Showing posts with label Nikon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nikon. Show all posts

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Well, That Was A Quick One Wasn't It.

Eheu !

You'll need to look up the above - best place to start is How To Be Topp by Ronald Searle and Geoffrey Willans - one of my favourite books.

Anyway, firstly a Happy Seasonal Season to you all - thanks for reading and putting up with some bonkers off-kilter photography related stuff!
As I've said before, this is an Empire Of One, so I can write whatever I like, but if you've enjoyed what you've read, Thank You - it is very much appreciated.

Anyway, in common with recent years, this is a photographic run-down from me.
I certainly took more pictures this year, but not quite enough . . . but isn't that always the case?
It's been a weird and good year - weird from the point of view that I purchased two (very good) secondhand digital cameras, and weird from the point of view that I no longer own either of them!
I've not bought any film related stuff this year simply because I've got it all and any further expense seems rather daft.
I also managed to cement a few things in my mind:

I'm not in the slightest bit interested in digital photography.
Quite a statement eh?
And even though writing this and holidays etc render it semi-necessary . . . I just can't get excited about it.
Not quite sure why, but anyway, that's just me.

I'm also not really a 35mm photographer either.
Never one for doing things by halves, that's another quite a statement.
Even though 35mm film has been used this year I have barely used any of my 35mm cameras at all, which again is kind of daft when you think about it, seeing as I own 6!


Suitably A-tyred

Yes, I know the above photo belies what I just said, but the reason it has been slipped in here is because I like the image and thought it would be a good one to head up the thumbnails at the side of the page.
Despite my semi-aversion to 35mm photography, I was really tempted around the start of summer to go Bugger It! and purchase a dual-range Summicron with some funds I'd released from selling guitar gear.
Unfortunately I didn't.
And that's not like me at all - but something stopped me.
It was pretty significant too, because the DR was something I've wanted for a long long time, but anyway, that's for further down this page!

So, without further ado, grip your zimmers, here's a really boring round-robin of my year!

JANUARY


Well, I started how I meant to go on, and that meant ACTION!
I loaded a roll of Tri-X (probably the last time I'll use it as it is now too expensive!) into the F3 with the 28mm AI-s and off I went - 25 photos in around an hour and a half.
It was major FUN - there's a lot to be said for Nikon's old Automatic Indexing System - it just works and very reliably too.


Seabraes Yard Walkway With Willy Wonka, Dundee

I enjoyed it so much, that later in the month I used another roll!


Broken Seabraes Yard Bridge, Dundee

Seabraes Yard Lift 1, Dundee

Seabraes Yard Lift 2, Dundee

All the above are scans off the negs - never got as far as printing that lot . . .

Early in January the weather was truly dreich and 'orrible up here, but that didn't stop me - I loaded the SWC with some HP5 and whilst out for a lovely walk with t'missus, blasted through 12 frames.
Unfortunately, whether it was too much rum imbibed or a genuine fault with my light meter, the film was well-underexposed. I was gutted!


View From Seabraes Bridge, With Rain And Bonus Gloom

That's a scan from the print - I had to use Pot-Ferry to bleach back the highlights a bit, but even then it was exceptionally difficult to print.

And so started a period of doubt about the Gossen - I wasn't sure about it even though I re-tested it against meters I knew were working (the F3 and the Sony A6000, and Lux on a piephone).

FEBRUARY


On a lovely crisp morning's walk, I was so impressed with the light on the way back, that I went home, loaded the 500 C/M with HP5 (my new main squeeze - thank you Dave Lee Roth) and went out again, toting the 150mm Sonnar - worra lens.
It helped me make what I think is probably one of the best people pictures I've taken - not that I take many people pictures, but all the same.
It was of well-known Dundee grafitti artist C-Gul.
He's a really nice chap and is very amenable to having his portrait taken. I generally bump into him about once a year.


Monsieur C-Gul esq.

I also finished off another roll of Tri-X that I'd started at the end of January - again the F3/28mm AIs combo worked perfectly.


Time Dilation, Perth

At the end of the month, I'd planned a mountain trip, but a dodgy knee stopped me, so instead I went (nearly) to Balmerino along the Fife Coastal Path.
The whole adventure was detailed in 101 Uses For A (Nearly) Dead Sheep.


Quiet Riverside Morning, Wormit

MARCH


You know what, nothing photographic happened in March apart from some printing, so here's a scan of a print to fill up the blank space.


Hall Of Light - Trainworld, Brussels

The above is another of my Brussels photographs - it was taken with the F3/28mm AI-s combo - of all my prints of recent times, this is the one I have hanging in my study - there's just something about it.
If you're ever in Brussels, and even if you DON'T like trains, this is one of the very best museums in the world . . .

There, that's better isn't it.

APRIL


Ah, well some people would call it unlucky, but me? nah, brilliant. I started a 4 day working week, which initially was novel, but at the end of the year proved to be an absolute panacea to my adult working life - everyone should do it. Time is the most precious thing we don't own.

Suitably bouyed with enthusiasm, I hit the mountains!
The whole adventure was written about in Pastures Unknown

And here's a pic from then.


Wild Party Going On

At the end of the month, with the early morning light improving, I got up pre-dawn and hit the town on Easter morning.
The light was astonishing, but what sealed it to me was a group of Christians standing beside the River Tay and reading bible passages at dawn. Were it not for the fact that they were dressed in modern garb, drove Hyundais, and were standing next to the V&A, you could literally have been removed in time back hundreds of years.
It was humbling, moving and awe-inspiring all at the same time.


Easter Morning Prayer, V&A Dundee

I did a fair amount of printing in April, courtesy of new found freedom, however I soon replaced that with a list of jobs I had been putting off for years . . .

MAY


Did some more printing in May, but no photographing, so here's a print made then . .


Vandalised Gigantic Poster, Brussels

This was made the year previously on the F3/28mm combo, in Brussels no less. All the black faces have been picked off - nice to see they have racists over there too (he said ironically).
Truth be told, this was a pissing spot for drunks, so I guess anything would have been 'done' anyway.

JUNE

June was a mad month.
My son suddenly declared he'd need a camera for an upcoming European road trip - 8 countries in a few weeks no less - he's braver than I was at his age.
Film flashed through my mind, and I thought how about a Nikkormat - cheapish, hands-on and reliable . . but then, when he declared he wanted to use ONLY colour my thinking changed.
Anyway, after a wee test out in Perthshire to see how it would handle things, I thought I'd entrust him with the Sony A6000.
Therein lay another problem - I'd only used it with an adaptor and manual Nikkors, and he declared he wanted something with a zoom!

OK old bean I thought, have the shirt off my back why dontcha, you young 'uns . . etc etc . . 


Now I know what you're thinking, prime lenses only that's the sort of man I am, and despite my having explained it all to him, about compromises with zooms vs, tip-top imaging with a prime, it was no good . . so I ended up getting the kit lens for the Sony, the 16-50 zoom - to give it its correct terminology:

Sony E 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS


It was cheap at WEX with a year's guarantee, and you know what . . it's alright!


Riverside Bridge, Seabrae Yards, Dundee

And that left me with a conundrum.
We were going to Rome.
I was supposed to be taking the F3/28mm, our 11 year old Panasonic digital compact, and also the Sony, except now it was no longer in the equation.
So I started thinking digitally and the upshot of it was, I purchased a great condition Nikon D300S with  a 18-70 f3.4/4.5 zoom as my travel camera and married it up, because of bulk and weight, with the Leica M2 and a collapsible Elmar (1932  vintage) and also the old Panasonic digi.


When I initially got the D300S I did a shoot-out with it and the SW . . the SW won of course, but the D300S was no slouch.


DJCA Alley, Dundee
Nikon D300S and Zoooooooooom

DJCA Alley, Dundee
Hasselblad SWC/M And Shoe-Leather Zoooooooom

I thought the D300S would be the dog's bahookies - the ideal machine for getting all that colourful Roman stuff!


And whilst it was a fine (really fine actually) photo-making machine, my goodness, it was like schlepping an anchor around in 90 degree heat . . in other words I quickly began to hate it.



Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II - Panoramic Terrace Lift

See what I mean - no issues with colours or sharpness, and it was fortunate we had it, because halfway through the holiday, we left the Panasonic behind on a bench and despite heading back for it 20 minutes odd later, some thieving Roman git had had it.
I will say, if you go to Rome, whilst it is a lovely place, don't do something like this, because the Roman Police department will give you no help at all, and neither will the locals.
So that was that, our holiday camera gone and it had all the sensible pics on it too.
The D300S was employed and ended up taking the rest of the holiday snaps.


The Vatican On A Quiet Afternoon

Fractured Holiday View

Plastic Seagull, Rome

On the whole, I like the results from the Nikon, but by comparison, the M2 was a revelation and easily the most fun to use 35mm I've ever toted around.
It was just so damn instinctive and quick and quiet and svelt.
In other words PURE JOY.


Stuffed Swans Trapped In The Vatican

When we got back from Rome, we still had anudder week, so I used the M2 with the 35mm Summaron. Here's a pic taken in tiny light onboard the Unicorn in Dundee.
The print looks like it has been lithed, but it's the result of extreme bleaching in pot-ferry - to me it looks like something washed up after a nuclear disaster and has a poignancy I can't place.


Tiny Light, HMS Unicorn, Dundee

JULY

Y'see that D300S?
It developed a noise or two (weird hums n' stuff) . . so I sent it back to WEX and they were superb about it letting me exchange it . . for . . anudder digi-cam - a Fuji X2ES with a 27mm Pancake.
It was more expensive, but is easily the nicest digital camera I've handled.
Intuitive, VERY lightweight, light on sub-menus (unless you wanted to) and relatively unfootery.
A camera with some thought put into it.
It also took a cracking picture too - I was delighted.


Victorianised Dell

Have These Students Got Nothing Better To Do, Part 1

Have These Students Got Nothing Better To Do, Part 2

I also finished processing my Roman films in July and was astonished at what a brilliant little lens the ancient Elmar was.
Honest, just about the cheapest Leitz-branded lens you can buy.
I use mine with a Voigtlander adapter as it is a screw-mount one.
I also used it with a Fison hood and it was a royal pain to change aperture, but it just made me approach things differently - think before you shoot and be prepared.


Quiet Graveyard

Look at the creaminess of those greys - quite unlike anything else I own.

AUGUST

Y'see that Fuji?
Guess what . . . it developed an occasional hum when the shutter was operated, so, not wanting to saddle myself with a faulty camera, I sent it back, got a refund and decided there and then that digital photography was not for me.
I simply couldn't be arsed to be honest, even faced with some excellent pixel-peepin'-poppin'-and-a snappin' sharp images from the Fuji - they just did nothing for me at all, so I nailed my trousers to the mast and said nah.
The Sony is now our holiday cam, simply because with the loss of our dear old Panasonic, we have nothing else . . well, I still have my ancient Olympus MjU . . !

So, in celebration of my new-found freedom from having to think about something else, I mounted my ancient Canon LTM 50mm f1.8 - the "Japanese Summicron", on the M2, and you know, I think that seems to be a pretty good description
The below is a typical pic.
As they say round these parts in a West Country accent:

"Look a tha' bokee on tha'"


Tyre Dump, Spokes, Dundee

The Canon was probably the second cheapest lens I've bought for Leicas - it was originally going to be mounted on the fungusy IIIf!
However I loved it's rendering of detail, greys and the dread bokeeee so much, that it made me think  there was actually no point in buying a DR Summicron.
The money would be better employed elsewhere, and so it was.

Near the end of the month, I was all set for a hillwalk, but somehow talked myself out of it (well, actually it was gale force winds that did the talking) and ended up photographing the footings of the Tay railbridge instead - a slippy shitey journey, but semi-worth it, even without anywhere on my tripod to attach the camera . . .


Tay Rail Bridge Footings

And at the end of the month I did actually get to do a hillwalk, albeit one curtailed by mist and cowardice.
It was all detailed in Fun With Rocks And Mist (Again).


Quiet Glade
SEPTEMBER


Gawd does all he do, is go on holiday?
Well no, but we had a few nights in Edinburgh and it was really wonderful.
The weather was half decent for a start, and as an added bonus, I spared the missus all the usual:

 "Hold it, can you wait a sec"

moves and didn't take a film camera.
The Sony sufficed and actually got some semi-decent images.


Whisky Galore!

Quiet Morning

Shop Display, Edinburgh

Who Are You And Why Are You Taking My Photograph?

Remember these are all taken with what is effectively a budget lens for the Sony - none too tardy are they!
I especially like the last one - I was randomly snapping the bloke behind the bar, but fortunately the chap with the audio-guide looked directly at the camera!
And that was it photographically for September.

OCTOBER


The weather in October was mostly ghastly tbh and photographically the only thing I did, was accept an invite to a gallery opening (Printspace in Newport) to see the Edinburgh Lo-Fi exhibition which I enjoyed, but could have done with some more photographs! Printspace is a really nice gallery and shop run by Sheila and Alan Borthwick who used to run the Tayside Scottish Photographers Meetings. You can have a butchers at this link

It got me thinking that I should really start rummaging through my prints and getting myself together - empetus for the Winter months.
But in the meantime, here's another print from the archives . . gads that blank page stuff is awful isn't it.


Ghost Discovered In Abandoned Tent

The above was taken a couple of years ago with the Sonnar, beside a campsite (in a cutting). 
The tent had obviously been rendered useless and had been chucked over the fence into the cutting. 
It looked totally incongruous in the gloom, so I photographed it with the 500 C/M and the 150mm Sonnar. 
This is a pretty good demo of the Sonnar's qualities. 
It is a scan off a print made on Ilford Grade 2 Galerie (RIP).

On a sad note (for me) Mr. Malcolm Thompson died. Malcolm I have known for years - he ran a small but busy lab (Studio M) and has taken photographs all his life - in latter years he taught B&W at the DCA. I'll always remember him as a passionate jazz fan who was grumpy and kind all at the same time - he also took some very fine photographs, and even with Parkinson's disease which meant he had to sell his 5x4 camera, and found his Rollei SL66 too big to use, still took photographs with whatever lightweight device came to hand.
R.I.P Malcolm.

And the other sad note alluded to above is that I discovered Ilford had discontinued Galerie - the best fibre paper ever made. I can understand the financial aspect, but all the same it was gutting.
Luckily I still have a box of 100 sheets of 8x10" Grade 2. 
To be used wisely methinks!

NOVEMBER


OK, it's a run-off from another holiday at the end of October/start of Novemember, but the main photographic thing I did was detailed in The Crunge





There was another film taken at the end of the month though, but I am just not sure what I feel about the images - they were pretty rough and quickly taken AND I haven't contacted or printed any of them yet  . . .

This being said, despite having had a wee break from thinking about cameras and photography, I can feel it building again.

DECEMBER


Well, that's where we are now and as this is being published, we've hit the Solstice and are on the up-ramp to lighter nights - WOOHOO!!.
Anyway, I'll wind this ramble up - if you have time off lined up . . what are you waiting for? Get out there and take some photographs - you know it's good for you!
And remember, it doesn't matter if nobody looks at your photos, so long as you are enjoying them and learning something and training your eye all at the same time, that's all that counts.


Misty Night In The Garden

And The Same Scene Reversed

The above illustrates my old adage about taking a picture of a scene or whatever and then turning round - the scene behind can often be as interesting.

Anyway, on the whole, don't you think that photography has become pretty much meaningless in today's world?

That's why we need to start thinking about it differently.

Thinking about why we do it and what (if) any purpose there is to it.
It does seem like a mug's game; an expensive (and getting more expensiver) game that only means something to you, the photographer.
Actually, just reading that again, I wonder what really is the point in it?
I mean (and not to piss on your chips or anything) actually, is there any point? 
Is it just an amusement to while away the hours till death? 
What does anything mean to anyone outwith your social circle anyway?


I suppose, just like any creative pursuit, it is almost impossible to quantify.
We do it because we want to, because it gives us pleasure, and hope; twisted narcissism and satisfaction!
So, far from going all nihilistic on you, I'll just say, if you enjoy it, DO IT.
Hang the expense and hang the pain in the neck when things go wrong - and with printing and taking they often can do!

Talking of which (finally) welcome to The Hairiest Print In The World (Retouched).


Have You Finished Yet, Y'Old Git?

I found this whilst rummaging and love the imagery - Alec Turnips was all knackered after a long walk, and was patient (just about) enough to let me take his picture.
It was made with the old Rollei T at f3.5 and just shows what an incredible lens a Zeiss Tessar is.
I've retouched it a bit on the Mac but it really is an incredibly hairy print, made a long time ago when I was farting around with anti-static brushes on negatives.
The bloody thing (and it was a really good one) deposited more dust than it removed. These days, using the Astrid Ioniser as my baseline, I find a scissor wipe with my first and second finger removes pretty much everything.

Anyway, that's enough - you're knackered and need a break too.

I'll leave the final words to Mr. DH Lawrence. A man who knew a bit about writing.
I've known this poem since buying Mott The Hoople's Mott album in 1973 - he got it right:



A Sane Revolution


If you make a revolution, make it for fun,
don’t make it in ghastly seriousness,
don’t do it in deadly earnest,
do it for fun.

Don’t do it because you hate people,
do it just to spit in their eye.

Don’t do it for the money,
do it and be damned to the money.

Don’t do it for equality,
do it because we’ve got too much equality
and it would be fun to upset the apple-cart
and see which way the apples would go a-rolling.

Don’t do it for the working classes.
Do it so that we can all of us be little aristocracies on our own
and kick our heels like jolly escaped asses.

Don’t do it, anyhow, for international Labour.
Labour is the one thing a man has had too much of.
Let’s abolish labour, let’s have done with labouring!
Work can be fun, and men can enjoy it; then it’s not labour.
Let’s have it so! Let’s make a revolution for fun!



And on that note, thanks for making it this far. Have a fantastic Christmas and a positive, happy and  totally creative New Year.
TTFN, and remember sprouts are supposed to be eaten, not hidden under a rug, in a plant pot or in someone else's pockets . . .

Tot quot, clot!




Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Crisis Of Faith





Penguin #41 (The Voyage Of The Discovery) Surveys The Future



Morning folks - that sounds a bit melodramatic and (as they say around these parts) up himself, but to be honest, it's not so much a crisis but more of an affirmation of intent.
I think the time has come for me and 35mm photogaphy to part company (almost).

Y'see, the thing is whilst I appreciate the convenience and portability of the medium, I've never really been a 36 or 24 frame snapper.
Yeah I could load my own cassettes and take say 12 or 15 at a time, but really, what would be the point in that?
For more ease, I could just fit a 645 back on the Hasselblad, or use the Rollei T's 16-on kit. And for all that there's some remarkably good 645 cameras still out there, you really would be hard-pressed to beat the Rollei for compact quality. 
And anyway, I find myself quite happy with 12 frames of 6x6.
And when I think about what I have just said, I have started to wonder why I actually need:

1 x Nikon F
1 x Nikon F 2
1 x Nikon F 3
1 x Original Nikomat
1 x Leica M2
1 x Olympus Trip (sorry Steve - you can have it back if you want)
1 x Olympus XA 2 (ditto to Bruce!)
1 x Nikon AF600 (legendary cult camera with outstanding 28mm lens)
1 x Olympus OM 10
1 x Pentax PC35AF (world's first autofocus compact camera)

And that's before we get started on lenses:

Nikkor 300mm f 4.5 (pre-Ai)
Nikkor 80-200mm Zoom (pre-Ai)
Nikkor 105mm (pre-Ai)
Nikkor 55mm Macro (pre-Ai - Self Compensating Type)
Nikkor 50mm f1.4 (pre-Ai)
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 (Ai)
Nikkor 35mm f2 'O' (pre-Ai)
Nikkor 35mm f3.5 (pre-Ai - K-Series)
Nikkor 28mm f3.5 (pre-Ai - K-Series)
Nikkor 28mm f2.8 (Ai-S - second version)
Nikkor 24mm f2.8 (pre-Ai)
Leitz 35mm f3.5 Summaron (M3 'specs' version)
Leitz 50mm f3.5 Elmar (made in 1932)
Leitz 90mm f4 Elmar (M version)
Canon Rangefinder 50mm f1.8 
Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5
Zuiko 50mm f1.8 

And then there's the accessories - lens hoods, filters, cases, bags etc etc etc.

See what I mean - along the way, things have got totally out of hand, and seeing as it is rare these days to lift a 35mm camera, let alone take a picture, something has to give.

The really sad thing is, I won't say it hasn't been Fun acquiring all this stuff!
There's nothing like the excitement of getting a real bargain of a lens (most recent was the Ai-S 28mm f2.8 Nikkor [late model] for £100) - given the prices on these things these days, I just couldn't resist.
But, at the end of the day, does it not just distract from the most important thing?

Er, which is Sheepy???

Image Making.

It's like in musical terms:
2 weeks to make an album or 2 years to make an album?
You get distracted along the way and at the end of it, for all the extra stuff that has gone into making that album, does it have the sense of immediacy and urgency that makes a great album truly great? Having more of everything thrown at something, doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be any better than a bare bones approach.

In image making terms, for me, I have a solid and versatile Medium Format collection.
I still can't do it justice, and even my long daliance with Large Format (in the form of hundreds of 5x4" negatives and TWO 5x4 cameras [!!!!!!!]) has not really equalled (to my eyes) the images I have made with that kit (be it 'professional' Hasselblad or 'amateur' Rolleiflex T).
So when I throw 35mm into that mix, I am way off the mark of where I want to be.
Not only that, I am dedicating time to making 35mm images, that to be totally honest, I would rather be making on 120 film.

So is this the last 35mm film ever from me?
Well no, simply because I can't ditch it all.
As Steve said to me with regard to collecting anything, you always have to ask yourself:

"Do They Make Them Anymore?"

And in the case of film cameras the answer is pretty much a resounding NO.

Certainly ditching the lot would be foolhardy should I wish to go back further down the line, but for the moment, how do I thin the herd?
Well, my Nikons I will keep forever - emotional and ergonomic attachment, ease of use and that 100% viewfinder - but the lenses?
Well as you can see, there's a ton of those, but for me in practical terms the longer ones can go.
Not the 105mm - it has, unusually for a Nikkor, separation, but strangely still takes an ultra-sharp, ultra-smooth photograph.
On the wide front I actually like them all, but how many wide-angle lenses does a man need?
So, I think maybe the 35mm f3.5 and the 28mm f3.5 should go.
They're both fine - the 35mm is a K-Series (basically the last iteration of a pre-Ai Nikkor . . . very highly regarded and apparently the wide if you like digital IR photography).
The 28mm f3.5 is fine too, but I am hoping the 28mm f2.8 (CRC, late Ai-S version) is better.

So, here's some pics from a film that has sat in the camera for a good few months - that just shows how inspired I am to shoot 35mm these days.
The first 2 were made with the 24mm f2.8 (pre-Ai) - it is an utterly superb lens.
The final 4 were made with the 28mm f3.5 (the lens that McCullin shot Vietnam with) - certainly no slouch either.





The Selling Of Myth




A Warm Spring Day At A Quiet Place




Penguin #3 (Mr. Sofishsticated) Fans




Penguin #3 (Mr. Sofishsticated) Alone (for once)




Penguin #57 (Touchy) Post Vandalism




Penguin #7 (Sid The Penguin)


"Yes, we know all this sheepy, where does that leave the Leica?"

Well, y'know, whilst I have enjoyed and often actually loved using that camera, it needs to be used more.
Mine saw a proper professional life before it reached me - ever seen brassing in a film chamber? Yeah, exactly. It still works like a total dream though - smooth as silk - but to be honest I've never truly clicked with the rangefinder as I find the 100% view I get through the Nikon's viewfinders suits me more. 
Leica's are wonderfully quiet in use, they really are - everyone should try one at some point (though you could experience the same with any of the great old rangefinders tbh -try a Canon or Nikon) . . . 
But here's the thing with Leicas . . . 
OK, this is a big one, because, contrary to popular belief:

OWNING A LEICA DOES NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHER.

Yes, they are wonderful, intuitive, image making machines, but no more so than say a Nikon F from the same period.
And the thing with Leicas, is that you are sort of are inducted into a club, where it often seems that keeping up with the Jones' is the only thing you can do:

"You what? You've ONLY got a 35 f3.5 Summaron? . . Oh you poor boy! Well you'd better go and get a Summicron hadn't you!"

It is mad actually, quite MAD
The madness has been cemented in my mind by the new Leica M10-P - no doubt a wonderful camera, but £7000 for just a camera body. I'm sorry, but even if you do go and buy it, it won't make you a better photographer. You could have the road trip of a lifetime (with a Rollei) for that money and come back with arguably better photographs.
So, and I find it hard to be typing this, because I thought I never would . . . the M2 will be going.
What will I keep from my Leica 'system'?
Well . . . strangely the humble Table Top Tripod and ballhead, simply because they are arguably one of the most wonderfully useful photographic accessories ever made.

So, that's a big chunk of aspiration and dreaming cut away
And the rest of the 35mm stuff will go too, or else just get filed away somewhere.

I'll put a full stop on this now before I say too much, but I'll leave my last 35mm image to the one below.

It was made, as were the rest of the ones on this post, with a Nikon - in this case, my old F with a 24mm Nikkor. The film was Tri-X rated at 200 EI and it was developed in Pyrocat-HD.
There's something about the look of this that reminds me of some Japanese horror films of the 60's . . maybe it's the lens  -I doubt I could have achieved anything better with any amount of expensive Leitz glass . . .


Seed Heads, Fife


Oh, nearly forgot . . . the Penguins? 
Maggie's Penguin Parade (plenty of info here) - a huge piece of public art in Dundee and Angus, encompassing 80 Penguins, all decorated differently, and all in aid of Maggie's Cancer Centres. 
It is probably the best, most engaging thing I have seen for a long time - there's always people collecting 'photos' of them . . . young, old, doesn't matter, they're all walking away with a smile on their face. 
It really is quite something.

Over and oot the noo.

Oh and if you have read this far, and have subscribed to Fblog before, sorry - you need to do it again as Blogger has lost all your email addresses!






Monday, August 24, 2015

The Greatest Camera Ever Made

Ha! knew that would get you reading!!
The sound of false-teeth smashing against phones and tablets and monitors is really incredibly loud . . . you've just spilled coffee all over your nice new slacks . . . there's toast crumbs splattered all over the front of the Guardian . . .
Why Sheephouse?
Why are you doing this to us? We're all comfortable and stuff! We don't have to think about anything any more!!
Why? you ask.
Well, because I have declared something which, though contentious (and obviously one man's meat is another man's septic boil, so YUMV as they say in modern parlance) I believe to be true.
Maybe I should call this, The Greatest 35mm Ever Made instead, because of my fondness for the Rolleiflex T (and coincidentally my good chum Bruce's fondness for the Rolleiflex in general [he's got 3] - no collusion, honest missus - he was supposed to synchonise this post with mine [a double-whammy as it were] so if the link doesn't take you to his page about Rolleis, blame him) . . . however that title doesn't nearly grab you by the doo-dads as much, so . . . Camera it is!

***

Regular F'ers will know that I am in the midst of a love affair with the Leica M2 - and why not - he's a lovely old man who has had a hard working life and is enjoying his retirement with some excellent day trips and TLC, cup-cakes, tea, and a nice comfy armchair in the evening. He's even sent you a postcard or two y'know, unless the pooch has eaten them again! 
There's nothing at all like the handling of the M2 - it is quick, intuitive and simple; no high-fangled gizmos or unecessary dangly bits; no meter, just a film advance and shutter speed dial, frame preview and self-timer. Marry up a lens and you have focus and f-stop too, and that's it. 
It's as easy as anything to take photographs with, and as near to as close to being an extension of your brain, eye and fingers (and thumb) as you could wish.
Like I said he's a lovely old man and still very nimble for his age.
However, recently, feeling guilty (because I hadn't used them for a while) I hauled out my wee collection of Nikons: the Nikon F, the Nikon F2 and the Nikon F3 (I also have an original Nikomat FTn, but he's excluded from this . . though he's still working very well) and had a wee marvel at them.
I am very lucky to own these - the F and F2 (and the Nikomat, though that was from an Uncle) were gifts to me from my friend Canadian Bob, and had belonged to his Parents-In-Law, Len & Joyce Holmes, who had bought them new and had used them extensively in wildlife and plant photography right up till they went digital - so that tallied approximately 35 years of good service
They gifted them to me in the knowledge that I would continue to use them, and in my hands I have - a lot, and only put them aside after buying the Leica, because as great as the Nikons are, they are a trifle heavy to lug around all day whilst on holiday . . .
(The F3 I bought myself from Ffordes because I intended running colour film through it and I felt the meter would be more accurate (which it is) . . it was cheap, and serviced and is also a superb camera.)
But anyway, back to the Canadian connection - in the same box as the F's, was an extensive collection of pre-Ai Nikkors too! here comes the list:
35mm f2
50mm f1.4
105mm f2.5
300mm f4.5
500mm f8
80-200mm zoom
You have no idea of the weight of that box, but it was really heavy and vastly exciting to open - the ghosts of the olde photogs who haunt Chateau Sheephouse were gathered thickly around the table as I cleared away all the polystyrene and air-bags . . .

The Canadian Box Of Joy.
Left To Right: F2 With 50mm f1.4, 500mm f8, 105mm f2.5, 80-200mm Zoom, 300mm f4.5, F with 35mm f2.
Can You Imagine Getting A Box With This Lot in?


The lenses were all in lovely condition with no problems with the glass, and in the case of the 500mm, I would say almost unused.
Over the years I have tried all of them out, and for my purposes, the ones I am most warmly attached to are the 50mm f1.4 S.C and the 35mm f2 'O'.
People talk about Leitz bokeh and detail, and then others will chime in with certain Pentax lenses and the odd Zuiko, but let me say here and now, the olde pre-Ai Nikkors really have something, and although the prices are starting to creep up (gone are the days a few years back when you could pick a pre-Ai up for as cheap as £30) they are still, for such high quality lenses, almost as cheap as chimps these days (not that chimps are cheap . . you try dealing with their food requirements, entertainment and potty training . . )
In short, these redoubtable, bomb-proof, pieces of Brass, Aluminium, Black Lacquer and solidity are really wonderful lenses.
Marry the 50mm f1.4 up with the nice and bright viewfinder of the original F and you have a standard lens dream-team. The 1.4 is lovely and soft where it needs to be and hellish sharp in the central region - in other words it does what it needs to do - concentrates the eye on the subject matter and gives things a thoroughly natural look, and that's as technical as a Sheephouse lens test is going to get! To put it bluntly, it makes photographs - ones you can be proud of.
Here's a few (not great, but I like them) pics I made with it


Gordon


Suzi


Alec Turnips


Joanna
See what I mean about the lovely out of focus bits? I think the lens gives things a wonderfully naturalistic look.

(And yes, I know I've (mostly) chopped the top of their heads off, so stop moaning about it . . it was a deliberate bit of artistic artifice OK? In the spirit of the greatest drinking toast ever "Take The Lid Off Your Id!" I thought I would signify that whilst you might be posing for a photograph, it is always better to let your ego and super-ego go elsewhere, allowing the id to have its day in the sun, OK? 
Everyone (do they really Sheephouse?) knose that  the ego and super-ego are what let you down when they get involved in photographs . . that half-shut eye, the gawky mouth, the snotty nose, the dribbles . . the egos, whilst trying to make sure that you look conformed for your pose, will often result in conflict, so you end up with a shit picture of yourself . . oh the pressures of conformity
My tip for a good portrait, if you are a victim and you haven't had a drink (everyone knose that a drink frees the inner you) - briefly close your eyes, centre your person comfortably in your head, feel the world under your feet, relax, open your eyes and look straight at the camera (or failing that, just PShop the fecker).
These portraits are (I think) lovely and natural . . the real nature of my victims is on display, they are free of controlling nature, hence my chopping of their heads . . 
Of course, this could all be total bollocks - it is up to you to decide.)

But back to the lenses - here's a couple more now - these were made with the venerable 35mm f2 'O' - it's a lens that has a cult following and actually it isn't hard to see why - I've had an enormous amount of pleasure using this lens - and it too has a very natural look to it.


Circus Poster In A Window



June 23rd


See what I mean - it's a great lens and not only that, can focus to just under 1 foot (0.3 meters).
But anyway, I am deviating again - it's easy to see that the pre-Ai's are fantastic and after all, a camera system is really ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS LENSES, so where does that leave us?
Ah yes, The F! 
It's a weighty camera if you aren't used to such things, solid like a brick or a tool should be, but its weight belies its finesse, because, unsurprisingly it's a picture-making machine that's as easy and as natural to use as the Leica M.
OK, well, that one over there, go on, pick him up - he won't mind - now, whilst you've got this heavy old beast up to your eye, ponder a minute. 
Yes that is 100% of what will appear on the film that you're looking at. 
Let me repeat that:
100%
Not 94%, or 97% but a full-on 100%.
I have no idea why so few SLR manufacturers ever managed to produce a 100% viewfinder, but Nikon got it right from the start - OK, strike One, the F wins.
Now turn that wonderfully awkward shutter dial back to 1 second and gently squeeze the shutter release. That lovely, deep, throaty whirr, is a sound to quicken the pulse isn't it.
I don't think Len ever had this (his original F) serviced, but at 1 second it is still accurate after 40 years of use.
The mirror moves up with a solid, but non-jarring thwok, and comes down again with the same movement. There is little vibration, unlike some SLRs I've used that go clackety-clack-THWAK!
OK, I will admit it isn't quite like using a Leica, whose buttery-smooth film advance is un-matched; on the F it is a bit 'harsher', but not harsh. There is obviously more movement from it because it has a mirror, so it requires concentration when you get down to lower speeds, though lock the mirror up (the worst operational aspect of the F) and the actual shutter is equally as quiet as the M2.
The shutter release has a deeper action to it than the M2, in that it requires a bit more effort to depress it, but glue it to your eye (or get a Nikon soft release) and get in the thick of the action and I am damn sure you'd never even notice.
The weight of the camera, isn't anyway near as sylph-like as a Leica M - if you were a swordsman, it would be like comparing a sabre to an épée, in that whilst they are both heavy duty, workmanlike items, the épée is more easily wielded. 
I know all this sounds like total shite, but I have fenced, and it is just my weighing of things.

***

Another Sheephouse aside:
My sister had a long-term relationship (and two daughters) with the rock photographer David Warner Ellis (just Google Image him . . you'll find a lot of stuff coming up under Redferns and Getty Images . . that's him). You've maybe never heard of him,  but, if you like music (especially from the 1970's) you will have seen a lot of his photographs, that is a certainty.
David was a fine photographer and owned one camera for his professional work . . . through his heyday of the 1970's and onwards to his death in the early 2000's - an F Photomic FTN.
Photography was his life and his livelihood, and the camera served beyond the call of duty. And the thing is it still works, and though it could do with a bit of TLC and some new mirror foam, other than that it was fine last time I met it. I don't think it was ever serviced either, just used, hard, and relied on as a professional tool
I find that remarkable - how many cameras can you say that about?

***

Well that was the question I asked myself, and, thinking about it a lot, what with David's use and Len's use and the countless professionals and amateurs who used them and still use them, and you know what? the more I thought about it, the more I inspected my own FTN.
I weighed it in my hands, felt its chunky solidity; I disassembled it and put it back together again; I loaded it with TMX 400 and shot real, live photographs with it;  I hefted it, carried it, balanced it, and felt that what I had in my hands (like a Leica M) transcended just mere mechanics - it had that zen feel you get from remarkable tools.
I thought about it and researched it and read about it (looking at Vietnam veterans tales of it being dropped from helicopters, shot at, blown up, soaked and burned, whilst becoming the stuff of legend).
I looked at old newsreel footage where every press photographer seems to be using an F.
I realised that sometimes things become invisible, simply because they are commonplace and with the F that was the case . . . and for a reason.


Battlescars.
Don McCullin's F.
Build Quality Entirely Evident.

Was there anyone back in the day that hadn't  used one?
Was there anything this camera hadn't photographed?
I looked at the accessories.
I looked at the most complete lens system ever devised for a camera system (from the start of manufacturing!) and I discovered that the lenses had the reputation of having some of the best coatings ever coated; that the machining on them was superlative, that they used (the then new) synthetic lubricants and adhesives, and that compared to Leitz lenses of the same period, were more likely to be in fine nick (and a good deal more reasonable to buy). 
And from all this I came to a conclusion:
(Roll the drums, bring on the parade) 

The Nikon F is the greatest camera ever made. 

I know.
It does sound like I am being disloyal to my Leica, but I am not really.
What can you say about a Leica that hasn't been said? It's an icon, and I still feel there is nothing like one . . . 
However, in terms of sheer bombproofness and ultimate reliability, I genuinely feel that the Nikon F has the edge.


This is my F



 ***

But what about the F2 Sheepy? I hear you ask.
Well, there is a place for that too, and many regard that as the ultimate SLR, however, owning both (and initially only using the F2 because of the crutch that it had of a working and reliable meter [more of the meter on the F in a minute]) and after replacing the few seals I had to replace on both and taking both out for dawdles and wanders, I came to the conclusion that the F is the better balanced and better handling camera (strangely Len agreed with me on this too).
Obviously this will vary with user, but to my hands, I like the blockier body of the F.
I like the fact that it isn't so easy to lock the mirror up (best not to even go there) and you have to turn a collar to get the thing to rewind.
I like the lower centre of gravity you get from the FTN head compared to the AS head I have on the F2 - it's almost intangible, but it does affect the way the camera handles.
I like the completely removable camera back and the (supposed) awkwardness of loading (till you get used to it).
I love that I get 100%
And I love the feel of its rugged mechanics.
In short I love its character
And unusually for an SLR, it has that in spades.
It's weird isn't it - most SLR's are fairly characterless don't you think?
I once owned a Pentax MX and it was lovely, yet totally anonymous - my OM 10 was a bit like that too, though I loved it.
On the other hand, the F is an aging Japanese gentleman, who is wirey, opinionated and a bit curmudgeonly, but despite his gnarly appearance is still fit and nimble. 
Compare that to the bloated grandchildren from numerous manufacturers that clog ebay selling for a mere handful of money compared to their once over-priced selves.
What you get with the F is build build build
To me, it is an iconoclastic camera - a genuine, hands-down, brilliant piece of engineering.
Even with the achilles heel of its meter (which, with a lot of them no longer operating, is still easy to deal with if you use the likes of a Northern European Sunny 11, and yes I know you can still get the plain prisms, but I see no reason to pay the massively over-priced prices that are being demanded for them - this being said I'd love to try one, but are they really worth the £200+ premium?) I still think a non-working meter FTN would be the way to go and let's put it this way, it's exactly the same as using a non-metered Leica . . simple - let the films latitude deal with things. 
Do a Gibson!
Sunny weather, Tri-X at EI 320, 1/125th at f16 in Northern Europe - piece of cake. 
Of course you can do this with any camera, and especially a Leica, however, the cost of a nice F is nowhere near the cost of a Leica and it may well be a lot more non-reliant on regular servicing
I also feel that you would be likely to feel less precious about it, given that what you are holding will still probably be around when all that is left is ashes and dust, scorpions and radiation.
Ivor Mantale did an excellent article on the F years back, and in it, he said he had asked a dealer whether the F was a collectable camera, or just an old camera . . . well it is both, AND it is also a reliable tool for the modern photographer. Get one serviced by the likes of Sover Wong and you have something that will outlast your eyes.
And so my rant and rave comes to an end friends - I know you're aghast and are saying "What about?", but have pity on an old man - sometimes you just have to speak out.
There is so much shite spouted about cameras on the net, most of it by people who like the idea of photography and immerse themselves fanboy-like in it, buying the most expensive things they can, without actually making any photographs.
With so few film cameras still being made younger photographers wishing to sample the delights with which we older photographers were brought up (and came to take for granted) couldn't really do any better than investing in a nice clean old F, even with a non-working meter . . .
Really - trust me.
Feel the heft. 
Feel the quality. 
Feel the legend (and it is one).
Feel the all-round essence of something that is as close to mechanical perfection as you can get, and then go out and make photographs. 
Lots and lots and lots of them.

TTFN. This month is pink pill month - just remember to tell your carer that.