Not one to witter on about the eternal struggle of capturing the perfect picture, framing emotions and aesthetics as an artistic endeavour, I’d prefer to witter on about the gadgets that I’ve used to capture images.

• The Beginning
• 35mm Compacts & SLRs
• Nikon
• Contax
• Digitals & Scanners
• Tips on buying Secondhand Equipment
• Film

The Beginning

So, my first camera was a hand-me-down Kodak Instamatic that took 126 film and bad pictures.

35mm Compacts & SLRs

First real step into taking photos was a Ricoh 500G, a semi-automatic 35mm compact camera.  Quite compact and easy to carry about, its lens was more capable than I was of capturing decent pictures.  Sadly the shutter mechanism jammed and it ended in the bin. It seems there’s quite an interest/revival in this and similar cameras due to their discrete nature and low light capabilities - the Ricoh has a 2.8 lens and good
use can be made of the fact it’s a range-finder, i.e. quiet and relatively easy to focus.

There’s an interesting official Ricoh webpage for cameras of the past, plus a web page with the original manual…..if you’re contemplating purchasing one you might need this guide to replacing the light seals at ukcamera.com.

I had a brief later flirtation with an Yashica Electro GN from eBay which had a non-functioning meter. My advice would be to either buy from a camera shop (as it should have a guarantee of sorts) or read the eBay description very carefully. If in doubt, ask the seller…if still in doubt, let someone else take the risk. Unless the seller states that a camera is fully functioning then don’t waste your money - there are plenty of decent examples about (gets off soapbox).

 

After the Ricoh has clicked its last, the next victim was the Russian SLR Zenit B. The description “workmanlike” was created to describe this camera series. Very solid, very heavy, very much like a house brick. It did take pictures though, and there’s some ultra-cheap second-hand bargains to be had, plus some excellent lenses on the 42mm screw-mount. Take a look here for more info: Living Image Camera Museum, and a typical thread on photo.net.

I moved on to a pre-owned Yashica FX-3….somehow this got mis-placed…never found out if it was stolen or unintentionally discarded when I moved flat. I can remember the leatherette covering breaking up and being left with a peculiar suede-effect on the camera body.

A Minox GT purchase ensued. The Minox had failed to go click (dodgy shutter problem) in Iceland, though not after I’d taken some reasonable pics.  Its manual focus design can be fun at times, maddening at others.  If anything it does teach you how to judge distances and to take account of depth of field.

I then bought the GR1 as a handy travel camera. The pictures from India were all taken with a Ricoh GR1.
I think this is a superb camera for its size and a fabulous camera for travelling with…unfortunately Ricoh stopped making it for some reason! Later versions GR1v and GR1s were slight improvements on the original GR1 in terms of added functionality. I bought another GR1 due to the first one getting nicked in Detroit airport. This has been a constant companion on my travels and is looking knackered - paint worn off on the corners and the combined flash diffuser / front panel from the viewfinder has dropped off. Despite this, it still works a treat and the lens is as good ever - take this pic in a dimly-lit Budapest Central Market as an example of how the lens can perfom.

Nikon

Then a Nikon N2020 / F501 arrived on the scene. The Nikon was the company’s first consumer level auto-focus SLR camera. Some data, plus further links at the excellent Malaysian Photography MIR website - take a look around here for loads of info on lots of Nikon camera, plus others.

That worked rather well in combination with some 2nd-hand lenses gained from a fanatical devotion to the AP classified ads - why buy new? - I captured this camel shot with an old AI’d f4 200mm lens and Kodak EBX. Current kit is a Nikon F601. I’ll try and fill out more info about the lenses I’ve tried in due course (35-70 zooms, wide angles add shorter telphotos) in the mean time feel free to mail and ask me about ‘em, or look here nikon lens resource.

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Contax

To be honest I got fed up of carrying around a SLR and several lenses, plus a flash for fear of “missing” a shot because I didn’t have the right equipment at the time. Most of my shots were either with a wide angle or 35-70mm zoom so I figures a rangefinder with interchangable lenses might do for 90% of my pictures.

So I bought a Contax G1 and 45mm lens, based on reports of how good the lenses were. I’m glad I did as it’s a fantastic camera system. I’ve tried this along with the 28mm and 90mm lenses ans I have to say they are excellent.

People have complained about the focussing on the G-Series and how, variously, it isn’t a rangefinder or it’s inaccurate. Having subsequently tried a G2, I’m sure it’s a question of knowing how to use the focussing zone in the viewfinder. It’s sensitive in dim light even without the infra-red assist light. I guess some Leica owners can get jealous too….either way, use what you’re happy with and also happy losing/breaking/having stolen! There’s some more discussion at the fastest thumb in the west.

One moan that I do have is the lack of any Depth of Field information on the G cameras. One way to get around this is either shoot at f16 or smaller (not so clever) or use a DoF chart (far more intelligent). There’s splendid one at John Hendry’s website and even better it’s free. The other way is to memorise the hyperfocal distances; these are also given on John’s charts. As a suggestion you could attach the DoF tables to inside of the lens cap, or case. Lack of DoF scale is also a problem on many current zooms, so at least the G-series isn’t alone.

Take a look at the Contax G Pages for examples of photos produced with the camera range. There’s also a forum and technical advice.

Digitals & Scanners

Most of the pics on this site have been taken with the film, and most of these have been scanned with a Minolta ScanSpeed scanner. It took a while to figure out how to scan black and white negatives correctly; the manual doesn’t tell you this but by scanning a B&W negative as a colour slide you can capture the full range of greys on the negative. Convert the negative image back into a positive in PS or similar. Using the standard black and white setting on the scanner software produces a posterised effect which isn’t pleasant. I gather that there’s lots of scanners that have this peculiarity.

Compared to some photographers I’m a luddite when it comes to digital capture. I’m on my second digital compact camera (Canon IXY 4Mp bought in Japan) but haven’t switched yet to a digital SLR or comparable. I haven’t seen a compact digital camera that can match a GR1 loaded with ISO800 film in a low-light situation yet, the digitals being too noisy. Quite tempted by the D300 and its ability to take AIS lenses though….maybe I’ll purchase one, one day.

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Tips on buying Secondhand Equipment

There are several websites that give tips for inspecting cameras and lenses so I won’t cover the same ground here. The
RPS guide also gives pointers on selecting an appropriate camera in the first place. The
ephotozine guide is also worth a look at too.

The one thing that seems to be missing is my personal spin on things, and that’s to run some film through the camera (or camera and lens) as soon as possible. My recommendation is to simulate a “burn-in” as it’s known in the electronics industry. This is where a device is left running for a period, following a duty cycle, for example a tv might be switched on for 5 hours, flipping through its channels, turning the volume up and down, and then switched off. The cycle would then repeat a number of times.

The main result of this is that weak units will fail and not get passed on to the customer - in the engineering vernacular it’s infant mortality, compared to wearout or random/overload failures. It’s a technique for quality control. Regardless of this, the result of using this method for the camera purchaser is that a defective camera will be identified, taken back to the shop and swapped!

To carry all this out, I’d recommend sacrificing a roll of film and repeatedly running it through the camera, all the while changing shutter speed, aperture and anything else (exposure compensation, self-timer, flash, etc) and also changing the point of focus and zoom if applicable. Be switching the camera on and off too. Do this at least 10 times (370 shots?), all the time listening for odd noises and checking that everything’s working as it should. Don’t forget to try different lenses, or failing that just take the lens off and replace it several times.

Then get a fresh film out and try taking some pictures. Take this roll to a 1 hour processor and see if the camera and lens ensemble actually does work. You should be able to do this for close to ten quid: I believe it’s worth it. I believe you have to be cautious buying pre-owned stuff. Potentially you’re buying someone’s cast-off which may or may not be working properly…..potentially you can get a bargain that will last and last. I’ve ended up doing both!

I’d recommend using e-bay as a source of cheaper secondhand lenses but take great care with buying camera bodies there. Shops usually give a 6 or 12 month guarantee on pre-owned items whereas a lot of e-buy stuff is effectively bought-as-seen. There’s obviously far more to go wrong in a body than a lens mechanism so you’ll have to weigh up the risks versus the benefits of buying through ebay.

To summarise:

• Do your homework - make sure the iem you’re potentially purchasing is something you actually need or want! Carefully read the description on ebay - is the item described as fully working? If not, ask if it is! 
• Controls - check all levers, dials, knobs and other fiddly things all move properly
• Listen - does it sound right when it’s being operated? Does the shutter sound correct for its setting for example?
• Look - visually inspect to second-hand item. Check for dents that might be the result of having been dropped, and any scratches on the lens, is the viewfinder clear, etc?
• After purchase (or before if you’re lucky!) - do a “burn-in” test by running a sacrifical roll of film through it several times, followed by a real one that will be developed and printed.

That’s enough direction to be getting on with; it was starting to sound like the Green Cross Code with all the looking and listening. Apart from wearing sunscreen, my advice would be this: buy second-hand, but be cautious. This perception has been based on hard experience, a mixture of pleasing purchases and some mistakes.

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Film

There’s a tremendous range of film to be used in 35mm cameras. I’m not an expert on everything available, but here’s what I use anyway.

First off is Ilford HP5+ - I’ve got very nice results when pushed to ISO800 and developed in LC29. It’s been levelled that it can make every picture seem like typical English weather, i.e. dull and lifeless. Guess I must be used to it by now…

Kodak Tri-X can pushed to ISO800 very nicely
too: Empire State, taken with ambient light in a Manhattan street after dusk. Most of the pics in Manhattan were taken with this stuff. Guess NYC and Tri-X go together like a horse and carriage (cue for a song).

Ilford XP2 Super - tend to use this at weddings, very smooth grain…almost digital in appearance!

Ilford SFX200 Infrared - got this one free with a copy of Amateur Photographer if memory serves. Most of the pictures of Utrecht were taken with this. Apparently this stuff is used in GATSO cameras to take a two snaps of those naughty people who drive too quickly on the Queen’s Highways.

Ilford Delta 100 - very sharp; developed well in Ilfosol and LC29, and also with DDX. I’ve got a part-used roll of this stuff exposed at ISO800 by mistake…wonder what it’ll turn out like?

Fuji Reala - favourite colour film! I took this thoughtful boy with Reala.

Fuji Fujipress 800 - ISO800 negative film…very good at popular music venues; the Goldfrapp pics for example. Slightly grainy, but NeatImage can be used to smooth things out if you like the airbrushed look that digital brings….Superia 800 is the same film as Fujipress, too.  Just packaged differently.

Kodak EBX Slide - saturated colours are good in some circumstances, like this silhouette
of a camel and its owner for example. Slide film is handy in learning to expose correctly and especially being able to see mistakes, etc, but I think there’s a mis-placed mystique in using slide film and not a good negative one. I’m convinced a film like Reala will give comparable results to a slide film following some Levels manipulation in Photoshop.

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