Notes From The Top Left Corner
- Thread starter Chris Bennett
- Start date
Dave Farnes
Well-Known Member
Congratulations, that is a striking picture.
I do like the plant shots, a most interesting experiment. The semi-abstract look is very different.
I do like the plant shots, a most interesting experiment. The semi-abstract look is very different.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Some images from the recent light painting evening in Lancaster.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Quite controlled there, Chris, good technique. It’s not something I’m remotely interested in trying, but I can imagine you and Wes had a lot of fun.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
I think it's something that's fun to do once or twice. After that, well...yes, I'd agree with you.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
It's not so difficult really. The real artistry here, is from the guy who was dancing around the posed subject with his LED loaded devices, creating the patterns for us to capture. He demonstrates an extraordinary skill.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Ah, I thought you were doing it with the camera on timer. In that case…! 
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Ah, I thought you were doing it with the camera on timer. In that case…!
Well, the exposures were in the tens of seconds...
Every single stoke of light in those images was done separately over a period and the image was built up over a period of time
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Okay, I believe you 
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
I mentioned in a post in the 'That Cafe' thread that I have been playing with Kodak Vision 3 250D film and promised @Rob MacKillop that I would show a comparison between developing that film using the intended ECN2 process in a lab and C41 done at home. Different cameras, lenses and photographers.
So, first of all, this was taken by me with my Minolta Himatic 7s rangefinder (45mm f/1.8 lens) and developed in C41 process at home.
Secondly, here is an image taken with a Pentax MX / SMC 28mm f/3.5 and processed in ECN2 by a lab.
Also, there are some images on the previous page of this thread that were taken with 500T the tungsten light balanced cousin of this film, and developed in the correct ECN2 process.
So, first of all, this was taken by me with my Minolta Himatic 7s rangefinder (45mm f/1.8 lens) and developed in C41 process at home.
Secondly, here is an image taken with a Pentax MX / SMC 28mm f/3.5 and processed in ECN2 by a lab.
Also, there are some images on the previous page of this thread that were taken with 500T the tungsten light balanced cousin of this film, and developed in the correct ECN2 process.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Both excellent shots. Hard to compare them precisely due to the different formats, but they look pretty close to me. Really impressive film. I've used Cinestill before, with mixed results - it's another movie film cut into 35mm strips.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Ah, OK. Cinestill is Kodak Vision 3 film with the remjet already removed.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Sometime late in 2020, I decided to get myself a rangefinder. I have a Fed 4 that I bought for less than a tenner, for the lens. That has an eyepiece that is renowned for scratching spectacles, so I needed something else. I did some research into the various models that I was interested in. I wanted something fairly old but with a fixed and reasonably fast lens. As is my wont, the budget was low!
A quick scan of the internet says that, given such a brief, a Yashica Electro 35 is the one to go for. Being somewhat of a contrarian, there was no way I would be getting one of those!
My instinct was to try one of the Minolta Himatic models and the two which seemed to best fit my needs were the 7s and the 9. The latter didn’t seem to be so easily available but I found a nice looking example of the 7s on Ebay and took a punt. Earlier on in this thread, there is the tale of how that camera went missing in transit and so I bought another. Literally minutes after the deal was done, the first one turned up. So I was the owner of two identical 50-odd year old rangefinder cameras. I tested them both out with both colour and black and white film and they both seemed to be in perfect working order. Wes (also of this parish) expressed an interest in buying the spare one from me and a deal was struck.
I fell in love with the Himatic from the moment I picked it up and it does everything I had hoped it would do. It has a couple of quirks, but nothing that can’t be overcome. I continue to use it, both in manual mode and also set to automatic exposure at times when I don’t want to think too hard about anything except composition. The images it produces are fantastic and, over a year on and I am still very happy with it.
One day a couple of months ago, I was idly musing over the decision I had made when I chose the 7s and how I had so summarily dismissed the Yashica Electro 35. It was interesting that the fantastic experience I had with the Himatic had made me even more dismissive of the Yashica. What happened next could have been predicted, I suppose - I started reading about the Electro again to find out why so many people think they are God’s gift to cash strapped rangefinder shoppers. I honestly wasn’t looking to buy one, but I happened to see one on Ebay with less than an hour to go and with a rather indistinct title to the listing. It was listed as ‘Historic Film Camera’. This wasn’t going to come up on many people’s searches if they were looking for an Electro 35, so I reasoned that it might sell for the starting price or close to it. Maybe it would be interesting to buy it and try it out for myself to see what all the fuss was about. At the very least, I would be able to continue casually dismissing it from the position of first hand knowledge. So I bid on it, fully expecting to be outdone, but it turned out that no-one else had been interested, so I snagged it for a good price…a very good price, as it turned out.
When it arrived, I saw that it was a GSN, the later, final iteration rather than the original one that the advert had led me to believe it was. Also, the condition was amazing - I honestly don’t think it has ever had a roll of film in it.
OK, so that was a good start! I stuck some black and white film in it and gave it a test. All was well, as the negatives that I scanned that evening showed.
A colour test roll or two later on worked nicely as well.
I have had the Electro for a couple of months now and have shot it quite a bit, so what do I think and did I make the right choice with the Himatic?
Well, the Electro is aperture priority only, which is something I use a fair bit with digital cameras so you would think all would be well. Actually no, the Electro doesn’t sit well with me for the way I wanted to use a rangefinder in the first place. I wanted something that could be used either manually or fully automatically when it comes to setting exposure. The Electro gives me both too much automation and at the same time, not enough! I know this sounds perverse, but when I am shooting in aperture priority, I do still want to know what shutter speed the camera is going to use. Sometimes,I would prefer to compromise on my chosen aperture to find the balance I prefer. With street photography, especially, I don’t want to be going below 1/125th of a second very often, and when I do, I want to know what speed I am going to be at. The Electro gives no indication whatsoever of speed unless it’s below 1/30th and even then, you don’t know how slow it is, just that it is below that threshold. I also don’t like the fact that I have no option to select manual operation under any circumstances, so too much and not enough automation. That’s my main problem with it. When used within its design brief it is a fantastic camera and it makes great pictures and I can see why it sold by the boatload in its time, but I do feel vindicated in my choice of the Himatic.
It was a really interesting experiment and I’m glad I did it, but now I think I am going to move this spotless Electro on to someone with a way of working that’s more in keeping with the design ethos.
A quick scan of the internet says that, given such a brief, a Yashica Electro 35 is the one to go for. Being somewhat of a contrarian, there was no way I would be getting one of those!
My instinct was to try one of the Minolta Himatic models and the two which seemed to best fit my needs were the 7s and the 9. The latter didn’t seem to be so easily available but I found a nice looking example of the 7s on Ebay and took a punt. Earlier on in this thread, there is the tale of how that camera went missing in transit and so I bought another. Literally minutes after the deal was done, the first one turned up. So I was the owner of two identical 50-odd year old rangefinder cameras. I tested them both out with both colour and black and white film and they both seemed to be in perfect working order. Wes (also of this parish) expressed an interest in buying the spare one from me and a deal was struck.
I fell in love with the Himatic from the moment I picked it up and it does everything I had hoped it would do. It has a couple of quirks, but nothing that can’t be overcome. I continue to use it, both in manual mode and also set to automatic exposure at times when I don’t want to think too hard about anything except composition. The images it produces are fantastic and, over a year on and I am still very happy with it.
One day a couple of months ago, I was idly musing over the decision I had made when I chose the 7s and how I had so summarily dismissed the Yashica Electro 35. It was interesting that the fantastic experience I had with the Himatic had made me even more dismissive of the Yashica. What happened next could have been predicted, I suppose - I started reading about the Electro again to find out why so many people think they are God’s gift to cash strapped rangefinder shoppers. I honestly wasn’t looking to buy one, but I happened to see one on Ebay with less than an hour to go and with a rather indistinct title to the listing. It was listed as ‘Historic Film Camera’. This wasn’t going to come up on many people’s searches if they were looking for an Electro 35, so I reasoned that it might sell for the starting price or close to it. Maybe it would be interesting to buy it and try it out for myself to see what all the fuss was about. At the very least, I would be able to continue casually dismissing it from the position of first hand knowledge. So I bid on it, fully expecting to be outdone, but it turned out that no-one else had been interested, so I snagged it for a good price…a very good price, as it turned out.
When it arrived, I saw that it was a GSN, the later, final iteration rather than the original one that the advert had led me to believe it was. Also, the condition was amazing - I honestly don’t think it has ever had a roll of film in it.
OK, so that was a good start! I stuck some black and white film in it and gave it a test. All was well, as the negatives that I scanned that evening showed.
A colour test roll or two later on worked nicely as well.
I have had the Electro for a couple of months now and have shot it quite a bit, so what do I think and did I make the right choice with the Himatic?
Well, the Electro is aperture priority only, which is something I use a fair bit with digital cameras so you would think all would be well. Actually no, the Electro doesn’t sit well with me for the way I wanted to use a rangefinder in the first place. I wanted something that could be used either manually or fully automatically when it comes to setting exposure. The Electro gives me both too much automation and at the same time, not enough! I know this sounds perverse, but when I am shooting in aperture priority, I do still want to know what shutter speed the camera is going to use. Sometimes,I would prefer to compromise on my chosen aperture to find the balance I prefer. With street photography, especially, I don’t want to be going below 1/125th of a second very often, and when I do, I want to know what speed I am going to be at. The Electro gives no indication whatsoever of speed unless it’s below 1/30th and even then, you don’t know how slow it is, just that it is below that threshold. I also don’t like the fact that I have no option to select manual operation under any circumstances, so too much and not enough automation. That’s my main problem with it. When used within its design brief it is a fantastic camera and it makes great pictures and I can see why it sold by the boatload in its time, but I do feel vindicated in my choice of the Himatic.
It was a really interesting experiment and I’m glad I did it, but now I think I am going to move this spotless Electro on to someone with a way of working that’s more in keeping with the design ethos.
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Interesting, Chris. Both cameras look uber cool, I must say. I'm sure you'll find a buyer.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Thanks Rob. Judging by your signature here, you are a 'Two Camera MacKillop' nowadays, and both of them are rangefinders. Have you settled into a static phase in your camera ownership now? Or perhaps the fleet of artics from Ffordes that you are expecting is caught in a traffic snarl up somewhere around Pitlochry?
Rob MacKillop
Edinburgh Correspondent
Na. Two’s more than enough for me for the long-foreseeable future. In fact I haven’t used the Hexar for a few years, literally focussing on the Q2M all the time. For now I like the idea of getting to know a single camera intimately.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
Now that sounds like a really good strategy.
Chris Bennett
Well-Known Member
I've been quiet of late on this thread, but quite a bit has been going on. Two new/old cameras, for a start. More on that later though. In the meantime, I thought it would be good to divulge my love of the combination of ORWO UN54 film and Rodinal. I have been playing with the ORWO for quite a while now but a roll I shot on Sunday this week brought home just how lovely that pairing can be.
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