Kentmere 400 in XTOL 1:0

 My results with Kentmere 400 in undiluted Xtol were similar to what I got with HP5.  Both films liked morning light, particularly when there was some sky in the frame.  Bright mid-day sun and haze tended to flatten the mid-tones and emphasize grain in the skies.

So, I think the outcomes with these two fast films in xtol are pretty respectable, though it seems to me that they are not quite up the what I have gotten from PMK Pyro processing.  On the other hand, there are a lot of variables that complicate my assessment including my choices of camera, lens, exposure, time of day, photoshop adjustments, and scanner settings.  I'm also uncertain at this point about how well xtol ages compared to some of my other developers.  

Film and Developer

I am pleased so far with the results I'm getting from LegacyPro L110 developer from Freestyle.  The components are said to be the same as Kodak HC-110, the price is about half that of the Kodak product, and the LC110 is much easier to mix because of the low viscosity.  I have read reports that Kodak has fixed some problems with HC-110, but I can't see a reason to go back to it at this point.

I always liked HC-110 because it takes full advantage of the fine grain structure of TMAX.  I'm looking forward now to trying LC110 at different dilutions and in stand development.

I shot this roll of TMAX on my Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35.  Like the little Ikonta 35, the Contessa folds up to fit in your pocket, and it adds the functionality of a coupled rangefinder and an onboard meter.  When I developed the roll I could see that there was some uneven frame spacing, so before I use the camera again I'll need to take off the bottom plate and clean up things.

Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35

I thought it would be interesting to spend some time with my Contessa 35 after putting a few rolls of film through my Kodak Signet 35.  The two mid-'50s cameras came from very different design traditions and were aimed at different segments of the consumer photography market.  However, there were also many similarities in the construction and capabilities of the two cameras.  Both were fixed-lens rangefinders of nearly equal size.  Both had four-element coated lenses and shutters requiring manual cocking, and both had knob film advances linked to double-exposure prevention.  The Signet 35 was considerably lighter in weight thanks to the cast aluminum body.  The Contessa 35 was a little more compact as the the shrouded bellows allowed the lens and shutter assembly to be retracted into the camera body.  I think it would be hard to distinguish pictures made by the two cameras with the apertures set at the mid-range and smaller, but the Contessa 35 clearly has a marginal advantage due to an extra stop of lens  and shutter speed.

Corner Color

Alternate Albuquerque

Shooting Pansies in a Barrel

Vacancy

Rustic Comfort

Parade

The Contessa 35 sold for about $140 in 1954, which was the equivalent in today's inflated currency of almost $1,300.  Kodak at that time relied on its Stuttgart subsidiary to provide a competitive offering in the form of the Retina IIIc which also had a built-in light meter and carried a price of about $100.  By 1957 the more modestly furnished Signet 35 was being offered by Peerless for $40.

more semi-stand

I shot a roll of Arista Edu 100 in my Contessa 35 and decided to try processing it with the same semi-stand recipe I had used with the Arista Edu Ultra 400.  The search results I got on my prospects for success in this were sparse and often contradictory.  One fellow insisted that it was impossible to get good results with hc-110 and Arista films.  That was clearly not the case given my experience, so I forged ahead. 

For the Birds

I bought several rolls of tri-x recently from B&H; the first was shot in my Contaflex, and this second one went into my Contessa 35.  I like the tonal character of the film and it always seems an appropriate choice when shooting any of the old film cameras.

The f2.8, 45mm Tessar lens in the Contessa is the same as that in both the Contaflex and the Ikonta 35.  All are coated and  front-focusing, with four elements in three groups.  In the Contessa the high resolution Tessar is complimented by the unique rangefinder design which incorporates wedge prisms to create a double image.  Mine remains quite bright, contrasty and well adjusted sixty years after the camera was made.

The wedge prism rangefinder appeared on Zeiss Ikon cameras in the mid-1930s.  In other respects, the overall design of the Contessa and the Ikonta 35 represented a significant break with earlier design traditions.  For instance, while my Contaflex has a very worn leather covering with significant Zeiss bumps on the back, the Contessa and Ikonta 35 are both virtually faultless and have no Zeiss bumps at all.  I haven't looked under the covers of those two cameras, but my guess is that the designer, Hubert Nerwin, dispensed with the brass rivets which corroded and caused the appearance of the Zeiss bumps in so many of the older cameras.

diy color

This is my setup for color film processing.

If you search the web for tips on doing your own C-41 color film processing you will find people suggesting rather elaborate temperature control schemes, often involving aquarium heaters, turkey roasters or expensive rotary agitators.  None of that is necessary if, like me, you are mostly processing one roll at a time.  I just run some hot water into a plastic pan into which I put the developer, blix and stabilizer to warm to the recommended temperatures.  When the developer reaches 102 deg. I pour it into the developing tank, turn off the hot water and set the tank in the pan.  Since development only takes 3.5 minutes, there is very little temperature change that takes place.  The blix phase is less critical in regard to time and temperature, and the stabilizer goes in at room temperature.   I have developed nineteen rolls of color film using this method and the one-liter Unicolor kit and have not seen any unusual color shifts or other processing problems.  Below are some shots from my last roll shot on Fuji 200 in my Contessa 35.

Day Trip

We took a Sunday drive along the Rio Guadalupe in the Santa Fe National Forest north of Albuquerque.

The narrow road originally was built for a railroad to haul logs down to the the big mill that was located near where we live.  The Gilman tunnels had to be cut to allow passage through the narrowest part of the canyon.

The fast-flowing stream joins the Jemez River about ten miles south of Jemez Springs.

About a hundred yards north of the tunnel we found this rock climber testing her skills on the sheer face of the canyon.

There were some pitons and carabiners in place on the wall.  She looped her rope through them as she ascended.  Her partner belayed her from below and was able to stop a fall about half way up.

I was generally pleased with the performance of the Contessa 35 with its Tessar lens.  The rangefinder is very accurate, but the tinted finder is a little dim in low light.

When I got home I took the top off the camera and cleaned the optics.  That didn't improve the brightness much, but opening up the camera did give me the chance to appreciate the extraordinary quality of the workmanship that Zeiss put into this compact 35.  By following Mike Elek's fine instructions I was also able to get the lightmeter working.

Continental

Campus

Carnival

Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35

This was the last folder from Zeiss Ikon that was developed under the guidance of Hubert Nerwin, who was the company's chief designer from the early 1930s to 1947 when he emigrated to the U.S. to work for Kodak.

There has been a lot written about the Contessa 35, so I'm not going into much detail about the camera's features and operation.  One of the best sources about the camera on the web is Steven Gandy's page about it at the Camera Quest site.

My camera came to me in quite nice cosmetic and operational condition.  The non-working light meter is of no consequence, and could likely be repaired as described nicely by Mike Elek.

The only real issue with my Contessa 35 is a double exposure prevention lock that sometimes does not release the advance block when the shutter is tripped unless I remember to firmly depress the shutter release button.  I removed the bottom plate to brush on some lighter fluid and a tiny bit of oil, but did not fix the glitch, so I'll have to have another go at it.  This is a common problem one encounters with both the Contessa 35 and its little brother, the Ikonta 35.  

There are a couple small, but important facts about removing the camera's bottom plate.  The first thing that must be done is to unscrew the little rewind release button in the center of the advance knob.  That button unscrews normally in a counter-clockwise direction.  The actual advance knob which has two holes near the outer perimeter must be unscrewed in a clockwise direction.  After that you just remove the rewind knob by taking out the center screw, and then remove the four little screws and lift off the bottom plate.  Be careful at that point not to tip the camera or blow on the revealed mechanism as there are several loose washers and levers and quite a few tiny hair-like springs which you don't want to displace inadvertently.  It would be a good idea to snap a digital picture of the advance mechanism with everything in its proper place.

So, that is about the extent of my experience with the Contessa 35 to date.  I'm looking forward to working with it more.

time travellers

I picked up this Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35 recently on eBay.  No one was bidding on it, apparently because the light meter was inoperative.  I ended up getting it for $21, which seemed pretty astounding to me.

We stopped by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History to view an exhibit of cyanotypes with samples from the collection as the subject matter.  The two preparators below gave us a nice over-view of their current projects.  She was working on the vertebrae of a giant sloth about twenty thousand years old.  He was slowly revealing the jaw of a small dinosaur from northern New Mexico with an age of about two-hundred-seventy million years.

Our lunch at a near-by diner was briefly interrupted by godzilla, but we were not in the mood to share.

I came across this giant of the bosque the next day during a walk near the National Hispanic Cultural Center.