Category Archives: Shop Talk

My Favorite Faves: Yashica Electro 35 GSN/GT

August 24, 2013 10:09 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I’m going to group these two cameras together, since they’re essentially the same – the GT just doesn’t have a hot shoe for a flash. They’re the same operationally, and I believe they have the same lens.


A picture of my niece with my GSN,  from 2005


A photo of my Yashica GT, taken last year

The Yashica Electro 35 GSN and GT are 35mm film rangefinder cameras. Have I ever told you about rangefinders before? They are cameras that are focused thusly: you look through the viewfinder and turn the focusing ring until the double image you see there is aligned. Just a little portion of the viewfinder is dedicated to this double image. These Yashica rangefinders each have a little sideways diamond shape that you align in order focus correctly. I actually think this way of focusing can be easier than what you have in a manual focus SLR, especially in lower light. That’s  because, with a rangefinder, as long as you can even see the outline of your subject, you can line up the double viewfinder image and have an in-focus picture.

My best attempt at photographing the viewfinder of my Yashica GT. See the little diamond in the middle? That’s how you get your image in focus. The double image is not aligned here, so that’s why the yellow area doesn’t quite look like a diamond.

The Yashicas are aperture priority cameras. That means the user chooses the aperture (f/1.7-16) and the camera chooses the shutter speed. It doesn’t tell you what the shutter speed will be. The only indication you have comes in the form of red and orange arrows on top of the camera and in the viewfinder that light up when you press the shutter release button halfway:  if you need to make the aperture smaller to avoid overexposure, you get the red arrow;  the orange arrow indicates a shutter speed of less than 1/30 second (hand holding shutter speeds slower than that will likely result in a blurry photo.) At this point,  you can a) steady the camera on a tripod or stable surface and go ahead with the photo  or b) try to set a larger aperture to see if the orange arrow disappears.  Either way, when the orange arrow lights up, the exposure will be correct, you just shouldn’t hand-hold the camera during the exposure. No lighted arrow means your chosen aperture will result in the proper exposure and hand-holdable shutter speed.

Warning arrows

Enough shop talk! Time to look at some pictures!

Yashica GSN

I believe I’ve had two of these cameras over the past 12 years or so. Perhaps three. I’ve lost count!

Yashica GT

After the demise of my second (or third) chrome GSN, I wanted to get a black version of that camera. That would be a Yashica GTN. I ended up with a GT instead. As I said earlier in this post, the difference between the GSN/GTN and the GT is that the accessory shoe on top of the GT is “cold” – meaning you have to use a flash with a sync cord instead of just being able to attach the flash to a GSN’s hot shoe. Otherwise it’s the same!

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I’ve obviously loved these Yashica rangefinders for people photography and just about everything else, too! Also obvious is that I LOVE the way black and white photos look from these cameras. If I could change something about the GSN/GT, it would their minimum focusing distance: they don’t focus any closer than 2 feet 6 inches. Otherwise, I enjoy the sharp lenses, quite leaf shutters, and the simplicity of using Yashica Electro 35 rangefinders.

Posted in: camera equipment, favorite faves, film photography, informational, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

My Favorite Faves: The Sears 55mm/1.4 lens

August 3, 2013 5:31 pm ⋅ 3 Comments ⋅

I just decided that I will begin a new series here on the SWP blog, about equipment or photos I love the best but which haven’t been written about on the blog yet. I have only had this blog since 2009, so there’s equipment I’ve used in the past or photos that were never shown here. Today, I begin with one of my all-time favorite lenses…

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This is a lens that was made to fit cameras with a lens mount called m42 screw mount  – or universal screw mount or Pentax screw mount. My first 35m SLR was an m42 mount, and I continued to use various m42 cameras for the first several years of foray into photography. I had a couple of favorite m42 lenses, but I think my absolute fave is the Sears 55mm/1.4. Yes, that Sears, though their lenses were reportedly made by Mamiya-Sekor.

The Sears lens came to me via my long-time pen pal, Mike, who was trying out a variety of equipment several years ago and allowed me to try some of it out. He let me keep this one instead of sending it to him in Australia! I love this lens so much that, not only have I shot it on actual m42 cameras, but I got an adapter so it’d work on my Nikon 35mm auto focus cameras, Nikon 35mm manual focus cameras, and a Nikon dSLR I used to have. What makes me so ga-go over the Sears 55mm/1.4? THE BOKEH (<—— that term is something I did my best to explain in a post or two in the early part of my SWP blogging career.)  I especially  love using it with a macro extension tube attached – it really emphasizes that dreamy, creamy, swirly bokeh that makes my heart go pitter-patter. Perfect for my style of food photography! And when it came to using this lens on my Nikon digital SLR, I actually even felt as if it gave my photos a more film-like appearance.  SO GOOD!

Difficult to cull my absolute favorite photos taken with this lens, but here’s my best attempt:

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4


Praktica VLC 3 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Praktica VLC3 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Yashica TL Electro-X + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon N50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon D50 + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon N8008 + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE  + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE +Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Nikon FE + Sears 55mm/1.4 + macro extension tubes

Now that I’ve looked at all these pictures, I think it’s high time I attach that Sears lens to one of my Nikons and take advantage of that beautiful bokeh again!

Posted in: camera equipment, favorite faves, informational, my favorite faves, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Giving Lomo a Go {Part One}

July 5, 2013 10:10 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I mentioned in a recent blog that I had never used Lomography film up to this point in my photographic journey, and I listed a couple of reasons why that is the case. I mean, it’s nothing personal, Lomography. Your films are just usually cost-prohibitive for me!  But I have always liked the idea that retailers who stock  Lomography film (such as Urban Outfitters) are stocking film types that you wouldn’t normally be able to find outside of a proper photo shop or that you’d have to order online.  So, say I was in Memphis and decided I wanted to shoot some medium format film in my Holga. I couldn’t just walk into Walgreens and get that. And sometimes photo stores aren’t open at night or on the weekend. I could waltz into Urban Outfitters and pick up a pack of medium format film, even if I had to pay a premium price for it  and even if it’s not really “pro grade.” Lucky for me though, our local Urban Outfitters recently put a whole slew of Lomography film on clearance. I was able to grab a few packs of their 35mm Color Negative 100 film super cheap!

I have been missing a non-professional grade color 100 ASA film, since that film speed is one that has almost gone the way of the buffalo because  film companies are cutting back on the types of film they still produce. For those of you who might not be familiar with film speeds/ISO/ASA: The lower the number, the more light needed to get a properly-exposed photo. And vice versa. Higher film speed, less light needed. Say you are shooting in bright daylight: it is generally to your advantage to use a lower film speed. Shooting in dimmer light? Higher film speed (this also holds true for film “sensitivities” on digital cameras.) There are other issues involved with the ISO rating of film you use, such as film grain and color saturation.  You tend to get brighter colors and finer film grain with the lower film speeds. The higher the film speed, the larger the grain.

The colors you get with 100 ASA film are a big reason that I miss having a lot of choices in that particular film speed. I used to enjoy Fuji’s Super HQ 100 film or Kroger 100 (rebranded Italian film) in my toy cameras. I miss those films! That’s why I had high hopes for the Lomography CN 100 I’d gotten from Urban. Did it live up to those hopes? Let’s take a look!

One of the custom motorcycles on display at an auto auction where my family caters meals

Fallen petals

The day Mallory came to visit me down in the great state of Mississippi 

Adventures in Como, MS with Mallory and some horses. There may or may not have been
a minor electrocution – don’t worry though. It WASN’T one of the horses…

Wildflowers and weeds while we were sitting under a tree in front of the horse pasture

Showing Como’s Main Street to Mallory – she thinks it’s the closest
thing to  Mayberry that she’s ever seen. That means she loved it.

Ricoh FF-1 • Lomography Color Negative 100

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Conclusion?

Based on this roll, the jury’s still out as to whether or not I’ll come to love Lomography CN 100. Most of it was shot on a very bright afternoon in Como, Mississippi. I (and most photographers) tend to avoid shooting outdoors in the brightest mid-afternoon light. So these photos may not really represent how I’d normally work with a film like this. Since I have eight rolls of Lomography CN 100 left,  I’ll have lots of opportunity to put it through its paces! And, I’ll keep you posted about my findings!

Posted in: film photography, informational, shop talk ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

{X-pro} Expo

July 3, 2013 9:51 am ⋅ 2 Comments ⋅

A few months ago,  Urban Outfitters had a bunch of Lomography film on sale for half price. I’d never tried any of their films before, since it’s not really any cheaper than the more “serious” brands of film that I normally use. Or even any cheaper than the less serious ones I use. But when I saw all that film that UO had on clearance, I decided now was as good a time as any to give Lomography film* a try. I grabbed a few packs of their 100 ASA color negative film because it was too cheap to pass up. Also too cheap to pass up was some of their Xpro Chrome 100, which is slide film that they mean for you to “cross process” (or x-pro.) That means you take film that would normally be processed in chemicals specific to its type and process it in chemicals meant for a different type of film. Most of the time, cross-processing is referring to taking slide (positive) film that would normally be processed in E-6 chemicals,  and processing it in regular color (negative) film C-41 chemicals**.  Depending on the slide film, it can give you crazy color shifts or color casts, or high contrast and super saturation (click here to see a bunch of my cross-processed stuff from over the years to see what I mean.)

(Is that whole paragraph much technical information to follow?? I know a lot of you have seen an Xpro fiilter on Instagram!! Maybe it gives you a frame of reference??)

What could this Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 do for me though? I loaded a roll of it into my Ricoh FF-1, and I found out what it could do! I didn’t have anything specific in mind that I wanted to shoot with the Xpro 100; I just carried my FF-1 around and pulled it out when I saw something I liked.

A beauty shop in my town, that I love to photograph

Mustang

Discarded shop sign

“Please, no pictures”

Ghostly niece and dogs

Lunch on the Memphis Pizza Cafe patio

Inexplicable double exposure of my friend during a Midtown photo shoot

One of my favorite post offices 

Boat shop drive-by

Cracker Barrel rockers

Niece’s new neon kicks

Waffle House dinner after a photo shoot with my niece

Ricoh FF-1 • Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 • cross-processed 

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Conclusion?

I really loved the results – the photos were contrasty, but not over the top with color shifts. Just enough to look a little different than the norm. Now I’m kicking myself for not picking up more than one pack of it when I had the chance to get it for 50% off! Maybe I’ll find a good deal on some again soon!

*As far as I know, most Lomography film is film produced by other companies which Lomography has purchased and rebadged
**Sometimes it can be tricky to get slide film cross processed because certain labs think it will mess up their C-41 chemistry, but I think that any effect on the processing chemicals are negligible. Lomography helps out users of their xpro chrome films, by labeling the film canister “C-41.” I certainly had no problem getting the local drugstore mini-lab to process the photos in this post.
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