iBLEEDfilm.com

Just Arrived: Olympus XA4 Macro

I’m hoping that the search for my perfect compact film camera for casual everyday shooting ends here.

I have gotten rid of the Olympus XA (gave it to a friend, well, what’s left of it anyway) and I found the Yashica T2 too bulky and obtrusive (not to mention the annoying need to hold a button to prevent the flash from firing).

The lens has a superb 28mm lens very suitable for street shooting. I can also opt to push the film up to ASA 1600 thru simple DIY techniques. Scale focusing with the easy-to-use distance selector (in combination with the wide DOF of the lens) will allow me to focus faster than by using a viewfinder and will put me way more at ease than finicky autofocus does. Automatic exposure (no manual setting available) will free me from thinking too much about my settings and will make me concentrate more on quick framing and composition.

The slow maximum aperture (f/3.5) will not be a problem for I will be needing the wide DOF of smaller apertures anyway.

And it can shoot macro for Pete’s sake! (Not my thing though.)

All these for a camera no larger than my palm, minus the fingers. Yes, minus the fingers! It’s just how small it is.

kiarbad asked: Where can one buy the basics in developing film (ie, tank, developer, stopbath, fixer)? I want to learn to develop my own b&w films... If you're an amateur film photographer, then I'm a noob. :)

I’m assuming you’re from the US so here goes…

I bought my beakers, thermometers and graduated cylinders from a laboratory equipment supplier. That said, I’m pretty sure your local drugstore also sells them.

Search for Patterson Development Tanks on the Internet. There are plenty of sellers.

B&H Photo is a good place to start. You can also purchase your chemicals (developer, stop bath, fixer) from them. Rodinal (or R09 or paRodinal) and Kodak D76 are both good developers for beginners. Choose only one and master it before trying another developer. The brands of stop bath and fixer don’t matter as much as the developer while starting out so choose whatever you like and just follow the instructions that come with them.

Purchase a changing bag while you’re at it too.

Enjoy and good luck!

vandalog:

“Le grand jeu” by IEMZA & MTO in an abandoned space in Muizon, France. Photo courtesy of MTO.

I am slowly having an increased fascination with street art.

acininica asked: Hi! I borrowed my cousin's Pentax KX for more than a year and absolutely fell in love with it! Sadly, he took the camera back and now I'm looking for my own analog SLR. What would you recommend that would fit my budget of 2,500 PhP? And can you suggest where I should go to buy it? Thanks!

Oh, hello!

Most film SLRs are in the 4k range and up.

But don’t fret, I found a bargain on Sulit that will fit your budget (you can even use the money you save to have it CLA’d). It’s a Yashica FX-3 Super 2000 SLR, which coincidentally is my first film SLR too (and second film camera next to the Yashica Electro 35 GSN).

It’s a fully mechanical camera and only needs batteries if you intend to use its built-in light meter.

I love the FX-3 and plan to keep it for life. As a bonus, it takes all legendary Carl Zeiss lenses made for the Contax line of film SLRs. Contax is the sister company of Yashica; their mother company, Kyocera, acquired the rights to produce the Contax camera line from Zeiss and their lenses back in the day.

Yashica ML branded lenses are quite good as well and much cheaper than their Carl Zeiss counterparts. Keep that in mind if you want to build your budget Yashica SLR system.

I advise you to practice full caution when buying online though. Although personally, I haven’t encountered any problem with online shopping yet.

Happy shooting!

Free Street Photography Magazine Digital Downloads (Legal)!

Magcloud is home to tons of magazines available for free (and purchased) download.

In case you’re interested, a couple of magazines on street photography are worth noting: Radiate and 18% Grey.

Sign up for a free account if you still don’t have one. You can then search for them in Magcloud and add them to your digital library. Once in your library, the magazines will be available for free download.

Hard copies can also be purchased if you prefer that medium and have some dough lying around your room.

Quiapo, Manila

I was scouring through my archives and I found this.

This was shot during the infancy of my photographic “career” (?!?), back when I didn’t know that the term “street photography” even existed. I literally just picked up my first ever still image camera—a freshly handed down Yashica Electro 35 GSN—and started shooting.

I was naive then. People, mostly kids, came up to me and asked for their photos to be taken. More often than not, I obliged.

I have lost that. Nowadays, I snob requests from strangers. Although I still need to be selective (as a safety precaution especially if you’re living in this side of the world), I should grant requests more frequently.

I guess that’s my goal for the rest of the year then.

A heartful thanks to the photograph of this kid and his most genuine of smiles for reminding me of things forgotten.

P.S. This photograph is so cliche. If you’re familiar with Filipino street photography, you know what I mean. Lol.

Sidecar

A simple review of the Yashica Electro 35 CC rangefinder camera by Paulo Moreira.

I have three of these now: a CC without the film pouch (a gift from my friend Dan), a CC with the film pouch (like the one in the video) and a rare CCN (traded for my Canonet G-III QL17).

Suffice to say, I love these crazy CC’s.

Anyhow, I’m reposting here my comment on the video, something you might find useful when you do get to own a CC (or any of the cameras in the Yashica Electro 35 line):

There’s a way to avoid the clanking sound whenever you advance the camera (applies to most Electro 35’s too). You can try half-pressing the shutter release button (just enough so as to avoid inadvertent trigger of the shutter) while cranking the film advance lever.

Voila! Watch your CC turn even more ninja than before!

Tug of War

• Olympus XA
• Fuji Neopan 400 at EI 800
• Fotofrabrik Photo Lab
• Epson V300 Scanner

Great free PDF download from Joakim Johansson