Embrace The Grain Podcast - Wide Angle Challenge

 A few blogs ago I spoke of a day out with my Grandson who was trying Film Photography for the first time whilst taking part in the Embrace The Grain Podcast Wide Angle Challenge in August 2022. I was carrying my Minolta X-700 with a Vivitar Close Focus 28mm f/2.8 lens that day and shot a roll of HP5 alongside my Grandson who also shot a roll of HP5 in my Pentax MV and Hoya 28mm f/2.8. My reasoning being we use the same film at the same iso and see our film developed in the same tank. If you haven't read my blog where I talk about my Grandsons first roll of film you cand find it here.

Another Photographer In The Family

When I got my Minolta X-700 from my most excellent friend Beej, it came with a selection of lenses that included a Vivitar 28mm f/2.8. I am quite partial to 28mm lenses and I had wanted to give this lens a run out for a while, but had kept putting it off. A day out with my Grandson for a photography challenge was just what I needed to see how it performed.

Vivitar was a "Badge Engineering" brand that began in the early 1960's and grew into a respected third party brand serving the budget conscious members of the photography community. Vivitar commissioned Japanese manufacturers to make equipment for them and put the Vivitar name on it. A swift check of the serial number on my Vivitar 28mm lens told me it was made by Komine, a very respected Optics manufacturer in Japan. There is a website you can visit via the link below that tells you how to check the serial number on your Vivitar lens to see which manufacturer made it.

Knowing that Komine had made my Vivitar lens gave me a quiet confidence that my photos would be decent providing my backside was in gear and I concentrated on getting the best out of it. Wide vistas and close up shots with creamy bokeh were on the mental list of things to try with it. I was also helping my Grandson find compositions as we talked on our photo walk. I still had half a roll by the time he finished his roll of HP5. He wasn't hanging about, but I was happy to let him get on with it.

I managed to finish my roll of HP5 before we got back home and later that afternoon I developed our Ilford HP5 in Kodak HC-110 dilution H with a little help from my Grandson during the rinsing stage. We hung our film to dry in the bathrom and I was able to see my film was looking good alongside my Grandson's first roll of film. I scanned it later that evening with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and removed dust spots and scratches with Affinity Photo.

Here are a few of my photos from my Minolta X-700 and Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 lens. I am very happy with how they turned out and I was able to get some nice close ups with it that showed off the lens' superb creamy bokeh when shot wide open. As usual I have put them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

P.S. My e-zine "In The Zone" is stil available to buy for £3 from my Ko-Fi shop via the link below. Your support helps me enormously and is very much appreciated.

Ilford HP5 - Minolta X-700 - Vivitar 28mm f/2.8
Vivitar Lens Compendium
"In The Zone" Ko-Fi shop