Polypan-F on the Ice.

Last Saturday, I did some shooting on Fleming Creek with my Nikon F2S and my Nikon 1J1.  The F2S was loaded with Polypan-F, an ISO 50 b&w film from Germany that I purchased in 2012.  Conditions were amazing, as there were some really incredible ice forms and some streams running above the ice.  I have shot at this spot repeatedly, and like many photographers, I revisit familiar spots because things do change, and there is always the desire to get something better than the last attempt.  Rivers and lake shores are places worth revisiting, as they can change dramatically when weather conditions are in play. Fleming Creek has been photographed quite a few times, and this creek always has something to offer. One just has to look.

Taken with the Nikon 1J1 with a polarizer, ISO 100.

Winter photography has its own challenges, and my favorite film camera for this kind of work is my Nikon F2S.  The controls are easy to work with gloves, making cold weather shooting much easier.  You kmow what though, the Nikon 1J1 is also easy to use with gloves, which was kind of surprising. You can see in this photo that the water has frozen in large sheets, and some of it is flowing on top of the ice, rather than under it.  I shot the 1J1 in monochrome mode, because to me, winter IS monochrome.
I used a Tamron 35-135 zoom (in the old Adaptall2  mount), which is an excellent lens.  The Polypan-F was developed in Rodinal 1:25 for 6.5 minutes.  Some of my shots were bracketed, and all looked pretty good.








As you can see, I like zooming in on the details, which obscures the scale of the features.  I had a show up on this topic at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in 2012, and I should do another one with the same theme in the near future.

One last photo, taken again with the IJ1, which I have to admit does a pretty decent job.  This is Fleming Creek on the N side of Geddes Road near Parker Mill. There was a lot of texture to the ice on the creek.



That's it for now.  We have had some serious cold the past week, with temps at -15F on Tuesday.  I hope to get over there early Saturday before it warms up and gets slushy.

Olympus Point and Shoots

Olympus is well-known for its classic line of SLRs, the OM series, and the compact metal-bodied rangefinder cameras such as the Olympus 35RC and similar models.  Later, as AF-bodied SLRs predominated the market, Olympus lagged behind Pentax, Nikon, Canon, and Minolta, and went to the point and shoot market.  Some classic examples from the 1980s are the XA series of compact cameras, and later, the Olympus Infinity series.  In the 1990s, the superzoom IS-series were amazing SLRs with fixed zooms and wonderful optics.  However, the Infinity series has aged well, and their tiny size and excellent optics earned them a spot in many camera bags.   Somehow, I have accumulated several different models - either as gifts or thrift shop finds.

Olympus P&S pocket cameras.

From the photo I shot here, the cameras are from rear to front, L and R:
Olympus Trip AF (1984) with 35mm f/3.5 with user selectable ISO 100 and 400 setting, thumbwheel film advance.
Olympus Infinity AF (1989?)(perhaps the first model)- 35mm f/2.8 Zuiko lens, auto-flash, focus lock, DX-code, self-timer.
Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic Zoom 80 Deluxe. (2000) -38-80mm zoom, AF, all-weather, panorama mask, quartz date, remote, and self-timer, auto-advance/rewind, DX coding.
Olympus Infinity Hi-Lite (date?) 35mm f/4.5 lens, auto-advance self-timer, flash setting, DX coding. A very slow lens for such a camera.
Olympus Infinity Stylus (1991) - the first of the "mju series" - 35mm f/3.5 lens, self-timer, flash setting, DX coding, auto-advance & rewind.
Olympus Infinity Stylus Epic (1996-2002) - 35mm f/2.8 lens, remote and self-timer, DX coding, auto advance and rewind, flash setting. By far, the most compact and most-desired of the mju series.

Today, you can pick up any of these cameras and their relatives for next to nothing.  All of them are competent point and shoot cameras, but the fixed focal length  and larger 2.8 aperture and Zuiko-labeled lens of the Infinity AF makes it a good buy.  The best of the lot is still the Infinity Stylus Epic.  If you have the remote control for it (a simple IR remote), this makes it even more versatile.  Used, the cameras still command the price of a really good pizza.  The excellent optics and compact form make it the clear winner. There are some good reviews of these cameras on the web - and I list two here.
Stylus and Stylus Epic
Olympus Stylus Epic

So, grab one, use DX-coded film cassettes and you are good to go.  Carry one with Kodak Tri-X for b&w and one with your choice of color film.  Great little cameras for wherever you go.

Another Pentax ME Post

For my birthday, I bought myself a nice Pentax ME, SE version from KEH.  I had one a few years ago and it broke when it fell from the back of my Ford Escape onto cold hard, asphalt.  I have always like the compactness of the ME, the nice viewfinder, and the simplicity of operation.  In short, a great camera for street shooting, and most everything else.  Even though most of my gear is Nikon-oriented, I have a soft spot for the Pentax ME.  I also ended up buying a nice 28-80 Pentax zoom.  I had one of those about 13 years ago, but got rid of it when I sold a bunch of gear to switch over to Nikon.

I loaded b&w film and have been shooting with it for about 2 weeks, and finally have developed the rolls.  One roll has some fogging issues that happened perhaps while doing the bulk rolling, or perhaps via the cassette, as the camera has good light seals.  The other roll I exposed at 400 ISO, thinking I had put that speed film into it, only to realize afterwards that it was ISO 125 film.  See, even after doing this for years, I can still screw up.However, at least a few of the images were happy accidents, with the more contrasty image looking somewhat like moonlight at the observatory.

Abandoned observatory..shot at ISO 400!

Jenny, also at 400.

chair, Michigan Union

Ann Arbor Parking Structure

Argus C-4 with 300mm lens.

The next roll IS a 400 ISO film, and I will shoot it today and hopefully , all will be fine.

Plastic Craptastic Find

The Cortland CX-7, mint in box!

Last month, my mother-in-law told me she found this camera, still in the unopened box, while cleaning out some belongings that had accumulated in the garage.  It felt heavy, so she wondered if it was a valuable camera.  She gave me the name, and I looked it up. I told her that the Cortland name was yet another version of the timeless "Time camera" and that its value was about that of a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries, and that she should send it to me when she had the chance. Well, yesterday, the annual Christmas package arrived, and in the box was the Cortland CX-7.  It was heavy, and after I opened up the box and removed the plastic wrapping from the camera, I took off the bottom plate and yes, there is a pot-metal weight there, as well as weights either on the lens barrel or behind the front grip area.  I put it back together, and marveled at the attempt to make a cheap plastic toy camera look and feel like a more expensive SLR. The manual was also printed in 4 languages, making it much thicker than it ought to be.  The Cortland Optical lens?  Just like all the other "optical lenses" in this type of camera.  There is a somewhat adjustable aperture, and the shutter speed is about 1/125 sec.  There was an offer inside the box for a matching flash for $17 + $3 shipping.

I have had many of these cameras over the years end up at my door, and all are variants on the same basic specifications.

the Original TIME camera

The Sceptre 800

The great Photoflex MX-35

None of them would be called a good camera, and I believe that even the most basic Kodak Instamatics took better quality photos.  However, one never knows the results until a roll of film is put through one.  I'll slap a roll of b&w into the Cortland and see what results I get.    They do accept a manual flash unit, so they can be used indoors.   The actual value?  While there are those on ebay that might describe these types of cameras as something else, these are cheap plastic toy cameras.  Perhaps slightly better than a Holga 35. They are not worth much, but if you find one at a thrift shop for a buck, buy it and have fun.  I do have results on this blog for another variant, the CMYK camera.  Your results may vary, just as mine did.

Busy in the Waning Days of November

For some reason, I have not posted anything in a month on this blog.  I blame it on the time of year.  It's not that I haven't been shooting, because I sure have.  I have some posts in progress, but I haven't developed the film yet, or I have the film scanned, but haven't written the article.  However, I think my biggest excuse is that I have been busy getting work ready for two exhibits, as well as finishing some printing and, matting, and framing for some sold pieces and for gifts.  I don't know about others, but getting ready for a show is for me, an emotionally draining experience.  I do all my matting and framing, and while not exactly rocket science, it does require care and planning and proper technique for a good result.  One show I am in (which I will post details on at the end) has six other photographers, and I have 7 images in that show, which is appropriately called "Seven Views."   My color prints are done by MPix, which are the largest prints so far that I have done for an exhibit - 12 x 12 and 12 x 18 inches. All frames are 18 x 24 inches.  My dry mount tissue is 11 x 14" so I had to carefully use two pieces under each image.  I have hundreds of sheets of 16x20 dry mount tissue, but it is not for RC color prints.  I ordered 7 18x24 frames from Dick Blick, which arrived quickly in perfect condition, and in fact, it was several weeks after I first received them that I used them.  They came 3/box and one single frame done separately.  That single frame turned out to not be 18x24, but 20x24!  A good thing I had something hanging in the house in the same frame style and in 18x24.  Of course, this was all less than a week before the show opened.   I also had to buy more mat board from Dick Blick.  I have to say, that it was well-packed, and I am really impressed by the care the company takes to make sure the customer is satisfied. The second exhibit, in which I have two pieces, was a lot simpler, except that my frame size was 14 x 18, so I had to get some glass cut for the frames.  Why 14x18" ? Well, with a 3" mat border for an 8x12" print (I am one of those people that fill the frame to the edge), that makes 14x18", if you want a uniform border.  This also means that most pre-made frames are out, as most of those are 16x20 - which is an awful lot of white space for an 8x12 print. Trust me on this, I have done a lot of those.

What about the exhibits?  The Seven Views opening was wonderful.  Raymond James and Associates is an investment firm in Ann Arbor that sponsors a rotating artists' series, and the show is on the walls inside their building.  Mike Myers coordinated our show and herded the cats, and it all came together Friday, 11/22. At least 130 people attended the opening of the show, and our hosts put on a great feed with catering from Jefferson Market.    Lots of great comments and interest in my work, and in the work by the 6 other photographers.  I didn't sell anything the first night, but it is up until the end of February, so hope springs eternal.  There were 5 sales that first night, though, which I think is pretty good.


The second exhibit is a little different - 50 Shades of Green at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, which opened just before Thanksgiving.  I have two photographs in the hanging art part of the exhibit, which of course features displays in the Conservatory, which has green growing things -- something to enjoy this time of year!

Green 1 and Green 2.

I have a pet peeve about shows featuring natural history subjects, and get ready for a short rant.  If you, the photographer (painter, etc) put a name on a description of the animal or plant (or other object) in your work. Make sure it is correct.  Calling  Switch Grass a Bluestem may not seem like a big deal, but it's no different than calling a vulture an eagle, or a butterfly a moth, etc.  Your audience is by large, going to be more discerning of such things than a more general population at a different venue. If you identify a subject wrong, it takes away from the photograph, as some people will think that you don't know your natural history, and in a venue that attracts a lot of folks knowledgeable about plants and animals, you are going to look bad.  If you are not sure about an ID, there are lots of online resources as well as books.  You can always ask someone more knowledgeable than yourself to check it.  If you want to waffle a bit, then title your work without identifying the life form. End of Rant.

The Seven Views can be seen at Raymond James, 350 S. Main Street, Ann Arbor, MI. Hours are 8:30 am - 5 pm, M-F.  It will be up until Feb. 27, 2014.

50 Shades of Green is located at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N. Dixboro Road, and is up until Jan 5, 2014.  The hours are 10 - 4:30 daily.