52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 7 – The Braun Super Paxette

I was handed the Paxette with the words “I found it in the bottom of a box of bits!” 

I didn't even know Braun made cameras!  Something perhaps worth knowing is aside from trying to produce a great interesting image photographers usually have a secondary passion. It may be trying different films pushing/pulling/testing them to their limits and beyond, maybe the processing, different developers, experimenting endlessly to find their perfect look. Me? Its the cameras! I like them, A LOT! Trying to squeeze an image out of an old sometimes tatty slightly broken box excites me.

This little fella, and it is little, is a looker. Lots of shiny silver bits adorning a classic black body. While small it has a chucky feel like it has been on steroids. Lovely. Everything appeared to be ticketty boo except the week! Wet, dark and dreary and I was committed to a week from hell at work! Time was not my friend. I would be going with a single roll, colour – Agfa Vista and pushed to 400, pushing something I usually fail at. I will apologise now for the boring images but I literally shot going to and from an endless stream of Christmas work functions. I have to say it behaved well for something that had been forgot for some time. Easy to use, the advance moved smoothly leaving excellent spacing on the negative strip. Shutter swished sharply. The focus planes on the range finder system were visible if not a little awkward on busy dark scenes but workable and I was pleased with the sharpness of the final (dull) images. There was clearly a parallax issue on closer shots but given a roll or 2 more I would have sorted that. In short I loved this little muscle bound camera, I just wish I had one or two of the available interchangeable lenses, better weather and more time with it. It just about fits in a pocket, hangs comfortably around the neck in its classic brown leather case.

There are other cameras I yearn for ahead of this but I will be keeping my eye out for one for sure.

Week 6      The Zeiss Ikon Nettar

Russells choice of the Nettar was an interesting one for me as I owned a Zeiss Ikon myself in the Ikoflex. There were some similarities I was keen to check out. If you don't know the Ikoflex it is a TLR, my model from around 1937. This Nettar, a little pocket folder (not that little) was from 1951/3. Both running 120mm 6x6 frames and the same (I assume no difference) novar lens. Obvious difference, aside from the folding single lens, was the Nettar having an eye level viewer and being a range finder.

Learning from my previous lessons of rushing in blindly I took it home and searched what I could about it to give myself a fair crack. It was mostly positive and straight forward. I gave it a good clean as it was pretty dusty but all working parts seemed to do what they should. Once more we were at the start of FP4Party shoot week so I had already made my mind up it was joining in! FP4+ loaded ready for morning

I awoke to darkness and the light levels were awful! With an aperture only opening to F6.3 coupled with my chosen asa 125 I was already in trouble. I agreed with a review I had read that the uncoated Novar lens was pretty good anywhere over F8! I shot a couple on day one but gave up and fell back on working party shots on my Yashica. Day 2 I had limited time but an hour of brightness gave me a chance to work it and all seemed ok and I was going to get away with it. From that point on we were surrounded by fog, a fog that stayed right to the bitter end! I decided to just work through it, having, for some unfathomable reason decided to shoot expired FP4 in the Yashi needing rating at asa 64 both my cameras would struggle, so clutching a tripod I set of for the river under the bridges at Saltash passage. I shot the Yashica on the tripod but kept true to the pocket camera status with the Nettar occasionally utilizing the handy flat base the folding plate offered.

How did it work out? Well, as you can see from the images not too bad at all! Yes, some I am on or just below the limit of the camera but it gave it's best for what it is. When the light was good enough it performed well and I mostly enjoyed it. The eye level viewer was not my preferred way of taking 6x6s but I have been spoilt with my TLRs. The lens is not razor sharp but has I quality really like and impressive for a camera a 10^th of the price of many “super sharp” cameras. There was a LOT of dust mind you, the folding in and out clearly moved a lot of dust vacuum style around the folding obscura box! ………one more lesson learned! Clean, then clean it again!

Good camera, no issues I didn't cause. I didn't love it but I liked it.

The Canon FP

Week 5 was a weird week. Plymouth saw frost, mist, haze and awful light. Having picked up the camera a day early I did a little research. Released in 1964 (the year of my birth) so expected it to still be as fit as a fiddle! I read it was basically a stripped down version of the FX with the main difference, no on board light meter, however this came with a clip on light meter built for those wanting a light meter! Odd but still, if I had the option back then I would have plumped for the FP + meter as it looks cooler. I measured it up against other 35mm full manual cameras on Russells shelf (Pentax K1000 etc) and they are much of a muchness, personal taste would be a deciding factor I think. Anyway, after some fettling I decided not to use the meter and to go with my hand-held as that was its very purpose.

Roll 1, Agfa vista 200, a cheap test roll to get its mark. Initially I thought I had made a mistake, I had kind of hinted I wanted something of this ilk but first impression was “bugger, I already know this”, my first love being my Pentax Me Super, a camera pretty similar so this was not meeting the purpose of testing myself against the camera! Still I soldiered on in not very inspiring conditions. After a while I got into the groove and started to click away with controlled abandon. I do like the comforting sound of mirror slap, the swish of the faster shutter and the smooth ratchet of the advance lever ….right up until the last few frames where it got a little testy? Hmmm, once developed, I first decided it was time for some fresh Chems! Also there were a few half frames and the last few had a little overlap.

Roll 2, Ilford Delta 400 pro (which I accidently on purpose pulled to 200!) As soon as I popped in the BW I felt more into it. Revelling in the street walks snapping away, I was enjoying it. As the roll came to an end the repeat of the first roll reappeared, I think its nothing serious, just a sticky curtain which a good clean will rectify.

In conclusion its a good sharp 35mm camera that gives you everything a full manual 35mm can. I imagine preference for maker and aesthetic appearance would be really the only difference from its counterparts. Me, personally I will stick with my little Pentax. Russell! Stop me making easy option choices in future please!

WEEK 4, The Kodak No1 Pocket JNR,

I had picked up the folder a few days before to give me a chance to get a feel for it and give it a clean. My first proper folder! There were many makes, models and variants to choose of his shelf but this ran 120mm and looked in good nick. This model from around the mid to late 20s we think had shutter speeds of 25/50/100^th – aperture ran from f6.8 to f32 and focused with a ring distance finder marked 6ft up to 100ft…slow then!  I practiced loading with spare backing paper and found the spring holders and single pin on the advance knob left a slackness in the film roll, the only thing keeping the two ends apart was the folding section when you refitted it.

I loaded the first film. Ilford HP5 thinking the 400 speed would give me more flexibility with my vintage clip on yellow filter hood combo. I decided to run it as aperture priority fixed 100^th speed. First shot I set up purposefully got all my stings right and clipped on the hood, click! One of the 8 in the bag! Damn, the clip had spun the focus ring way out – note to self…. I won??™t bore you with every shot but 2 and 3 took an hour of dedicated labour involving stepping back to assure the tripod mounted camera was in fact level, attempting to nail the settings and trying to frame where I thought the oncoming ship would end up! The waist level viewfinder perched by the lens is about 10mm by 15mm, clear but tiny! I found myself actually doing the square finger framing trying to visualise the 9x6 frame. This continued through the short roll. I developed it in rodinal, Stand for 1 hour, a safe option which would give me a starting point. The results were good, I had low expectations and fully accepted there would be light leaks etc. there was, but the images were good – very good! I was pleased!!!!!

Roll 2, I debated whether to run a colour but I felt I had unfinished business and loaded an FP4+, risky slow film given Sundays forecast. I gaffered all possible light leaks and set off to the moors, shot 3 landscapes with due care then drove to Meavy river/bridge to try some slower shots, set at 1/25^th , tripod in failing light deep in a wood! The last frame had dropped below the levels of the camera but I took it anyway. Home and straight in the tank, this time I tried a new developer fo r me, Ilfosol 3, I chose weaker option and took 30 seconds of the advised times. I held my breath but the negs looked light! Thin! I need not have worried once scanned they were beyond my expectations. Depth, detail with nice exposure levels, I was very happy.

To sum up I liked shooting this old lady, it was deliberately slow yet satisfying. You could throw money at it to cure the leaks but as a cheaply priced camera as many folders are just good old gaffer tape and care will do the trick giving a nice cheap entry into medium format. I got great satisfaction from just 16 frames, and I will add I learned something about my own photography processes along the way, a most rewarding experience, I will definitely be adding a folder to my brood!

Further ramblings of a novice!

For weeks now every time I walked into Russell's shop a particular camera confronted me. Russell likes it so it's front and centre! I myself wasn't overly fond of it and hoped someone would buy it ASAP. No such luck – Week 3 the Voigtlander Vitessa. Another rangefinder but at least this one had the overlapping image to pinpoint focus...nope! This was, along with what also transpired, the automatic parallax correction (I am certain they are the same problem, and will be fixed!) Anyway where was I? Yes, the first thing to take me by surprise was when I depressed the shutter to open the double barn doors, was the energetic way it did it. It was like Arkwrights till! TBF, once you have done it you get used to softening it with your fingers as directed in the manual but it is a bit aggressive. The manual will feature as we go on!!!

I read said manual and had it sorted, loaded and advanced using the innovative plunger (cool feature) to 2? Hmm, when weather permitted I got through a roll of Agfa Vista pronto and went for the rewind, press button – yes- rewind ye....twang! I tore film from cassette! Once home I re-read instructions and slapped myself promising to read instructions properly in future! I extracted film successfully in darkroom, phew!

Once processed it was clear that its' depth of field was relative to its' settings and was capable of quite narrow. My distance judgement wasn't great and on closer shots it was clear I was out a tad and everything was about 20% to the right. The lost 2 images did appear, both of my forehead, both out of focus and a bit to the right.

I decided to only commit to another Vista roll given my start, It loaded great, ran well and unloaded perfectly. All my fault then. I ran the second roll using the EV system and as with the manual settings of first roll exposers etc. were all good. Once I had gotten used to the beastie (read the instructions) it was a fairly straight forward camera to use with just a different load and unload. Build quality was Germanesque and with it's black and silver classic look with many trick features it is a nice looking camera, but I just didn't click with it! Nothing wrong with it, but it didn't float my boat.

My apologies for the rather dull pics, weather left little shoot time and I struggled with focus issues.

Week 2 – Ilford Advocate

I arrived at the shop to return the Rollei with my weeks work excited to see what he had planned for week 2.

"Here you go" he said, "This might make your @FP4Party interesting!" The said party being a photo challenge run every month by film community legend @EMULSIVEfilm. Now over 400 followers shoot Ilford FP4+ in week 1, process week 2, post week 3 and as a community choose the best in week 4. He handed me a rather nice tanned leather case that had that rubbed patina in all the right places, creamy off white stitching with the name ILFORD in raised embossed letters boldly on the front. I popped the popper and revealed an ivory enameled camera with a black and silver face with ADVOCATE neatly printed on it. Safe to say first impression was good! I slid it out of the case and the first thing that struck me was its' simplicity. No meter! No silly slot to hold scraps of film lid. No film counter window or any fancy bits. You get a smooth body, a viewing site on top in the middle of 2 silver knobs and the face – the face! Silver rimmed black rings x3. Outer for shutter speed (bulb to 200^th) middle is rangefinder (guessometer) inner aperture....simple....beautiful

Now my experience of rangefinder is 1 roll less than my 8yr old – she has shot 1! I am not convinced by that roll either, still the blurb said it had exceptional depth of field rendering almost everything in focus! Yeah, right! Roll 1, Agfa Vista colour 200 (Poundland special) I decided to push this claimed DoF to the limit! I shot close, like under 3 feet, landscape and as many front to back leading lines as I could. Everything between f5.6 and 11 at 1/100^th.

Into the fluid it went, if it was to be used for @FP4Party week they had to be good. It had shot 26 frames and I expected a couple of half frames but no! 26 full frames perfectly spaced, into the scanner and I was pleasantly buoyed by the thumb nails. Viewing the full frames left me a tad gobsmacked. The slightly rarer Wray lens this Mk 11 model (c1956) had been fitted with was pleasingly sharp and the DoF as promised was frankly impressive!

Roll 2. FP4+ (Yes I went for it) I shot around Plymouth Hoe and city on a film walk with student Annika Stuke, I let her take a few for fun. I made the most of the selection of push on filters neatly housed in the case lid and repeated the same leading lines etc. As before, long story short I again was not disappointed with the processed results. Quite impressive considering how little I had used this camera. I got 38 frames for my money btw!

In summary, this is a beautiful camera. It has weight yet sits comfortable for long periods around the neck. Looks and feels great to use and wear. The rangefinder system exceeded my expectations with a reasonable approximation of distance dialled in it produces images of great quality and sharpness for a camera designed to be an all rounder. The build quality is exceptional, every part beautifully made and doing exactly what it was designed for. It makes you want to slip on a tweed suit while meandering around some race meet or classic rally! My early misgivings gave way to pure delight in this gorgeous little package of fun, I am sad to see it go!

On to week 3!

Week One: Rolleiflex T 

The untrained eye!

Before I start rambling on I guess some are wondering "why not just CLA them, and stick them in the window?" Well, simple! There's no fun in that!!!  

So, I arrive at Soperfect Images and Russell smiles, then hands me the Rollieflex. Why smile? Just a few weeks earlier I had mmm'd and aaaah'd in that same place over the Rollei and a Yashica Mat 124g. I picked the yashi and now he was testing me, he has a playful streak this man.

I might as well hold my hand up now, I have a bit of a soft spot for TLR,s and the 6x6 frame, even if trying to find the horizon leaves me robot dancing in public places!

I ran 3 rolls over the week – I had planned 2 but completely cocked up the first (did I mention I was a novice?) so that one doesn't count! The first proper roll, a slightly expired Velvia 50 went well. Focus with the fitted split screen was a doddle (note for wifely, they do them for mine! Christmas?) but the old cranky handle seamed stiff. Noted down, needs attention. Ran the roll using the on board light meter and post development proved it about a stop over but if calibration doesn't fix it then it could be allowed for in future use, not a huge problem as there's always hand held meters.  I found the EV scale on the side a pain having to keep tipping it sideways (something you'd get used too) but once done really useful for depth of field decisions.

Roll 2 (3) a BW Fp4+ started well but from there it went south! Cranky handle not the issue! Missed frames and advancing became a full work out, just 5 frames and all scratched quite badly, but nicely exposed (I used a hand held meter for this one) so a premature end to the day. Summed up, an easy start to our project, I prefer the Yashica, just! There isn't much in it and I am a little bias. Once fixed, and it will be! I hope it gets a loving home.

A little post note, twice over the week I was stopped and asked " ooo is that Yashica?" I found myself miffed by this, why I don't know......I chose right didn't I?

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With so many vintage and retro cameras in our shop we decided to run this project to show that the cameras are not just for display but to be used. Each week a different camera will go out with our photographer Ashley. We will be using cameras from all different eras. 

About Ashley.

Who am I? Ashley Brown Williams, A northerner residing in southern England Plymouth. Keen film photographer but a bit of a novice. Self taught with much advise from many talented film shooters I have gotten to know via twitter world. I come from an era when film was the norm and have enjoyed returning to it with gusto! I think I am getting better.

When Russell approached me to be involved in this fun project (once I had stopped leaping around his shop) I agreed immediately. I don't intend to "review" each camera in a technical fashion, I don't have the knowledge for that. Just how I found using some of the cameras Russell has acquired!

Feel free to pop into our shop in Plymouth, sunny Devon, to look at the large selection of cameras, lenses and accessories we have available. We buy, sell, part exchange and sell on commission. 

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