There have been some positive developments in my return to film photography. One of my favorite films, Ilford HP5+ (ISO 400), is being produced and is easily available. I now have an adequate supply in both 35mm and 120, and I just ordered some more in 35mm.
Why, you may ask, did I not also order some more in 120? Although I am especially interested in medium-format, due to its superior quality, I have been frustrated by one problem after another in trying to get it going. At first, I didn't have an adequate way to scan 120 film. Now, though, I do. I bought an Epson Perfection V600 Photo scanner, and I love, love, love it. To illustrate what I'm talking about, here is a test shot from my Mamiya C33, scanned on the Epson at 2400 dpi (it is capable of much higher resolution, but this is sufficient for present purposes):
Now, here is a small detail from the same scan:
By way of comparison, here is how that same detail looked when I scanned the test shot on an ordinary printer, at 600dpi:
There is simply no comparison. So that medium-format problem has been well solved. Now, though, I'm struggling with the lack of a self-timer on the C33. I do have a 20-ft. air release, but it's pretty wimpy. Under certain conditions (whether related to the distance setting or to the shutter speed, I'm not sure), the air release simply will NOT trip the shutter. I've tried what seems like jillions of times, and tried for hours to jury-rig a solution with clips, shims, clothespins, elastic bands and whatever, without success. There is, however, a vintage accessory for this vintage-camera problem. I used to have one, and will try to get another. In the meantime, the camera looks impressive as hell on a nice, sturdy tripod.
The Epson scanner also works wonderfully with my 35mm negatives, and here is a sample, also scanned at 2400 dpi.:
In the interest of honesty, I have to explain that the photo above is of me, forty-nine years ago, Those days are not coming back, at least not in this lifetime.
What would you do if you had two great 35mm SLR bodies, taking different lens mounts, one with a 28-80mm zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f3.5 and the other with a 28mm, f2.8 lens. Your mileage may vary, but since I really, really like existing-light photography and really, really hate flash, and mostly use ISO 400 film, I got a used Canon 50mm, f1.4 normal lens for the camera (the AE-1) that previously had the wide-angle on it. Now I'm back in business, happily shooting pics around the house of my wife and our dog. The dog doesn't mind, and my wife is too engrossed in playing Scrabble on her Kindle or watching TV to hear the clank of mirror and shutter. All is well.
Text and images Copyright © 2022 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
