Hiding from the Thunder

Olympus E-P1, Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2

Olympus XA

I came across an Olympus XA on Ebay for a decent price, so I jumped for it.  It's a 35mm film camera with a 35mm f/2.8 lens that fits pretty comfortably in my pocket.  I'd say it's only slightly chunkier than my Sony RX100.

I think the XA is prettier, though.  It's great example of clean, compact product design.  It came out in 1979, and I'd call it ahead of its time.

The focus and aperture are controlled via very accessible levers on the front, and the shutter button is that red plate on top.  There is also a lever on the bottom plate that sets self timer, +1.5 stop compensation, and battery check that is unobtrusive but easy to access when you need it, which probably isn't all that often.

My favorite thing about it is that red shutter button.  It takes barely any pressure to activate, with what feels like a crude electrical contact underneath, so it's pretty much a hair trigger, which is pretty fun.

Just don't be discouraged by that ratcheting film advance wheel.  There's no way they'd have fit a proper lever on this, so you'll have to advance your film like on a disposable camera.

I took it out with some of my stock of Ilford HP5+.

The image quality is pretty good.  There's been better, but nothing at nearly this size.  But hey, it's a full frame pocket camera!

It actually feels quicker than using the Sony RX100, which is my favorite pocket digital camera.  There's no software to boot, you can compose in an instant with an optical viewfinder, and then you can focus and set your aperture at the same time simply by feel.  It doesn't take long to have all the controls figured out.

The thing about it is, the rangefinder is really dim compared to the other rangefinders I've used.  Maybe it's just my particular XA's condition, but it's faint to the point where it's useless in many cases.  The lever is really easy to feel out though, so most of the time it's just easy to guess.

Sorry, RX100.  I loved you dearly, but I'm going to have to go with the Olympus XA.  If there's something that really needs digital, I'll pull out my phone.  When it comes to having a great quick-draw camera in the right place and time, the XA is my new go-to.

Ilford HP5+

One of my favorite films of all time is Fuji Neopan 400.  It was a bit harsh on the grain, but I loved it for that because I'm just am order-out-of-chaos kind of guy.

Recently though, Fuji discontinued Neopan 400, along with a bunch of other beloved films. B&H and Adorama have run up their stock of it.  I suspect the move was made so that they could focus on their amazing line of digital cameras. I have maybe one or two rolls left in the freezer that I'm saving for a special occasion.

I decided to finally check out Ilford, a company out of the UK known for their black and white films. I always found Ilford HP5+ to be comparable to Neopan.  Like Neopan 400, the grain is sharper but more prominent than Kodak's Tri-X, which contributes harshness but at the same time adds a crisp edge to things.  I find it a bit boring in the midtones, but the shadows and highlights are very alive.  All the photos in this post were shot on HP5+.

I just ordered a bunch of it, and I'm looking forward to getting more acquainted with it.

Un-Cat Picture

This was kind of a while ago, but I only developed it recently.  Leica M3, Zeiss 50mm f/2 Planar, Ilford HP5+.

A few months ago my cat, Ava, started throwing up several times a day, so I took her to the vet.  The vet told me she might have lymphoma and that we'd better get her tested, but warned up front that there was a chance that the tests would be inconclusive.

Two rounds of testing, two overnight stays, and $1200 in bills later, the tests were inconclusive, so I took her home and started mentally calculating the variables to consider for when I would decide to put her down because surgery was not a very appealing option.

In the meantime, I switched her food to something for sensitive stomachs, and the vomiting immediately stopped.  It turned out, she was just allergic to her food, and two vets had failed to suggest I try changing her diet.

I took this photo while I was waiting for her tests to be done.  She would normally be in the basket around this time of the day, taking in the sun and the sounds of the birds coming in through the windows.  The house was eerily quiet that morning without her yelling for her breakfast.

She's back to normal now, making too much noise and getting fur all over everything.

This is just a reminder that when you take a photo, sometimes what's not included in the frame can be at least as important as what is.

Just Out for a Walk

Man, I need to keep this thing rolling.  I have an enormous backlog of film to process.  Something like 10 rolls of it.  35mm, medium format, B&W and color.  It's not exactly inviting me to get to work on it.  So, for now, I'm going to shoot some digital until I clear the queue.

I took the borrowed Olympus EP1 back out and went for a walk around the Lower East Side.  This time, with my Voigtlander 28mm f/1.9 Ultron.  Normally, this is a pretty wide angle lens, but the 2x crop factor pulls it out to 58mm, which I guess works kind of like a 50mm, but I often found myself a step too close to things.  It's a bigger pain than it may sound because I would often forget to refocus.

It's not quite as contrasty as the Zeiss, but it's sharp enough.  When I hit focus, that is.  I still can't really catch moving targets on the fly.  So, I took lots of pictures of garbage.  I don't know.

For digital work I think I'll be switching back to the Fuji X100S again.  I haven't used autofocus in a while.  That'll be fun to have back again.