Over the weekend I picked up a Leica M2 35mm rangefinder camera at the San Jose Photo Fair. I had been watching these cameras on eBay to see what the usual prices were and I was planning of buying one around Christmas time. But on Saturday, when I held this M2 in my hand I just had to have it right then and there.

When I was researching what M model to get I settled on the M2 over the M3 because of the 35mm frame lines in the M2. The widest M3 frame lines are for 50mm lens and my main lens these days is a 35mm. The camera didn’t come with a lens so it is shown here with my Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4.

It looks like this camera may be from around 1960 or 1961.

The camera is in fairly decent condition. Cosmetically there is some vulcanite missing from the body below the lens and there are a few minor dings on the back but mechanically and optically everything seems to be in order. Based on some limited testing, the rangefinder appears to be spot on and the shutter speeds seem to be correct. The film transport is very smooth and the viewfinder is nice and bright with a very clear rangefinder patch.

The shutter sound of Leica cameras is famous for being quite and unobtrusive. It is definitely quieter than my Voigtländer Bessa R4A which has a loud clack sound but the Leica isn’t as quite as the compact Olympus XA rangefinder.

The M2 differs from later more modern models (like the M7) in a few ways. First, the Leica M2 is a fully mechanical camera with no batteries so there is no light meter. I will be using an external light meter or the sunny 16 rule to expose correctly. The rewind knob has no lever so it takes a little longer to rewind the film but I found it easier to use than rewinding with the lever on my Bessa.

Loading the film is not as straight forward compared to regular 35mm cameras. Instead of flipping open the back, loading is done by removing a plate on the bottom of the camera. There is a take up spool that you have to remove and thread the film into before inserting the film and spool back into the camera.  It’s easy enough to do when there is something to place the camera on while you hold the film in one hand and the spool in the other but I am not sure how I will load film on the go without finding somewhere upon which I can set down the camera. I will write a more detailed post on loading film sometime in the future.

Yesterday I ran a roll of Arista Premium 400 quickly through the camera to make sure it was working correctly. Everything looked pretty good. No leaks and I managed to expose everything fairly well. I have included a couple of the the photos from the test roll here.

If you have any tips on the M2, please leave them in the comments.

One of my favorite 35mm cameras is my Olympus XA. Introduced in 1979, this camera is part of a series of cameras (along with the XA1, XA2, XA3 and XA4) but it is the only one of the series to use a rangefinder focus.

The Lens is a Zuiko 35mm f:2.8 lens and is completely covered by the clamshell when closed which makes this camera easy to slip into a pocket. Also, when the clamshell is closed, the camera is powered off which means the batteries last for a very long time.

With the clamshell open, you gain access to the focus lever which sits below the lens. Focusing is easy and fast since the lever has a very short throw and the rangefinder patch is still quite bright in my camera. Above the focus lever is the film speed setting with a range from 25ASA to 800ASA.

The camera uses aperture priority with the apertures being set by a lever beside the lens. Shutter speeds are rated from 1 second to 1/500 and the current shutter speed is shown using a needle that is visible in the viewfinder. (Note: I have seen other websites that quote 10 seconds as the max shutter speed but I have not tested this on my camera – the viewfinder scale only goes to 1 second).

The shutter is extremely sensitive requiring barely a touch to trigger. This means hand held slow shutter speeds are quite possible. Also, the shutter is practically silent lending itself well to being discrete in situations that warrant it.

These days you can pick up an XA for around $40 to $60 on eBay. If that is too expensive the zone focus XA2 is worth checking out.  A lot of times the XA2 cameras go for less than $30.

To find out more about the XA and other cameras in the XA family, visit the best XA resource on the web, http://www.diaxa.com/

To see more of my XA shots, check out my Flickr stream with the tag Olympus XA.

A lot has been written about PX100 since March 22nd, 2010, when The Impossible Project finally announced the release of the first new Polaroid SX-70 compatible instant film since Polaroid exited the film business a few years ago. Reactions were mixed with some lauding the efforts of TIP and others disappointed with the results they were seeing.

Initially I didn’t feel like jumping on the Internet to be the first to buy some packs but after a few days I decided to take the plunge and try the film for myself.  Even as I made my order, I was still not overly impressed with what I was seeing on the the web but I was curious to see what I could achieve myself. Also, I kind of felt like I was investing in the future of instant film. If the PX100 didn’t sell, would TIP continue their R&D to develop more films?

Anyway, on to my review…

First some facts:-

• PX100 Silver Shade / First Flush is rated at ISO 100.
• There are 8 photos per pack.
• The Dark Slides (the piece of card that covers the pack and gets ejected when you first insert the film) have quotes on them and are intended to be collectible (maybe). Artists will be invited to create art for the Dark Slides in the future.
• The film is designed for integral cameras like the Polaroid SX-70.
• TIP admit the film is very sensitive to outside factors.
• TIP recommend that the film be used in a narrow temperature range of 17-24°C / 63-75°F. Outside this range, you run the risk of a photograph that is too light when cold or too dark when warm.
• The opacifaction layer is not 100% light proof which means the film can continue to be (over) exposed if not covered immediately while it is developing.
• Developing takes about 60 to 90 seconds.
• The images are monochrome and have a sepia tone to them.
• Cost is $21 per pack. When I ordered, there were no packs available in New York so I had to pay for shipping from Europe ($25 – ouch!!).

Dark Slide

My first few shots were test shots taken in my kitchen under florescent lights. Being aware of the temperature limitations I took note that it was 20°C/68°F.

PX100 Frame 1

First of all, it is very noticeable that the photo is very light. This could be due to continuing exposure after the film ejected, a known problem. Also, there were spots on the photo and a kind of mottling in the light areas.

I took two more shots, this time with the candle lit and I also played around with the exposure wheel.

PX100 Frame 2

PX100 Frame 3

For the 3rd shot I moved the exposure wheel all the way to dark. The spots seen on the first shot are more pronounced in the dark area of frame 3.

The next day I tried the film outside. It was around 13°C/56°F outside so for these tests, I planned to immediately put the photo into my back pocket after it was ejected to keep it warm. Also, to prevent over exposure after the film was ejected, I taped the dark slide to the front of the camera so the film would be covered after it came out.

The first shot was completely blank. Well, there is a very, very faint image of my dog Sassy (if you play with the exposure in Lightroom).

PX100 Frame 4

Frames 4 and 5 are very light. At least there is some image in frame 4 but frame 5 is completely washed out.

PX100 Frame 5

PX100 Frame 6

Later in the week, I tried again. This time it was 22°C/73°F and sunny outside so I didn’t expect any lightening due to cold temperature. Because of the sun, I did expect a potential for over exposure so I once again used the dark slide taped to the front. But, the shots were still quite faint with very low contrast.

PX100 Frame 7

Frame 8 had a dark spot on it. I read that this can occur if there is a warm spot but both frame 7 and 8 developed in my back pocket so I am not sure what went on here.

PX100 Frame 8

So, my opinions based on this first pack are:-

• Correct exposure is quite difficult even when the ambient temperature is inside the  range 17-24°C / 63-75°F.
• The opacifaction layer not being 100% light proof means that to avoid continuing exposure you need to get the photograph out of the light as soon as possible after it is ejected. You should also shield the photo as it comes out of the camera.
• The photos are very low in contrast even when you think you are doing everything right.
• Don’t forget there are only 8 frames per pack. The SX-70 expects 10 shots so after you shoot the last frame, the camera will still tell you that there are two shots left.
• The rollers of the camera will probably need to be cleaned between packs. At least on my cameras, there was a lot of dried chemical residue on the rollers after the first pack.
• There are spots in the dark areas (not sure if this is due to the film or the camera rollers).

Finally, I believe that if SX-70 Time-Zero film was still readily available today, this film would never have been released. It is clearly far from being a polished product. But as a first effort created from scratch, it is not a bad attempt. I think a lot more research is required to make the film more stable. The film needs to be more temperature tolerant and opacifiaction layer needs to be more light proof. Part of the magic of Polaroid was seeing the photo develop in front of your eyes after all. Also, I’d like to see more contrast in the images. Right now the photos look a little flat to me.

Of course, I am not an artist. You can see what real photographers are doing with the film on the TIP Collection website. Also, it is worth checking out the Impossible Project and the PX100 Flickr Groups.

Postscript: Since I started writing this post, I opened a second pack and I am a lot more pleased with the results. You can see the first shot here.

Link: http://www.the-impossible-project.com/

Over the past few days I have been posting some Polaroid photos taken with a Polaroid Automatic 230 Land Camera. For those of you not familiar with older Polaroid cameras, I thought I’d explain exactly what this camera is.

The Polaroid Automatic 230 Land Camera is a folding pack camera in the  “200 series” available from 1967 to 1969. It has a plastic body with a 114mm f/8.8 glass lens. The camera use 100 series peel apart pack film which is 3 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ in size. The actual image size is 2 7/8″ x 3 3/4″ centered on the frame.

The shutter is electronic with speeds from 10 seconds – 1/1200. There is a dial on the lens for exposure compensation of -1 stop to +2 stops.

Focusing is achieved by using a rangefinder that is separate from the viewfinder. The viewfinder assembly is on a hinge that allows for it to be folded down when storing the camera inside its case.

To focus, a lever attached to the bellows is moved left or right and there is a pictogram indicating which way to move for closer focus (a man) or infinity (a man standing in front of a mountain).

Film speed is chosen using a dial under the lens. The available speeds are 75, 150, 300 and 3000. So if a film such as 672 (ISO 400)  is used, some exposure compensation is required. The yellow button under the lens assembly is the “scene selector” which adjusts the aperture.

Recommendations for which scene to use are listed on the top of the lens assembly for each of the film speeds and a yellow square shows the currently selected scene.

Numbered buttons indicate the sequence for taking a shot. Step 1 is focus and step 2 is press the shutter.

Step 3 is reset the shutter for the next shot. In reality, this is done before step 1 of course.

Finally step 4 is remove the film from the camera by pulling on the paper tab.

Examples Shots

Links
The Land List
Option8 Polaroid FAQ

The bag I use the most is a messenger type bag I picked up for €12 in a clothing store in Finland. It has no padding and is not really designed for holding camera gear but it is very discrete and doesn’t look like it would be holding anything of value. I have used Velcro to temporarily attach a smaller camera bag inside to hold my Canon 40D but for the most part, I just use it to carry my Voigtländer rangefinder and for that purpose the bag is a little bit too big.

So when I saw the Bare Bones Bag from Indian Hill Image Works, I decided to see if yet another bag would work for me. I actually decided to go for the latest evolution in the BBB called the Bare Bones Bag Stealth. I’ll get into the “Stealth” part in a minute.

First of all some background: Indian Hill Image Works is run by Stephen Schaub in Vermont, USA and provides various services to photographers and artists. In addition to those services, they have been creating some innovative products for photographers and the Bare Bones line of bags is one of those products. I suspect that these bags came from a desire to also find “the ultimate bag”.  The bags are actually hand made by nearby Courierware who have been making courier bags for over 20 years.

The BBB-S is the medium sized bag in the range and is 9 inches deep, 10 1/2 ” long and 3 1/2″ wide. There is one main compartment surrounded by 4 smaller compartments on the inside. On a recent jaunt around town, I used these pockets to carry the following:-

• Voigtländer Bessa R4A rangefinder with Nokton 35mm lens in the main compartment.
• A Color-Skopar 21mm lens in one small pocket.
• 8 rolls of 35mm film in another small pocket.
• My “backup camera” (Olympus XA2) in a small pocket.
• Two filters in their boxes in the 4th pocket.

None of the pockets were completely filled and there was plenty of room for more gear or film if I needed it.

The bag also has two pockets on the front under the flap that could be used for carrying a notebook or a phone and there is a large flat pocket on the back of the bag that would be perfect for maps, or even tickets if you were traveling somewhere.

The reason the bag is called “bare bones” could be to do with the padding or lack there of. There is a 1/4 inch piece of neoprene at the bottom but that’s it. If that frightens you then this is not the bag for you but the lack of padding really cuts down on the weight and bulk and is what attracted me to the bag. The neoprene is accessible from the back pocket so could add more padding if you wanted.

The adjustable shoulder strap is unpadded and 1.5 inches wide. For what I was carrying, the strap was fairly comfortable but for heavier loads the optional shoulder pad may be a good purchase. On the top is a small and discrete handle. This handle is never in the way but is right at hand when you need it. Inside is a piece of webbing with a small metal carabiner for holding keys.

The most interesting part of the bag for me is the closure mechanism. One of the complaints from users of the original BBB was that the Velcro closure was noisy when opening the front flap. So this “stealth” bag does away with the Velcro and instead has a strap that goes across the front to hold the flap in place. This is a very effective method for keeping the bag closed but is not as secure as other closure methods. But, as long as you are not turning your bag upside down and shaking it, it feels secure enough for normal use. So you don’t miss any photo opportunities, opening the bag is very quick – just slide your hand down and pull up the flap.

Other features include:-

• Two D-Rings for clipping on other items.
• Discrete all black color.
• No name tag or logo on the outside.
• Weather proofing.

But there’s more…

I have discovered that the BBB-S is also prefect for my Asus 1000HE netbook with a 10 inch screen.

There is room for the netbook, power cord, mouse and also my XA2 or some other compact camera.

So is this the ultimate bag I have been searching for? Since I have just got the bag it may be too early to tell but I will say that the signs are very, very promising.

For more information, check out http://www.indianhillimageworks.com/ or see a video of the bag at http://figitalrevolution.com/2009/09/04/the-bare-bones-bag-stealth-bbb-s-and-bbb-s2/

Update: At the weekend I tried out the Bare Bones Bag Stealth with my Canon 40D DSLR. Attached to the camera I had the stock 17 to 85 IS Lens and the bag performed admirably. I was also carrying my Olympus XA and a few rolls of film and there was plenty of room for a few more extras. Good to know I can use this bag when I want to go digital too.

Update: If there was one thing I’d like to change it would be to make the flap about 1 inch longer. When the bag is full, the end of the flap is very close to the strap across the front and I feel the closure mechanism would be more secure with one more inch of flap.

But for the past few months I have added a new tool to my developing kit and that is the Massive Dev Chart iPhone application from Martin Man based on the Digitial Truth database.

The app works on both the iPhone and iPod touch and is real easy to use. First you select your film from the huge list of available films.

Next select the ISO you shot at.

You then choose the developer and concentration you are using.

Once all of that is done you are ready to start developing.

But unlike the web version of the database, this app also provides a timer to ensure correct developing times. Just press the “Start” button and off you go.

In addition to the development time, the timer also has 1 minute of stop time, 5 minutes of fixing and 10 minutes of rinsing. These values can be edited by making the film/developer combination a favorite and then editing that favorite.

What’s real nice about the app is that there is a visual and audible cue for when agitation is required. Just before the end of the minute there is a sound which then changes for the duration of time you need to do the inversions. The font also pulsates during this time.

The amount of time you agitate for is also editable for favorites but from what I can tell there is no way to change the frequency of agitations which is set at every minute. For Rodinal I agitate every 30 seconds so I need to keep an eye on the app when using that developer but that’s not a big deal.

Other nice features include the fact that it keeps on counting even if a call comes in but to stop me being distracted I usually set my iPhone to airplane mode when I am developing. Don’t want to miss the agitation time.

One feature I haven’t used yet is the ability to change the development temperature and the app will work out the time. I also haven’t used the split time feature for developers like Diafine.

The Massive Dev App currently costs $5.99 and in my mind is well worth it. I highly recommend this iPhone app.

The iPhone can be purchased on iTunes.

The first thing that is noticeable about this wider mask is that there is some mechanical vignetting apparent in the photos. Also, the vignette is asymmetrical with the right side being more pronounced than the left hand side.

Compared to the 6×9 cm mask, I think I prefer the wider format of this mask so that is what I’ll be leaving in the camera for now.

You can see my original review of the Holga 120 WPC (Wide Pinhole Camera) in this post.

Originally, the 35mm Lomo LC-A (a.k.a. Kompact Automat) was produced by LOMO,  Leningradskoye Optiko Mechanichesckoye Obyedinenie (Leningrad Optical & Mechanical Enterprise) in Russia in 1984. It bears a striking resemblance to the Cosina CX2 which LOMO copied to create the camera for the masses in what was then the USSR.

The lens has a focal length of 32mm with focusing done by moving a lever on the side to focus at either 3 feet, 4.5 feet, 10 feet or infinity. The lever on the other side controls exposure with an “A” setting for auto exposure and apertures between f/2.8 and f/16 which use a shutter speed of 1/60s. The camera accepts film with speeds of 25 to 400 ISO. (Older versions of the camera do have the speed setting in the GOST standard however.)

The camera became a bit of a cult phenomenon after two Viennese students discovered the camera in 1991 while on a trip to Prague. They went on to found the Lomographic Society International (LSI), coined the phrase “Lomography” and successfully marketed the camera with a lot of hype.

But with all hype aside, this camera truly is a nice camera to use. The lens is sharp and there is a nice vignette to give that old time vintage feel. There is also something cool about the sound of the shutter going off – a nice “ping”.

LOMO stopped producing the LC-A in 2005. To fill the gap, LSI created a remake called the LC-A+ which was made by Phenix Optical Company in China. Originally, all LC-A+ cameras came with a LOMO produced lens but in July 2007, most LC-A+ cameras started to be made with Chinese lenses with only a few cameras still using LOMO lenses. Those LOMO lens cameras then became known as LC-A + RL (for Russian Lens).

While I can think of better cameras to take rock climbing, the Lomo LC-A is one of my favorite cameras and you can see more of my Lomo shots in my ’35mm Snapshot’ set on Flickr.

Like it’s older brother, the 120WPC takes 120 medium format film and comes with two removable masks. The first is a 6×9 cm mask which will result in 8 shots on a roll. The other mask is 6×12 cm and results in 6 wider shots on a roll.

The camera has no viewfinder but on the top of the camera, there are guide lines which can be used to roughly compose the shot . Also on the top is a bubble level which is useful for ensuring you don’t have a tilted horizon.

Because it is easy to get camera shake during long exposures, it is a good idea to make use of the threaded shutter release and use a cable release. There is also a tripod socket provided on the bottom of the camera.

The pinhole itself is stated to be 0.3mm with an aperture of f/135 (f/133 in the manual) and there is an exposure table on the back of the camera.

During my tests, I used a Sekonic L-208 light meter to meter the scenes and then used the exposure guide on Mr Pinhole‘s website to convert the metered values into pinhole exposure times.

The times I measured were vastly different from those on the exposure table on the back of the camera. In some cases, those times were 5 times the values that I metered so the use of a light meter is recommended.

When a shot is taken, the film is then wound on to the next odd number frame so for example when using the 6×12 cm mask, you would shoot at frames 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 & 11 or at frames 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 & 15 when using the 6×9 mask . Multiple exposures are possible by not winding on between shots.

Here are a few photos from the first roll. For these I used the smaller 6×9 cm mask.Click a picture for a larger version.

For this roll I used a small amount of tape to keep the camera back on but I deliberately did not do anything to reduce light leaks. There was a small amount of leakage around the edges of the film but nothing appeared in the image areas.

The user manual has an interesting section under “optional extras”. The “FA135-120WPC” is a 35mm converter kit that produces 24 frames 108 mm wide. Unfortunately the section is written in strike-through font so I have to assume this option is not available currently.

The Holga 120WPC can be purchased from Freestyle and currently costs us$50.

Update: I have taken a few photos using the 6×12 cm mask and you can see them here.

Accessing the pin hole feature is easy. Just twist off the lens.

The pin hole on the Diana+ is supposed to have an aperture of f/150 and you set it by moving the aperture lever to “P”

Since pin hole exposure times are relatively long, the Diana+ needs to be set on bulb mode. There is a “shutter lock” (really a small plastic wedge) attached to the camera strap that can be inserted into the shutter lever slot to keep the shutter open for as long as required without holding it down. I found the shutter lock to be a bit finicky and it would sometimes take a few attempts to get it to stay in place.

The Diana+ also has a tripod attachment on the base which helps when taking long exposures.

To determine the correct exposure, I created a table on the Mr Pinhole website. Here is an extract from that table showing the values I used most often.

I then used an old Sekonic light meter to determine the correct exposure for f/8 or f/16 and read the f/150 value from the table.

Because it can be difficult to keep the shutter lock in place my method for taking the photos was to first hold the lens cap in front of the pin hole. I would then open the shutter and insert the lock. Once the lock was in place, I removed the cap for the necessary time and replaced it when the exposure was complete. By doing it this way, I reduced the amout of time I had touch the camera hopefully lessening any camera shake.

And so the results…

Most of the roll was exposed pretty well. I did end up with a light leak which was caused by the roll not being wound tightly onto the take up spool. This is a common problem with the Diana+ because of the mechanism used to keep the film in place. It just doesn’t keep the roll tight enough. (See this Figital Revolution post on how to get around that.)

Another thing I don’t like about my Diana+ is that there is a square outline around every photo. This appears to be a internal reflection from the mask but it could probably be reduced by using a matte paint inside the camera. I’ve seen this on other people’s Diana+ photographs too.

Overall, I think the pinholes came out pretty good. You can judge the results yourself below.