I haven't used my OM-2 MD for a while, so I decided it was time to change that and loaded a roll of Rollei Superpan 200 into it and went for a wander to see what I could find. Using a 200 iso film in January can be a little daunting and I asked the Photography Gods to help a guy out and give me a little sunshine to play with. Thankfully they listened and blessed me with a beautiful sunny day in mid January. It was a two part walk as I had shot a roll of Santacolor 100 with my OM10 before I switched to my OM-2 MD and Rollei Superpan 200.
I decided to explore contrast as the shadows lengthened in the afternoon winter sunshine. I fitted an orange filter to my Zuiko 50mm f/1.8, set my OM-2 MD to aperture priority and made my way back into Wigan town centre from Wigan North Western Railway Station. The low winter sunshine on this fine afternoon was creating shadows as it kissed the buildings on either side of Wallgate. I was enjoying my walk, but was starting to feel tired and, after shooting half my roll of Rollei Superpan 200, I decided to head for home and shoot the remainder of my film another day.
That day was the very next day and I made my way to Mesnes Park to polish off the second half of my roll of Rollei Superpan. It seemed that the Park had terrible light on one side and interesting light near the old Mill. I made my way to the Mill and had a nostalgic feeling as it was once the construction and engineering campus of Wigan & Leigh College.
It's a sad sight now as the current owners are content to let the Mill fall down, only interested in the value of the land upon which it stands. I took half a dozen or so photos of the Mill from near and far and bracketed a couple to experiment with depth of field before moving on. I captured a few photos of the bandstand, the Pavilion and the duck pond to finish off my film and I popped my OM-2 back in my bag, ready to come home.
I developed my film a few days later in Kodak HC-110 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light source. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.
The difference in light on both days was perfectly portrayed in my photos. My shots around the town centre on a sunny afternoon are full of contrast and using an orange filter was the right choice for Rollei Superpan in the conditions we had that day. My photos in the park could have done without the orange filter as there wasn't enough light to shoot with it, but soft lad here left it on and didn't realise until I was almost done for the day. D'Oh! That nostalgic feeling I experienced at the Mill blinded me to into not paying proper attention and I made a silly mistake, one that I really shouldn't be making now I have a few years experience behind me.
It wasn't a total bust as I did get some useable shots, including one of the carved bench dedicated to William Higham who served in the RAF during WW2. Mr Higham passed away a few years ago and his service is remembered by family and friends with this beautifully carved bench that depicts a Wellington Bomber in flight. We owe Mr Higham and his generation a huge debt of gratitude that we may never be able to repay. It's nice to be able to sit for a moment, think of them and say "Thank you for your service."
I really enjoyed using my Olympus OM-2 MD with Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 lens again. It's been a while since I last took it out and it's not going to be long before it comes out again. A couple of years ago it was never out of my bag and my other cameras weren't getting used as often because of it. It may be a 50 year old camera, but Olympus got it right back in the mid 70's and it still does the business today. I still need to work on remembering stuff, but we knew that last year and it will probably be the same next year too.
Here's a few of my favourite photos from my roll of Rollei Superpan 200 shot with my OM-2 MD. I have placed them and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Rollei Superpan 200 - Olympus OM-2 MD
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