First time using slide film!
Lomography Xpro Slide 200ISO on Diana F+
When I first loaded the film into my Diana, I was really worried that my images wouldn’t develop and I would get over/underexposed photographs. I was fairly new to Lomography at that time, and reading about slide film really interested me. It was famous for its punchy, eye catching, saturated colours, and I was itching to give it a try.
My previous experience with colour negative films and black and white were not that great - only about 8 to 12 of the 16 photographs were developed each time! But when I received my slide film negatives and scans back, boy was I surprised! 16 out of 16 photos were developed!!
I was overjoyed. Exhilarated. And very proud of myself!
In conclusion? I absolutely love using slide film.
Yup, say hi to our latest contributor, Ariel Tan! We’re glad that you love slide film because so do we! Share some love and follow her back at http://peanutshutterjelly.tumblr.com/.
Beier Beirette loves Italy
Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 on Beier Beirette
You gotta love the many photographic relics of the past. Here’s an interesting photo set by our reader hailing all the way from Italy,Elisa Bastianello aka tagliatelelatesta on Flickr using the Beier Beirette. Here’s what she had to say:
This camera had a great story, my boyfriend chanced upon it in an old drawer and after some digging, we found out that it belonged to my grandmother-in-law’s late uncle. He was a Catholic priest and bought the Beirette maybe in the 70s or 80s.
I shot these photos in January when me and my boyfriend took a walk at the World War 1 territories somewhere near the north of Italy. We had to cross the wild woods to reach the Tagliamento river and once there, I told him to jump up and down…and he did! It was so funny, lol.
For more info on the Beirette check out this link here.
Well, you know the drill…don’t forget to visit Elisa’s Flickr stream and say hi!
Gorgeous flares using the Sensia & Vivitar UWS
Fujichrome Sensia 100 on Vivitar Ultra Wide Slim
It’s really simple. Just shoot at an angle where the sun is partially obscured by a large object. It could be a tall building, a canopy of trees…anything! I especially like the 3rd photo, the flare almost resembled a waterfall!
You can see several different pallettes than can be produced with cross processed Sensia 100, ranging from indigo, dark reds & dusty greens depending on the light intensity.
And sometimes, the roll decided to surprise you and you get something like this! Amazing huh? That’s the magic of film for you ;D
-delusiana
“Ipoh Mali” on Slide
Lomography Xpro Slide 200ISO on Holga GCFN
I shot these during a short trip to Ipoh, the historical capital of Perak, one of Peninsular Malaysia’s northern states. Besides being famed for its local delicacies and coffee, one can also appreciate beautiful colonial architecture.
I chose to play with light and multiple exposures in this set and I think the results are quite pleasing to the eye. I’ve been shooting with many new cameras that I’ve forgotten the magic of the plastic fantastic Holga - the camera that made me fall in love with analogue photography.
-yovie eswark
Sunset Surf
Kodak Elitechrome 200 on Vivitar Mariner
We’ve never had any reviews on waterproof cameras or even underwater shots of anything! Luckily May Rodrigo of The Philippines, one of our regular contributors had kindly furnished us with these awesome sunset shots! A consummate surfing lover, May had been contributing shots after shots of the surfing paradise Zambales, always with different cameras & films.
We have 2 more sets from May, and I promise you they’re gorgeous so be sure to check them out!
Well, you know the drill - follow her tumblr at http://mayprodrigo.tumblr.com!
p/s: Here’s the Vivitar Mariner. It accepts any 35mm film, has a built-in flash, needs 1 AA battery and is waterproof upto 10 feet thanks to it’s housing. Also, it has a 28mm lens but according to some reviews it’s so wide that it could have a focal length of 21mm instead.
Apparently this camera shoots well with a 400ISO film if you plan to use it underwater but on land, it’s best to use a slower film ie: 100ISO as it tends to get overexposed with a faster film.
For more reviews, check out this awesome blog http://janneinosaka.blogspot.com/2010/10/vivitar-mariner.html
-delusiana
My Analogue Romance = Film Cameras,Vinyls & Paperbacks!
Fujichrome Provia 100 on Mamiya 645
When it comes to my vices, I have 4 major ones: owning as many Apple products as I can afford (haha) and satiate my ever growing analogue lust -film cameras, vinyls & paperbacks. Nothing makes me happier than listening to good music, shooting film and curling up with a good old book.
The texture of crisp paper in your hands, the clarity of music on black is just incomparable; no matter how much I love my iPod nor constantly toting the iPad everywhere I go.
In that sense, shooting film just gives you the satisfaction that no app in the world can ever emulate. Right? :D
I may be a slave to the capitalistic digital world, buying one product after the other - a neverending race between Achilles & the Tortoise but just remember…it pays to slow down for a while and live your life one frame at a time, the analogue way.
-delusiana
Butterflies & Hurricanes…well, not really.
Kodak Elitechrome 100 (Film Soup) on Nikon F80
Yes, the film soup monster is back! My current project is to try different films with the same standard recipe, exposed in the same camera and document the color shifts.
If you compare this to my previous post using the Tungsten 64, you’ll notice that the Elitechrome gives strong, blinding color shifts compared to the more subtle, pastel palette of the Tungsten. I quite like the effects of a film souped B&W, you can’t really see the “soup stains” per se, but it gives the image a certain vintage like quality, just like this set by eleanorrigby236 and yours truly. So, which is your cup of tea?
Back to the photos, these were taken during our last photowalk at the KL Butterfly Park and double exposed randomly later. Nothing much to write about here, but FYI, the second pic, was that of eleanorrigby236!
-delusiana
At the Butterfly Park with the Kodak E100G
Kodak Ektachrome E100G on Kiev 88
As many of us have come to know, Kodak has stopped production of their Ektachrome slide film series. I was reluctant to shoot the roll knowing that I had no way of getting it processed at an E6 lab here, but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I was shocked to see how the colors didn’t turn out too crazy even after the roll was cross-processed. You definitely still get the yellow and green tinge in the highlights which I see people complain about with this film but it worked out OK in this set as I was shooting a lot of flora to begin with. The E100G is undeniably sharp with very fine grain and is definitely the slide film of choice if you want to shoot and not worry about wild color shifts like what you would get with a cross-processed roll of Velvia film.
You can see in my image of the dead butterfly above my focus was way off and the final image turned out pretty bad. To save it I thought I’d try to convert it into B&W to see if it would make the image look better. In color, your eyes are automatically drawn to the butterfly as it is the object that stands out the most, but then you also see the flaw in the picture. By converting it to B&W I find that your eyes process the image as a whole because it sees it more as a pattern as opposed to a complicated image. Somehow, the focus becomes secondary in the image, as the story becomes the center point now.
So even when you end up with a bad shot, try working with it and converting it to B&W to see if it speaks out to you differently. Of course this will not work with every picture. A bad example of converting to B&W would be this on below!
Sure it looks OK because it is stark black and high in contrast, but can you tell what you’re really looking at? This photo was just too busy to begin with and in between the ripples, the koi, and the reflection off the water, the loss of color does not help. The image definitely looks better in color. So be careful with what you choose to tweak when you feel the need to do something to fix your images and don’t go overboard.
Anyhow, I quite like the E100G and I’m definitely going to grab a few more rolls to chuck into the fridge for another day a few years down the road, when the film is totally extinct!!
-eleanorrigby236
A colorful sillhouette
Tungsten 64 Film Soup on Nikon F80D, Nikkor 50mm f1.8
I was really inspired by eleanorrigby236’s double exposure post so I thought, hey why don’t I try that technique in color? And film soup it while you’re at it?
So what I did was I ran a roll of my Tungsten 64 film soup in the Nikon and shot whatever textured objects I could find in the house in Macro (I didn’t adjust the ISO, I just left it at 64 as per the DX coding) and since it was quite dark, I used the built in flash.
Then I re-shot the same roll again, this time with the help of my buddy ekinibicanabiss, and shot her against the sun. Like what eleanorrigby236 mentioned in her post, you’ll need to shoot your subject against a glaring white background or the textured object will bleed out of your subject’s sillhouette.
But as you know, I’m all for crazy colors and textures so as you can see in the set below, bleeding makes your shots all the more interesting, especially when you’ve souped the film before hand!
Here’s the recipe for you to try out:
500ml of freshly boiled water
1 sachet of silica gel (about a tbsp)
25ml potassium permanganate
1 capful of laundry detergent
1/2 capful of non bleaching fabric whitener (I used Vanish)
25ml Apple Cider Vinegar
So you basically mix all the ingredients in the water, stir it well and dunk your film in it and leave it overnight. You then dry the film thoroughly before popping it in your camera. As you might already know, slide films work best, especially when cross processed.
So enjoy, and have fun!
-delusiana
How to make your otherwise drab and mundane photos interesting?
Agfa RSX II 200 on Ensign Ful-Vue
Bored with your photos? Running out of places to shoot?
The solution is simple, really. Go for double/multiple exposures and if you’re feeling adventurous, intentionally make yourself a fat roll to get some delicious light leaks on your shots!
The first two photos were taken in the heart of KL near the Central Market / Masjid Jamek and I assure you that I’ve gone for a photowalk there for no less than four times in 2011 alone!
These were also shot on the same roll, the last 3 frames in fact and due to some fat roll action, I’m left with these light leaks! They definitely weren’t intentional but they sure made my otherwise repetitive images all the more interesting.
And you guessed it, it’s the same old abandoned house in Bangsar as featured in my Lensbaby post earlier.
Oh, btw, I was told by a fellow photographer who frequented the place that about 4 weeks ago during an outing (at 2am!!) they actually saw not one but TWO entities floating around the compound! Have you heard of Pontianaks before?
Sickkk!!
-delusiana
Carburetor Dung & The Garrison (and a cute baby named Luth!)
Agfa CT Precisa 100 (expired 2002) ON Canon A-1, FD 50mm f/1.4
Last month I went to a lot of gigs, and one of them featured two of my favorite local punk bands: The Garrison & Carburetor Dung. Needless to say, much of the rolls were spent on photographing them and this roll, became my absolute favorite.
I didn’t use a flash and all shots were taken under the Program mode, illuminated by the twinkling lights from the stage and its surroundings at Publika, Solaris Dutamas.
Honestly, I’m amazed at the clarity and wonderful colors of the original CT Precisa when cross processed. None of my 36 exposures even had the slightest yellowish-green shift synonymous with the newer Agfaphoto CT Precisa, assuring me that I did not waste my money bidding for 10 rolls of this coveted film!
-delusiana
The film soup returns!
Agfa CT Precisa (expired 2002) on Pentax ME, Zenitar 16mm f2.8 Ultra Wide Angle Fisheye
Can I be lazy tonight and just post the pictures without any blurbs? Heheh. You can click here for more info on how to make your own film soup roll.
OK, I’m gonna make things simple for those who are as lazy as me and couldn’t be bothered to read the long long write-ups so this will be in point form and succinct.
- Film soup recipe: 1 cup detergent + boiling water + 1 tsp silica gel + 1 expired roll of Agfa CT Precisa
- Location: An abandoned house in Bangsar
- Film accidentally exposed whilst drying with a hairdryer in the darkroom bag
- There were tons of mosquitos
A few shots came out totally incomprehensible with blobs of colors like this:
-delusiana
The new Holga 120 PAN camera review
Fujichrome Tungsten 64T on Holga 120 PAN
Fujicolor Superia 100 on Holga 120 PAN
My first time ever writing an article about a camera. Ever! Well there is a first time for anything right? Although it is not my first time using a Holga. Been using it since 2004 as it is one of my first real “toy camera”.
The camera that I am writing about now is the new Holga 120PAN (PAN = PANorama). One of its first kind on a plastic toy camera (open for dispute). I got hold of this camera from my supplier in Hong Kong when it was first announced. It might also be one of the first to land here in Malaysia. It was exciting for as the closest to its “wideness” is the uber expensive Linholf Technorama. Try googling it and be in awe.
It has been in my possession for a while before I finally got the opportunity to run a few test rolls on it while I was back in my hometown of Johor Bahru. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. It still maintains the signature effects of a Holga, the vignetting and dreamy soft focus, but the centre focus is quite sharp. The distortions that are evident on most wide panorama toy cameras are also nowhere to be seen. I love that.
The Holga 120PAN takes two 120mm film frames per shot. So a 6x12 shot will give you six photos per roll of film. If you are the kind that prefer quantity over quality, get a Diana Mini and use the half frame mode. The camera comes equipped with a bubble level for shooting landscape straight. I find it useful when shooting my favourite scenes using my el cheapo tripod that does not have a bubble level.
The camera really shines when shooting wide landscape scenes as the resolution of the 120mm captures more details compared to 35mm films. To me, it is not the camera for you to bring along to parties or gigs as a panorama 35mm camera like the Horizon would suit those kind of scenes better.
The Holga 120N is at the top of my all-time favourite camera and this 120PAN is not far below.
-DemanG
Edit: Demang is our friend who owns the super stellar online camera shop ROFLCAM, and he specialises in Holgas & refurbished Russian rangefinders among others. Do check his shop out and just so you know, ROFLCAM ships internationally!
