2 hours stand development.

I compensated one or two stops on my camera since the film is 50 years old expired.

The result are a bit grainy and you can see that especially on large plain areas like the sky, but this is expected for such old film...

It also got scratched leaving some bad horizontal lines all over the frames, it probably happended inside the canister... not so sure but at some point it was quite hard to wind the camera lever as the film would not run properly at the point of breaking inside the camera, I'll try loading 24 frames next time to make it smoother instead of 36.

1961 Ilford FP3

2011-09-01T20:13:00.003+01:00

I have recently accquired a couple of boxes of 4x5 sheet film made by Ilford and thought it would fun to try since it's well over expired. The label on the box states the "test date" as december the 5th 1961 and "factory issue" as january the 1st 1962.

The results are really impressive for a near 50 years old expired film... the emulsion is not faded at all and there are no signs of fog or deterioration, the boxes were vacuum sealed when arrived and I believe it helped to keep them in great condition, added to the fact that is a high quality emulsion, the tests below are from the FP3 125 ISO box.

To process the negatives I followed the FP4 instructions, pre-soaked for a couple of minutes and then added Rodinal 1:100 solution. The developing time was increased from 20 to 28 minutes, inverting the tank continuously for the first minute and then one very gently inversion every 30 seconds.

The images were scanned at 1200 dpi and I only adjusted levels and curves, no sharpening or cleaning tool were used at this estage. I enhanced some details so they can be better seen, normally you get to see the grains especially on the sky area but on these ones they're almost unnoticed!

Lomo LC-A

2011-08-18T01:12:00.002+01:00

I had this Fuji Superia 100 ISO loaded in my Lomo for almost two years! The camera travelled with me to so many places I had almost forgotten about some of the locations on the pictures when I got the film back from the lab!

I like the LC-A's performance in low-light conditions...

Yashica 635

2011-08-07T18:25:00.002+01:00

I have been playing with my newly acquired Yashica 635 TLR camera and I'm really enjoying, this model is based on the same classic Rolleiflex design but it's a cheaper alternative for those who wants to try a proper TLR camera built on high quality standards.

The lens on my 635 model is the Yashikor (3 elements) and it's supposed to be "less quality" than Yashinon (4 elements) lens that fits other Yashica TLRs models, nevertheless the results in my opinion are amazing... pretty sharp at f22 and with a very beautiful 19th century style swirl on the backgroung at f3.5 which I really love!

Other interesting feature on the Yashica 635 is that you can also shoot 35mm if you're lucky enough to find a camera that comes already with the kit. A dedicated knob for 35mm film is located opposite to the 120 film knob.

The one I bought came with most parts of the kit missing, which means that I'll have to do some DIY in order to shoot 35mm. I know for some people it's a sin using a TLR camera to shoot 35mm but for some can be a reason for taking the camera out and use (let's not forget that some places can be hard to find and process 120 film). My reason it's simple: I love shooting with TLRs cameras!

I bought this camera from ebay and the seller listed the camera as "untested sold as spares/repair", it arrived in almost mint condition but indeed in need of some repair as it must had fallen on the floor. The front panel wasn't straight at all and in consequence totally out of focus.

After removing the leatherette (and I could see it was for the first time) I got access to the screws that opens the front of the camera. Both arms were badly bent and I had bit of hard time to straighten up and align the front panel. The easiest part was getting the focusing correct, I set the camera focusing knob to the infinite and rotated the viewing lens until the image was in focus on the viewfinder. Then I checked the focus again at different distances using a tape measure and everything was matching.

The results tells everything!

Polaroid 779 Instant Film

2011-07-18T23:47:00.000+01:00

It had been a very long time since I last used any instant film...I had this one for years in my Polaroid 600 and it was an original 779 type expired in 2005.

So these are my very last two 779 type shots!

Kodak Vest Autographic

2011-06-28T17:51:00.002+01:00

I made some pictures with my Kodak Vest Autographic back few weeks ago for the first time...this is a nice little folding pocket camera that takes the not so wide available 127 film.

Very compact and beautifully designed it was once advertised as the "Soldier's Camera" during WWI.

Note the old "Eastman Kodak Company" logo just below the shutter setting...

The camera comes with a stylus that would allow the photographer to write notes onto to the film's back paper through a window located at the back of the camera, the film was especially developed to use with this camera and it was called "The Autographic System".

I ran a test respooling some 35mm film onto a 127 spool. The procedure is obvioulsly done in the dark and can be tricky to do but it's achievable, I normally practice before with the lights on and a dummy film.

As a result you have a kind of panoramic format image covering the full 35mm negative including the sprockets, .

Some of the shots are blurry in the midle and I don't know exactly why... I suspect either the camera wasn't opened to it's fully while shooting or the film pressure plate is not well aligned, interesting effect anyway...

Fuji Across 100 ISO processed with Rodinal 1:100 - 1 hour stand development

Here's an excellent source of information about Kodak Vest Cameras:

http://vpk.staff.shef.ac.uk/index.html

Salex Camera

2011-06-17T23:10:00.005+01:00

I found this nice camera on ebay with no much information from the seller regarding the condition, apart from "last used in 1966 and was ok then !" . The pictures posted weren't really good either but it was cheap and in need of some work, I thought it could be fun to get it and maybe spend some time trying to rescue...

The outside body is very worn out as I was already expecting but everything is working perfectly including the F Deckel Compur shutter...

But the real bargain I guess are the optics which after some cleaning it's in prime condition... It reads "Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar"!

I've searched information about the camera on the net but nothing came out, a friend at the filmwasters.com then gave me the link to the earlyphotography.com

"The Salex name comes from the name of the British camera company, City Sale and Exchange which was founded in 1881 and their cameras were

marketed under their brand name of Salex."

This model takes 120 film and you get 16 6x4.5 exposures, it's very compact for a medium format camera and fits nicely in your hands but it's a bit tricky to change speeds since there's no much space. I also find difficult to locate the shutter release while looking through the viewfinder, but nothing that a small cable release won't solve.

The focusing is in feet and if you're not used to (like me) can be a problem as there's no hot shoe adapter to take a dedicated rangefinder, few shots from this roll came out out of focus.

So here are few pictures from the first test roll...

Fuji Across 100 ISO processed in Rodinal 1 hour stand development.

Agfa ISO - Rapid Camera

2011-05-24T19:40:00.002+01:00

Cool little "brick" camera made by the German company Agfa in the 60's, the model shown here it's all made of plastic apart from the thin metal plate on the base and top of the camera.

The camera is very simple to operate with only the "sunny" and "flash" settings and falls easily into the "point and shoot" category. It has a tripod mount (even though there's no B setting), a mechanism that prevents double exposures and this particular model has the hotshoe for the flash.

Now, in order to use one of those beauty you'll have to find two empty Rapid cassestes made especificaly for the Agfa cameras and in total darkness load you 35mm film of choice. I say two cassetes because the camera has no rewind feature, it basically runs the film from one cartridge to another.

The nicest thing about this camera in my opinion apart from the design, is the 24X24 square format you'll get on standard 35mm film.

The results below were taken in a bright sunny day with Fuji Across 100 ISO and processed with Rodinal 1:100 dilution 1 hour stand development.

Smena Camera

2011-05-03T17:53:00.002+01:00

I don't know how I ended up with three Smena Cameras... I remember the first one I bought from the guy who fixed my LCA. He had this nice little camera with the old Lomo logo stamped on with all those symbols, and a really well made leatherette case that put shame in so many well branded cameras. That really grab my attention! at that time I just couldn't resist and bought the camera... that was back in 2006. The other two I guess I came across while searching for junk cameras on ebay, just found them by chance and I remember paying almost nothing for them.

Smenas were made by the Lomo factory in the former URSS so you can expect very good lens (hard-coated 3 elements) fitted in smelly plastic body. Some of the camera's features are flash synchronisation in all speeds, cable realease socket, tripod mount and the B mode. It's really hard to believe you have all these features in such a cheap plastic body!

But the great thing about these cameras in my opinion is the ability to make anyone take good photographs with the minimum knoledge. The clever symbol system where everything can be quickly set in order to give the photographer the correct combination of shutter speed and aperture without having to know about photography is what makes the camera even more special. Select the film ISO by rotating the front ring around the lens and you've got yourself already the correct aperture, choose the weather symbol accordingly and the appropriate shutter speed it's set, the focus ring comes with symbols as well to simplify the process, just like the Diana and Holga cameras.

On the downside, the earlier models it's a real pain to rewind the film back to the cartridge once it's finished. Also the life-size one to one ratio viewfinder is hard to get used to which means that what you see it's not always what you get on the frame.

They were produced under different names depending on the market/year it was released (cosmic symbol, cosmic 35, smena 8m, smena symbol...) you may find some with the Cyrillic inscription wich were obvioulsy made to the former soviet market, they look more attractive in my opinion.

Back few weeks ago I tried my last Smena Cosmic 35 acquisition. This is an earlier model from the 60's, the body it's made from bakelite and it's havier the the later plastic body models. There's no weather symbol and the focus scale it's in meters but this model have self-timer delay, it also looks less toy-ish comparing to the later models.

I got this one in almost mint condition including a brand new case, box, instructions, a certificate from the Lomo factory with serial number and a receipt dating from 1967 in French.

And here are the latest results... Taken with Kodak 125 PX and processed with Rodinal 1:100 1 hour stand development.

Hand-Coloured Photographs

2011-04-12T01:32:00.000+01:00

Another set of Hand-Coloured Photographs I have made using the Lakeland Fotocol Kit and the Johnson's oil.

Wephota Film

2011-03-28T00:40:00.001+01:00

A long time ago I shot this film using my Voigtlander Avus camera with some degree of success. The film had to be "glued" in a piece of board with honey and then inserted in the dark slides to be exposed. This is because the film is smaller and obviously much thinner than the original plates in which the camera was designed to take.

This time I have come up with a better solution, I made some "envelopes" from cardboard with a window. All I have to do is slide the film in this envelope and then insert the whole envelope inside the dark slides.

The pictures came out well but with loads of spots and I had to spend quite some time cleaning in Photoshop. I believe the spots are either due to the air bubbles from the stand development or the anti-halation layer that wasn't properly washed away. It can also be specs from inside the dark slides, after all they're nearly 100 years old.

The last picture was processed in Rodinal 1:50 normal development, all other pictures were done using stand development, this time I used the 1:200 ratio/two hours stand development with agitation only for the first minute.

And after some cleaning...

The details are quite good for such an old camera ...

Svema Film

2011-03-15T00:00:00.000Z

I have a couple of expired Svema film I've been given few years ago when trading a camera and I decided to use one of them with my Holga. The film is slow speed (64ISO) and It was made in the former USSR .

Since I don't have much control over the Holga camera I had to chose a bright sunny day to photograph. The result however showed that the picture could have been easily taken at nigth!

The film was expired in 2004 and this is the only frame I could scan from the entire roll.

Processed with Rodinal 1:100 1 hour stand development.

If you ever come across with one of those I recommend having a sellotape in you bag. Once you've finished with the film there's no tape to seal the roll like other known brands, I was lucky I took the film out of the camera at home...

1964 Ilford Film has finally seen the daylight !

2011-02-16T17:12:00.004Z

I know there are loads of information on the web regarding processing expired films and obviously, it's very difficult to pick up only one method since the way the film it's stored and how long the film is expired will change the final result.

In this post I want to share my experience processing a well expired 1964 Ilford HP3 400 ISO.

First, I used a proper camera in order to have a better control over the exposure and for this film in particular I used my Leica IIIF in bright sunlight day. For some shots I followed the light meter reading and for others I compensate one or two stops (it would've been great if I had known which ones I did compensate by taking notes... but I'm too lazy for that).

I then processed the film with Rodinal (apparently reduces fog). I used 1+25 ratio and followed the recommendation time for the equivalent Ilford HP5 increasing the time from 6 minutes to 9 and a half, (don't ask me why I didn't do the full 10 minutes...). I agitated by swirling the spiral gently but constantly for the first minute and then 4 times every 30 secs very slowly. Normal stop bath and fixing process.

I noticed that no colour came out from the developer like in the modern films. In fact,I left a piece of the film after processed inside a glass with water overnight and not a single residue came out at all.

The film was VERY curly which is normal, after all it was inside the canister waiting to see the daylight for 47 years. There are quite a few marks as well especially on the first three frames where the spots can clearly be seen .It's also very grainy and some of the shots came out very dark even for a very sunny day , overall I like the effect and I'm very pleased with the results.

After scanning the negs I applied the usual photoshop adjustments and a sepia filter to enhance the old looking. I won't retouch any of the marks... to me they are like scars from over the years and it's part of the film and the whole process.

Tru-View Diana Clone Camera

2011-01-24T00:12:00.000Z

Few pictures I thought it was worth posting, these are from a couple of films I took last year with my Tru-View Camera. The film was in my fridge for quite sometime, I just didn't had time to take to the lab to be processed...

Fuji Provia 100 ISO.

Canon Canonet 28

2011-01-17T00:11:00.000Z

One of the best cameras to carry with you all the time, the Canon Canonet 28 is a very stylish rangefinder 35mm auto-exposure camera that produces great sharp images with no much effort.

Ok, there are plenty 35mm cameras in the market you could just throw in your bag and forget about it... let's say that the LCA, Smena or the Olympus Pen are great light pocket cameras and would do the job quicker, but I guess there are times when you want more control instead of just a "point and shot"camera, the Canonet may be a reasonable cheap option that stays in between an SLR and a point and shot.

All you have to do is focus using the bright rangefinder and you're done, the camera auto-exposure will select a speed between 1/30 to 1/600. Through the viewfinder you can see the needle going up and down accordingly with the light condition and if there's not sufficient light the shutter won't fire. no to forget that you still have the manual option to select different apertures (no manual speed on this model) in case you want even more control (when the apperture mode is selected the shutter it's automatically set to 1/30).

Fuji Superia 100 ISO

An example of a low-light shot taken without the use of flash or tripod.

Civil War Faces

2010-12-07T23:02:00.001Z

I thought this collection it's worth sharing, besides the whole purpose of the project the pictures are absolutely amazing !

"In remembrance of the Confederate and Union soldiers who served in the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Liljenquist Family recently donated their rare collection of almost 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs to the Library of Congress."

Sisters Lucretia Electa and Louisa Ellen Crossett from the "Civil War Faces" Hall, Alfred,,
b. 1826,, photographer.

You can check the collection in the flickr page through the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157625520211184/?page=2

Pentax SP 500 + Pentacon

2010-11-18T00:43:00.000Z

A while ago I bought this nice Praktica camera in amazing condition but unfortunately it broke before I even put the film inside. The camera came with a F1.8 Pentacon lens in almost mint condition.

Besides being cheap, I've always heard about the good results these lens are able to produce so I decided to mount in another body which by the way is the first time I'm using as well, the Pentax SP 500.

The results proves that it can be an excellent option for those looking for a cheap lens but still expect some decent results. I particularly like the range of tones in some shots and since this lens is relatively cheap, I'd probably leave in my bag without any worry that it would get damaged.

Fuji Across 100 - Rodinal 1:100 1 hour Stand development.

Holga Camera Pictures

2010-10-11T00:47:00.000+01:00

I've already started processing some films I took after spending a few weeks on holidays in Brazil. I used a few cameras and as usual the Holga pictures came out with some weird results, this shot in particular got my attention... I really like the way the buildings are "bending" at the top left corner.

Fuji Across 100 ISO Processed with Rodinal 1:100 1Hour Stand Development.

Hand - Coloured Photographs - Johnson's Baby Oil Test

2010-09-07T00:51:00.000+01:00

I'm running low of the original oil that came together with my old Lakeland Fotocol kit so I decided to do some tests using another type of oil and on the photograph below I used the "Johnson's Baby Oil", which can be easily found in any supermarket or drugstores.

After rubbing a bit of the product onto the paper's surface I felt it was quite easy to apply the pencils, and the colour effect given is exactly the same as when using the original oil. The only thing It has to be considered for the next time is not to soak too much the surface as this particular oil is thinner.

Looking closer to this photograph you can also see the oil marks that penetrated on the paper, I'm not really concerned about that since I had the same problems before using the original oil, I believe this is more a paper issue rather than the liquid applied but for sure I'll be doing some more tests.

The photographs below were done by applying the original oil from the kit.

Magic Lantern / Petzval Lens

2010-08-19T22:56:00.000+01:00

A few more pictures taking using the Magic Lantern lens, this time I decided using 4x5 negatives instead of roll film. I still haven't figured out a way of using this lens outdoors due to the fact that there's no shutter or F stops to control the amount of light.

I guess I could use waterhouse stops to do that but it could take the whole effect away, another option would be adding ND filters in combination with a very slow film. A friend at filmwasters also suggested me the Harman direct positive paper which is ISO 3 and I guess that could work...

For these indoor shots the exposure time were between 4 and 6 seconds. The film is Ilford Delta 100 ISO 4x5 and processed with Rodinal 1:100 dilution, one hour stand development.

Magic Lantern / Petzval Lens

2010-06-01T22:35:00.000+01:00

I’ve recently acquired a couple of 19th Century Magic Lantern lenses and I was really looking forward to do this test.

Magic Lanterns were the predecessors of slide projectors and the page below it's a great source of information:

http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/events/events4.html

I mounted one of the lens in a piece of cardboard and put in my 4x5 Toyo camera. For this particular test I was trying to get the exposure time correct as most of Magic Lantern lens haven’t got an aperture setting to control the light.

A bit of resource and I found out that the focal length is 195mm and the aperture is about 4.5, for this reason a low speed film (25 ISO) it’s definitely something to consider.

I used 100 ISO roll film (because I couldn’t wait until I get some 4x5 25 ISO!). This is a cheaper alternative but I won’t be able to see the lens effect in full, but since I’m more interesting in the exposure times for now it’s fine.

The film is Fuji Across 100 and I processed in Rodinal 1:100 solution.

They are a bit dark I have to say, the exposure time was about 1 and 2 seconds, considering I'm using 100 ISO and a lens cap as a shutter it's not that bad. It will definitely improve when I buy a 25 ISO and with a 4x5 negative I'll also be able to see more of the lens effect, they're known for giving a sharp image in the midle and quite a lot distortions around the edges.

Hand - Coloured Photographs

2010-05-10T17:31:00.000+01:00

Another trip to my local antique market and I found some more old photographs to add some colours.

Not all of them were matt and the colour pencils I have ( http://making-the-noise.blogspot.com/2009/07/handed-coloured-photographs.html ) does not work on glossy paper, but there were so many interesting ones that I ended buying them anyway... after few hours I manage doing these ones:

I had this happened again... the oil used before I apply the pencils penetrated in the paper and left these awful marks.

I can't really do anything with this picture below since it has a glossy finish, the reason I got it is because it looks so similar to the Echo & the Bunnymen's record cover "Flowers".

I've looked on the sleeve notes and it's written "Original cover photograph courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wi

sconsin".

Beirette Pinhole Camera

2010-04-16T21:02:00.000+01:00

Back in action with my DIY Beirette Pinhole Camera, and this time is for a more comprehensive series of tests.

Walking around the Soho area I spot this lovely Mini in stunning condition !

For this test I used Fuji Across 100,

exposure time from 1 to 4 seconds and processed with Rodinal 1 hour 1:100 stand development.

Voigtlander Vito II

2010-04-13T19:42:00.000+01:00

Just playing with a different technique for scanning 35mm negatives that a friend recommended at the filmwasters.com

http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=2917.0

As you may be aware it's a bit tricky to get decent images when scanning 35mm negs using flatbed film scanners as the results can be very grainy.

I dug some negatives out of the box for this test and I found these which I thought it was perfect to try since I had no previous success. They were taken using one of my favourite 35mm cameras, the Voigtlander Vito II.

Voigtlander Avus

2010-03-21T01:37:00.000Z

This gorgeous German made camera was produced between 1913 to 1934, this particular model was designed to take 6.5x9 glass plates but can also be used with film as well, all you have to do is find a roll film back to use the 120 format or, with a bit of patience you can “glue” some sheet film in some kind of board to fit in the darkslides.

This one came with the four original Voigtlander darkslides, I bought some extra four on ebay to start playing until I can get hold of the roll back which can be tricky to find.

To start I cut few pieces of cardboards on the size of the plates and then glued the sheet film on the board with a bit of honey, which seems to be the preferred method by some folks I spoke to. The film I used was the German Wephota 100 ISO, the size is a bit smaller than I thought and I had a quite hard time in the dark to place the film correctly onto the board, I tried hard to leave as symmetrical as possible but some of the pictures were not in level so I had to adjust in Photoshop.

The film was processed with Rodinal 1:100 solution one hour stand development, the results are quite good but the processing were not even, probably because I had to pre-soak the film in water in order to get rid of the honey… I don’t know. The negatives were scanned and only curves and levels were adjusted, I tried keeping as original as possible.

For those who are used to large format photography will be familiar with the camera's movement. You can focus through the glass window at the back just like any other large format camera or with the scale placed at the front. There’s also a viewfinder at the top of the lens and a spirit level.

1960 Kodak Royal-X Pan

2010-02-22T23:49:00.002Z

My first post in more than a month and the results aren’t what I expected but I thought I’d share just in case…

Not long ago I bought this Kodak Royal-X Pan 1600 ISO film and this weekend I decided to use it. The film was expired in march 1960 and I thought the occasion asked for an old camera as well so I loaded into my 1930's Kodak Brownie n2 Box camera

After spending a good few cold hours in Brick Lane I finally got my much precious 8 shots with the camera, got home and processed the film. The results aren’t great at all, to start I guess the film wasn’t stored properly, it broke few pieces while loading on the spiral. It was also badly exposed, since you can’t control the shutter speed on this type of camera it‘s hard to compensate.

The film was processed with Rodinal 1:100 at 15 degrees 20 minutes developing time with very slow inversions every minute. Maybe I bit more developing time would work but the film was ISO 1600 and I thought that I might overexpose. In the end this is what I got:

click over the picture to enlarge

Imperial Satellite II 127 Camera

2010-01-04T15:31:00.003Z

A great little plastic camera made in the 60’s by the US company “Imperial Camera Corp”, this one is apparently the “New Improved Model!” as it said in the box, it came with the original instructions and flash unit which is exactly the same as the original 60’s Diana F, it operates with 2 batteries and flash bulbs. At the front of the camera a little switch changes to colour or B&W mode. In fact what it changes is the aperture size that can be useful nowadays as a “cloudy” and “sunny” settings.

The only problem is that it takes 127 film which can be quite expensive to get hold of since it has no longer been produced. At the average cost of £5.00 for a new B&W film you can take 12 4x4 shots per roll, just to compare you can get 16 shots with a Diana at average £1.70 per 120 film which still wide available it’s definitely something to consider. Not to mention that if you don’t process the film yourself, you might drive the lab’s owner crazy (some of them have never heard about 120 films before imagine 127!) Of course you can find some (much) expired film on ebay and its fun to try but it’s not always available.

I didn’t want to wait and decide to respool some 35mm film onto a 127 spool and had a go. I’ve seen some people doing the same with 120 onto a 620 spool so it should work. I had some old 127 spool from previous films bought on ebay and luckily the back paper as well. All I did was to use a spare 120 back paper and cut the exactly size as the 127 and marked with a pen the frame numbers on the new back paper. In total darkness I cut some fresh Kodak 35 mm film enough to cover the length of the 127 film area and loaded into the spool. Simple isn’t it ? Not really… it turns out to be my first film disaster of the year. The film went out of the paper inside the camera and got overexposed and nothing came out when it was processed. I had another go but this time I made sure I taped the film well on the back paper and the results are here.

I like the results, overall they're a bit dark but I have to try with a different film speed, also I didn't try changing the aperture switch as well. I’m a big fan of pictures showing the film sprockets/edges and these ones came out nicely, some images were a bit blurry due to camera shaking. Anyway...the main purpose of this test was to see how the film would run inside the camera rather than image quality.

The numbers I drew on the back paper were right, the frames were well divided along the negatives with just one overlap.

I used an original 127 film back paper as a template and cut a new one from a discarded 120 to cover the 35mm film, I then drew the frame numbers following the template so there were no problems winding the film (mind you there are few positions for each frame number so for each camera it might be different). I made a little cut on the new back paper to guide me in the dark where the fresh film should start.

And here's the film ready to be loaded ...

Tru-View Diana Clone

2009-12-06T20:05:00.000Z

First few colour shots taken with my 60's Tru-View Diana clone

Beirette Camera

2009-11-30T00:25:00.000Z

The Beirette is a cheap plastic 35mm camera made in East Germany by Beier. Several models were made between 50's and 80's, this particular model is from the 70's and comes with a very nice fake leather case. It has the same weather system similar to the Lomo Smena, all you have to do is select the apropriate weather symbol, focus and shoot. The lens is a Meritar and the focus is measured in feet, aperture range from 2.8 to 22 (unless you have a hand held meter you won't be looking at this...). The shutter speed is selected accordingly with the film speed like the Smena. It also has a B setting, tripod mount and cable release socket. The results are ok, nothing really impressive...although I have to say that the film was expired and the negs were scanned at Boots! but overall is a fun camera to play and I really like the design.

Copan Building - Sao Paulo - Holga Camera

2009-11-19T00:29:00.000Z

The Copan Building it's in the heart of Sao Paulo city in Brazil and it was design by the architect Oscar Niemeyer.

Sinomax Diana Clone

2009-09-30T01:54:00.000+01:00

Some time a go I found this Diana clone on ebay, the camera is complete and in almost mint condition. Includes original metal spool and an interensting little piece of paper inside with a number 7(pictured), which I guess it must be some sort of code used by the factory.

I thought the results somehow came out darker than I usually get with my other Diana cameras. I normaly use 100 ISO but I think I'll have to use 400 ISO next time or try using the cloudy setting. I'm also happy with the lens effect although I think the vignetting is more than I normaly get with my other toy cameras.

Woolworths - Holga Camera

2009-09-26T22:04:00.000+01:00

Tru-View Diana Clone

2009-09-01T20:31:00.000+01:00

My first results with my Tru-View Diana clone was much better than I expected, the lens has a very soft focus effect and slightly sharp in the middle. It was the perfect combination with the Ilford HP5 400 ISO for a cloudy day in Cornwall and definitely added some atmosphere to the shots, my only regret was to take just one roll with it ! I wasn't sure how the pictures would come out as it was my first time using the camera. It was the first time as well I used with the kitchen sponge placed where the film goes to make it tight, just like the Holga cameras. I'll be doing this in all my Dianas, specially de lomography ones where the film gets losen easily.

Victorian View Camera

2009-08-05T02:01:00.000+01:00

This is probably the favourite and the oldest camera I've ever bought, a Victorian View Camera including the original shutter which is in fully working order. Although I cannot really check wether the speeds are accurate, I can at least rely on the B and T settings. The only problem is that the base to attach to the tripod is missing, I'll probably have to send somewhere to adapt a base that takes modern tripods.

I've been meaning to use this camera for a while, my original plans were trying the 19th century photography process called collodion, in which a light sensitive emulsion is applyed onto a piece of glass to be exposed. I won't get into the details here as there's plenty on the web to be searched, but what I can say is that needs a bit of space to do it and at the moment this is something I don't have so I've decided to adapt the dark slides in order to take a normal 4x5 sheet film.

I have to say that I'm impressed with the results. I shot two negs with available light and processed with Rodinal special 1:100 solution. I was only hoping for that swirl effect on the edge of the image, tipical from the 19th century photographs but I'm guessing the reason why I didn't get it is because I got the middle of the image which is the sharpest area.

below is the original dark slide

I cut a piece of cardborad and measured where the slide would be in the middle and then placed the paper holders.

the three paper holders were cut and then folded in a way that the negatives could slide in easily...

you can make the folder marks by using the opposite side of the blade...

then just fold like this ...

glue the holders onto the cardboard, when it dries you're ready. Try it before with an exposed film just to check if it's correctly placed.

place the new holder where the plates should go...

take off the slides a few times just to be sure that is running free, if it's ok you're ready to go to load in the darkroom.

And here are the results ! I have the marks of the paper holders on the edge on both negatives, but still got a couple of decent shots. Not bad for a 19th century camera...

Ilford Delta 100 F22 4sec processed with Rodinal Special

F11 @ 1sec

More Hand - Coloured Photographs

2009-07-26T22:49:00.000+01:00

Here are the other results with my hand-coloured experiment.

The picture below is my first disaster...the emulsion which is used to moist the surface before applying the pencils soaked the picture and left loads of marks, interestingly the spots were visible only on the day after. On top of that, knowing that the picture was kind of ruined I though I'd try fixing the colours with the polaroid "squedge" emulsion that comes with the 55 type film, well ... a really bad idea... the fixer not only vanished the colours away but also left more marks .

Hand - Coloured Photographs

2009-07-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

Not a long time ago I found on ebay a nice old colour kit to be used in B&W photographs in very good condition. The box has everything, even the original cotton to apply the oil onto the picture was there!

So today I finally decided to use it, I went to the antique market close by and bought about five old photogrpahs to try the kit and here are the first results.

My first impression is that the colours works better on brighter pictures. The picture with the man is a bit too dark when scanned but looks much better on the original.

And here's the Kit... It's called Lakeland Fotocol, on the top of the box it's written "To Sally, with love from auntie Mary and uncle Ron , 1958".

Gakken - Japanese Stereo Pinhole

2009-06-30T00:17:00.000+01:00

I had this toy on my wish list for ages and I finally got my hands on ! This is a DIY 35 mm Stereo Pinhole Camera made by Gakken, a pretty cool magazine in Japan where each issue comes with a different kit to assemble.

I'm quite impressed with quality of the kit, you don't need to understand Japanese and all you have to do is follow the pictures. I thought it was easy to put all the pieces together, everything fits well and as a result I got a really well made plastic camera with a cool design. The stereo viewer is the downside as the tapes provided were not good enough to keep the lens in place.

The camera has two modes: the stereo and the panoramic. I've already got a stereo camera so I took most of the shots with the pan mode, and I love it... I really recommend, specially if you want to try stereo photography. Most of the good stereo cameras are quite expensive and you might pay over £150.00 for a good one. I know there's been some plastic stereo cameras around (Loreo and Holga) for a reasonable price but I don't think you have the option to do both formats, besides the DIY fun and design are unique.

The picture below was the only one I took using the stereo format and later transformed into anaglyph file, in that way you can still see the 3D effect using a pair of red and cyan glasses.

My DIY chart with the exposure times that my Japanese friend kindly translated.

Zenit 12XP

2009-06-16T17:46:00.000+01:00

This is my first SLR Camera I bought many years ago, the Zenit 12XP is a very bulky and heavy Russian camera able to take really good quality pictures.

Like other Russian cameras the optics are great and pictures are very sharp, the downside is the lak of speed. With only B, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500 available, it can be a bit awkward when photographing low light or scenes or, where a faster shutter speed is required like sports scenes.

The metering system works with two red leds instead of the usual needle that most of SLR cameras, for these shots though I've used my hand held meter as I don't think that after all this years it would be still accurate.

Tru-View Diana Clone

2009-05-12T12:57:00.000+01:00

My Kit Kat Camera has gone... and this is what I've traded for, a Tru-View Diana clone. I thought it would be better having something that I'd use, besides the person who I traded could do a better use of the Kit Kat camera as he's a collector of promo cameras. He even send me a weird Ukrainian B&W 120 film which I love it ! I have no idea of the expiry date but that makes the chalenge more exciting. All I know is that the film is not really old as it has a plastic spool, most of the films from 60's and early 70's I believe had a metal spool (the Kodak 127 I last processed was dating 1980 and had a metal spool). The funny thing is that the film is rated ISO 64 !! I mean why 64 ? could be 50 or even 65 but 64 ? amazing...
Anyway, I'll post the results as soon as I get them, now I have to decide what camera to use the film.

Kit Kat 110 Camera

2009-04-29T16:17:00.000+01:00

Ok... this one wasn't on my plans at all !

A boxed Kit Kat 110 camera with instructions. I know 110 films are a nightmare to find a place willing to process, but come on...I got it from £0.99 !! I guess it worth just for the fun, It comes with an "accessory coin box" ! (the cartridge you see in the picture is where you put the coins when the camera is not in use, remove it and replace with the 110 film cartridge and you have both camera and a place to store your coins... marvellous!

Maybe I can use one day, there's still some places where you can buy the film, I actually have one Fuji somewhere so maybe I'll try one day.

3D Pictures

2009-04-14T23:51:00.000+01:00

I've added some extra 3D pictures on my website http://www.picturenoise.com/ taken with my Kodak Stereo camera, you'll need the red & cyan 3D glasses in order to see them...

Gevalux 144 Camera

2009-04-04T00:37:00.002+01:00

Here's my latest toy: the Gevalux 144. This beauty arrived complete with case, flash unit, instructions and even a "Eveready" 60's battery ! The problem is that the camera takes the 127 film which can be very expensive. I'm sure I'll be able to fit a 35mm film inside so watch this space for more tests.
Luckily I had a 127 film I got from ebay some time ago, the only issue to deal was that the film expired in 1980!

The film was processed with Rodinal Especial at 1:50 rate and the recommended developing time was increased from 10 to 14 minutes. The results are pretty good considering the film is almost 30 years old !

Smena Cosmic 35mm

2009-03-28T01:05:00.001Z

Another set of negatives I rescanned using the Epson V700. I have to say I'm struggling a bit to scan 35mm format as the quality sometimes is a bit disappointing, specially with landscapes.

These pictures were taken using a Lomo Smena Cosmic 35mm. This great piece of plastic can take some decent shots, all you need to do is to set the weather symbols and the distance scale accordingly and you're done, the only problem you may find on this model is the fact that the viewfinder is just a simple plastic window, so expect some bad composition until you get used to...

Original Diana

2009-02-17T19:07:00.000Z

I was just going through some old negs and found some stuff I hadn't scanned before or, the quality wasn't good enough to post. Since I bought my new scanner I've been rediscovering some pictures I thought I'd never use again. These two are from my first Diana camera I bought back in 2006.

Diana+ B&W film

2009-02-10T16:34:00.000Z

This is the first time I've used my Diana+ with a B&W film (in fact I'd never used B&W film in any of my Dianas before...) and the results are ok, but I'll stick to the colour film when using Dianas next time. Ok... maybe the subject wasn't really appropriate as snow is a bit tricky to photograph but I believe my Holga would've gave me better results.

Beirette Pinhole Camera

2009-01-24T21:31:00.000Z

This is the Beirette camera that arrived faulty, I thought it would be less expensive and hassle free to do something with than send it back to the seller ( he didn't believe it was faulty and just gave me a partial refund...). Anyway, I bought another Beirette and with the body of the faulty one I built the "Pinrette".

I basically took the lens and shutter out and placed a black piece of cardborad where the lens used to be, with the pinhole of course. I used the pinhole camera design site http://www.mrpinhole.com/calcpinh.php in order to get the focal lengh and angle of view desired, the rest is intuition.

I spent a roll of Kodak 125 Plus X trying different exposures and I'm happy with the results, these ones were about 4 seconds exposure. The pictures are boring as they were taken from my window but I quite like the wide angle and the soft focus.

TTV Photography

2009-01-20T12:44:00.000Z

These are my first attempts to do TTV Photography, which is basically shooting with a digital camera through the viewfinder of another camera, commonly old cameras with a very large viewfinder . For these shots I used a Kodak Duaflex II but there are other several models to choose from. You'll need something to block the light so you get a clear image on the viewfider, I did one using this as a model: http://www.russmorris.com/ttv/02.html and a digital camera with a macro lens, you can also have a lens fitted with a close-up filter.

I really like the toyish results !

My Kodak Duaflex II

You'll might drag a bit of attention using this on the streets...

Kodak Stereo Camera

2008-12-23T23:00:00.000Z

Here are some of the first pictures taken with my Kodak Stereo Camera.
The images were merged using a 3D Software and then converted to anaglyph , you’ll need one of those red cyan glasses in order to see the 3D pictures.

Below you'll find more information about the camera and anaglyph images.

http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Kodak_Stereo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaglyph_image

Thunderbirds 110 Camera

2008-12-09T15:26:00.000Z

OK... this one was a bit tricky to get the film processed as this little toy takes 110 film, those funny cartridges commonly used in the 70's Instamatic cameras. I actually bought this camera few time ago on eBay for £1.00 !! it's only been recently I started blogging so I've been digging some old experiments. I like the results even though I overlapped some of the shots, I think I didn't wind the knob properly.
The camera is made of plastic and there's a sticker saying "made in China", it came in a cardboard box with instructions manual and wrist strap, all well wrapped up. On the top of the camera, the Thunderbirds logo has all the license and copyright writing, so I believe this is a genuine licensed product (explains the good finishing).
Because of the hassle of getting the film processed I only shoot one cartridge, if anyone knows any lab in London that are able to do please drop me the address !

Coronet Twelve 20

2008-11-30T18:25:00.000Z

Here are some of the results taken with my Coronet camera. This particular one I got on ebay complete with case. The good thing about this camera is that can take 120 film as well the 620 which was more common at that time, so there's no need to cut and adjust the spool like I do when I have to use the Kodak Brownie Box. I really like the vintage effect and the pictures looks as if were taken in the 30's.

Diana 35mm adapter

2008-11-03T23:05:00.000Z

Had a few people asking me how I did the 35mm pics on Diana. It's a bit of hassle but worth it ! (Unless you want to pay for the new Diana 35mm back...) Basicaly you've got to cut the both edge of a 120 spool and glue them ont the 35mm spool. You can do that for any other camera as well as long as you measure where the film is going to be fit. The spool also fit my Lubitel 166B.

Edinburgh - Holga Camera

2008-10-07T01:21:00.000+01:00