Embrace The Grain Podcast Zoom Lens Challenge

 When I first started this blog I told the tale of coming back to film photography with my Pentax SP1000 and having a bit of a disheartening experience with it. To be fair it wasn't the fault of the camera, it was more a case of my inexperience at buying cameras from ebay that left me with a bit of a lemon. Since that first year the camera has sat on a shelf as a parts donor should my SP500 ever need them. That changed recently with a challenge from the good folks at the Embrace The Grain Photography Podcast.

Each month the hosts of the podcast, Sherry and Jake, like to give their listeners and social media followers a little challenge to encourage us to get out and enjoy photography. The challenge for June 2022 was to use a zoom lens that maybe you haven't touched for several months or maybe even years and give it a little love.

I have a Tamron Adaptall 2 SP 35-210 f/3.5-4.2 26A and a Tamron Adaptall 2 80-210mm f3.8-4.2 03A that I haven't used for a year or three and decided to use them for the challenge. I also decided to take this a step further and dusted off my Pentax SP1000 for it's first outing in around five years. A few quick checks told me the camera still functioned and I remembered the nagging little problem of not letting the rewind button release when loading the camera. I wiggled it, just a little bit to get things in the right place and I gave it a whirl.

The beauty of the Tamron Adaptall system is you buy a mount for your camera with your lens. Should you buy a camera with a different mount, you just buy a new Adaptall mount for that particular camera mount, thus saving a ton of money on lenses. It was a great idea and gave folks like myself a reasonably priced way into photography. After initially suffering with reliability problems on the original adaptamatic system, Tamron addressed those reliability issues with the new Adaptall system and gave the company a good basis to grow from.

Tamron continued to make improvements to the Adaptall system and brought the Adaptall 2 system to the market in 1979, which was a boom time for the photographic industry. The Adaptall 2 series of lenses was split between the Standard lenses and the SP range of Superior Performance lenses aimed at advanced enthusiasts and professional photographers.  

Tamron Adaptall 2 lenses are seriously well made optics with a weight that reassured the user that should they get mugged, the lens could be used as a defensive weapon and still work perfectly afterwards. Allegedly. I attached one of my Adaptall 2 telephoto zoom lenses to my Pentax SP1000, loaded a roll of Kodak Gold into it and set off for a wander.

First up was my SP 35-210mm f3.5-4.2 This is a beast of a lens, weighing in at just under 2 pounds it is a serious lump to hold. This is mitigated with the zoom and focus being on the same ring making it easy to use. I took my time shooting this roll and really enjoyed it despite the weight. Folks like me wth a spine injury might want to carry it in a bag rather than a neck strap. You can trust me on that one. I also used the addfitional lens hood that was sold for this lens which really helped reduce any flare or abberations. I shot a roll of Kodak Gold with this set up whilst out and about with my Goodman Zone and the Zone was the lighter of the two.

Next up, the 80-210mm f3.8-4.2. I used this over a couple of days whilst enjoying the good weather and getting out and about. This lens is the meat and potatoes of the Adaptall 2 range aimed at your average enthusiast like myself. It's also a good half a pound lighter than the 35-210 and it handles nicely too. Focus and zoom are again on the same ring making it easy to use and It also has a built in lens hood that came in very handy on the sunny summer days when I was using it.

I shot another roll of Gold with this set up and really enjoyed it. I bought this lens from my friend Owen when I first got back into film in 2017 and the muscle memory is still there despite the lens being unused for a couple of years. I have been using my Tamron 28-70mm f3,5-4.2 on my DSLR's a lot recently and had begun to take for granted the quality that Tamron lenses are capable of. This challenge reminded me why I love the Adaptall 2 lenses and i'm glad I took part.

Developing day arrived and I developed my film in my Cinestill CS41 kit that is still going strong a few months after I first mixed it. I always try to have a few rolls of C41 to develop to make it worthwhile setting my water tank up etc. I had also shot a couple of rolls of Ilford XP2 in my Goodman Zone and I spent an evening developing them. It wasn't long before my films were hanging to dry in my bathroom and I left them overnight. The next day I scanned both rolls of 35mm Kodak Gold with my Ion Slides2PC scanner and tidied them up in Affinity Photo.

I loved using my SP1000 and Tamron Adaptall 2 telephoto zoom lenses again. When I came back to photography in 2017 my bargain bucket Spotmatics with Tamron and Helios lenses served me well and gave me a good foundation to build upon. Here are a few of my photos from this enjoyable challenge, I have placed them and more from both rolls in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. Also please consider making a donation using the Ko-Fi buttons on this page as It helps me continue my journey and it's very much appreciated.

Pentax SP1000 - Tamron AD2 35-210mm zoom - Kodak Gold
Pentax SP1000 - Tamron AD2 80-210mm zoom - Kodak Gold
Embrace The Grain Photography Podcast

More Fun In The Zone

I have been using my Goodman Zone Z1 a heck of a lot recently as I made the most of the good weather over the last couple of weeks. I have also managed to repair the dark slide light seal on the RB67 film back I was having bother with. I was a little disheartened when the light leaks made the film back unusable. I do have the 3D printed 6x6 film back, which works a treat, but I was missing the 6x7 format. I had to do something about it.

Getting my screwdrivers out and taking the RB67 film back apart to make the repair was a little unnerving at first, but I soon settled into it and carefully removed the old flock dark slide seal and replaced it with some nice new flock material I sourced off the bay of evil. Once I was happy that I had everything looking right I put it back together and put the dark slide back in. It felt much better than previously so I decided to film test it and I loaded a roll of Ilfords finest medium format HP5+ 400 and headed off into the local countryside.

I headed to a wheat field near my home that has power lines running the length of it. As photographers we simply have to take a photo of power lines and telegraph poles etc. It's the law! I lined up three compositions, the first one from the south end of the field looking along the lines and one either side of the lines from the footpath that crosses the field further up the lane. 

On the day the sky was very hazy and I used an orange filter from a Neewer Cokin P sized filter set my wife bought for me a couple of Christmases ago. I felt the filter would bring some of the cloud detail into the shot rather than having a blown out sky. I metered using my trusty Vivitar 45 light meter and allowed one stop for the filter. I also made damn sure I removed the dark slide too. Go me! Once I had those compositions done I moved on.

I revisited the trees I have been studying on the old mine workings and once again had another look at the burnt out car. Nothing really special, I was just trying to find different angles and compositions at a different time of day than previous visits to see where the shadows fell and make the most of the nice day. I also took a shot on one of the overgrown footpaths in the area that gave me a chance for a long exposure before heading home to develop my film.

I developed my roll of Ilford HP5 in HC-110 dilution B for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and it was soon hanging to dry in my bathroom. I was very happy to see ten exposures, no missed dark slide removal, no unintentional double exposures and above all none of the awful light leaks I had experienced previously with this film back. There are a couple of light streaks but that was because I was shooting into the sun and didn't shield my lens. Apart from that I will call that repair a success! Once it was dry I scanned the film quickly with my Nokia 5.3 and processed the images with Affinity Photo.

Here's a few of those photos and I placed them all in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I'm rather pleased with the repair I made to the light seal on my RB67 film back and I really enjoyed shooting 6x7 again as I had missed it. I like 6x6, but there's something about 6x7 that just looks right to me. If you enjoy my blog and wish to support me please use the Ko-Fi buttons on this page as it helps me continue my journey. I hope you enjoy this weeks photos.

Ilford HP5 - Goodman Zone Z1

Fun with Double-X in medium format and 35mm

 It's been a while since I shot Double-X, the much lauded B&W cinema film from Kodak. I needed to film test my latest acquisition, a Minolta X-300 that came with the X-700 I spoke of last week and I had a look in my stash. I found a 35mm roll of Double-X I bought from Nik & Trick and a 120 roll of Cinestill Double-X bought from Analogue Wonderland and had an idea.

I have been struggling with some niggly issues with my RB67 film back I bought for my Goodman Zone recently and I wanted to have a roll go right for a change. I also figured a wander with Double-X in two formats at the same time would be a fun challenge. I loaded the 35mm Double-X into my X-300 fitted with my Hoya 35-105mm zoom lens, I loaded the medium format roll of Cinestill Double-X into the 3D printed 6x6 film back for my Goodman Zone Z1 and set off for a wander around the local countryside.

I also decided I wanted to explore the evening light and visited some familiar locations and compositions where I knew the light would be producing some long shadows. There are a couple of interesting trees on the remnants of the old mine workings in the area and I explored them with both cameras. I used the X-300 as a means to find a composition I liked and then took a shot with my Goodman Zone. It's a strategy that has served me well when I am out and about with my digital and film cameras, but I don't often employ it when purely using film.

The only problem was the evening light goes very quickly at this time of year here in Wigan and I had to spread my photography over a few days. Day one was fun exploring the trees and a burnt out car. It's sad to see a vehicle someone had probably gone into debt to buy ending it's days like this, burnt out and abandoned on wasteland, but it gave me a few ideas that I explored with my cameras and was an enjoyable evening. I didn't manage to get to my other locations before the light went and headed home.

Day two was a bit of a bust as I lost the light almost as soon as I arrived at my preferred location. It wasn't really worth setting up my Goodman Zone so I grabbed a couple of shots with my X-300 and headed home again. on Day 3 a couple of days later I got the light I was looking for and was able to get a few shots in the locations I wanted to shoot on Day two.

I think having to spread my photography over three evenings did me good to be honest and I really enjoyed it. Limiting the number of photos I took rather than feeling a need to shoot a whole roll on one walk is unusual for me. I am a self confessed happy snapper so holding back and being prepared to save it for another day took some doing. On this third session I finished my rolls of film and headed home to develop them.

I developed both rolls in Kodak HC-110 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and I hung them to dry in my bathroom. I was pleased to see the 35mm roll of Double-X shot at 250 iso in the X-300 was nicely exposed and I could see the difference between the ones I shot manually and the ones shot with aperture priority. My "sunny 16" efforts were not too wide of the mark compared to the metering on the X-300 which is excellent.

I'm getting better at reading the light with every roll I shoot and it's fun to guess the settings before checking the meter on my camera. The metering on the X-300 is visible in the viewfinder and my guesses were around half a stop either side of the camera's meter, which was bang on the money according to the light meter app on my phone and my Vivitar 45.

My medium format efforts were pretty good too, apart from two that I missed as I had forgotten to take the dark slide out. I swear that thing is mocking me! I metered the medium format roll of Double-X at 250 iso with my trusty Vivitar 45 light meter which was giving me around 1/15th - 1/30th of a second at f/32 - f/45. I really enjoyed shooting this roll of Cinestill Double-X in my Goodman Zone Z1, I needed to have a a bit of luck go my way and I got some with this roll. The Photography Gods smiled on me.

I left the films hanging to dry overnight and scanned both films into my computer the next day. For quick and easy digitizing I used my Ion Slides2PC scanner for the 35mm and my phone camera, PixlLatr and led light pad for the medium format film. I processed the images with Affinity Photo and I am very happy with what I was able to achieve.

My first impression of the Minolta X-300 is it is a very robust camera, well built yet lightweight enough to carry around all day with a nifty fifty on it. I will recommend this camera as a good choice for someone wanting to get into film photography for the first time. The aperture priority mode is accurate and reliable thanks to its electronically controlled shutter. This will give a beginner nicely exposed photos time after time and quickly build their confidence to switch to manual and get creative. When the camera is switched off you wont accidentally take a shot when taking the camera out of your bag either. Also the LR44 betteries it needs to operate are widely available.

The only bad thing to report about my Minolta X-300 is the frame counter doesn't work. It's no big deal as the important stuff, shutter speeds, aperture priority and metering work just fine. I am a convert to the joys of Minolta manual focus cameras, I hadn't used a Minolta at all until this year. I found the X-300 to be very easy to use and it didn't take long to be able to use it instinctively. I will definitely be taking this camera out again in the not too distant future.

Please consider buying me a coffee using the Ko-Fi buttons on the page as it helps me to continue my photography journey. Thank you to Jim Hanes who bought me a coffee last week, your donation is greatly appreciated my friend. Here's a few photos from my Double-X films and I have put them and more in an album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Double-X - Minolta X-300 - Goodman Zone Z1

Unexpected Gift - Minolta X-700

 I have always been blessed with my choice of friends being good ones over the years. There has been some terrible ones who are no longer on the christmas card list, but for the most part I have a great circle of friends whom never cease to amaze me. At the Bikers Charity event I attended at the beginning of May, once such friend offered me a "box of cameras" and the price was a donation to the National Association for Bikers with a Disability, the charity we were helping to raise money for that weekend. I was intrigued and made arrangements to pick the "box of cameras" up a few days later.

When we met up in Manchester to do the deal he opened the flight case and revealed a Minolta X-700 and a Minolta X-300 together with several lenses and a couple of accessories. He hadn't used them for over a year, he was happy using his OM-10 and figured I would enjoy using them. He's not wrong! I was amazed as I had never shot a Minolta manual focus camera before and, like buses, two had just showed up at once! I immediately said they were coming home with me and, as requested by my awesome chum, a suitable donation was paid to our favourite Bikers Charity later that evening.

I had been thinking about buying a Minolta camera for a while and regular readers will know I bought a Minolta Dynax 500si recently that I really enjoy using. A manual focus Minolta was on my bucket list and I got to work giving them a clean at home. Both cameras required batteries, which I would have replaced anyway for peace of mind, I always have a few LR44's in my kit. Once fitted I was happy to find both cameras are in good working order. I gave the lenses a good clean too and they are also in good working order. I just had to film test them and decided to concentrate on one at a time as I familiarised myself with the well set out controls.

I loaded a roll of Fomapan 200 in the X-700 and headed off to Mesnes Park in Wigan, my favourite testing location. The lens I chose for the first part of this test was a Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7 which is ideal for testing the auto features of the X-700. I also used an orange filter. Half way through the film I swapped over to a Hoya HMC zoom & macro 35-105mm f/3.5 and just used the camera manually.

Using the X-700 in program mode was done by setting the shutter speed dial to P and locking the aprture ring at f/22 on the 50mm lens. The camera chose the shutter speed and aperture for each shot which made life incredibly easy. All I needed to do was point, focus, shoot! I seem to be doing a lot of that lately as the Pentax P30t I reviewed recently has a similar set up. When I switched to manual I guessed it was a 1/250th at f/11 kind of day and the built in light meter on the X-700 agreed with me. Happy days!

My first impression of the Minolta X-700 is this is a very nice camera. It has an excellent build quality with enough features to keep professional and amateur photographers happy. I'm still very much an amateur photographer and it didn't take me long to get acquainted with the X-700. I used it manually and in it's fully automatic mode. It also has Aperture Priority which I will get round to using next time I take it out. What I really wanted to know was how was the quailty of my negatives? I finished the film and headed home to develop it and find out.

I developed my roll of Fomapan 200 in Rodinal 1+50 for 9 minutes at 20 celcius and hung it to dry in my bathroom overnight. I scanned it with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and removed any dust spots and scratches with Affinity Photo. I have to say I'm very pleased with my first ever roll of film through a Minolta X-700, particularly the first half I shot with the 50mm lens and orange filter.

Here's a few of my photos from this day out with my Minolta X-700. It seems my regular rotation is getting larger with every camera I use and I am certainly feeling more confident in my ability to produce decent photos with all my toys. I have placed my photos in an album on Flicker you can visit using the link below and also please consider making a donation to help me continue my journey using the Ko-Fi buttons on this page. I hope you enjoy them.

Minolta X-700 - Fomapan 200

A walk along Lord St. Southport with a Pentax P30t

Last week I spoke about having a day out at Southport with my pal Keith and enjoying a photowalk along Lord Street. I didn't just take my Pentax SP500, I also took a couple of cameras that my friend Mike Francis gave to me recently, a Pentax P30n and a P30t. As they both needed to be tested I loaned Keith the P30n and I used the P30t. The P30n that Keith used had a Pentax-A SMC 28-80mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom on it when Mike kindly gave it to me and I fitted my Hoya HMC 35-75mm f/4 zoom with macro to the P30t. After a little familiarisation we each chose a film and were ready for a photowalk. I loaded a roll of Fomapan 200, shot at 100 iso, into the P30t and soon got the hang of this simple yet very capable 35mm SLR.

Following on from the success of the K and M series of cameras, Pentax brought the P series to the market with fully programmed exposure control, aperture priority and fully manual modes. It also reads the DX code from the film cassette. If there is no DX code on the film the camera has a default 100 iso setting built into it, which is why I shot my Foma 200 at 100 iso. The differences between the P30n and P30t are mostly cosmetic. The P30n has a horizontal split screen in the viewfinder, the P30t has a diagonal split screen and the body is a different colour.

What are they like to shoot? They are reassuringly Pentax. Asahi Pentax always worked on the basis that a person could be out taking photographs a few minutes after unboxing a new Pentax camera. The controls are simple, the shutter speed dial is around the shutter release with the very smooth film advance lever placed nicely for your thumb. The on-off switch is just to the left of the prism and the electronically controlled shutter means camera will not release the shutter when it is switched off. Just install 2 LR44 or SR44 batteries, a roll of DX coded film and away you go.

The camera can be used in full automatic mode when using a Pentax-A lens. Simply set the shutter dial to A, set the lens aperture to A and you don't need to worry about either of them until you fancy using it in aperture priority or fully manually. You just point, focus and shoot. Easy. As I had my Hoya 35-75 lens fitted to the P30t I didn't have the luxury of programmed exposure control, I just used it in aperture priority and flitted between f/4 and f/11. The shutter has a reassuring Pentax "Clunk" to it to make sure you, and everybody within 10 yards, know you have taken a photo.

Of course the proof is aways when you get home and develop your film. On the following day I developed my roll of Fomapan 200, shot at 100 iso, at the time given on the Massive Dev Chart for 200 iso in Rodinal 1+50. When I hung the film to dry I could see I had a nicely exposed roll of film and later that evening I scanned the film into my PC with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and got to work editing the shots with Affinity Photo. I didn't need to do much, just removed a few dust spots and scratches.

Here's a few shots from my first experience of using a Pentax P30t. I am pleased with how well the camera performed, reassuringly Pentax is a fair description of it. It is now in my regular rotation and it wont be long before I use it again. I have placed these shots and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. There's also a link to keith's Instagram where you can see his photo's from our walk in Southport. Also please consider making a donation using the Ko-Fi buttons on this page. I hope you enjoy them.

Foma 200 - Pentax P30t

Keith Sharples - Instagram