The Zoo in Winter

 We visited the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque by appointment on Friday afternoon and saw very few other people there.  We were pleased to find the spectacular new penguin exhibit open, but besides ourselves there were only a man and his small son there.  The interior lighting is far too dim for any film I might be using.

The peacocks which freely roam around the zoo seem ready to display mate seeking behavior regardless of the season.

When we stopped to view many of the animals in their enclosures there were often no other visitors in sight.  I was surprised to find how that altered my experience.  For me there was a prevailing feeling of abandonment.  It seems unlikely that the animals would be so affected, but who really knows what their experience is?

The camera for this outing was my Hikari 2002; its great virtue is that it makes use of the always excellent  Pentax K-mount lenses.  All of the zoo shots were made with the SMC Pentax-A 1:2.8 135mm.  I was pleased to see that my Unicolor C-41 processing was still working well with the seventh roll through the current chemical kit, in this case Kodak ColorPlus 200.

The Bosque in Winter

The cottonwood forest beside the river seems to be in a state of sleep this time of year.

Shooting the Hikari 2002 is a nice way to make use of my Pentax-M lenses.  The roll of Tri-X was developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:31 dilution for 6.5 minutes at 20C.  I might give the next roll another thirty seconds, but I thought the L110 nicely handled the grain in this instance.  Semi-stand development would likely reduce the contrast a bit.

Color Chemistry

I've been using the Unicolor C-41 kit from Freestyle for quite a while and have been very satisfied with it.  When I went to order a new supply, however, I found it was on back order.  So, I decided to give the CineStill kit a try.  The price was not much different and the instructions for use seemed very similar to those of Unicolor.  The CineStill liquid components are quite a bit easier to mix.  The results seemed very similar to what I was used to with the Unicolor product.

In addition to the somewhat easier preparation of the liquid components, the CineStill kit includes some useful information on push/pull processing and variable temperature development.  The information packet also suggests that developing time should be increased by 2% for each roll of film developed.  With that in mind I've made myself a little developing time chart to follow as I use the kit.  I've been able to get quite a few more uses from the Unicolor kit than is recommended, so I'll be interested in seeing if the CineStill kit performs as well in that regard.

I see in visiting the CineStill site now that the C-41 kit is now on backorder there as well as at the Freestyle site, and the Unicolor kit is presently unavailable as well.  A bit of a mystery.

Hikari + Takumar

As expected, the Hikari and the Pentax K-mount lenses work fine together.  Any deficiencies in the images is due solely to the operator.

The only thing I can find to complain about so far with the Hikari is the split-image viewfinder.  I don't like the canted split-image or the little crinkly doughnut around it.  That's just a personal issue, though; others may find those features advantageous.

I think my next step with the Hikari will be to give the Hikari zoom another round to see if a little more familiarity will produce a firmer opinion on its capabilities.  As with any zoom, getting used to the handling of the focus, zoom and aperture rings requires a bit of practice.

Dumpster Diving for Cameras

Figuratively speaking.  Actually, I found this Hikari 2002 in a thrift store with a five-dollar price tag.
The top and bottom covers were plastic, but the camera had a solid feel, and it was compact and relatively light weight.  The protruding grip makes one-hand shooting easy.  The film advance and the zoom lens were smooth in operation.  The shutter worked at all speeds.  The Hikari is a great camera.
Let me explain.

At home with the camera I inserted some new batteries and the meter came to life and seemed to be working properly; exposure is set manually, and a green LED glows when you've got it right.  I was pleased to discover when I looked up the camera on line that it accepts Pentax K-mount lenses.  It also features a shutter speed range from 1 sec. to 1/2000, a self timer, a double-exposure selector and a depth of focus preview button (which was lacking in the Pentax K-1000).  The Hikari was marketed under several names including the Vivitar  V3800N, the Promaster 2500PK Super and the Phoenix DC303N.  I shot a quick roll of Kentmere 100 to test the camera, and it performed flawlessly.

I'm withholding judgment on the Hikari macro-zoom lens.  Most of the shots made with it looked ok, but a few were not sharp.  That may just have been some focusing error by me; the max f3.5 aperture does not provide a very bright view.  I' m looking forward now to using some of my excellent K-mount Pentax lenses with the camera.  Perhaps due to my long experience with the Pentax Spotmatic I am most comfortable with cameras that let me have the final say about aperture and speed settings.