Kentmere 400

I have been looking for a cheap black & white film to replace the Legacy Pro films which are no longer available.  I'd like to find something that works well with Rodinal or HC-110 since I like those one-shot developers.  I just tried my first roll of Kentmere 400 and I think it has potential.  I used HC-110 dilution B at 68 for 7 minutes. 

I'm pretty pleased with the results from this first roll.  If I get similar results from the next roll this may be my new day-to-day B&W film.  I took the pictures with a Yashica Electro GSN. 

Kentmere is owned by the company that makes Ilford films.  There has been much speculation about what the source of this film is, however Ilford says it is a new emulsion and not a rebranded version of one of their existing films. Whatever the source it is one of the less expensive films out there.  Right now it is selling for a little less than $30 for a 100 feet at B&H. 

Argus CR-1

Probably made in 1975 by Chinon. It was distributed in the US by what was left of the Argus company.












I think I have said before that I have a soft spot for cameras with the name of Argus.  I also have a fondness for the classic mechanical slr.  So it is only natural that I should have this camera.  The Argus CR-1 was not effected by the tendency in the mid-seventies for an slr become smaller and lighter. It may be the heaviest slr that I have. The shutter goes from 1 to 1/1000 along with the B setting.  The viewfinder is reasonably bright. The real surprise in this camera is in the standard Auto Cintar 1:2.0 lens.  It is  quite sharp and contrasty.  Probably is was made by Chinon, however I have seen speculation that it was made by some other company like Tomioka. Whatever the source to me it is one of the better M42 lenses.

I am running short on time for blogging today so I'll leave with the Argus CR-1 Gallery.

Blue Deluxe, Kodak S 100 EF, and Vivitar Champion II

No idea who made this camera other than it was made in China.  I got it because I had not seen this design before.  A single shutter speed and aperture camera.











Despite the urgings of my higher self I have developed an affection for the cheap plastic point & shoots of the 1980's and 90's. So a camera like the Blue Deluxe is hard for me to resist.  As its color would suggest, with its 1/125 shutter speed and f/11 aperture, the Blue Deluxe is a camera for sunny days and blue skies.

Many cameras of this sort have the defect of occasionally taking a technically decent image. The Blue Deluxe seems to be free of that defect.

The viewfinder is a problem in this camera.  When originally framed only the door and a small area around it was shown in the viewfinder.  Obviously the camera is taking in a much larger area.

I felt an unexplainable affection for this Kodak S 100 EF when I first saw it at an antique shop this weekend. The only thing I can think of is that it is a reincarnation of a camera that I knew in a previous lifetime. 





The Kodak S 100 EF is a little more advanced than the Blue Deluxe.  It has three apertures and a flash.  It can work without batteries.  Two AA batteries are only needed for the flash to work.  The lens is a doublet.  The camera originally sold for 59.95 and was out from 1989 to 1993. 

The Kodak S 100 EF appears capable of taking images superior to those of the Blue Deluxe - at least from a technical viewpoint.

I don't know much about the Vivitar CHAMPION II.  It appears to have only one aperture and one shutter speed.  These will work without the battery which is needed only for the flash.







I imagine that it would be a challenge to collect all the Vivitar cameras of this type.  Just making a list of all the ones that were made would be a major feat.  The Vivitar CHAMPION II is one of the rare cameras that I was unable to find example pictures for on Flickr. 

Holga lens for digital cameras.

The Holga is a cheap plastic film camera that has been made in China since the early 1980's.  The Holga is valued for the dreamy, and somewhat unpredictable images it makes. I have a film Holga and do enjoy using it.  So when I saw that there was an inexpensive Holga lens availiable for Canon digital I had to try it out.

The Holga HL-C is a Holga lens with an adapter for mounting it on your Canon digital camera.                                           
                                                     

The lens is the same as the film Holga with the exception of the aperture. The aperture on Holga HL-C is made of one center hole surrounded by a ring as smaller holes.

Not the best image, however this is what the aperture looks like.












The ring of holes is there to produce vignetting. The vignetting effect is supposed to work best with a fullframe sensor.  With the APS-C sensor that I use vignetting is inconsistent.  Still even with the APS sensor the Holga HL-C does produce increased softness to the edges and gives images an often lovely diffused glow.

I think the main issue with the Holga HL-C is that due to the small aperture it is difficult to see much through the viewfinder.  I do believe that the effective aperture for this lens is much smaller than f8.  I usually need to use an ISO of 800 even in fairly bright light to get an effective hand-held shutter speed.  Still with practice it is possible to get some nice images with this lens.  One time when I very much like to use this lens is when there is harsh sunlight of the type that we get here in Illinois at mid-day.  The Holga HL-C is effective in diffusing the harsh sunlight and giving a soft glow to bright light.

In actual practice I use the Holga HL-C most often with a fish-eye attachment that I had for use with the film Holga.  Due to the smaller sensor size there is no fish-eye effect, however there is a slight curvature that I like.  Also the wider angle increases vignetting. 

The main thing that I miss with the Holga HL-C when compared to the film Holga is the square format of the film Holga.  However I tend to think that it might be most useful to not compare the two and to learn to use the Holga HL-C as a thing of its own and not as a digital subsitute for a Holga. The Holga HL-C for Canon is usually sold for between $25 and $30. I believe I got mine from HolgaDirect. There also are versions of the Holga lens for Nikon, Pentax and Sony.

Most of the images in the first gallery were taken with the fish-eye attachment.

Holga HL-C Image Gallery

My Flickr set for this lens.
Holga HL-C Set

Popular Photography on Google, Vivitar 24mm lens

From a January 1981 ad in Popular Photography.  Frank's was a hot place for photographers in its glory days. 














I remember the ads for Frank's used to catch my eye.  I think is was because it was the only camera store ad that had pictures of the people that worked there. I wondered if they were still in business and found that they may still be hanging on. They didn't make a transition to digital and appear to be going on with business by selling off their remaining inventory from film days while trying to find a buyer for their store building. I found a mention of the store in a Yelp review from 2010, so they were still open at that time.  They still have a website.
Frank's Highland Park Camera
It looks like the winding down process  has been going on for a while.  Here is a thread from 2005 discussing Frank's.
Good Bye Camera Landmark - Franks' Camera in LA

I made the photo for Frank's ad from an issue of Popular Photography that I found in Google Books.  There are issues there from the 1980's, 1990's, and the 2000's. The issues are searchable and obviously are a useful resource for anyone interested in cameras from that time period.  I hope that some earlier issues become available. 
Issues of Popular Photography on Google Books

Yesterday I developed some test images I took with a Vivitar 24mm 1:2.8 Auto Wide-Angle PK mount lens. I wasn't seeking out this lens, however when I was checking out Sears camera stuff on Ebay I saw this lens offered along with a KS Super camera, a Sears 135 lens, and the standard Sears 50mm 2.0 lens, for a very cheap price.  I won the auction for $14.  I figured it was a good deal since I could probably sell the Vivitar or the Sears 135 for more than that if they were in good shape.  When I got the stuff it was all in good shape.  The Vivitar had front and back caps and the Sears had caps and a carrying case.  There also were a few filters and a nice camera bag.  So I felt like I got my money's worth.

So far I have one picture to offer from the Vivitar.  It is pleasing to me at least. The film is Arista Premium 400 developed in HC-110 for 6 minutes at 68.

Vivitar Big View BV35

Lens: 35mm f/5.6
Features
- Motorized film transport.
- Over-sized viewfinder.
- Auto flash-on and off for easy flash operation.
- Motorized film loading, advance and rewind.
Produced: 1996









Seems like there are hundreds of various point & shoot film cameras with the Vivitar name from the 1980's, 1990's, and the first part of the 2000's. I got this one along with three rolls of slightly expired Kodak Ultramax 400 at a church sale for $1.00.  I was more glad to get the film than the camera.  Still I did run some Arista Premium 400 through it.  I do like the big viewfinder.  While it is not quite as large as the view in a slr it is much larger and brighter than in most cameras of this type.  Also it seems pretty accurate in showing what will actually be in the picture.

The picture quality while not being anything to rave about is certainly acceptable.

I wonder how many times I have photographed this shed when testing cameras?










By the standard of being an inexpensive camera by which someone who knew little about photography could take decent photos the Vivitar Big View BV35 does pretty well.  By today's standards it seems to fall into that vast middle-ground between a camera capable of outstanding results and a camera with some quirk that makes them valued by lomo enthusiasts.

Vivitar Big View BV35 Gallery

Imperial Reflex Duo Lens 620

The Imperial Reflex Duo Lens 620 is a pseudo-TLR from the late 1950's or early 1960's. It has one shutter speed, which is probably something like 1/60, and is fixed-focused. The camera was made by the Herbert George Co. of Chicago Illinois.


















I imagine the Imperial Reflex would be more popular in lo-fi circles if it didn't require one to spool 120 film onto a 620 spool, or else to buy expensive film where someone else has done the spooling. At least for me this camera is one of the most satisfying of the lo-fi cameras that I have used.  It seems to have a nice amount of vignetting and softness in the right places.

There also are occassional surprises.

The Imperial Reflex Duo Lens 620 does have a bright viewfinder and this has made it a camera that many use for TTV(through the viewfinder) images. 

The most famous thing associated with this camera is that a version of it was used to take some backyard photos of Lee Harvey Oswald with his rifle.
The camera used by Marina Oswald to take the backyard photos

I believe this is part of the Warren Report concerning the camera.
THE OSWALD BACKYARD PHOTOGRAPHS

The Imperial Reflex Duo Lens 620 shows up on Ebay fairly often and is generally inexpensive.  So if you don't mind making your own 620 rolls it may be worth a try.
Imperial Reflex Duo Lens 620 Gallery