Category Archives: Informational

My Favorite Faves: The Sears 55mm/1.4 lens

August 3, 2013 5:31 pm ⋅ 3 Comments ⋅

I just decided that I will begin a new series here on the SWP blog, about equipment or photos I love the best but which haven’t been written about on the blog yet. I have only had this blog since 2009, so there’s equipment I’ve used in the past or photos that were never shown here. Today, I begin with one of my all-time favorite lenses…

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This is a lens that was made to fit cameras with a lens mount called m42 screw mount  – or universal screw mount or Pentax screw mount. My first 35m SLR was an m42 mount, and I continued to use various m42 cameras for the first several years of foray into photography. I had a couple of favorite m42 lenses, but I think my absolute fave is the Sears 55mm/1.4. Yes, that Sears, though their lenses were reportedly made by Mamiya-Sekor.

The Sears lens came to me via my long-time pen pal, Mike, who was trying out a variety of equipment several years ago and allowed me to try some of it out. He let me keep this one instead of sending it to him in Australia! I love this lens so much that, not only have I shot it on actual m42 cameras, but I got an adapter so it’d work on my Nikon 35mm auto focus cameras, Nikon 35mm manual focus cameras, and a Nikon dSLR I used to have. What makes me so ga-go over the Sears 55mm/1.4? THE BOKEH (<—— that term is something I did my best to explain in a post or two in the early part of my SWP blogging career.)  I especially  love using it with a macro extension tube attached – it really emphasizes that dreamy, creamy, swirly bokeh that makes my heart go pitter-patter. Perfect for my style of food photography! And when it came to using this lens on my Nikon digital SLR, I actually even felt as if it gave my photos a more film-like appearance.  SO GOOD!

Difficult to cull my absolute favorite photos taken with this lens, but here’s my best attempt:

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4


Praktica VLC 3 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Yashica TL Electro-X + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon N50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon N8008 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE  + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE +Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Now that I’ve looked at all these pictures, I think it’s high time I attach that Sears lens to one of my Nikons and take advantage of that beautiful bokeh again!

Posted in: camera equipment, favorite faves, informational, my favorite faves, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Giving Lomo a Go {Part One}

July 5, 2013 10:10 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I mentioned in a recent blog that I had never used Lomography film up to this point in my photographic journey, and I listed a couple of reasons why that is the case. I mean, it’s nothing personal, Lomography. Your films are just usually cost-prohibitive for me!  But I have always liked the idea that retailers who stock  Lomography film (such as Urban Outfitters) are stocking film types that you wouldn’t normally be able to find outside of a proper photo shop or that you’d have to order online.  So, say I was in Memphis and decided I wanted to shoot some medium format film in my Holga. I couldn’t just walk into Walgreens and get that. And sometimes photo stores aren’t open at night or on the weekend. I could waltz into Urban Outfitters and pick up a pack of medium format film, even if I had to pay a premium price for it  and even if it’s not really “pro grade.” Lucky for me though, our local Urban Outfitters recently put a whole slew of Lomography film on clearance. I was able to grab a few packs of their 35mm Color Negative 100 film super cheap!

I have been missing a non-professional grade color 100 ASA film, since that film speed is one that has almost gone the way of the buffalo because  film companies are cutting back on the types of film they still produce. For those of you who might not be familiar with film speeds/ISO/ASA: The lower the number, the more light needed to get a properly-exposed photo. And vice versa. Higher film speed, less light needed. Say you are shooting in bright daylight: it is generally to your advantage to use a lower film speed. Shooting in dimmer light? Higher film speed (this also holds true for film “sensitivities” on digital cameras.) There are other issues involved with the ISO rating of film you use, such as film grain and color saturation.  You tend to get brighter colors and finer film grain with the lower film speeds. The higher the film speed, the larger the grain.

The colors you get with 100 ASA film are a big reason that I miss having a lot of choices in that particular film speed. I used to enjoy Fuji’s Super HQ 100 film or Kroger 100 (rebranded Italian film) in my toy cameras. I miss those films! That’s why I had high hopes for the Lomography CN 100 I’d gotten from Urban. Did it live up to those hopes? Let’s take a look!

One of the custom motorcycles on display at an auto auction where my family caters meals

Fallen petals

The day Mallory came to visit me down in the great state of Mississippi 

Adventures in Como, MS with Mallory and some horses. There may or may not have been
a minor electrocution – don’t worry though. It WASN’T one of the horses…

Wildflowers and weeds while we were sitting under a tree in front of the horse pasture

Showing Como’s Main Street to Mallory – she thinks it’s the closest
thing to  Mayberry that she’s ever seen. That means she loved it.

Ricoh FF-1 • Lomography Color Negative 100

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Conclusion?

Based on this roll, the jury’s still out as to whether or not I’ll come to love Lomography CN 100. Most of it was shot on a very bright afternoon in Como, Mississippi. I (and most photographers) tend to avoid shooting outdoors in the brightest mid-afternoon light. So these photos may not really represent how I’d normally work with a film like this. Since I have eight rolls of Lomography CN 100 left,  I’ll have lots of opportunity to put it through its paces! And, I’ll keep you posted about my findings!

Posted in: film photography, informational, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

{X-pro} Expo

July 3, 2013 9:51 am ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

A few months ago,  Urban Outfitters had a bunch of Lomography film on sale for half price. I’d never tried any of their films before, since it’s not really any cheaper than the more “serious” brands of film that I normally use. Or even any cheaper than the less serious ones I use. But when I saw all that film that UO had on clearance, I decided now was as good a time as any to give Lomography film* a try. I grabbed a few packs of their 100 ASA color negative film because it was too cheap to pass up. Also too cheap to pass up was some of their Xpro Chrome 100, which is slide film that they mean for you to “cross process” (or x-pro.) That means you take film that would normally be processed in chemicals specific to its type and process it in chemicals meant for a different type of film. Most of the time, cross-processing is referring to taking slide (positive) film that would normally be processed in E-6 chemicals,  and processing it in regular color (negative) film C-41 chemicals**.  Depending on the slide film, it can give you crazy color shifts or color casts, or high contrast and super saturation (click here to see a bunch of my cross-processed stuff from over the years to see what I mean.)

(Is that whole paragraph much technical information to follow?? I know a lot of you have seen an Xpro fiilter on Instagram!! Maybe it gives you a frame of reference??)

What could this Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 do for me though? I loaded a roll of it into my Ricoh FF-1, and I found out what it could do! I didn’t have anything specific in mind that I wanted to shoot with the Xpro 100; I just carried my FF-1 around and pulled it out when I saw something I liked.

A beauty shop in my town, that I love to photograph

Mustang

Discarded shop sign

“Please, no pictures”

Ghostly niece and dogs

Lunch on the Memphis Pizza Cafe patio

Inexplicable double exposure of my friend during a Midtown photo shoot

One of my favorite post offices 

Boat shop drive-by

Cracker Barrel rockers

Niece’s new neon kicks

Waffle House dinner after a photo shoot with my niece

Ricoh FF-1 • Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 • cross-processed 

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Conclusion?

I really loved the results – the photos were contrasty, but not over the top with color shifts. Just enough to look a little different than the norm. Now I’m kicking myself for not picking up more than one pack of it when I had the chance to get it for 50% off! Maybe I’ll find a good deal on some again soon!

*As far as I know, most Lomography film is film produced by other companies which Lomography has purchased and rebadged
**Sometimes it can be tricky to get slide film cross processed because certain labs think it will mess up their C-41 chemistry, but I think that any effect on the processing chemicals are negligible. Lomography helps out users of their xpro chrome films, by labeling the film canister “C-41.” I certainly had no problem getting the local drugstore mini-lab to process the photos in this post.
Posted in: film photography, informational, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

{6×4.5} Long-Term Relationship…An Epic Blog About Medium Format

May 24, 2013 2:35 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

(This is a long, verbose post about me and my medium format “backstory.”  Feel free to jump on down to the bottom for the camera/photos that are the main focus of this blog, if ya please. I won’t be mad atcha!)

Over the past handful of years, I’ve had my share of flings with medium format SLR cameras. First, there was my affair with the Hassy. It was a brief relationship , but it was a robust one. Our time together was beautiful.

Once I was ready to love again, someone set me up with a Contax 645. I thought this was “the one.” Turns out the Contax was too posh for me – I’m just a humble freelance photographer; I couldn’t afford to keep up with the Contax lifestyle. It was like luxury cars and champagne; I’m more like mini vans and Coke Zero. We did splendid work together though. There was no denying that.

Last year, another Hasselblad came into my life. I knew it wouldn’t be a forever relationship, but I also knew this Hassy and I would have more time together than I’d had with my previous Hasselblad fling. It accompanied me on a few photo shoots. It was even my date to a big wedding I shot! But our days were numbered. And I ended up coming out of my time with Hassy #2 feeling as if, for now at least, Hasselblads are not really my “type.”* It served its purpose in my life, so I felt at peace when we parted ways.


I can’t go long without feeling as if I need to be involved with a medium format SLR though. A few months ago, I decided I really needed such a camera in my life again. I wanted it to be the real deal this time though. I didn’t want it just to be one more short-term love affair.

Several things came into consideration when I was deciding which type of medium format camera I wanted to have in my life. Cost was a major factor. If I were a rich girl, I’d still be with that posh Contax I toyed with a couple of years back.  Another was which medium format format I’d mesh with. That’s because medium format film can be shot in any number of image dimensions:

  • 6x6cm (my most beloved of all shooting formats) – The Hasselblad is a 6×6 camera, as are TLRs, Holga, and Diana. Square format is my absolute fave!
  • 6×4.5cm –  The Contax 645 is one such camera. I love square so much that I had never given the possibility of a 645 camera a second thought. I but I kinda dug it once I tried the Contax. Plus, you get more photos from a roll of film shot in 6×4.5 than you do a 6×6!
  • 6×7, 6×8, 6x9cm – The thing with medium format SLRs is: the bigger the negative size, the more giant the camera (though some rangefinder and “folder cameras” aren’t quite so cumbersome.)  I mean, these SLRs are monstrous things to carry around. Probably best suited for work in the studio (aka – you can set it up on a tripod.) Also, as mentioned above, the larger the negative a camera produces, the fewer frames you get from a roll of medium format film.
  • 6x12cm – Whoa whoa whoa. This is pretty major. It takes medium format panoramics. So that’s darn awesome. HUGE negative. Thankfully, there are some toy-ish 6×12 cameras out there, so I might actually have the ability to afford to play with such a camera one day.

Now. I really REALLY wanted a 6×6 SLR. I started looking around at those, and  Hasselblad seemed to be financially out of the question. But there is a less “popular” (I think “less trendy” would be more accurate) brand called Bronica that seemed to be a little more reasonably priced. And I’m no camera snob: Sure, the Zeiss glass on Hasselblad…c’est magnifique! But if Bronica lenses and bodies are good but underrated (therefore cheap as chips) then I’ll laugh all the way to the bank. I found a Bronica 645 for an appallingly good deal. It’s obscene how cheap these cameras are now, if you ask me.

My Bronica ETRSi came with a non-metered eye-level prism finder, 75mm/2.8 lens, a 150mm/3.5 lens, a “speed grip,” two 120 film backs, and one 220 film back. The good thing about these “modular” camera systems is that you can change film types any time you please if you have more than one film back. So I really got to shoot more than one test roll simultaneously. I had one back loaded with Ilford XP-2 (C-41) black and white film and another loaded with Kodak Portra 160 color film. I swapped between the two film backs/film types at my own discretion. I love modular cameras!

Meet my Bronica – we’re in a committed relationship

I HIGHLY recommend getting a speed grip if you ever find yourself in possession of a Bronica MF SLR. It greatly improves the handling of the camera, gives you a second shutter release button that is better-placed than the one on the front of the camera body itself, makes film advance quicker (a two-stroke advance lever rather than the winding advance arm that comes standard with the camera,) and a hot shoe for your flash. I got especially ecstatic when I realized that the flash shoe on the grip is “hot,” since it means that I can use a flash with my ETRSi without needing a sync cord. I’m so pumped about that!

Speed grip!!!

My ETRSi came with an “all matte” focusing screen. I was worried about my ability to accurately focus, because I’m used to split-image focusing screens. However, all the photos below were taken with the standard, all matte screen, and basically all the photos from my three test rolls were focused beautifully. Before I got my film back from the lab, I was still worried about my ability to accurately focus my photos. So I picked up a split-image screen for a pittance from KEH. Just in case!

It took me several weeks to get my Bronica test rolls up to the photo lab for development. It was soooooo worth the wait though!

Bronica ETRSi • Zenzanon 75mm/2.8 EII • Ilford XP2/Kodak Portra 160/Ilford XP2 shot @ 1600 ASA

I hope to have a very fruitful relationship with my Bronica – it will be my steady date on both professional and personal occasions. Don’t be surprised if I ask my Bronica to run away to England me one of these days ♥♥♥

*I would not kick a Hasselblad out of bed though, if I’m honest.

 

Posted in: camera equipment, epic blog, film photography, informational, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,