Bumps in the Road

 My Nikon FE has made some good pictures for me, but I haven't made a lot of use of it.  I decided to rectify that neglect with a trip to the zoo on a fine morning.  I made all the shots there with the Vivitar 3.5/70-210mm macro zoom.

  I grabbed a quick still life the next morning and then took a walk in Old Town with the Nikkor -P Auto 2.5/105mm.

When I got to Old Town I found that the meter's batteries had died, so I switched to manual exposure to finish off the roll of Fuji Neopan 400.  Back home, I processed the film in HC110b.  About a third of the zoo shots were blank frames.

The short series of shots from Old Town were ok, so I'm hoping the dying batteries accounted for the missing zoo shots.  I'll shoot another roll of the Neopan 400 to test that theory, and maybe also try developing in PMK to comapare with the HC110 results.

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.

1A Zoo

Pinhole at the Zoo

Two cats and a close relative






Pentax Spotmatic

A day at the zoo (slide show).

Some animals seem very unhappy in zoos; the giraffes do not. They seem at ease in their enclosure at the Albuquerque Zoo. Perhaps it is only an illusion created by their almost supernatural grace.

Pentax Spotmatic, 135 Mamiya/Sekor, 2x telextender

Morning at the Zoo



Pentax Spotmatic Super-Takumar f2.8/135mm + 3X extender