Fuji Superia 800

Back in the early 70's when I first became aware of such things 400 ISO film was high speed film.  The highest speed color film that I can remember was GAF 500.  And while it was fast, GAF 500 was very grainy.  Of course photography has changed a lot in forty years and now 800 ISO is no big deal.  Especially to the digitally inclined.  Still thinking back on earlier times my expectations weren't high when I first used Fuji Superia 800.  However I have to admit that I was wrong in my low expectations.  I was pleased with the color rendition with this film and the low grain.  It also appears to scan well.  Add to that that I can still buy Fuji Superia 800 locally for a good price makes this film a winner to me.  

Fuji Superia 800 Gallery

Minolta Hi-matic 7SII

So far the Minolta Hi-matic 7SII has been my best find in an antique shop.  I got it for $10 last fall.  The camera is in excellent condition and came with a case and flash in the same condition.  I didn't know much about this camera when I saw it, however its condition and obvious quality told me it was worth the $10.  A funny thing is that in the same group of cameras there was a fairly common SLR that looked like it had had its hot shoe pulled off with a pair of pliers. The asking price for that camera was $25.  All I can figure is that the dealer was pricing the cameras by size. 


The Minolta Hi-matic 7SII is a compact and light-weight rangefinder with a sharp 40mm f/1.7 Rokkor lens.  It has a very quiet mechanical copal shutter with speeds from 1/8 to 1/500 and B. The rangefinder on mine is bright and easy to see.  I started out in photography at the time when SLRs were taking over from rangefinders.  I had never actually used a rangefinder until a year or so ago.  Back in the old days my eyesight was much sharper than today and focusing an SLR was easy.  Now with my decreased eyesight I often find the rangefinder easier to focus.  


The Minolta Hi-matic 7SII uses a CdS cell that was originally powered by a 1.35v mercury battery.  Since these batteries are now banned you will have to work out a substitute like one of the Wein Cells. Without the battery the camera will still work fine in manual mode.  With the battery you have the option of using shutter priority auto-exposure.  So far I have been using the camera in manual mode and a hand-held meter, however I just got a battery and plan to test out the auto-exposure soon.  I imagine that in auto-exposure mode that this light weight quiet camera will be very good for things like street photography.  


I have been well-satisfied with the results I have had with this camera and it is definitely a keeper.  In fact it is a camera that I think I would enjoy even if it didn't work just because I like the way it looks.  The B&W photos in the gallery below are Legacy Pro 100.  Fuji 800 is the color film. 
Minolta Hi-matic 7SII Gallery

Camera Older than Me and Newer Camera

I am getting to an age where I see items that once were a familiar part of my daily life selling in antique shops.  So it is nice to find there are still some collectable things older than me. The camera older than me is an Agfa Sillette. The Sillette was made starting in 1955.  It is a range focusing camera with shutter speeds from 1/25 to 1/200. It also has a B setting. The lens on mine is an Apotar 1:3,5, 45mm. Other versions have an Agnar lens.  These sold for around $40 back in the 1950's.  And considering how many I see on places like Ebay they must have sold a lot of them.  I haven't gotten around to taking a photo of mine yet, however you can see what one looks like here.

The Sillette is a solidly made camera that fits well in my hands.  It also appears to be a good picture taker.  I think the shortcomings in some of the images in the gallery below are more from the photographer than the camera.  I think that if I were to work with this camera more it could produce some excellent images. That being so, here is what I done so far.
Agfa Sillette Gallery

The newer camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX7.  It came out in 2010. Since newer versions have come out I got this one for a much reduced price.  What I wanted it for was for a digital camera that was easy to carry around and also could take quality images. So far I have been very satisfied with it.

I took Simon for his shots yesterday. I do think the 25mm lens makes the vet assistant look a little heavier than she is.











One of my favorite features of this camera is iSweep Panorama.  Here you can make a panorama in one go just by picking a starting point and moving the camera across the area you'd like in the panorama.  The images are stitched together in the camera.

Film Results and which Cameras to keep

I wrote about the Argus HFM II earlier, and it was one of the cameras that I got film back for.  The manual for the camera recommends using 200 ISO film so I used Fuji 200.  I like the results well enough that I will probably use the camera again.  I added the color pictures to the existing gallery. If this camera looks interesting to you, one can usually be found on Ebay for between $10 and $20. 
Argus HFM II Gallery

Since I started using film again about a year ago I have bought a lot of cameras.  When I get the camera I take some pictures using bulk b&w.  If the results from the test roll show that the camera worked okay and had potential I take photos with color film. Since I don't think that I am a collector my plan is to find out which cameras are ones that I will use.  And while I have been in the acquiring and testing phase for a while I think it has come time to go to the sorting phase. 

Some of the cameras are an easy choice.  I have my Canon F1 that I bought in 1974.  It still works well and just from a point of sentiment it would be the last camera that I would sell.  A recent purchase, the Olympus XA, also falls in the keeper category.  Because it fits easily in my pocket and takes excellent pictures I find myself using it a lot. 

A trickier one is the Yashica 124G.  The camera is in very good shape and the results I get from it seem excellent to me.

Still I don't care much for carrying a big camera around or for looking down to frame an image.  One thing I have found out about myself in the last year is that I do like a camera that I can put in my pocket and not notice unless I want to take a picture.  The Yashica 124G sure does not fall into that category, however it may be one that is worth the trouble. 

So that is all for today.  Not sure what I will post next, however it will likely be more about the results from the pictures I just got back.

Waiting on Film

For most of my life if I wanted pictures from a camera I would need to either develop them myself or send them out. There always was a time of maybe hours, maybe days before I could see how my pictures turned out.  And for me at least there was a tendency of focusing on the frustration of the wait and forgetting the pleasures of finally seeing how things turned out.  A pleasure that I think was increased by the wait.  When digital came along I embraced no longer having to wait.  Still I have never felt the pleasure in seeing my pictures load onto my computer that I remember from seeing negatives come out of the developing tank, or from getting that fat pack of pictures in the mail.

Saturday I had the pleasure of getting some pictures back that I had sent off in the mail a few days before.  The feeling for me is very much like I can remember as a child opening Christmas presents. The films were from a variety of cameras taken over a few months time. Like Christmas I expected there would be both some wonders and disappointments. 

I have heard others report feelings similar to mine about getting film back. Although I haven't often heard such feelings enter into the film vs digital debate.  Instead I think that it is taken for granted that quicker is better.  And maybe sometimes it is.  However if you have never done so before try taking some pictures on film and send it off somewhere that makes you wait a few days.  Then see if when your results come back if you experience a pleasure and excitement that made the wait worthwhile.

One set of negatives I got back was from a roll that I had taken last summer and forgot for a while that it was in the camera.  The camera is an Argus STL 1000 with a Cosinon 50mm f/1.8 lens. The film is Fuji 200.

I also got some results from the Argus Dual HFM II that I have written about in an earlier post. The film is Fuji 200.  Although 200 ISO is the recommmended film for this camera, I suspect the a 400 ISO film would work better.

Last results for today are from the Sawyer's Nomad 620.  Whoever I bought this from had loaded it with a re-spooled roll of Porta 160.  I took a couple of pictures with it when I first got the camera and didn't get around to finishing the roll until this winter.

I got the results from 11 rolls of film from 11 different cameras so this is just a small sample.  I would recommend the place I sent the film to.  They do a good job and are inexpensive.  Sharp's Photo