Some more Olympus Trip 35 images

I am usually pretty good about finishing a roll of film in any particular camera.  However, sometimes one gets used and then gets out of my lineup for a while.  Maybe it's a sign that I have too many cameras? Nah!  Anyhow, I recently developed some accumulating rolls of b&w white, and this one roll of Kentmere 100 from my Olympus Trip 35 had July - September images all over it.  The first half of the roll was from the mid-July Ann Arbor Art Fair, then a few shots from our trip to the Upper Peninsula, and finished off with a few images from my visit to the FPP headquarters in New Jersey.  The Trip 35 is rarely my main camera, but when it is, I can easily run through a roll of film.  As a secondary camera, it really shines, and I rarely find a shot from it that doesn't come out as expected.  In those rare instances, it's probably because I have exceeded the capability of the camera.

Ann Arbor Art Fair.  If there is ever a time to use a camera like the Trip 35, that is it. We get about half a million people in the city over the course of 4 days, and you can't escape the Art Fair.  This year is the first time I have gone to work without seeing any of it, as my workplace is now 5 miles from campus.  So, I went on a Saturday morning hoping to shoot some really slow film (discussed here), but also brought the Trip 35 for street shooting.

Then in August, a few shots from the beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The storms a few days prior had sent waves far up on the beach, and the wave forms were still there in the sand, which I found to be really cool abstracts.

While the Trip 35 can't do everything, what it does do under good conditions really points out how good a little camera it is. No batteries. Just pop in a roll of film and you are good to go.  One last shot, of Mike Raso pondering his TLR at a Film Photography Project podcast taping session.  We have a good time doing these.  This was the first time I had used a flash with the Trip 35, and am pleased that it worked quite well.

As I went through these images, it is clear that the Trip 35 really lived up to its name -- it went on a lot of trips, with just one roll of film.  

SLOOOOW Film Adventure

Another really slow film.

One of the more interesting aspects of using film is that we have the opportunity to experiment with emulsions that are not the every-day sort of film.  In the digital world, the ISOs keep getting insanely higher each year.  But, they never go LOWER.  Typically, ISO 100 is the lowest ISO available.  With film, there are emulsions with an ISO of 0.75.  Of course, most people would never dream of shooting with a low ISO film, and the standard low ISO in the film world is 25.  TechPan, that do-it-all film has an ISO of 25 in most applications.  Kodalith, designed to be a high-contrast graphic arts film has an ISO of 12.  Most of the available (mostly old-stock) low ISO films are designed for specific applications, not as general-purpose photographic films.  I still shoot a dwindling stock of Kodak Panatomic-X whose box speed is ISO 32, but I shoot it at 25 with great results.  Ilford's Pan-F has a box speed of ISO 50, but I shoot it at 32.   The now out-of-production Polypan-F has a stated speed of 50, but can be pushed higher.

an oldie low-ISO  in color, no less. 

To go back to my original thought -- why would you want to shoot a low ISO film?  For one, you can shoot wide-open on a sunny day for great shallow DOF results.   Stopping down, you can achieve a motion blur in the same situation.  So, let's get REALLY slow.  ISO 3.  
I had a project in mind, and that was to do a shoot at the annual Ann Arbor Art Fair, which happens every mid- July. Over the 4 days, there are up to a half million visitors.  What I wanted to do, was to try and get a ghost-like blur of people at the art fair. Of course, it's mid-summer, almost always bright and sunny. How do I do that?
1. Use a low ISO film.  I tried two. The FPP store had a Svema Micrat-Ortho which is a POSITIVE ISO 1 film (or maybe 0.75), as well as a Svema MZ-3, which is a higher-contrast repro film of ISO 3.  2. Use a Neutral Density Filter to allow even less light -- I used a 3-stop ND filter.
3. Use a camera that allows me to get as close to a low ISO setting as possible. My F100 ISO dial goes to ISO 6, and I can compensate +1, +2,  (and more)  full stops to achieve an ISO of 3 or less.
4. Shoot at f/22 if possible.  I used a Nikkor 24-120 AF zoom.
5. Of course, this means a tripod is absolutely necessary.  Remote release is also handy, as well.  

Results

Roll 1 -- The Svema Micrat Ortho was developed in D76 1:1 for 7 minutes.  Exposures ranged from 10-25 seconds.

Roll 2-- Svema MZ-3. Developed in Kodak Technidol LC for 15 minutes.  Exposures ranged from 3-10 seconds.

Both of these films are unusual films that are not being used as the films were intended.  If I were to shoot this way again, I would probably just use some of my Kodak Tech Pan with a 3 stop ND filter + a polarizer or red filter, and a cloudy day would surely help.  Maybe this fall, I will do it some more down town.  

If you want to see some fantastic work in this vein, look up Alexey Titarenko's photographs from Russia.  Really good work.