40 years ago today

It's my 40th wedding anniversary. My wife Adrienne and I were still in college at SUNY-ESF in Syracuse. We married at 21 in Amenia, NY, her hometown. The reception was in the Amenia firehall, and it was a small (by today's standards) reception of less than 40 people.  Forty years later, we are still married, with many more years ahead.  I scanned in some 35mm slides last night and thought about the technology changes since 1978, and the fact that the same camera could do the same job today.  The film was Kodak Ektachrome. Adrienne's cousin, Chris Murphy was the photographer, and I think used a Pentax SLR. The slides are still easily viewed.  Imagine trying to find a digital file 40 years later.  You won't.  The physicality of a transparency or a negative is a quality that defines their existence, long after the event took place.  The beauty of photography is that it records memories better than our brains can fix them.  The sad reality that there is going to be a dearth of surviving images from 2002 onward, due to the digital avalanche.  Families record things on cellphones and rarely, if ever, make prints.  Phone goes dead, bye-bye-images, unless you have them backed up somewhere.  The other big difference, is that at our wedding there was one photographer, not 40 wannabe photographers with cell phones. The guests were enjoying the moment, not immersed in a cell-phone (which obviously didn't yet exist). 

The great thing is that the Ektachrome slides have lasted as long as our marriage, and I have hopes that at 50 years, they will still be as vibrant as our marriage.

Also happy Mother's Day to Adrienne.  Our daughter Marjorie is 30 years old.

The Olympus 35RC - Nearly Perfect Compact 35mm

The Olympus 35RC

This camera certainly hails as one of the gems of 35mm compact rangefinder cameras.  The 35RC has larger siblings with more features, such as the 35RD and 35SP, but the 35RC is the model that you are most likely to run across.  The compact form of this camera does not equate to a lack of features.  Instead, what you have is a small camera that can be taken anywhere and allow you to reliably take photos without a lot of fiddling about.

First appearing in 1970, the Olympus 35RC is a shutter-priority auto-exposure rangefinder camera that has manual over-ride. The shutter speeds range from B, 1/15-1/500 sec. The lens is a 42mm f/2.8 Zuiko lens that focuses from 3 feet to infinity. While the camera's dimensions of 4.5" L x 2.8"H x 2"D is pretty small, the all-metal body has a weight of about 15 ounces. The top-mounted shutter speed dial is easy to use, and has enough settings for most uses.  Having a B setting is especially useful for night photography.  The only oddball thing is that the front filter ring is 43.5mm!  If you can find a step-up ring that would allow the use of a 46mm filter, the ability to mount various filters would be a nice benefit. I used to have the slip-on lens hood, but lost it somewhere.

However, as-is, the 35RC is capable of taking sharp, crisp images with its excellent glass.  All of the controls seem precise.  According the excellent Camera Quest site, the Olympus 35RC is probably the smallest 35mm RF camera with auto-exposure (AE) and manual override.  Both shutter speed and aperture are visible in the viewfinder.  My 35RC's viewfinder has the shutter speed stuck a 1/15 sec, no matter what the setting, but AE works fine at any shutter speed that's set on the top dial. On AE, the shutter will lock if the light is too dim or too bright for the metering range (EV 7-18).  The minimum aperture of f/22 allows faster film to be used at slower shutter speeds.  The ISO range is 25-800, which is pretty much what anyone would need.  Of course, this is a 1970's camera, so no DX-coding is used.  The off switch on the camera's barrel is an excellent feature that saves battery juice and locks the shutter as well. There is automatic flash exposure via the use of Guide Numbers.  That is a great feature that I have only previously seen on the Canon QL-17. In use, you set the Guide Number (GN) to that of the flash, and as you focus, the camera will auto set the aperture, which provides good control of the flash exposure.  Any manual flash can be used. The hot shoe allows flash sync at all shutter speeds - try that with your SLR!

Some Caveats -- 
While the Olympus 35RC originally took a Mercury PX625, you can elect to use a Wein Cell, a hearing-aid battery, or just go with an LR-44 button cell with 1.5V.  If you are using b&w or C-41 film, the exposure difference usually will not matter.  Or, go with a MR-9 Mercury Cell adapter   Note that there are other adapters online with the same name, but do not have the microcircuitry that the Criscam adapter has. The fakes only allow the use of hearing aid cells, not silver-oxide cells.  I have used my 35RC with LR-44 cells and I cannot complain about the exposures.

The manual override does not use the meter - but if your meter is working, you can easily use that for a guide, or just go with sunny-16 if you wish.

There has been some doubt that the 35RC's top shutter speed is actually 1/500 sec, due to it being only a 2-bladed shutter.  My Phochron XA shutter tester gave me the following readings on my camera:
dial      actual
1/15 - 1/14.3
1/30 -  1/29.7
1/60 -  1/60.2
1/125- 1/124
1/250- 1/303
1/500- 1/542 (varied  from 1/530-1/566)

Not too bad, and certainly within the tolerance range. Of course, this is a 45+ year-old camera!

Marc Akemann, 2009 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum
on Ektar 100.

In use, the camera feels precise, and the controls are easy to use.  The camera is small enough that I just used a wrist strap with it.  It fits easily into a jacket pocket, and of course, is a great travel companion.  I think the Olympus 35RC deserves more love. It's certainly a more usable camera than a Rollei 35, and if you can find the appropriate filters and a snap-on lens hood, you will be set for just about anything.  The 42mm focal length is not as wide as some compacts (38 being more common), but it is certainly close to a "normal" lens.  The compact nature of this camera and its simple, yet effective controls make it a classic in any book.  I have previously published posts on this camera, and this will probably be the last one I do on the 35RC, as it is going to the big online auction.  I am trimming down my cameras, and the ones that have been not getting much use lately are leaving. 

Out and About with the Yashica ME1

A funky little 35mm camera came my way recently, and one that I knew little about, at that.  A Yashica ME1 is an attractive little zone-focus camera manufactured in Japan in 1970 and Brazil, starting in 1977. My example was made in Brazil. What sets this little camera apart from other small 35s, is the clean design of the top plate, which features only a shutter button, hot shoe, and a frame counter.  The film advance wheel is on the lower rear L of the camera, and the film rewind is on the bottom right.  This is an all-black plastic camera that features the typical ASA setting dial around the lens with a CdS cell on the front lens plate.  The film speed settings range from an ISO of 25 to 500.  The 38mm f/2.8 lens is pretty much right there with a slew of other compact 35s that proliferated in the 70s and early 80s.  Like many other cameras of its time, it requires a Mercury PX635 cell to power the camera, but I popped in a LR44, and the camera sprang to life. With b&w and C-341 film, the exposure difference between the two battery voltages should not be a problem.  The shutter speeds range from a paltry 1/60 - 1/360 sec, and the shutter locks if you leave the lenscap on or do not have enough light (nice feature).  The exposure is all automatic, and you look in the viewfinder to see if the needle is in the "green zone."  The self-timer (ca. 8 seconds) is in a typical spot to the right of the lens barrel.  Focus is indicated by the icons, 1m, 1.5m, 3m, and infinity, with feet and meters on the opposite side of the lens.

In the hand, this camera feels very natural,and the bottom L-positioned thumb wheel film advance seems perfect for this little camera. You can wind on and shoot pretty quickly. While its specifications are quite ordinary, it is certainly capable of taking good photographs under typical conditions.  One feature that surprised me is the extra little window in the viewfinder that shows your distance setting and whether you will need to use the parallax correction markings in the bright viewfinder.  That is a nice feature, and the needle in the right side of the window indicates whether your exposure will be adequate.  The red zone means you'll require a flash, or the shutter locks up, unless you set the aperture manually, off the A position.

from the manual via Butkus.org

I loaded a roll of Svema 200 b&w film, and shot a test roll last month.  I developed it in the new FPP Super Monobath for 3.5 min at 24°C.  The Svema film is a bit punchy - contrasty with some grain, but overall, the images look pretty good for basically a p&s 35mm camera.

Elsewhere, I have seen the ME1 compared to the Minolta Hi-Matic G and the Olympus Trip 35, which is a fair comparison.  However, I would give the Hi-Matic a better overall score due to its more robust build. Same for the Trip 35, which is in a class by itself because it does not require batteries, and if you have one that works, you know that it is a great little camera. My example of the Yashica ME1 came with a dented filter ring, which is too bad.  It does take 46mm filters like many other small 35s in its class.  The Yashica ME1 is an attractive little camera, and its Brazilian manufacture makes it an unusual camera among 35mm cameras of the 1970s.   Prices on ebay for this camera range from $15-$55.

Yashica produced over 40 different 35mm non-SLR models, and the Electro 35, Lynx and Minister series are usually the first ones that come to mind. Most are true rangefinder cameras, but a few are zone-focus.  The ME1 is a far different camera than the metal-bodied Electros, being more compact, but still having good Yashica glass.  It's not going to be the be-all compact 35, but it is easy to use, lightweight, and certainly affordable.  Unlike the much larger Electro series, it won't suffer from oddball battery requirements and bad electronics.  Certainly worth a try if you see one in a shop. If you need a manual, it hardly goes without saying that you'll find one at Jim Butkus' site.

Yashica Fun - The FX-7 Super

It has been a while since I have shot with a Yashica SLR.   My experience with them to this point, was with the older M-42 screw-mount cameras, most notably the TL Electro X.

I recently came into possession of a very nice and refurbished Yashica FX-7 Super.  I certainly wasn't looking to expand into the realm of Contax/Yashica mount cameras (C/Y), but this one looked so beautiful that I had to have it for a while and try it out.  After doing some online research, I discovered that the FX series of cameras were made by Chinon (who also made the Canon T-60, Nikon FM-10, and numerous other low-end 35mm SLRs).  This is after Kyocera took on the Yashica brand.  I used to own a (Kyocera) Contax G1 rangefinder, and while it had many attributes that I liked, it was slow with the AF, and the top LCD was exhibiting bleeding. However, the Zeiss Planar 45mm T* lens was excellent. 

With Kyocera taking on the Contax marque, they of course, released some very fine 35mm SLRs under the Contax name, all with lovely Zeiss T* lenses.  Meanwhile, the Yashica bodies, aimed for a lower price point, came with Yashica-branded lenses. Mine has Yashica ML 50mm f/2.  The beauty is that the two brands shared the same C/Y mount, meaning that a lightweight, inexpensive body could have a fine Planar T* lens on it. That is certainly one attraction for the FX bodies.

My FX-7 Super has been recovered in dark blue leatherette by a previous owner, and new foam seals installed.  The camera is in excellent condition.  As a small SLR, it has the following features:

• Shutter speeds - B, 1 - 1/1000 sec.
• Flash Sync Speed - 1/125th sec
• Top deck shutter release with threads for remote
• Self-timer [10 sec]
• Hot shoe with extra control contact
• molded hand grip on right side
• +/- LEDs for exposure indication in viewfinder
• manual exposure mode only
• viewfinder with center focus spot - split-mage microprism
• requires 2 LR-44 cells for meter only
• half-press of shutter release activates meter
• Through-the-lens, full-aperture center weighted light metering with SPD cell
• ISO range of 12-1600 set on shutter speed dial
• 52mm filter thread on the lens with this body.
• tripod socket centered on the bottom

This is a fairly basic set of features, but in practical use, it's all you really need to take photos.  The camera body has no sharp edges, and it is nice to hold.  Its fairly quiet copal square vertical metal shutter sounds "snappy". The camera weighs just over a pound, and it really is a joy to use. 

There are lots of sites with information on the FX-3 and FX-7 series, and I am not going to repeat it all here.  One feature they all share is the discussion on the disintegration of the leatherette.  If you have one, you would be wise to recover it, and I have to say that the navy blue on mine is gorgeous.

Shooting experience

This is an all-manual SLR camera that is compact, precise in operation, and everything is located just right.  It makes a Pentax K1000 seem like a cloddish camera.  I have been carrying it around with me for a few weeks now, and it's definitely going places.  The 50mm f/2 lens is just fine, and maybe in the future I will acquire a Zeiss T* 50mm lens for it.  For now though, it's all I need. 

Photos

Here are a smattering of b&w images taken in NJ and MI, and I have to say that the camera works great.   I can recommend this camera to anyone looking for a manual SLR that is lightweight and of relatively recent manufacture (mid-1980s).   While the Yashica C/Y mount may not have as many lenses and accessories as the Nikon/Canon/Pentax/Olympus systems, you will find the lenses that you need for most types of shooting.  Aside from the Yashica and Contax brands, there are lenses from Tamron (Adaptall-2), Soligor, Sigma, and others that have the C/Y mount.

Mat, hotel room, expired Plus-X

Mike's hula girl, expired Plus-X

hydrant, expired Plus-X

Mike Raso, expired Plus-X

 shadows on steps, Tasma NK-2

Ann Arbor Subraru, Tasma NK-2

Argo trestle, Tasma NK-2

somewhere in Ohio on I80, in the rain, Tasma NK-2

Tasma NK-2 Film Review

Over the past few years I have been able to sample the interesting films from the Film Photography Project store.  The Svema films such as the FN64 and Svema 400 are really nice films in my opinion, and I have been using them rather frequently.  One film that I have not tried until now is the Tasma NK-2 100 ISO b&w film.  I am not sure why I hadn't tried it earlier, but after shooting two rolls of it in the past week, I feel that I can offer a quick review.

First of all, the Tasma film originates from Russia, and is described as a b&w motion picture film.  The Russian site says that the factory dates from 1933, so Tasma has a long history. The film is on a PET base, not acetate, and consequently is extremely tough and will not tear like an acetate-based film.  It's also thinner than typical 35mm films, much like the Svema stocks that I have used, but seems not as flimsy as the Svema.  The Tasma NK-2 film is fresh stuff, according to the FPP site, and has a sort of cult-status. 

The Tasma NK-2 rolls are in 24-exposure cassettes from the FPP, and are DX-coded.  I would prefer 36-exposure rolls, but then again, with these limited-availability films, the shorter rolls are a good idea, especially for testing.  The film loaded easily onto the take-up spool in the Nikon F3HP and the Yashica FX-7 cameras that I used.  I set the ISO on the cameras to the box speed of 100. 

DEVELOPING

I checked the Massive Development Chart, and the information on the Tasma NK-2 seemed rather odd, so I consulted the FPP pages on Flickr, and found two developers that I use: D-76 and XTOL.  Leslie Lazenby's recommendation was XTOL stock at 7.25 minutes.  Another photographer (Tom Napier) recommended D-76 straight for 7 minutes.   I find the MDC listing a bit odd, as I have only seen examples with people shooting it at box speed.

Other developers and times that I have found (all at 20°C):
HC-110 B for 10 min
D76 Stock for 10 min
Diafine - 4 min each in A & B

I developed in D-76 for 10 minutes, and did a water stop, followed by 7 minutes in fixer.  I washed in water and used Permawash to remove any fixer followed by a good rinse.  Both rolls came out beautifully. The film dries perfectly flat, and scans beautifully on my Espon V700.

Nikon F3HP with 19mm Vivitar lens:

Yashica FX-7 Super with 50mm f/2 lens.

Overall, the Tasma NK-2 is a very easy film to work with, especially now that I have a developer or two that I can use to get satisfactory results.  The tonality is certainly acceptable, and it is fine-grained.  I can see no reason why anyone would not want to try some.  The fact that it scans so well should be a key point in using it.  I think a bulk roll of it from the FPP store is next on my list.