Film

Mamiya 7II + 80mm – Test (Roll 0).

2019, Beyond 200 feet of My House™, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Ektar 100, Mamiya 7/7II, Mamiya 80mm, Portrait, Print, Street, Within 200 feet of My House™

10 images on a roll, I’m posting 7 (the others were duplicates).

Looks like everything is working as it should.

Haven’t used this film before (Kodak Ektar 100), but it was the only 120 colour film that was in stock locally.

—Peter.

↑Mamiya 7II + Mamiya 80mm + Kodak Ektar 100.

Guest Post: Aaron C Greenman – Ete en France Profonde (Color).

Film, Guest Post, Inspiration

I’m happy to share a very special guest post by Aaron C Greenman.

Wait!… Aaron is shooting film now?  And is using colour??? 

Up is down, front is back… what in the world is happening?!

LOL, I’ll let Aaron answer for himself, but as you view his images, I want you to think about how the change in medium and gear has changed his work.

Thank you Aaron,

—Peter.

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Aaron C Greenman writes…
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Peter,
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Well, summer days (and light) are waning again, and I have had a bit of a different experience these recent months, returning to film and shooting with a Mamiya 6 as opposed to digital Leica M’s. I always wanted to test my compositional abilities with the square format and luckily came across the Mamiya, which had not really previously been on my radar. I have always liked the concept of 6×6 square film but had never gotten along with the ergonomics of waist-level finders. The Mamiya 6 – like the Leicas – feels simple and mechanical, gets out of the way and is equally inspiring to shoot with – what I didn’t expect was that I much prefer shooting color vs. black and white on film (perhaps in this regard I was spoiled by the Monochrom?), and my entire summer has been spent indulging in Ektar 100. 
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As you probably know, I have had a long-running project to document life in rural France during the seasons (Ete en France Profonde and Hiver en France Profonde), all shot in black and white. As a contrast, I’ve included some images below from this summer to show my (temporary?) transition to color. 
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Wishing you the best and a wonderfully colorful autumn,
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aaron c greenman
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* * * * * * * * *

[Guest Post] Aaron C Greenman and the Mamiya 6.

Film, Guest Post, Inspiration, Mamiya 6, Q&A, Street, Teaching point

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Aaron writes:

“Peter, as you know I have been a Leica M shooter for most of the past 15 years….. until the past three years, when I have been wrestling with the (as of now somewhat false) promise of portable mirrorless digital (the Hasselblad X1D). Back and forth, it has been a struggle to decide between the wonderful image quality and color fidelity of the Hasselblad with the obvious handling, fluidity and OVF advantages of the Leica. 
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Anyway, I have neither now, as I await an X2D equivalent, and I’ve found and am using what I pray every night for exactly in digital – the Mamiya 6, along with its 75mm and 50mm lenses (approx. 50mm and 28mm equivalent).
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For any Leica M enthusiast, the Mamiya 6 (or 7, if you want to shoot 6×7), is a wonderfully familiar experience: a big nice optical coupled rangefinder, compact design for its 6×6 image size, a collapsible lens mount, and quality, lightweight lenses with sharp and characterful rendering. I have also always wanted to shoot square natively, and it is a simple joy in a square, uncluttered viewfinder – never having to turn the camera takes one more variable out of the composition equation. 
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The accompanying photo was taken with the 6, the 50mm and Ektar 100 on a recent trip in United Arab Emirates, and shows the Mamiya excels in the most key area – an instantaneous shutter that allows its owner to precisely capture the moment. 
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All in all, it is an experience of pure photographic bliss…… just be mindful of the limits of 12 shots per roll! 😉”
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Aaron, thank you for your thoughts, which I’m sure will be helpful to photographers out there contemplating getting the Mamiya 6.  As an aside, I never thought I’d see you shooting film, and it’s nice to see you indulge in some colour photography!  Keep up the great work.
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For my part, I have really wanted to get back to film (and almost did so recently) but the constant announcements of film stock discontinuations and ever-tightening shipping restrictions on chemicals for developing have made me hesitate to (re-)commit.  It’s images like this, however, and what I see over at Mark’s site that keep the idea of film photography alive for me.
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Lastly, regarding your comment…
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“…it has been a struggle to decide between the wonderful image quality and color fidelity of the Hasselblad with the obvious handling, fluidity and OVF advantages of the Leica.”
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…much like you, my ideal camera would be designed like a Leica M with a proper (OVF) rangefinder, but would contain a medium format sensor, in a body no larger than a Mamiya 6 (or Hasselblad X1D).
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Leica, if you’re interested, we can help you do it!
(one can hope…)
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—Peter.

Leica M2-R (Test Images).

2018, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M2, Leica M2-R, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 8200i, Teaching point, Within 200 feet of My House™

Yesterday, I posted some images of the Leica M2-R I was fortunate to acquire.  The photos were taken with a Leica M10 and processed in Lightroom with relative ease.

In contrast, today I set upon the boring and arduous task of testing the M2-R without — of course — the immediate feedback of digital photography.  As I subsequently stood in my basement processing the film, I must admit that I had second thoughts about whether all of the hassle was worth it.  It’s especially frustrating when the effort of processing and scanning is undertaken only to find out that the camera is in some way defective.

Fortunately in this case, all is good.

And as I watched the images magically appear — first on the negative as it was unspooled following its final wash, and then in more detail on my monitor as the scanner did its thing — I realized for the 1000th time why I keep coming back to film: even mundane test shots look better on this antiquated “sensor”.

The following images are not meant to be interesting.  However, they are useful to me.  In them, I’m verifying:

  1. Shutter speed accuracy (in various types of light)
  2. Rangefinder precision (in near, mid, and far distances)

Technical:

  • Lens: Leica 50mm Summilux
  • Aperture: f/1.4 (except the last image which, because of brightness, necessitated f/2).
  • Shutter speed range: 1/60 – 1/1000 sec.

—Peter.

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(focus is on the small word “Elect”, above the J)↓

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(focus is on the number “50”)↓

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(focus again is on the number “50”)↓

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(focus is on the letter “G”)↓

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(focus is on the poor sap )↓

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(focus is on the faint word “KeepRite”)↓

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(focus is on the round thermometer)↓

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(focus is on the door of the house across the street)↓

↑ Leica M2-R + Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4.