Moving to YouTube

Hello everyone,

It's been a while :)

Just a quick note, I have created my YouTube channel dedicated to vintage cameras. I am planning to post mini reviews, quick guides and simple fixes there.  As always, your suggestions, recommendations and questions are very welcome!

Thanks, Victor

Happy New Year!

I wish you all a very Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year!

Cheers, Victor

I am not dead :) just really busy

Hi all,

Just a quick update.
As you can see I am not publishing lately and there is a reason for that. I have been engaged into a very large project that keeps me busy 7x24 and, unfortunately, away from photography and this blog. I hope that everything will settle down in the next month or two and I can do again what I like the most - take pictures!

All the best,
vk

Vacation Snapshots

Just came back from a short but very relaxing vacation in Aruba. This time I didn't take any cameras except old little DMC-LX5.

Divi Tree, Eagle beach

Offshore diving/sunbathing platform, Palm Beach

I was thinking of replacing LX5 with LX100 or RX100 as my vacation camera, but now I am not sure. It still works and I am happy with results.

vkphoto

Season's Greetings!

2014 has been a year filled with terrific photo activities. I had an opportunity to use a variety of new cameras, lenses, post processing tools but most of all I enjoyed taking pictures. Here is my quick roundup.

Digital Gear. Back in January Fuji released XT-1, a great addition to their line-up. But after using the camera for couple weeks I decided to keep XPro-1, still love this camera for its original x-trans sensor. Same goes for new Sigma DP2 Quattro, decided to stay with DP2 Merrill. I bought and sold Nikon 800E. Don’t get me wrong, the camera and the image quality are fantastic, just not my type of a camera. I also had an opportunity to try 800E with Zeiss 85/1.4 Otus APO Planar and results were mind blowing.
Digital Post Processing. Iridient Developer remains my # 1 raw converter. Now I am using it not only to process x-trans files but other raw formats as well. I just tried 3.0 beta 4 and was very much impressed with new features and especially with new sharpening algorithm Iridient Reveal. Wow. I think ID3 is also faster now. BTW, Iridient Developer is on sale until December 31st. Other raw converters worth to mention were RawTherapee and LightZone.
Film gear. In 2014 I had two new additions to my camera collection, Yashica Electro 35 GTN and Hasselblad 500 C/M. Both are great. And the only one addition to my legacy lens collection was MD Zoom35~70 1/3.5. This lens is absolutely fantastic.
Film Post Processing. Not too many changes here, Agfa Rodinal 1:50 is my #1 developer. If you don’t want to bother with DIY development, then IlfordLab is highly recommended for B&W, excellent service.

Plans for 2015? My film journey continues. Film still has a lot to offer, especially with the prices of great cameras and lenses so low and because I simply love artistic qualities of the media. But I didn't abandon digital of course, and planning to try new Sony A7 II soon. Considering my extensive collection of legacy glass this full frame camera with IBIS looks very attractive. I am waiting for new Fuji 140-400mm f4 / 5.6 (?) Super Telephoto and possible XPro1 replacement.


2015 is quickly approaching and I wish you a relaxing holiday season and photographically exciting New Year.


All the best,

vkphoto

Useful iPhone apps for analogue film photography

Lately I am shooting analogue almost exclusively, trying to get unplugged. But since my old trusty iPhone 4s (IOS 8.1) is always with me I decided to try several apps to see if they can be useful for a film photography.

I completely dismissed image manipulating / organizing apps and focused only on those that, supposedly, can help with shooting film. After spending $ and time I have to say that majority of apps are just waste. But not all.
So here is my pick listed in order of typical photo workflow.

Tree studies in mono

Late autumn and winter are my favourite seasons to take tree pictures. I am partial to abstract patterns created by leafless branches and trunks. And great object to exercise my skills in square composition. Dark grey overcast skies didn’t stop me from getting out for a ramble.

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* CF F/4 50 mm

All images below were taken with Hasselblad 500C/M, Ilford Delta 100, developed in Rodinal 1:50

A stroll with the Hasselblad

When I tested my new-old Hasselblad 500CM about a month ago I found random light streaks across the film, a sign that light trap on A12 film back needs a replacement. I ordered foam pad and foil from eBay for $16 and installed it myself following provided instructions, it was pretty easy and straight forward. Now it was time to take the camera out for a spin.
Despite nice foliage colours I decided to use B&W film. I took only one roll of 120 film with me, 12 exposures. Actually 11 because I quickly wasted the first frame by checking the shutter without the dark slide.

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* CF F/4 50 mm

Since colours were no longer in play I focused on light, shapes, textures and lines. All pictures below were taken with Ilford Delta 100 and developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 14 min @ 20 C˚

Unplugged

Here goes: my full frame camera, new ipad and memory cards...

Back to basics :)

Cheers!
vk

New filters - quick overview

I am not a big fan of digital effects and in most cases all my image enhancements are done during the raw conversion. But I do appreciate creative capabilities that new applications can bring.

The number of image transforming apps is endless, new effects pop up every day. Most of them look very similar,  but two caught my attention, Topaz Impression and Macphun Tonality Pro.

Why Film?

Folks, let me state from the very beginning, I don’t want to start any debates film vs digital, everything below is just my opinion. 

Any modern digital camera can easily out resolve the film, and a full frame (135mm) camera, like Nikon D810 paired with superb  Zeiss Otus, will beat the cr* out of any medium format or even large format film cameras. Obviously a great shooting discipline and post processing skills are required to pull out the best from the modern sensors. Digital cameras are also fast, provide instant feedback and the number of photos one can take is only limited by the size of storage, and storage is reusable. With many filters available (DxO, Nik, Topaz, etc etc etc) you can simulate the film “look” with few extra clicks. Why bother with real film?

Hasselblad 500 C/M, CF Distagon 50/4 T*, Kodak 400TX

Long time ago I realized that my pursuit for more details, more accurate colours, low noise or better dynamic range is pointless because it is not what always makes a great photo.

Ontario Fall Colours

Just came back from a 3-day trip in beautiful Haliburton countryside and report - we have another great foliage season!

Unusually warm calm weather, blue skies and foliage in full bloom make absolutely perfect conditions to enjoy colour photography. But hurry up, it won't last long.

The foliage season has arrived!

My favourite season. Most of the trees are still green here in Toronto, but I prefer to start early, you never know how long the full bloom will last. All my weekends are pretty booked for the next three-four weeks.

Both pictures were taken with X-Pro1 and Nikkor 180/2.8 ED AI-S. Another very busy season for my Fuji :)

Cheers,
vkphoto

Happy 40th Anniversary!

The camera serial number starts with UI, which stands for 1974, it means that my new-used Hasselblad 500 C/M is forty years young!

 and the picture taken today:

Carl Zeiss Planar T* C F/2.8 80mm, Agfa APX 25, post processed in Rodinal

Cheers!
vk

The monopod

Modern digital sensors are very demanding. If you want to get the most out of your fine sensor you need good glass, excellent post processing techniques and shooting discipline. And shooting discipline (holding the camera steady) is my main problem. I missed so many shots just because I didn't hold the camera steady enough. When I am using the old legacy or even modern lenses (with no IS/IBIS) the Golden Reciprocal Rule just doesn’t work for me anymore. May be it's just my hands.
I know that any decent tripod can resolve the problem by improving stability, but they are bulky and take time to set up. Monopods are much easier to manage. After a quick search I ordered one from eBay, $80 delivered to Canada.

In the bag:

X-PRO1 vs. D800E vs. DP2M

Finally I got time to compare raw output from Fujifilm X-PRO 1, Sigma DP2M and Nikon D800E.

The test below is very much unscientific, it was conducted just out of my own curiosity. All three cameras are totally different beasts and putting them side by side might be not fair, but I as many others was wondering how uncommon CFA (X-Trans and Foveon, APC-S) sensors stack up against leading 24x36 Bayer.

Minolta MD ZOOM 35-70 mm f / 3.5 - more pictures

During my recent trip to cottage I used Minolta a lot and really enjoyed the lens. Surprisingly the range ( ~ 53-105 on Fuji X-Pro 1) was very useful and it was my main "walk around" lens during the whole trip.

I did some close ups,  shot hand-held fast moving objects - no problem.  The focus was really easy to attain.

In the cottage country with Fuji X-Pro 1

I just came back from a short trip to my friends in Haliburton (Ontario). Summer is not my favourite season for photography in the country, but I managed to snap a few.

I  mostly used XF 55-200 with X-Pro 1, but also tried my new-used Minolta 35-70 f/3.5 Zoom. I will post results in the next few days.
All raw files were post processed in Iridient Developer with a little help of Nik filters.

Minolta MD ZOOM 35-70 mm f / 3.5

I have never been a big fan of legacy zoom lenses. But after reading some raving reviews about  Minolta MD zoom 35-70 f/3.5 I took the plunge and got a very good copy (macro, 7 blades version) from eBay.

The lens was designed in collaboration with Leitz (Leica Vario-Elmar-R 35-70 mm f / 3.5) and is highly regarded for its optical qualities.
Here is my first impression.

MC TELE ROKKOR-PF 135 mm 1:2.8 revisited

I bought the lens about two years ago and was happy with the results but didn't use it too often since I acquired XF 55-200.

After reading some less than stellar reviews about this particular version (6 elements in 5 groups ) I decided to revisit the lens.

Below is the result of shooting exclusively with this lens during the Canada Day weekend. All photos were taken with X-Pro1, most of the time the lens was set to its max aperture, files were post processed in Iridient Developer.