My Return to Film Photography - XX

 

I had promised to do some infrared tests with the new 6-in-1 filter in this instalment of the series, but it was not to be. Since the only roll of IR film I had left in stock was 120, I planned to use the Mamiya C33. At the last minute I discovered that I couldn't mount the new filter onto the C33 (using the "new" 65mm lens), because of a non-standard filter thread on that vintage lens. I could have done it with the 80mm "normal" lens, but it was more important to me to test  the 65mm lens, so here we are.

I ended up shooting a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus, using the "new" (to me) 65mm lens. This lens is slightly wide-angle (equivalent to 39mm on a 35mm camera). It's nice to have a slightly wider lens, but for me the big advantage was that the shutter-release lever operated more easily than that on the "normal" lens, allowing me to use it with both my 40" cable release and my 20 ft. air release. Since a lot of my photography is selfie photography, and the C33 has no self-timer, this was, and is, very important. I intend to use the 65mm as my normal lens for this camera, but I needed to test it first.

As it turned out, the tests came out fine, and most were shot with the 20 ft. air release. This will definitely be my new normal lens. Here are a few sample shots, all rated at ISO 400 and developed normally in D-76 1:1:

 

The author, with his 2006 Pontiac Solstice. Photo by the author. Mamiya C33 with 65mm, f3.5 Mamiya-Sekor lens, at 1/250 sec., f11.

Mamiya C33 (shown in photo), with 65mm lens, EV3, 1/30 sec. at f5.6. This is a small portion of the negative.

Same camera and lens, EV5, 1/60 sec. at f5.6. This is the full, uncropped negative. Lighting provided mostly by two 65-watt quartz-halogen floods and one LED desk lamp with diffuser. Since the C33 has no internal metering, I used the internal CdS metering in one of my Canon AE-1s to arrive at the proper exposure. I have found that my hand-held Gossen Scout 2 (selenium photocell) light meter gives inaccurate readings with modern sources of artificial light. To use the Scout 2 with the C33, I have to set its ASA/ISO to 150 for ISO 400 film, or 50 for ISO 125 film.

With luck, we'll eventually get back to the IR tests. In the meantime, shoot film, if you can!

(to be continued)

Text and images Copyright © 2022 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.