I have been thinking about my Kodak Sterling II since #620Day when I got some photos that were described as having "character". When editing my photos I saw the effect I got was rather like the one you would get by using a spot filter or a smear of Vaseline around the edge of a UV filter and I wondered if the rear lens element had been removed and put back in the wrong way around.
There are many folk who enjoy reversing lens elements to get that kind of effect as an artistic choice. After trying to live with it I have decided that I'm not one of them. I got my tools out and took a look at the lens assembly on the inside. As far as I could tell there was just one fixing ring that kept the rear lens element in place, I just had to unscrew it. This is where my walking stick is a godsend.
The rubber foot on my walking stick is exactly the right size for removing threaded fixing rings that don't have slots for the lens tool that I have. A little pressure and a twist was all it took to start unscrewing the ring and I soon had the rear lens element free. I was right, the rear lens element was in the wrong way as the convex side should have been facing towards the film. I gave the lens element a good clean, carefully replaced it the right way round and screwed the fixing ring back into place.
With that simple task done it was testing time. I still have a roll or two of Shanghai GP3 100 iso 620 medium format film that I bought from Nik & Trick Photographiques here in the UK. I loaded one into my Kodak Sterling II and, on a dry Saturday afternoon, headed out into my local countryside. I did consider doing a re-shoot of my #620day effort, but I wanted to do something a little different. I hadn't been to visit the horses for a while and headed towards the farm.
The road to the farm has a few changes this year. Some of the trees have been felled to make it easier for horse boxes to get down the dirt road and it has opened up the view to the farmhouse. The corn has grown taller too and now towers over me, which to be fair isn't too difficult as I'm a shortarse! I photographed a few familiar compositions and headed onto the wash to visit the derelict car and my favourite tree.
The graffiti on the car hasn't got any better, but my favourite tree has reached full foliage and looks beautiful in the summer sunshine. With two shots remaining I headed to the Power lines to finish my film. The corn has grown so tall that from my usual vantage point I can only see one pylon. I made an effort to at least try to see two in my viewfinder and I was glad I took my tripod and cable release as they were both needed on this shoot. With the last frames done, I headed home for a well earned cuppa.
I developed my roll of Shanghai GP3 100 iso 620 medium format black and white film a few days later in Bellini Euro HC, 1+31 dilution B for 8 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised my film with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.
Straight away I could see I had indeed cured the halo of blur, but had inadvertently made a slight pigs ear of my depth of field. Yep, Jim got his zone focus ever so slightly out. This is something I need to work at as I learn to use this camera. To be fair it's a minor adjustment and one I shall humbly take up and try this camera again. I still have some 620 film in my stash and it's an excuse to get out again, not that I need one.
Here are my photos from my afternoon out and about with my Kodak Sterling II and Shanghai GP3 100 620 medium format film. As the camera is a 6 x 9 I get 8 photos per roll and I have placed them all in an album on Flickr you can visit via the link below. There's also a link to Nik & Trick where you can buy Shanghai 620 film if you ever decide to try a 620 format camera. I hope you enjoy them.
Nik & Trick Shanghai GP3 100 620 film
Kodak Sterling II - Shanghai GP3 100
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