Got these the other day for a massive $1.35. Two tanks (a double and a single reel tank), and two reels, with one that is brand new. Atleast some photography gear is still cheap.
I got these for when i start my colour developing, as they should hopefully help me keep a more accurate temperature. All i need to do now is figure out how to load them, might have to sacrifice a roll to pactice =/

I developed my first roll of 120 film yesterday and i already think im addicted.
Actually, thats a pretty silly thing to say. My negatives are still hanging up by themselves looking pretty because i have no way to scan them. They might not turn out brilliant, but im now addicted to medium format viewfinders, and really like the whole process (i’ve been borrowing a friends RB67). But thats a whole other story.
Anyway… Scanners… Yet another thing to spend money on =/
The film scanner i’ve been using up to now was something i bought a while ago before i was into photography, it’s well over 5 years old now. So it was just a fluke that it had film scanning capabilities that came in handy.
With film scanners you have two main varieties (for those who dont know). Dedicated scanners that you feed slides and negative strips into that dont do anything else besides scan film. Then you have the more conventional flatbed scanners that have film scanning capabilities.
Dedicated film scanners generally offer the best quality, but can be quite expensive and only take 35mm film.
The flatbed scanners are generally cheaper, offer decent quality (especially for web viewing and smaller prints), plus can take medium format film aswell.
So at this stage im leaning towards a flatbed scanner as i dont want to spend over $300, plus i need something that can take 120 film. I’m currently looking at the Epson 4490, Epson V500, Canon CanoScan 8800F, plus a couple others. I’m just trying to find some trustworthy reviews and personal opinions, as the manufacturer specifications are quite often misleading.
It’s actually bit of a pain in the ass finding the right scanner in my price range. The reality is none will really bring out the best of film, the full dynamic range that actually makes it superior to digital. So it’ll always be bit of a compromise. As long as it’s better than what i already have i’ll be happy!
Anyone want to buy me a drum scanner?

I got this little beast a while ago now, but have only got a chance to make a post about it today.
The Canon P (”Populaire”) was made between 1958 and 1961. It’s one of Canon’s last screw mount rangefinders and regarded by many as one of the best looking rangefinders ever produced. All i know is that it works and feels great to use.
They’re were originally made as a base/basic model, but in reality were one of the last truly “bulletproof” cameras produced by Canon, so many are still working as well today as they were over 50 years ago.
Theres not too much to the camera. No light meter, so theres no electrical issues. No fancy features that cause problems. Just a simple, clean looking camera, that works as good as it looks with a smooth film advance, and a satisfying shutter sound. The viewfinder is quite big and very bright with nice clear framelines (maybe mine has been CLA’s recently?).
Why use a camera with no light meter and no features that make life easier? Well, its fun.
Below is a photo of mine with a Jupiter 8 attached i had lying around. The 50mm framelines are particularly well placed in the VF, so i think a 50mm lens will live on the Canon now.
I got this camera for a steal of a price, but they regularly sell for around $100-$150, and at that price i still think they’re great value. If you want a super reliable camera, stripped back on fancy features that will take some of the greatest lenses ever created (Leica Thread Mount), then i cant think of any camera more suitable than the Canon “Populaire”.

Only have a couple shots to put up for the moment.
I shot a roll of TriX400 at 800iso. Normally thats fine, but i developed it in Rodinal, and the grain wasnt very nice in some of the shots, which isnt helped by my scanner which is on its last legs. It was the first roll i’d taken in a while and got a few shots that i like.
Actually, there was a whole series that i really liked, but i wont be uploading them here just yet.
The shots below were taken at my Dad’s graduation show, he just finished a Masters of Art. I’m very proud of him as he’s never actually studied at uni before, but did so well they’re asked him back to do honours. I’ll make another post later on detailing his work a little more.
These were just a few random shots taken on the night. Nothing amazing, but i have to get into the swing of things again.

I’ve finished my Graphic Design course.
This whole month has been insane. So many assignments to get done and hand in, i almost left my run too late and didnt finish them in time. I’m very relieved that didnt happen.
The annoying thing about rushing alot of my work is that it didnt turn out as i originally wanted. So over the next couple of weeks its my goal to redo my portfolio and get something im actually proud of. Not something that reflects many late nights and half assed rush jobs like my current one does.
I also plan to redo my horrible website and actually upload some content to it. I think it’s going to mostly be html though, no flash, as it shits me and im always worried that people wont have the latest version installed in their browser. I like designing websites, its the coding thing that frustrates me. I’ll be happy if i never have to make a full website from scratch in my entire life! I doubt that will happen though.

Havent been taking too many photos over the last month. Actually last weekend was the first time i’d used a camera in ages. When i finish the roll i’ll post them up. I’ll be pushing some 400iso > 800iso for the first time so hopefully they come out!

Whats dangerous??
Well, the fact that im borrowing a Mamiya RB67 from a friend and i might get attached to medium format photography…. Thats whats dangerous.
Its big and heavy and damn ugly, but when you look through that viewfinder its bloody terrific. They you ofcourse have the 120 film itself which i’ve always been wanting to try out. Nothing comes close to the quality of enlargements and fine detail from medium and large format film.
I dont know why im letting myself try this camera out. Its actually pretty stupid. I’ve been interested in the Pentax 67 for a while now, and i need another reason to spend more money like i need a hole in the head (ie. photography has already sucked enough money out of me).
so anyway, this is the camera. An RB67 “Pro-s” made between 1974-1990. It has the 120 film back, 2 lenses; 90mm f/3.8 and a 150mm f/4. Oh yeah, and no metered prism on this baby (an expensive optional extra).
I’ll give it a go in a couple of weeks. I have about 10 rolls of cheap 120 film i’ll try and burn though, then develop along side my regular 35mm film. Hopefully i get some half decent results.

Well after seeing Tim’s test on noise reduction software, i thought i’d try one out myself. I’d never really compared different NR(noise reduction) processes before, instead i’d just basically given up high iso photography. I have to say, after mucking around with the software a little bit, im not so worried about using high iso settings on the DSLR anymore. I was quite impressed.
I only had 3 methods of NR which included DPP (Digital Photo Professional), Noise ninja, and “Camera RAW” with photoshop. I tried all on the same photo which i’ve taken a 100% crop sample of. I tried to include a mix of textures in the sample.
View the image below at it’s largest size and you immediately you notice each process produced quite different results.
The original photo was taken indoors with dim light. The digital noise isnt that bad really, i have other photos that are worse, but i chose this as it had several different textures and is common of the iso noise i get.
Camera RAW seemed to keep the most “faithful” colours, but blurred pretty much everything. Some detail was lost particularly in the edges, which gave an overall soft look to the photo. It seemed to get rid of both noise and grain which are two different things really. By getting rid of some grain it lost a bit of sharpness and detail.
DPP was a little less full on when it came to removing the grain. It still has quite a bit which helps keep some overall sharpness. To my eyes it has a nicer contrast and colour too. I’d never used DPP before, but it looks to be quite effective.
Noise Ninja was again different. I downloaded the 400D (Rebel XTi) NR profile from the manufacturer website and gave it a go. It appears to be bit of a mixed bag. I like how it’s kept some edge sharpness, more than the other programs, but it makes the skin look like plastic. Some people might like that as bit of an airbrushed skin shortcut, but its not to my tastes. The colour has again changed from the original, probably the most drastic out of all. It was also introduced some of its own fragments to the image which look a little messy, this might be treatable in the setting panel which i didnt play around with (i just used standard setting for all).

After looking at the 3 noise reduction programs, i have to say i quite like them all in one way or another.
I’d never used DPP before, but i liked how it treated the image. It still has some grain, but removes most of the digital noise which is what i want most. It had nice contrast i thought, and the colours looked fine too. The only downside is that theres not many options for individual settings. So fine tuning is pretty much out of the question. (It almost seems as though it was bit of an after thought with the DPP software, but thats another story).
Noise ninja seems very powerful with a large range of fine tuning options. I think once i play around with it i’ll be able to reduce the plastic skin look. The colours looked quite different from the original too, but thats probably another thing that can be fixed also. The program seems to need a bit of fine tuning which is to be expected i guess. But the whole idea is to minimise hours infront of the computer, if i have to play around with NN each time i use it, i’ll probably lose interest. Thats just a personal thing though.
Then theres Camera RAW which seems fine, but would probably be my last choice. It just seems to give bit of an overall blur to the image, which isnt all that useful.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference. If i can get Noise Ninja sorted out, i’ll use that the most. Otherwise i’ll go with DPP and its simplicity.

Yeah, it seems like i’ve only been posting b&w shots lately.
Thought i’d mix things up and post a couple colour shots i took a little while ago. I’m pretty wild.

Well i finally got around to developing the first roll from my new Bessa today.. What a bloody disaster.
For the first time ever i had trouble loading the film onto the spools. It kept getting stuck, and would crease and bunch up.. I started to loose patience so decided to chop the film randomly in half and load the rest of the negatives on the other spool. By that time i was thinking about chucking the whole film out. I wasnt in the best of moods. But i eventually stopped having a sook and put the Fujifilm Acros in Rodinal at 1+50 for 14 minutes. It turned out ok i think, not perfect though. Temperature was about 16 degrees which probably didnt help.

I went back to the Opera House again. I know its touristy, but i think its one of the more interesting structures in Sydney. I really likes it’s angles and curves and scale. Its very unique. I’m going to keep going back there trying to shoot some non touristy compositions.
Oh, and i had the 35mm on for all (except the last) of these shots.

Here’s a few more taken in the city:

Now this last shot was taken with a Russian Jupiter 8, 50mm f/2 lens from 1962. I only took a couple test shots with it, but wow im impressed. I’m really surprised how nice it looks wide open at f/2. It has really nice bokeh and bit of a natural “glow”. I think it’ll take a little while to get used to it, as it can render some areas a little bit too grey. But i’m going to keep practicing to get the best out of it. It’s by far the most unique looking lens i have. Oh and it cost me nothing which is extra nice
I’ll be using it with some colour film also.

I bought this pretty interesting book for $3 the other day.
Its just called “Tokyo” and was published by The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, printed in 1970. It seems to just be a tourist souvenir book, or something sent out to encourage travel to Japan, im not quite sure actually.
What i do know is that it’s full of some really interesting photography. Mostly comprising of black and white images (with the occasional colour slide shot), Its full of street photos and what appear to be pretty candid daily scenes.
It’s quite interesting in that it’s bit of a time capsule as you can see lots of old cars and buildings that have completely changed (by the time i visited last year). I really like old photographs of daily life.
Another thing i noticed, is that amongst all of the “material” changes in Tokyo such as buildings and cars and technology etc, the b&w photos of people dont look all that dated, i dont know if thats a good thing or not, quite interesting though. There’s also a couple of photos of protests and general civil unrest which seems a bit strange to put in a tourist book, its referred to as “explosion of the student power” in the captions.
I just realised how hard it is to take photos of books (cameras are alot easier Tim :p ), but heres a few shots anyway. Oh, i almost forgot, there appears to be no credit given to the photographer/s of these photos. Nothing at all, which seems strange.

That guy on the right looks way too happy.