- Where: USS Hornet Museum, Alameda County, CA
- Camera: Fuji GW690 III
- Film: Kodak Portra 160
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
When visiting the Bay Area over a weekend, I love stopping by the USS Hornet Museum. The old aircraft carrier has been restored by volunteers and is said to be the best preserved one of its kind. It is teeming with details to behold and to explore. Guided tours provide an insight into the bowels of the ship and the stories I have heard so far were truly fascinating. This is the first of two posts about the Hornet.
- Where: Thomas Fogarty Winery, Woodside, CA
- Camera: Fuji GW690 III
- Film: Kodak Portra 160
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
I visited the Thomas Fogarty Winery based on a suggestion from a friend at Hotel Strata in Mountain View. He told me there would be a great view of the Bay Area down from the winery’s premises, which falls right into what I was looking for as I searched for photo opportunities over my weekend stay there. Perched at the top of the spine of the small mountain range to the south of the bay, it features lush greenery and wavy slopes covered by grapevine fields. A beautiful place to stop by, have a glass or two (I did not, because I had to drive), and enjoy the scenery.
- Where: A lake somewhere in Bavaria.
- Camera: Rollei 35
- Film: Kentmere Pan 100
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
The second camera test roll developed in 510 Pyro. I tried to compensate for the overdeveloped border with a linear gradient in Lightroom, which worked well enough. I like the tonality that 510 Pyro produces.
- Where: A place somewhere in Bavaria.
- Camera: Leica R9
- Lens: Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5
- Film: Kentmere Pan 100
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
Every camera that enters this household needs to go through rigorous testing. Which means I can’t hold the excitement, stick a test roll into the camera and bugger off. I accidentally bought a bunch of Kentmere Pan 100 as 24exp rolls, which I find a bit wasteful for normal photography, but has become my current staple for testing out new cameras. Coincidentally, this was one of the two rolls I tested stand development with 510 Pyro on. That was my first time with 510 Pyro and I used way too little of the stuff. Turns out that reading the manual would have prevented the development issue that caused one border of the images to be overdeveloped.
- Where: A place somewhere in Bavaria.
- Camera: Pentax 67 MLU
- Lens: SMC Takumar 105mm f/2.4
- Film: Kentmere Pan 100, CatLabs X-Film 320
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
As a hobby photographer, the area nearby is the one that I have exposed to my little camera collection the most. Every picture framed around this area feels like a never-ending repeat of days that have come before. Yet, somehow, those freshly taken images freezing the now for eternity never feel exactly the same when revisited on a later date. They are shaped by different gear, different knowledge, different experiences, and of course by the course of time. Thus, while the subject repeats, the joy is ever renewed.
- Where: Eibsee and some other lake.
- Camera: Pentax 67 MLU
- Lens: Schneider Kreuznach Cinelux Ultra 140mm, f2.1
- Film: Kodak Portra 160, Reflx Lab 500T
- Scan: Howtek D4500, Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
Two lakes, two different days a couple of weeks apart. One covered in clouds and rain, one covered in snow and blistering sunshine. Two different films, two different scanners, one camera, one lens. Kodak Portra 160, like many times before, performed flawlessly. I like the look you get when you push the roll by two stops. Reflx Lab 500T has a very nice look when the weather does not. I do like the stock in medium format, but it is a bit tricky to scan. The sprocket holes from the 65mm film stock that it is based on tend to show strong halation when the scanner is shining light through them. I don’t like that effect, which means that I have to crop the images aggressively.
- Where: A lake in Bavaria.
- Camera: Rolleiflex 3.5F
- Film: Fomapan 100 Classic
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
Second test roll with the Rolleiflex 3.5F.
- Where: A lake in Bavaria.
- Camera: Rolleiflex 3.5F
- Film: Fomapan 100 Classic
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
First test roll with the Rolleiflex 3.5F. I took it for a walk to the lake right after I got it and took a few shots on Fomapan 100 Classic. My copy is one of those that has all the bells and whistles and everything is working splendidly. Every time I use Rolleiflex TLRs I am surprised by the quality of the taking lens. Neither clinically sharp nor smudgy soft. Overall a very pleasing rendition of reality.
- Where: Maisinger See, Tegernsee
- Camera: Mamiya ZE-X
- Lens: Sekor 50mm f/1.7
- Film: Kodak T-Max 400 (expired)
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
Second test roll with the Mamiya ZE-X and the Sekor 50mm f/1.7. There were a couple of images on that roll that I would call “good” and match the aesthetic I like. For this post, I decided on a few images that “speak to me” in a way the other photos did not. For some pictures, it depends a lot on my current mood. Only a small handful of images seem always to fit this criteria. Those are the ones that I would call “subjectively great”. The selection this time does not fit any particular theme. It is as random as the grain on the negatives.
- Where: Maisinger Schlucht
- Camera: Nikon F6
- Lens: Leica Summicron-R 90mm f/2.0 (Leitax F-mount mod)
- Film: Agfa APX 100 (expired)
- Scan: Nikon Super Coolscan 9000
A few frames of overgrown trees from the Maisinger Schlucht. Shot through the Leica Summicron-R 90mm f/2.0 lens adapted to F-mount with a Leitax kit.
