Coming soon... FPP's 620 Color!

Back in October, I received some rolls of film to test for the Film Photography Project.  Two were from  a batch of color film rolled onto 620 spools by a vendor for the FPP.  What's not to like?  How many of us have cameras that use 620 film?  Back when I was testing various models for my guide to medium format toy cameras, (Monochrome Mania No. 3 - now out of print), I respooled a bunch of b&w film.  My fingers got cramps doing it.  Aside from a few cameras that really deserve my respooling efforts, I haven't used 620 all that much lately.  However, COLOR on 620 is pretty hard to resist.  My favorite low-fi 620 cameras have been the Kodak Brownie Reflex 20 (pictured below) and the Kodak Brownie Twin 20.  Both cameras are quite similar feature-wise, and a lot of fun to use.  I loaded the FPP 620 Color Beta Test 2023 into the Reflex 20, and shot the roll locally and while on my trip to Dutchess County, NY at the end of October.

When I went to unload the finished roll from the camera, it slipped from my hand and I had to re-roll the backing paper a bit to tighten it, so I probably introduced some edge light leaks, which showed up when I got the developed film back from Ball Photo in Asheville.

Anyhow, I love the results overall, and the Film Photography Project's new 620 film is for now, a "beta" film, yet to be officially released.  Keep your eye on their announcements for this film.  It's certainly going to be a welcome addition for anyone wanting to use a 620 camera!

The Lomo Apparat - a quick take

Lomography introduced the Apparat 35mm camera in 2022, and while I was somewhat interested in the new camera, its price of $90 was a bit off-putting. Furthermore, it was an all-plastic camera - which isn’t surprising, but I decided a while ago not to jump right on a new Lomography product until I had seen some reviews about it.  In October 2023, KEH had a 20% off sale on some film cameras, and lo and behold -- a brand new Apparat for a reasonable price, so I ordered one.

The past couple of years has seen a number of simple plastic 35mm cameras coming to market, most of which are quite similar in features.  The Apparat though, features a 21mm lens with an integral  rectangular lens hood, flash with color filters, and B+ Instant, as well as a multiple exposure option, and a tripod socket.  It’s a small camera that encourages experimentation, as it comes with a close-up lens, multi-faceted “kaleidoscopic” lens, and a Lomo “splitzer” attachment, that when used under the multi-exposure option, allows for different sections of the frame to be exposed separately.  It uses 1 AA cell for the flash, which can be turned off when shooting the camera in daylight. 

After I received my Apparat kit from KEH, I carefully went over everything, and for one, Lomography does a great job packaging their products, making them inviting to open and examine.  Like many of their cameras, the Apparat has a paperback book accompanying it with photos that really showcase the camera’s results,  projected with that fun Lomo “shoot from the hip” ethos.  

Camera specifications:

• Film- 35mm film 
• Shutter- 1/100 sec, plus B and multiple exposure
• Lens- 21mm f/10 
• Tripod socket: yes
• Viewfinder- almost centered, with view approximating the lens coverage
• Flash- uses 1 AA battery, with ND  and multiple colored gels placed in pop-up holder
• Film advance - manual, with thumbwheel
• Film rewind - manual, no detensioning needed
• Film door - clear film reminder window, storage slot for the color flash gels

At first glance, the Apparat resembles on of the many iterations of Kodak 126 Instamatic cameras, except for the obviously large front element and lens hood.  It is definitely more robust than the RETO Ultra-Wide and Slim with the 22mm lens, and has more features.  The included metal wrist strip is quite nice, and complements the black plastic camera body.

In use:  While the Apparat is pretty easy to figure out, I do like the fact that the front switch with B, N, and OFF is easy to see, and when in OFF position, blocks the viewfinder and locks the shutter release.  That’s a welcome feature for any simple-use camera.  In addition, pressing the lower lighted switch beneath the flash turns the flash off/on - also a welcome feature.  My only real complaint is that the thumbwheel film advance is hard to turn as it does not protrude very far from the back.  Also, there is no button to depress to rewind the film. You just turn the rewind lever to pull the film back into the cassette.  I really like the lens hood and the nice secure fit of the lens cap.  I have not yet tried the accessory lenses.  

I shot a roll of Fujifilm Superia 200 in late October - mostly while on a trip to Dutchess Co., NY.  I had the film processed at my local camera store, Ball Photo in Asheville, NC.   I scanned the negatives with my Epson V700, and did some post-scan correction.  Overall, I was happy with my results.  The Apparat is a very simple camera, and I didn’t have high expectations for the results, but I liked what I did get from it.  It’s definitely a step above the typical simple-use cameras that have recently appeared on the market, and it has some features that no other cameras in its class offer.  The images are fairly sharp at center, with some blur towards the edges of the frame, and I don’t think that the wide-angle distortion is really noticeable.  You can be as close as about 1 foot from your subject, and if you use the flash, you can use the neutral density filter gel if you are really close so that the flash doesn’t wash out the image.  

Unless you are out on a bright sunny day at the beach, I recommend using ISO 200 or 400 film.  In cloudy weather, 400 ISO film should definitely be used.  I have yet to try the Apparat with b&w film, and look forward to doing so.

Is the Apparat for you?  It’s a bit lo-fi, but it feels secure in the hands and has a great wide-angle view that is better than any other simple-use camera.  It has options to encourage experimentation at a relatively low price.  It’s not as fragile as other simple use cameras, and it is fun to use.  I know that people will complain about the B option and no cable release, but if it’s on a solid tripod, there is not going to be much in the way of camera shake.  And because it does have a B setting, once could use it with low-ISO film, tripod, and guesstimation for the exposure.  You could use Lomo’s Babylon (ISO 13) or Fantome (ISO 8), and in full sun, a 1 second B exposure should be fine, with longer exposures accordingly for other conditions.

Here are some images from my first roll with the Apparat.

 

Appreciating a Classic Lens - Nikon’s 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H

My Nikon FE with a factory AI'd Nikkor-H

Over the years, I have had lenses come and go in my “toolkit” and some lenses become favorites for a time, to be replaced by another another focal length that fits my photographic practice.  Early on, it was always a 50mm lens of some sort on whatever camera body  you can imagine, and I have used an awful lot of different “normal” lenses.  In the Nikon ecosystem, there have been 50mm f/2, f/1.8, f/1.4 and f/1.2 lenses.  While I love the 50mm f/1.4 for a lot of things, the old, old, Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 has been around for the Nikon SLR since day 1, and it’s a lens that I know will always render a scene very well. Sure, it’s not the fastest of the bunch, but as a do-it-all 50, it’s at the top. Why?  

Above - the front and rear of an early non-AI 50mm Nikkor-H. This one lacks the 
rear of the lens held in place by 5 screws, meaning that it cannot be factory-
adapted to the more modern AI mount.

For one, it’s one of those lenses that has had many iterations as technology and camera bodies improved.  The original 5 cm Nikkor-S  came out in 1959, and it was a 7 element lens with 4 groups.   In 1964, the lens was changed to a 6 element lens with 4 groups, and renamed the 50mm Nikkor-H.  That lens became the sort of de-facto normal lens for many years, until 1974, when Nikon replaced the silver and black barrel with the 50mm f/2, an all-black barreled lens with a rubberized focus ring.  In 1977, the AI (auto-indexing) 50mm f/2 came out to be included with the Nikon FE, FM, Nikkormat EL2 and FT3, all of which were no longer required to use the old non-AI f/5.6 “double twist” to set the maximum aperture for the metering system.  The Nikon 50mm f/2 was dropped in 1979, and replaced in the lineup with the 50mm f/1.8, which has also had a number of iterations, but I won’t delve into them.

Above - The last iteration of the 50mm f/2 with an AI-mount.

Second, the 50mm f/2 has a very flat field with little distortion.  Perhaps that’s partly due to the f/2 maximum aperture, but in my experience, it’s sharp at all apertures, but especially so at f/5.6-f/16.  I’ve used it to copy documents on a copy stand, as a macro-lens with a bellows, and of course, general photography.  The lens was briefly given the H.C designation in 1972, to indicate improved coating surfaces.  For more information, see this account on the Nikon site. 

Real-world tests, not the sharpness of brick walls, indicate how a lens performs.  Lately, I have been using a 50mm Nikkor-H that was Nikon modified to be an AI-mount.  I don’t exactly remember when I started using it - probably last fall, but I have come to appreciate its performance with my Nikon FE, F3HP, and FM3A bodies.  In the past few months, I have been using the lens on my Nikon FE with various color films, and am really pleased with the results.  Is it any different than the last AI version of the 50mm f/2?  Probably not, but I love the classic look of the lens, and the knurled focus ring feels right.

Last and earlier versions of the 50mm f/2. The lens on the right was 
factory modified to be an AI lens.

Today, 50mm seems to be out in favor of expensive zooms, or, wide-aperture prime lenses.  I’ve certainly used  the 50mm f/1.2 Nikkor, and it has a special use for low-light or really shallow depth of field situations.  Overall though, as an all-purpose normal lens, the 50mm f/2 is one of the best lenses you can own.  The Leitz and Zeiss fanboys will probably disagree, but price-wise, you’ll not find a better 50mm lens.  It’s an SLR  lens that’s been around for over 60 years, and untold thousands have been used by photographers in all sorts of situations.  On a full-frame body such as my Nikon Df, or on a Nikon F or FM3a, the results will be excellent.  The AF equivalent would be the 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Nikkor, which is a pretty common lens and often overlooked in favor of the faster f/1.4.  However, with higher ISO settings on a DSLR, the f/1.8 aperture is not limiting.  

Old with the new 

The lenses one decides to use should be based on how they perform in the types of photography that you do.  Some times a prime lens or a set of them will be all one needs for a majority of his/her photography, and other times a zoom lens in a certain range fulfills one’s requirements.  While I have my share of zoom lenses in manual and auto-focus versions, I find myself using prime lenses most of the time.  There’s a lot to be said for using a single lens for many situations, and one photographer’s choice of say, a 24mm lens for many situations will result in quite different compositions than another photographer’s choice of 50mm, or 85mm.  You can “zoom” with your feet, if necessary, like many did when all you could afford was a single lens — the one that came with your camera, and it was most likely a 50mm prime lens.  

The Nikkormat FTN and 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H
A perfect match!

As I posted previously, I find that a 35mm lens is perfect for when I am on the street or traveling.  Often, I find myself packing one Nikon body with the 35mm f/2 and black and white film, and another Nikon body with color film and the 50mm f/2, and a 24mm and 85mm in the bag.  Those pretty much cover my needs for a lot of what I shoot, and that many decades old 50mm Nikkor-H f/2 has never disappointed me.

The more modern 50mm f/1.8 is a tad faster than the f/2, and is capable of slightly
closer focus. It's also an excellent normal lens.

My factory AI'd Nikkor-H has slotted screws on the back, vs the
Phillips screws on later versions. Those knurled sections are very
satisfying to the touch.

A few very recent results from that 50mm f/2 Nikkor-H with the Nikon FE and various color films.

Wassaic, NY. FPP Color 125

Amenia, NY FPP Color 125

Millbrook, NY Reflx Lab Pro 100

Amenia, NY Reflx Lab Pro 100

Kent, CT, Fuji Superia 400 at 200.