The Albuquerque Rail Yards

  I visited the Rail Yards which hosts a craft and farmers' market on Sundays.  Margaret was looking for some fresh corn and garlic, but my interest is always in exploring the massive old locomotive repair shops.  The City has invested millions in the location with several proposals to make use of the site.  Extensive restorations are now in progress to devote one of the big buildings to a new media school.  There has also been a building housing the Wheels Museum at the site for some time.

The site was active for about a century, used primarily for the repair and periodic rebuilding of steam locomotives.  

My camera on this occasion was my Minolta X-700 with the Minolta MD 1.7/50mm lens. I shot a roll of Kentmere 400 and processed that in PMK Pyro.

Kentmere 400

 I have had nice results in the past shooting Kentmere film and processing in both HC-110 and PMK Pyro.   Recently, though, my negatives end up looking a stop or two underexposed.  I bought a new beaker and a syringe for measuring and mixing the developer, thinking that the problem could be contamination of the processing equipment.  That made no difference in the outcome, however.  I still had to compensate for the thin negatives with Photoshop adjustments.  So, my plan now is to shoot the film at a stop slower and accept that it is not going to produce what I want at the rated box speed.

It is tempting to theorize some manufacturing fault, but I haven't seen any reports on the issue elsewhere , including from the people who have inspired me to use the film at Photonet and Rangefinder Forum.  On the up side, the fact that I can get a reasonable outcome from the weak negatives speaks to the fundamental excellence of the film in regard to exposure latitude and fine grain.

A Backup Camera

  I saw a posting on ebay for a Minolta 135mm lens at a good price and the seller was in Albuquerque.  I messaged him that it would be nice to pick it up locally and avoid the shipping cost.  The seller agreed and even offered to bring the lens to my place.  He also brought along a couple Minolta SRT cameras, so I acquired the 201 along with the lens.

My justification for acquiring yet another camera was the fact that I see a small problem with the shutter on my Minolta X-700.  At 1/30 second the shutter stays open for about five seconds.  I haven't seen a problem yet at any other speed, but it seems probable that further malfunction is on the way.  The 201 has a mechanical shutter, along with manual aperture and shutter operation.

The Tele Rokkor 135 had a sticky aperture, but it did not take long to disassemble the lens and get it working properly.  An earlier example of this lens made some very nice images for me, but it has required multiple efforts to keep it going.  This new one has had a lot less use.

The picture of the flamingoes was made with the Tele Rokkor.

I stand developed the Kentmere 400 and was not happy with the results, so will go back to HC110-b or PMK Pyro the next time around with this film.