My History With Leica

 These were the three best images from a roll of Kentmere 400 shot in my Leica IIIa during a walk in Old Town and a visit to the VM coffee shop and the adjacent vintage sign and vehicle collection.

 My IIIa Leica was a body-only purchase from ebay.  I shot it for a while with Soviet M39 lenses, which was really fine.  Still, I thought it would be nicer to shoot the camera with actual Leica lenses, so I eventually found a good local deal on a IIIc with a 135 Hektor and a 3.5/50 coated Elmar.  I didn't keep the Leica IIIc long because I prefered the simpler construction of the IIIa.  The Hektor telephoto just seemed too awkward in use,  and I ultimately gave it to a friend.

I have made a lot of pictures with the 3.5/50 Elmar over the past six years and it has become a great favorite because of the consistent brilliance of its performance.  

A Bentzin Folder

I had just one roll of 120 Kentmere in my refrigerator so I dicided to use it in my Bentzin Primar folding camera which I had used only once before since its acquisition in 2018.  I bought the camera on ebay because I had been very impressed with the quality construction of my Benzin plate camera.  The camera's features are an interesting pre- and post-war mix.  The Compur shutter and the uncoated Meyer Gorlitz Trioplan lens definitely look  to be from the 1930s.  

 On the other hand the self-erecting feature and the plastic advance knob are typically found on folding cameras made after 1945.  This camera also has two ruby windows on the back, indicating an option of getting sixteen frames from a roll of 120 film.  However, my camera did not come with the half-frame mask which would enable that choice.  The Bentzin looks like it was little used, including a faultless bellows and no Zeiss bumps in the covering.

 Being a Friday morning, the old guys and their restored classic cars were available in the Plaza Vieja to help with camera testing.   

 

 

 One of the old guys had come for his last ride.

 

For a three-element lens, the Meyer Gorlitz Triplan lens delivers impressive performance.  I have the same lens on one of my KW Patent Etui plate cameras and on my Certo Dolly SuperSport, and they make images as sharp and undistorted as the four-element Tessars.

I remembered that the Rada rollfilm adapter for my  Bentzin plate camera came to me with a thin cardboard mask for half-frame images.  It does not quite fit in the Bentzin folder, but it would be just a few moments work to cut one to fit.

From The Archive

 I spent the afternoon retrieving scanned files from an old backup hard-drive.   Some of the files go back to 2001.  A quick look tells me my memory is going to be taxed recognizing some of the places and subjects.  

I do recall this cloudy April 6th of 2013 when I found some old cars lined up along the curb in the Old Town Plaza.  Captured with my Argus C3 and the Sandmar 35mm lens.

For this subject, Google Search is a big help in retrieving some details:

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"The car featured prominently in the center of the image is a 1958 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe. 

Key Details of the 1958 Impala
    •    Debut Year: 1958 was the inaugural year for the Impala nameplate, which was originally introduced as the top-of-the-line trim for the Chevrolet Bel Air line.
    •    Design Features: This model is known for its pillarless coupe design, quadruple headlights, and distinctive triple taillights. The specific color of the car in the image appears to be Silver Blue Poly.
    •    Performance: These classic cars were often powered by a 348-cubic-inch "W" engine or a 283ci V8, with some high-end versions featuring "Tri-Power" (three two-barrel carburetors).
    •    Historical Significance: It was a "one-year-only" body style, as the Impala was redesigned for the 1959 model year, making the '58 a highly sought-after collector's item. "  

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  More to follow...

Another Twin Lens

I took my Mamiyaflex II for a morning walk in Old Town.  The temperature at 9:00 AM was already about 70 degrees in the last week of February.  That made for a nice walk, along with a little anxiety about what will come in the Summer.  The car club guys that hang out in the Plaza on the weekend did not really take a winter break this year.

I found the Mamiyaflex at a yard sale some time ago.  I didn't really need another twin lens reflex camera, but it looked to be in pretty good shape for its age except for a little peeling of the covering.  It is also interesting because this Japanese camera from the 1950's bears a very strong resemblance to my Kodak Reflex II which is only a little older.

Given the amount of time the Mamiyaflex sat on a shelf since its last use I was not surprised to find that it was not working quite perfectly.  The advance was a little rough, and when I developed the film I found that the frame spacing was very irregular.  

I also found that I had a little trouble with framing my images in the viewfinder, which seemed dimmer than I remembered, especially in the corners.  That may have been due in part to the sunny day reflections on the viewscreen, and I suspect my own dimming vision may also be implicated.

Over all though I can't complain about the quality of the images.  I'll see if a little cleaning and lubrication will help with the rough advance issue.  I may also try inserting a plastic fresnel lens under the viewscreen to see if that will brighten things up a bit.

An Old Favorite

I put a roll of Kentmere 100 through my Kodak Reflex II over a couple days.  It is one of those cameras for which I have a particular fondness because I was able to do a complete cleaning and adjustment without destroying it.  The reason for that is that the Reflex II is rather simple in its construction compared to my other tlr cameras.  The linked gear lenses are largely responsible for that simplicity.  

The pictures from this roll were artistically unremarkable, but I was happy with getting decent tonal results in combination with a fresh kit of PMK Pyro. 

The shot of my friend, Bob, was made in the dark corner of a coffee shop at 1/25 and f:3.5.  I was slightly off on the focus, but still pleased to get anything under those conditions.

 

It was a noteworthy accomplishment for Kodak to produce a full featured twin lens reflex at an affordable price in 1948.  The coated Anastar lens is very sharp and the viewfinder is as bright as anything made in those days.

 

f you have a Reflex II that needs some cleaning up, Rick Oleson's Tech Notes are free to download.

The Duaflex in Old Town

New Mexico is having an exceptionally warm and sunny winter.  Good conditions for one of my sunny day cameras, the Kodak Duaflex.  I loaded it with Kentmere 100 and took a walk around Old Town.

I processed the film in Rodinal.  That works well with most 100-speed films, but not so much this time.  I had to adjust tonalities significantly in Photoshop.  I am going to try again,  maybe with 400-speed film, along with a yellow filter for the bright sun scenes and processing in HC110.

Testing The Limits

While the Anscoflex II offers some control beyond that available from other simple cameras, the possibilities are still considerably less that those offered by more sophisticated designs.  The control features of the camera must also be used with some care and discretion.

What I found while working through the twelve available frames on some Kentmere 400 was that the close-up lens and the yellow filter cannot be simultaneously employed.  So a close-up with the filter compensating for bright sun with fast film is not an option.

I also found with the ruby window removed for improved frame numeral visibility that I needed to carefully avoid exposing the film's paper backing to any hint of direct sunlight.  The first half of this roll of film looked good in terms of exposure, but there were some washed out frames further down the roll.

So a deliberate and thoughtful approach to using the Anscoflex II along with stationary subjects enhance the likelihood of success.  I found that trying to grab shots of our active dog out in the yard was a bit beyond the boundary of success.

Winter Light

The little Nikon EM and its Series E lens gets little love from many Nikon enthusiasts, but it has always performed well for me.

I'm currently using a composite of the above images as the desktop background on my old iMac.

Slow Walking EM

 Another fine day for a leisurely stroll through Albuquerque's Old Town.

Ken Rockwell judges the EM to be Nikon's worst camera.  I beg to disagree.  I like the Nikon EM for its compactness, light weight,  aperture-priority automation, and the fact that it can use all my fine Nikon lenses.

I recently had a total disaster with a bad batch of PMK Pyro developer, so this roll of Kentmere 100 was processed in some reliable old Rodinal 1:50.

No.1 Daughter

We enjoyed showing my Portland daughter and her spouse some of the things we like about Albuquerque.  One of the hits was breakfast at the Church Street Cafe.

Kentmere 200

 I loaded a roll of Kentmere 200 in the Leica IIIa and went to Old Town close to noon on Friday. The old cars were lined up on the shady side of the street in front of San Felipe de Neri church.  The owners sat in folding chairs along the sidewalk.

Afterward I walked around the Old Town streets to grab a few hip shots before stopping for lunch at the Tiny Grocer just off Old Town Road.

I thought the results from the new Kentmere looked pretty good.  Still, there are so many variables in shooting any film that it is not a good idea to jump to conclusions without shooting several rolls under a variety of conditions.  I have another roll which I'll try to get to soon with the Nikon S.