Argus HFM II revisited

I first posted about the Argus HFM II back in January. Since my lastest batch of film included some new photos from that camera I am added these to the original gallery.

I used Kodak UltraMax 400 this time. Although the camera's manual suggests 200 ISO film I think in most cases that 400 IS0 may be the better choice.

This is some bank building in downtown Champaign IL. It was built in the early 70's and is the first building I can remember seeing around here with reflective glass.  The building is less of an offense to the eye than most modern bank buildings. 

I believe this statue is called "A Prayer for Rain".  I imagine it might be more authentic if it was called something like "A Prayer for the Europeans to leave". 









The full Argus HFM II Gallery.

                                                                                                                                 

Got some film back last week

I sent some rolls of film to Sharp Photo last week. I mailed the film on a Thursday and had it back by Monday. So while it wasn't immediate gratification, it was pretty quick.

This is from the Detrola Model E using Kodak Portra.  The camera seemed to do much better with this film than it did with the Efke films. 

I also got some decent results from the Yashica 44 LM.  Although some of the shots were ruined by light leaks.  I think these were the result of problems with putting the bulk Kodak Portra on a new backing paper.














Lastly I continue to like the results I get from the Vivitar PS 55s .  I added some new images to its gallery.

Content Aware Fill Solves a Problem

I haven't used Content Aware Fill in Photoshop for a while, however it came in handy for an image I was working on the other evening.  I saw these furrows in a field curving toward a interesting looking cloud.  The problem was it was difficult to get the shot I wanted without having my shadow in it.  I thought I was close until I loaded the images.

I saw that I would like to have a little more on the cloud side.




















This is where Content Aware Fill came in handy.

I expanded the canvas on the image.





















Then I selected the white area and ran content aware fill.

This is the result I got after a little work with the clone brush. 





















If you don't have PhotoShop CS5 the Gimp has a plugin called Resynthesizer
which can do the job.  I remember having used it in Gimp several years ago and found the results to be quite good.  And of course the Gimp is a free program. 

Yashica Auto Focus Motor

Type: 35 mm programmed shutter EE camera with built in flash unit.
Lens: Yashica Lens 38 mm f/2.8: 4-element, three-lens group composition.
Shutter: Programmed electronic shutter. 1/8 to 1/500/.





I'd never heard of this camera until recently.  Having been introduced in 1980 it is from the same era as the better known Minolta AF, Canon AF35M, and the Nikon L35AF.  And like those cameras it seems to be a quality picture taker.  Pretty much if you are familiar with the other early auto focus point & shoots than the Yashica Auto Focus Motor will hold no surprises.  Its most unique feature is the yellow focus lock button on the front of the camera.  To use the focus lock you place the focus frame over your subject and then press the focus lock button.  You can then re-compose your image and your subject will still come out in focus.

Kirby Firestone in Urbana, Illinois.  I have taken quite a few pictures of this sign over the last few years.











Like most cameras of this sort it seems to do best with 400 ISO films. I used Fuji 400 for the color images in the gallery.  The black & white are with Arista.Edu Premium 400. I can't think of a lot more to say about this camera other then I am impressed enough with it that it will get some regular use as a walking around camera.
Yashica Auto Focus Motor Gallery

Canon T50

Canon T50 next to the last in the T series the Canon T90












I would guess that of all the SLR cameras that Canon has made that The T50 may be the one that gets the least respect.  I think that is because exposure-wise this is, with one exception, an auto only camera.  The exception is that you can set the camera on flash mode and that allows you to select your aperture.  However in that mode your shutter speed is limited to 1/60.  So definitely if you are looking to have any creative control over your camera settings the Canon T50 would not be the camera for you. 

On the other hand if you look at the T50 as a very advanced point & shoot than I think it fares better.  In my experience the auto exposure on the T50 is excellent.  There also is the advantage of the large bright through the lens viewfinder.  Certainly much better that you'd find in most point & shoots.  Then there also is the fact that this camera can use dozens of excellent fd series lenses. Of course since there is no auto focus in this camera it is not purely a point & shoot as we see such cameras today.  Still the focusing is pretty easy with this camera. Price-wise the point & shoot comparison holds up.  You could buy the T50 with a standard 50 f/1.8 lens for around $150.  If you already had a lens then the body sold for around $100. That's in line with what the Canon Sure Shots of the time were selling for.  And I can say from personal experience that you are likely to get much better results from the T50 than you would from the Sure Shots. 

Of course this isn't the 1980's anymore.  Today a T50 body rarely sells for more than $20.  I got mine from KEH for $6.  So its the kind of camera that you won't be out much if you end up not liking it.  For myself I appreciate the quality results that it is capable of and I think it is good value for the money.  Still I do have to admit that most of the time I want more control over the settings I am using. 

The Canon T50 does have some historical interest.  It was the first Canon SLR with a molded plastic body.  Canon had used a lot of plastic with cameras like the AE-1, however these cameras still had metal frames.  The metal frames required some machine finishing that added expense.  The molded plastic did not need the finishing.  The plastic look of the T50 was off-putting to many, however it seems to be a reasonably durable camera.  The main killer is that eventually the LED will give out.  Still for what the T50 costs it is not a big risk to give it a chance.

I mentioned earlier that I got this camera at KEH.  If you haven't heard of them I would recommend checking them out. They have reasonable prices and the quality is much better than you generally find on the auction site.

Here are some specifications for the T50.

My Canon T50 Gallery.

Canon EOS 650

The specifications for the EOS 650 are available at the Canon Camera Museum. Canon does a great job with providing historical information about the cameras they have made.












Introduced in 1987 the Canon EOS 650 was Canon's first auto-focus SLR.  It also introduced the EF lens mount.  Unfortunately the EF mount was not compatible with Canon's earlier lens systems.  That made a lot of people unhappy at the time.  Today it makes excellent older Canon lenses much less expensive than they would be if they could be used on current Canons.  If you want to read about all the firsts for the EOS 650 the topic is covered well here.

I got this camera because I wanted to try an auto-focus slr. From what I read the EOS 650 was a camera that had the features I wanted without being cluttered with a lot of other stuff.  Also over time they seem to have proven to be fairly durable so the odds of getting one the worked well were good.  Lastly the bodies are very cheap.  It is pretty easy to find one for less than $20.  So they are a good deal if you already have some full frame EF lenses that you have been using with your digital cameras.

I have had the EOS 650 for about a year and so far it has performed flawlessly.  If you have used any of the Canon digital SLRs than its operation should be familiar to you since this camera pioneered many of the features that are still used in the cameras of today.  I suppose the best thing I can say about this camera is it is one of the film cameras that I pick up and use fairly often.  I think the EOS 650 would be a particularly good choice if up to now you have only been using digital Canons and would like to expand your creativity into film.


Canon EOS 650 Gallery

Konica Autoreflex TC

Produced: 1976-1982
Lens: Konica bayonet mount Hexanon AR 40mm f1.8 (6 elements in 5 groups) 
Shutter speeds: B, 1/8-1/1000
Viewfinder: Split image and microprism 
Exposure meter: Center-weighted battery-operated TTL dual CdS metering with aperture indicator needle




 The Konica TC was one of the lighter SLRs that you could get back in the 70's. It was one of the first to replace some metal parts with plastic although it still had a metal frame.  The one here was made in 1979 or later.  I know that because it has the 40mm f/1.8 "pancake" lens instead of the 50 f/1.7 lens that was the standard lens before 1979.  Both lens are have a good reputation for sharpness.  The 40mm f/1.8 is just a faction over 1 inch in length.  When combined with the lightweight TC body it makes for a fairly discreet looking SLR.

I don't know much about how the meter or the auto exposure works on the TC.  This feature used mercury batteries which are no longer made and so far I haven't made the effort to find a replacement.  I find it works okay for me just to use a handheld meter with these battery challenged cameras. Fortunately the rest of the TC works fine without a battery. The viewfinder in the TC is bright and easy to focus.  Now that my eyesight isn't what it once was I find the split-image rangefinder very helpful.

The Konica Autoreflex TC sold in good numbers and there are a lot available today for very little money.  The camera has proved to be durable so it is likely that you can find one that works well. While the functions of the TC are very basic the camera is probably worth a look just for its lenses.  The 50mm f/1.7 and the 40mm f/1.8 are regarded as two of the best lenses ever made for 35mm.

When I was bidding on this camera I noticed that also for sale were some 40mm f/1.8 lenses without a camera.  Strangely, to me at least, I noticed that people were bidding more for the lens by itself then for the lens with a camera.  And not just a little more but sometimes twice as much. I am not sure what accounts for this, however I have noticed the same thing for some other lenses. 

More info on the Konica Autoreflex TC:
From Matt's Classic Cameras
From buhla.de

My Konica Autoreflex TC Gallery