Fomapan 200 on a sunny day

 I was saving a roll of Fomapan 200 for a sunny day, and we were blessed with a run of sunny days at the back end of May and into June. It would have been daft not to avail myself of the opportunity to use it, so I loaded it into my Olympus OM-2 and set the iso to 100. I have long known that Fomapan 200 responds well to a one stop pull, but never really had the weather to do it justice until now. I headed into town to see how the changes to the town centre are coming along. It was also my wedding anniversary and I had to pick up my wife's anniversary present, so off I toddled.

No, I didn't forget my wedding anniversary, it just so happened that pay day fell on the same day this year and my wife was also going to town to buy me a card. 21 years of wedded bliss and 25 years together in all. My wife deserves a medal.

Change takes time, but the pace seems to have gone up a gear as the demolition of The Galleries continues. It's still sad to see it being torn down as the machinery ate away the bricks and concrete. The inside of a lift shaft was exposed when I got there and the winding gear was still perched on top, waiting to be removed before the brick eating monster took a nibble at it.

The sunny weather has also brought with it a lot of dust that has blown from the demolition works. The workers try their best to keep it down with a spray of water, but in the hot spring sunshine it soon dries out and the breeze carries it around town.

I made my way up Standishgate, capturing a few scenes that took my interest before arriving at the old Market Gate entrance to The Galleries. The glass front has gone and the machinery is cutting through the concrete floors that I have walked along many times over the years. The sound of jack hammers busy pounding away reverberates around the town centre, but I guess we have got used to it now. I got through 24 shots before it was time to head home. I finished my roll of Fomapan 200 a couple of days later with another quick journey into town. Change does indeed take time, but at least we have nice weather for it.

I decided to develop my Fomapan 200, shot at 100, in Rodinal 1+50. A quick calculation thanks to some sage advice from Mr Alex Luyckx had me develop it for 7 minutes at 20 celcius and it wasn't long before it was hanging to dry in my bathroom. The negatives looked nice and when it dried, which didn't take long on a hot spring afternoon, I scanned it with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and processed the photos with Affinity Photo 2

I'm very happy with how this film responded to the sunshine with a one stop pull. There's a broad consensus that Fomapan film speeds are rather arbitrary. Fomapan 400 gives great results when shot at 250 iso and Fomapan 100 is excellent when pulled one stop to 50 iso, but a lot of folk will shoot it at 80 iso and get great photos from it. It's all down to experimenting and finding your own sweet spot and I reckon shooting it at 100 iso on a sunny day is as sweet as It gets.

Here's a few of my favourites from my roll of Fomapan 200 and I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I had fun taking these photos in the sunshine, I hope you enjoy them.

Fomapan 200 - Olympus OM2 - Zuiko 28mm f/3.5

Frugal Film Project 2023 - June

 We have reached the half way point for the Frugal Film Project 2023 and I have some doubts that my beloved Agfa Isolette I is going to last the rest of the year. It has been a great addition to my kit and gave me a start with medium format, but age is catching up with it rapidly. Made in the 1950's, the Agfa Isolette I was an affordabe camera of the time that could be used as a point and shoot or you could get creative with it and use it like any other camera with the aid of a rangefinder and a hand held light meter.

Whilst I am comfortable with using all my toys, I have mostly been using it as a point and shoot. I just set the distance to the red number 30, the aperture to the red dot at f/11 and choose one of the three shutter speeds to suit the conditions. This month I was shooting at 1/200th of a second at f/22, courtesy of the Gossen Trisix light meter my friend Owen gave to me back in 2017, to allow for the bright sunlight we have enjoyed for the last few weeks.

I wanted to go further afield this month and a visit to my daughter in Yorkshire gave me the perfect excuse to photograph a location I have not visited before. Wath Lake at Wath On Dearne which is on the site of a former Colliery in the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfields. This part of the White Rose County is full of former mining communities that were devastated by the closure of the mines in the area during the late 1980's and early 90's.

In the 1990's the site was cleared and contamination removed prior to landscaping works to turn it into a recreational area with a boating lake and miles of footpaths and nature trails. For this visit we concentrated on the lake cos it's a fair old hike when your not so nimble anymore. The boating lake is used by local schools and colleges for Kayaking and Dragon Boats and the weather was perfect for boating on the day I visited, bright sunshine with a breeze to take the edge off the heat. There was a couple of model sailboats being put through their paces on the lake too.

As my daughter and I made our way around the lake shore, she pointed out a few things of interest. I dutifully took photos of the "Wath Dinosaur", a concrete sculpture in the lake that was more high and dry than usual as the hot weather had evaporated a few feet off the top. A bit further round was one of the Pit Head Winding Wheels, half buried in the ground as a monument to the former colliery where it served for many years. There is also a area on a peninsular with a monument to the Coke Works where Coal was transformed into Coke to feed the local steel industry in Sheffield and Rotherham.

It didn't take me long to start feeling tired, we headed home and I found some Power Lines to photograph on the way. I'm a sucker for a good power line shot and I tried my best to frame up a couple of decent compositions. It was an enjoyable morning walk, but by the time we got back to her house, the sun was high in the sky and we were a bit frazzled. I spent the rest of the day resting and enjoying the rest of my stay with my daughter.

A couple of days later I developed my Kentmere 400 120 medium format film in a fresh mix of Kodak HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 6 minutes at 20 celcius. It took a bit of doing as the water from my kitchen tap was 22 celcius, I had to cool it down in my fridge before mixing my developer. It's the joys of summer really and it wasn't long before I hung my film to dry in my bathroom. I scanned my film using my Nokia 5.3 phone camera, A5 led light pad and Pixl-Latr and processed the photos with Affinity Photo 2.

One thing that stood out immediately was the light leaks that had blighted a few of my photos. I was able to deal with most, but there are four that I simply couldn't use. This is the hazard of using vintage folding cameras, the bellows deteriorate eventually and must be replaced or the camera is just another ornament. I am left with a decision I hoped I would not have to make. I have to withdraw my Agfa isolette I from the Frugal Film Project 2023.

It's for the best really as it is only going to get worse if I put more film through it. I got half a year out of it, 72 photos doesn't seem a lot, but when you're 70 years old it's more than it could handle in its current condition. The camera was a gift from my dear friends Budgie and Helene and I will get it rebuilt so I can use it again, it has earned it. Hopefully it will outlast me and give one of my grandchildren a few years of the same joy I have had with it. I just need to find someone in the UK who can replace bellows on an Agfa isolette I and also need to choose another cheap camera so I can at least finish the year.

Here's a few of my final photos for the Frugal Film Project 2023 taken using my Agfa Isolette I on Kentmere 400 120 medium format film. As always I have placed them in an album on Flickr for you to enjoy via the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2023

Horrendous light leaks

Panagor 200mm f/3.5

 Back when M42 mount was seemingly on all budget cameras we saw the rise of cheap third party lenses in all the camera stores. Some of them are still with us today, Tamron and Tokina have become a decent choice for modern Mirrorless and DSLR's, but some have come and gone never to return. Panagor was one such brand to have disappeared from the market after a run in the glory days of film.

I was given a Panagor 200mm f/3.5 telephoto lens recently and figured I would try it out during a day out to Liverpool Waterfront with my wife and our pal, Keith. My camera of choice for this first use was my trusty Pentax SP500 and as it was a bright sunny day I chose to shoot Fomapan 100 35mm black and white film.

Liverpool Waterfront and the Royal Albert Dock is always a popular venue for day trippers and we joined the throng at the south end of the Royal Albert Dock where I got to use this lens for the first time. A Royal Navy Fleet Auxilliary Vessel was at Cammell Laird shipyard and I took my first shot looking across the Mersey towards it. I was also looking almost directly towards the sun and was glad the lens has a built in lens hood. I was able to get a few shots panning along the Wirral Waterfront and was instantly impressed with the reach of the lens.

As we made our way along the waterfront I was able to photograph details high on the Albert Dock buildings and also the Liver Buildings in the distance as they topped the surrounding buildings. I could also get a decent shot of the cruise ship, Norwegian Dawn that was paying a visit to Liverpool that day and the famous "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" as it left the ferry terminal at the Pier head going to Woodside Ferry Terminal on the Birkenhead side of the estuary.

I was able to photograph architectural details I hadn't seen before high up on the famous Three Graces and the faces of statues that a wide angle street photography lens didn't have a chance of getting anywhere near. St John's Tower, home of Radio City, Tower Cranes and the Big Wheel were all targets for my photos and I really enjoyed being able to add them to the wide angle shots I had taken with my K1000 and Tamron 28mm lens.

We had a great day out photographing Liverpool waterfront and by early evening we were all ready for going home. It was just as well as I had used my film up in the three cameras I took with me. By the time we arrived home I was too tired to do anything else and left my developing for another day.

That day came during the following week and I developed my roll of Fomapan 100 in HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry. I scanned it with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and processed the photos with Affinity Photo to remove dust spots and scratches.

Here's a few favourites I took on our photo walk along the waterfront, I am really happy with how they turned out. The lens was sat doing nothing for quite some time before it came to me, but thankfully It was kept in its case with a silica gel pack that kept the fungus at bay. There are one or two spots, but not enough to affect image quality. Thank you to my dear friend Gren Russell for your generosity, the lens came with the Olympus OM-10 he sent to me recently. It won't be long before I use this lens again and I'm wondering why I didn't get one sooner.  As always I have placed these photos and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Panagor 200mm f/3.5

Cherry Blossom & The Minolta Beer Can Lens - AF 70-210mm f/4

Cherry Blossom season arrived in mid April here in Wigan. For my annual Hanami to appreciate the display of colour near my home, I wanted to use a camera and lens combination that would give me not just well exposed images, but also allow me to get close ups of the blossom high in the trees before it gets past it's best and starts filling the path and road with pink petals. I have several candidates, but I have been hunting for a 70-210mm zoom lens that my Grandson can use on his Minolta Dynax 500si Super when we go out during the summer. It would also complete the basic kit he can use to learn with alongside his 35-70mm.

My hunting expeditions to the bay proved successful recently when I finally found a Beer Can lens. Yes, I said a Beer Can and it's not just any old beer can either. It's a tall beer can that gives you just that bit more beer than your standard beer can, allowing you to enjoy more beer for your money. That lens is the Minolta AF 70-210mm f/4.

In order to earn that name the Minolta 70-210mm f/4 needed to be pretty special on the inside as well as having a unique appearance. The lens is made of metal tubes and 12 pretty heavy duty glass elements in 9 groups and an Iris built from 7 blades to give an aperture range of F4 wide open to f32 at it's narrowest. That F4 is also constant. Some zoom lenses will change the aperture as you zoom in and out, but not the Beer Can, if you set it at f/4 it stays at f/4. This is a feature you expect to see on high end professional lenses, but this lens doesn't command professional prices.

So, with the technickery done, how does it handle? My Grandson's Minolta Dynax 500si Super is plastic and weighs next to nothing, but it holds the Beer Can steady all day. However this does make it front heavy so carrying it on a strap around your neck may get a little tiring after a while. On a pro metal body it wont be a problem because the body will balance the lens, but whatever camera you fit it to, put it in a backpack or messenger style bag and it's no problem.

To zoom from 70mm to 210mm takes 1/4 of a turn on the zoom ring making this one of the tightest zooms I have used. For a lens designed and introduced in 1985 it focuses quickly and accurately in most lighting conditions too. It also has a macro facility on the long end which means you can get some close ups without having to get too close. This makes it great for photographing flowers and insects without having to put your back out by bending down a lot.

I nipped out with it and shot a roll of Kodak Ultramax 400 of the Spring blooms that seem to sprout daily right now and make my hay fever kick off. I took a couple of anti histamines, gritted my teeth and took some tissues with me. The local Cherry Trees were in full blossom and I spent a while photographing them, taking aim at far away blooms in the top of the trees and using the long focal length to compress some long shots along the row of trees down to a more manageable level. The macro facility came in very handy too for close up shots of blossom I couldn't get close to.

I was enjoying being out in the sunshine despite the brisk wind we had on the day. I haven't been out for a bit because of the Lurgi I suffered with just after easter and I wasn't 100% over it, but cabin fever was setting in and the Blossom wouldn't stay on the trees forever. It's amazing how the simple act of enjoying Cherry Trees for being bright and colourful during Spring lifted my spirits and before long I had used all the roll and the camera automatically wound my film back into the cartridge, telling me it was time to go home.

I developed my roll of Ultramax later that evening in my Cinestill Cs41 kit and hung it to dry in my bathroom. Minolta Dynax cameras are noted for being able to produce well exposed photos and from what I could tell from my drying film I knew I had some great shots and couldn't wait to see what I had managed to capture with my Beer Can. I scanned my film with my trusty Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and processed them with Affinity Photo 2.

Here's a few favourites from my first use of the fabled Minolta Beer Can 70-210mm f/4 lens. As always I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I enjoyed popping the Beer Can cherry and like my first experience with Minolta cameras I'm wondering what took me so long. It's a great lens that gives you just that little bit more beer for your money, it certainly brought the best from my Kodak Ultramax 400 and it's currently a very affordable lens for all Minolta/Sony A Mount camera users. I hope you enjoy them.

Minolta 500si - 70-210mm f/4 Beercan