Argentina & Chile Holiday
After many many years from not being back and roughly 30 years since seeing my dad i finally make it back to Argentina. Along with the kids meeting my family for the first time. Also getting to spend some time in Chile exploring the south.
It had roughly been 2 to 3 years since we had travelled overseas due to you know what. So we decided we should take a trip when school finishes at the end of 2022, Seb would have finished high school at that stage and Lucas would have finished for the year. Conveniently both work for my wife and I shuts down at the end of the year for roughly a week and a half.
So the question was where do we go?
So i initially thought Japan again (can never over do Japan), but because it will likely be our last trip overseas with Seb due to the fact that a 17 year old generally doesnt want to do anything with their parents for any amount of extended time i thought why not take a trip to South America and introduce my side of the family to my kids who they have never met and to my father who non of them have ever met. Then also head over to see my wifes family.
So it was decided, we spend 9 or so days in Argentina and the rest in Chile were we can also do some sight seeing.
Before we get on with the trip we need to talk about the camera gear i was taking with me of course, this is more about the photography than my poor story telling skills.
I wanted to keep it reasonably light so i took my Contax S2b with my Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm F2.8 on the film side of things and my new to you Fujifilm X-Pro3 (purchased Nov 2021). With my X-Pro3 i took my Fujifilm 27mm f2.8, 35mm f1.4, 16mm f1.4 and 56mm f1.2. Although the lens that was on the camera the most was my 27mm f2.8 pancake, it just made the camera so much more compact. This also confirms that i prefer the 35mm full frame focal length (23mm on an APSC sensor), i think its the perfect all round lens for travel. I found the 27mm a tad too cropped in and i figure the 23mm f1.4 will get added to my lens arsenal very soon. But the 27mm was the closest to that focal length in my lens bag which is likely why it sat on the camera for most of the trip.
Fujifilm X-Pro3 with the 27mm f2.8 while on a river crossing in Castro
Without going too deep into the X-Pro3, one of the things ive loved is the recipes you can create with the various simulations. Of course if you have a Fujifilm you need to go to fujixweekly and get started with some recipes. Since i got the body ive been playing with 2 recipes from fujixweekly which is the Kodak Tri-X (very close to the real thing) and a Nostalgia recipe which i came across on Youtube with iamtongue tweaked version of a fujixweekly recipe. Ive been playing with these recipes for the last 6 months and made slight tweaks and reached a point that im happy with.
All the images youll see in this blog entry are jpg’s made with these recipes, slight tweaks like contrast and brightness in post but thats about it.
Here are my tweaked recipes:
Kodak Tri-X 400
- Film Simulation: Acros + G filter
- Grain Effect: Strong Large
- Color Chrome Effect: Strong
- Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
- White Balance: Daylight - R:9, B:-9
- Dynamic Range: DR100
- D Rand Priority: Off
- Tone Curve: H:0, S:+2
- Sharpness: -1
- Noise Reduction: -4
- Clarity: +4
- Exposure Compensation: +1
- ISO: 1600+
Nostalgia
- Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
- Grain Effect: Strong Large
- Color Chrome Effect: Strong
- Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
- White Balance: Auto - R:2, B:-5
- Dynamic Range: DR200
- D Rand Priority: Off
- Tone Curve: H:-1, S:-1
- Color: +2
- Sharpness: -1
- Noise Reduction: -4
- Clarity: +2
- Exposure Compensation: +1
- ISO: 1600+
Back to the trip, we flew into Santiago from Sydney as there is no direct flight to Buenos Aires with Qantas, and from there we flew to Buenos Aires.
Heading to Buenos Aires from Santiago
Now this wasnt long after Argentina won the World Cup and the Argentinian team was due to arrive in Argentina. Lucky for us we arrived in Buenos Aires the day after the team arrived, otherwise it would have been chaos trying to get anywhere.
Sample jersey released after Argentina won the World Cup (not for sale unfortunately).
Jetlag hits hard for those of us traveling to South America from Australia as your meant to be sleeping when your awake and awake when your meant to be sleeping. The first morning in Buenos Aires was an early start.
As you can imagine after not seeing my family in Argentina for 17 years and some for 30, i spent most of my time catching up with them and not doing much sight seeing. Here is a mix of some of my fave pics from Argentina. In all honesty i should have taken way more pictures in Argentina but i let everyones comments get to me thinking i was going to get my camera stolen around every corner. In the end i physced myself out and didnt end up taking it with me many places.
Chile was where we could explore a bit more, here are some of my favourite randoms in Santiago after we arrived from Buenos Aires.
The next part of the trip we head down to the south of Chile, this starts off with us taking a flight to Puerto Montt very early in the morning and then drive 4 hours to Cucoa. During the 6 days we spent in the south of Chile we explored various attractions in Castro, Cucoa, Quellon and Puerto Montt. Here are some of my faves from that part of the trip.
When we got back from the south of Chile we drove to Valparaiso to explore a bit, here are some of my faves from that day.
Here are some of my favourite randoms from around Santiago.
Cant be in Santiago and not go to Cerro San Cristobal to see Santiago, you need rain for it to clear up the views of all the smog but still nice to get up there.
Lastly here are some of the final randoms i enjoyed from Santiago.
I did mention that i took my film camera with me, i only shot 1 roll with it which was a roll of Kodak Portra 400. I havent been keeping my film in the fridge and i think it may have deteriated over time, or im just severly under exposing the images. Anyway enough excuses, here are my faves from that roll.
All in all it was a great trip, happy i got to see my family and my wifes family and was great to see the south of Chile.
Even more stoked on the Fujifilm X-Pro3 and absolutely loving the Nostalgia and Tri-X recipes. Will hopefully put together another blog post of my experience with the X-Pro3 so far and share some of my favourite images taken with it.
For some other pics from the trip check out my saved Instagram highlights and posts.
Thanks for visiting.
Recent Random Outdoor Adventures
Recent random outdoor adventures over 2021/2022 christmas period.
So towards the end of December 2021 and early January 2022 my family and some friends went out into nature for a couple of day adventures, of course i took my camera with me and took some happy snaps along the way.
December 2021 - Marley Beach Hike
The national park is a pretty big place, so many places with many adventures to be had. We decided to take on the challenge to Marley Beach which is roughly a 1.5hrs one way hike to the beach from the road. Along the way you pass some really nice landscapes and ponds you could take a dip in before you reach the beach.
The beach itself is stunning and we were lucky enough to get a beautiful day to enjoy it. One thing to keep in mind is youll have another 1.5hr hike back to your car!
Here are some of the better snaps.
January 2022 - Fruit Picking
If your in Sydney and you want to go fruit picking your pretty much going to end up in Bilpin. Bilpin is generally known for its apples and cider, but there is a bunch of other fruit to pick there as well. Its not apple picking time in January so we ended up picking some Blood Plums, White and Yellow Netarines and Peaches. Not only was the fruit big but nice and juicy as well.
Here are some of the snaps from that day.
January 2022 -Minnehaha Waterfall
This was on the same day as the fruit picking as it wasnt too far from Bilpin, the Minnehaha Waterfall hike isnt as long as Marley Beach but its a much more treacherous hike with steep, slippery sections. As you will see from the snaps its a worth the hike. The water is cold but after hiking there in the humidity and heat youll welcome the colder water which will at the very least be refreshing. It can get busy so probably worth heading there before the crowds.
Here are the snaps from that hike.
My Digital Journey
My digital journey from my first digital camera purchase to my current camera and everything in between with a collection of my favourite images taken from each.
Most of the blogs i like to write are about film photography, thats probably because the film bug hit me around the time i decided to create this site for myself. But in all the years ive been into photography the majority of the time i would have been shooting with a digital camera. So i thought id share the journey from my first digital camera to my current, and also share some images along the way.
Fujifilm FinePix S5500 - Acquired 2005 - 3935 Images Taken
Lets start with the first camera, the reasoning behind getting my first digital camera was that i wanted to have a camera that took some nice pictures for when my first son was born in 2005. So just before March 2005 i took the plunge and went for a Fujifilm FinePix S5500, thinking back i decided to go with that camera as it was a step under a proper DSLR in looks. At the time DSLRs were expensive and i didnt really know much about them so i stayed away.
Its crazy to think that this is a 4mp camera with a 1/2.7 inch Type CCD sensor, that had an ISO range of 64-400! It did also have a video option which was a max resolution of 640x480. It came with a 37-370mm (10x optical zoom) 35mm equivalent lens which was more than enough. Blows me away that the rear screen is a 1.5”, how could i even see any images on it??
Considering the spec i did manage to document my son and various other occasions so i cant complain. Here are some of my favourites shots with it.
Canon EOS-1D - Acquired Early 2007 - 986 Images Taken
Probably going to be a shock to most but my next camera was a Canon EOS-1D. In late 2007 i got a new job at a media company who have a photography department. Now i wasnt employed as a photographer but i supported them in an IT perspective. As you can imagine press photographers would always get the latest and greatest gear specially because they are used so heavily. With that being said there were older cameras lying around which i managed to borrow for a period. This was my introduction to the world of DSLRs, it was a rude shock into how much i didnt know about photography. I had no idea what aperture, shutter speed or ISO really meant or did.
So if your not aware the 1D series in the Canon range is the professional range, so there are some priority (auto) modes on them but as i was picking up a used one that a press photographer had used it was set to manual and i didnt know how to change it back. The Canon EOS-1D was the first professional grade DSLR, so as you can imagine the spec of it wasnt very good compared to nowadays. Wasnt much better than my Fujifilm FinePix S5500 when it came to resolution with the Canon EOS-1D having a 4mp APS-H sensor and an ISO range of 100-3200. The lens i used with it was a 17-35mm f2.8 which is still a great lens.
This camera opened my eyes to the world of photography and helped cement the fundamentals of how to use a camera and what each of the settings did and affected the image. If you want to learn what shutter speed, aperture and ISO do to an image switch to manual mode and youll be forced to figure it out. It was pretty cool being able to chat with professional photographers about gear and getting some general tips on how to use the camera.
I didnt have the 1D for a very long time but here are some of the pics with this camera, as you will see i didnt figure out how to change colour balance until some time later (i purposely left those with the incorrect colours).
Canon 40D - Acquired 2007 - 14675 Image Taken
So up until now i havent really spent much on photography gear besides the Fujifilm FinePix S5500 (which wasnt much compared to a DSLR), but in 2007 i decided i wanted to buy myself a DSLR i could truly say is mine (not borrowed). I saved enough for a Canon 40D with a battery grip (come to think of it now i dont know why i bothered with the battery grip, if i was buying it now i would have put that money into buying the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 instead) and all i could afford for a lens was the nifty 50, so the Canon EF 50mm F1.8. Doesnt seem like much but that was roughly $2200 AUD back then!
I loved this camera and took it with me every where as it was half the size of the Canon EOS-1D that i was borrowing. On top of that it was a 10mp APS-C sensor so 6mp more than the Canon EOS-1D. The only thing i missed on the 1D was all of the focus points it had, the 40D only had 9 to choose from.
I had this camera for around 4 years before i replaced it so i added to the lens collection, from the beginning i still had the Canon EF 17-35mm F2.8 i was borrowing. I bought a super cheap Canon EF 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS, eventually got Canon EF 20mm F2.8 and then upgraded to a Canon EF 50mm F1.4 after my wife dropped and broke my Canon EF 50mm F1.8.
I have some great memories with this camera, here are some of my favourite images taken with it.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 - Acquired 2009 - 2096 Images Taken
In 2009 i thought i would buy a point and shoot that would allow me to use it in conditions where a normal digital camera would essentially break. What i mean by that is i wanted a camera that was weather proof. So along came the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 shock/dust/waterproof point and shoot camera. Admittedly my wife used this camera most of the time when we would go on holidays while i took the DSLR around but i would take this with me on snowboarding trips etc. So this camera has taken the most amount of pictures of me than any other.
Of course i got it in the orange as i wanted to make sure i could find it if i ever dropped it in the snow or the ocean. It was modestly spec’d with a 12mp 1/2.33" sensor, 80-6400 ISO, 28-128mm equivalent zoom, large 2.7” rear LCD screen and had a modest 1280x720 @ 30fps video option.
Perfect little camera to throw in your pocket and bring out when you needed it, here are some of my faves with it.
Canon EOS-1D Mark III - Acquired 2011 - 12452 Images Taken
So it had been 4 years since i bought the Canon 40D and again i got the opportunity to long term borrow another body from work, so in 2011 i managed to get the Canon EOS-1D Mark III that was in surprisingly good condition considering it had been through a press photographer.
The Canon EOS-1D Mark III didnt have an improvement in megapixel for the sensor, so still the 10mp sensor but there was all the other benefits of having a pro body like auto focus, focus points, button layout etc. Its crazy how quickly you get accustomed to the layout of a 1D camera. Aperture and shutter dials right at your thumb and index finger in natural positions where your hand would be on the camera.
This time around the 1D didnt intimidate me that much as i had the experience from the previous as well as the Canon 40D i had been using which allows you to easily translate across to the 1D.
Looking back at the pictures from this camera i was getting into car photography so you’ll see a bunch of car shots. What made motorsport so accessible now was that i also borrowed a Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 IS. This lens was tac sharp and perfect for tracking fast cars. Along with the 70-200mm i also managed to swap out the tired Canon 17-35mm F2.8 i was borrowing for a more modern Canon 16-35mm F2.8 which was sharper and in better shape.
Here are some of my favourites.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV - Acquired 2014 - 10161 Images Taken
So much like the Canon EOS-1D Mark III i traded it in for the Canon 1D Mark IV in 2014 through work. Yes im one lucky guy to have been able to get my hands on some awesome gear, i think the photographers at work went through another refresh so there was a bunch more cameras sitting around.
The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV had a jump in megapixel to 16mp which wasnt much compared to some of the other cameras out at the time but it did have 10fps.
So as you can see below the car craze continued with the majority of the pictures being cars, it did help getting the Mark IV with the better focus tracking and higher fps.
Please enjoy some of my faves with the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV.
Fujifilm X-T10 - Acquired Early 2017 - 4391 Images Taken
This is where things get exciting again for me, much like when i first bought my Canon 40D all those years ago. I think i was at a stage where photography wasn’t as fun as it had been when i first started, on top of that i was pretty sick of lugging around a massive Canon EOS-1D series body everywhere when i wanted to take pictures.
So in January of 2017 i was going to be heading to Japan on a snowboarding trip, at this point i said to myself there is no way im going to be taking a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV on that trip with a Canon 16-35mm F2.8 and probably a Canon 50mm F1.4. I wasnt going to take a suitcase, just a large travel snowboard bag with all my clothes and gear in that, and of course a backpack for general carry on stuff. Also i wanted to take something with me while i was snowboarding to document some of that part as well, so no way that was going to be the 1D.
With this in mind in December of 2016 i started doing some research for some mirrorless cameras which was all the craze at the time and fit my need of having a small portable camera. There wasn’t many manufacturers at the time to choose from that had anything worthwhile. But i wanted a camera with interchangeable lenses, had to look good and had decent features. I didnt want a top tier camera at this stage just a mid tier as i wasn’t looking to replace the Canon gear. So after plenty of research i settled on the Fujifilm X-T10 which was cheaper at the time as the X-T20 was just out, although i could have afforded it if i had bought a kit lens with it i decided to stick with the Fujifilm X-T10 body and splurge on a better lens so i picked up the Fujifilm 35mm F1.4. A decision i have not regretted.
The Fujifilm X-T10 is a great little camera with a 16mp APS-C sensor, 200-6400 ISO, 1080/60p video and more importantly its small.
This camera made me want to go out and shoot again, i wanted to take it with me everywhere which is exactly how i felt with the Canon 40D. There wasnt a moment i didnt have it with me.
As for how it went with its intended purchase of using it on my snowboarding trip to Japan? Exactly what i hoped for, it was the perfect size to have around my neck or to put in a small back pack while snowboarding. I was blown away at the sharpness of the lens and the quality of the shots it produced. I was hooked.
Here are some of my faves with it.
Fujifilm X-T2 - Acquired Late 2017 - 23414 Images Taken
From the point i got back from my Japan snowboarding trip i started looking at getting rid of all of my Canon gear and switching completely over to Fujifilm with the Fujifilm X-T2 being my primary camera for all of my fun.
The Japan trip showed me the potential of the Fujifilm X-Series and i was hooked, 100% convinced that it was a good move and i wasnt going to look back. By September i had the Fujifilm X-T2 in my hand and all of my Canon gear gone/returned.
My desire for shooting motorsport had dropped off a bit and the need to replace the 70-200mm wasnt on the top of my list but rather i was interested in prime lenses. So along with my Fujifilm 35mm F1.4 i added the Fujifilm 16mm F1.4 and the Fujifilm 56mm F1.2 over the next couple of years. One of these days i might pull the trigger on a Fujifilm 50-140mm F2.8 although the lens at the top of my list to purchase next is the Fujifilm 23mm F1.4. The only other lens i purchased is the Fujifilm 27mm F2.8 which i purchased to be permanently on the Fujifilm X-T10.
Again much like the Fujifilm X-T10 the X-T2 sparked that desire to shoot again, aesthetically the X-T2 is a beautiful camera to look at, one of the prettiest on the market if you ask me with maybe the Fujfilm X-Pro3 being the only one to top its looks (next body purchase?).
I cant see myself ever getting rid of the X-T2, its got more than enough megapixels at 24mp and does 4k video, those 2 specs alone will make the X-T2 relevant for years to come. Although i do think the Fujifilm X-Pro3 is knocking at the door……
Here are some of my faves with my current go to camera.
Hope you enjoyed my digital camera journey which isnt over just yet.
Thanks for visiting.
My favourite images made in 2020
A list of my favourite images made throughout 2020.
2020 was a year that didn’t have me picking up my camera a lot compared to other years. Maybe it was a lack of motivation due to the circumstances we were all facing or some other reason that doesn’t really come to mind right now.
According to my Lightroom library i made 3806 images for the year 2020, that would be the least amount of images made since 2016 for me and roughly 6700 less than 2019 which by coincidence was the most amount of images made in a year at 10167.
With that said i think i made one of if not my most favourite image in 2020, but you’ll have to wait until the end of this blog to see what that image was ;-).
Looking back at 2020 i obviously didnt get to travel much but i did manage to get in a trip to Bali and Japan before the major restrictions started to set in, in March. Most of the images that make up the 3800 images are from those 2 trips. The rest are predominately made up of my kids futbol matches, some short trips around Sydney/NSW and birthdays.
Here are my favourite images made from 2020, they were made with my Digital (Fujifilm XT-2), 35mm (Contax S2b) and 120mm (Fuji GW690III) cameras.
As i mentioned at the start of the blog, i think i made my all time favourite image. This was while on my 40th birthday trip to Japan in February of 2020.
My wife and I were wondering around Harajuku at the time, i think we were on our way back from the Film Camera Tokyo store wondering the back streets.
I had my trusty Contax S2b with the Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2.8 and some Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400 loaded in at the time.
I saw this store front with cool pink neon lights and with super contrasting yellow interior lighting, i just thought it looked super cool and had to get a shot. I thought to myself, i want to get enough detail of the interior but as it was getting dark i didn’t want to use too low a shutter speed so that id get an image thats as sharp as possible.
Before i had too much time to think about it i saw these 2 girls in the corner of my eye who were shortly going to walk into my path, i remember thinking i have to get them in the shot but i want them to look a little blurred which ended up working well with the shutter speed i ended up using of 1/60th second.
It was low enough to not completely blur them out, removing any form of knowing what it was going past and at the same time allowing me to use an aperture that rendered enough detail in the store.
My only critic about the image is that i wish i was a little further back to have gotten them complete from head to toe and probably that i didn’t take any other images of the store besides that one shot.
I love everything about the shot from the way the film rendered the colours, the way the girls walking past are positioned, how cool the mannequins look in the store front and just the store itself.
This has been my wallpaper on my phone since early March :-D.
I hope you managed to make more images than i did over 2020, if not lets make a New Years resolution to at least top 2020 for the amount of images created.
The Medium Format Family Grows
A quick review and thoughts of the Fuji GW690 III. As well as some of my favourite images made with it.
As mentioned in another blog entry “The World of Medium Format Film”, i managed to get into the medium format world through the Yashica Mat TLR that i found while thrift shopping at my local Salvation Army. This really got me wanting to get an SLR/Rangefinder style medium format camera that would make life easier to shoot with.
You would have seen in other posts about me mentioning the camera i ended up getting, i opted for the Fuji GW690III. I’ve had the Fuji since the 30th of June 2019, reason I’ve decided to finally write a post about it is because I’ve been making an effort to shoot it more. I came across this Youtuber Russell Rabanal who has a bunch of videos with the Fuji GW690III, he’s just so enthusiastic about the camera and how good it is. I have been close to selling this camera recently but he really lit the fire under the Fuji and sparked that interest in me wanting to shoot with it again.
History / Info
The Fuji GW690III was released in 1992 targeting the landscape photographer, i also read that it was marketed at school photographers due to the larger negative producing higher quality images giving more definition to people in larger group shots. If you’ve come across this camera before you have probably heard the nickname its been given, Texas Leica. Everything’s bigger in Texas (so I’m told), it’s basically a big Leica M6, the 6x9 negative is essentially a larger version of the 35mm negative which makes it easy to adapt to the format.
The Specifications
Image Size: 6x9 negatives on 120 (8 exposures), 220 (16 exposures)
Shutter Speeds: 1s – 1/500s plus T-mode. full-stop increments
Aperture: f/3,5 – f/32 half stop increments
Lens: Fixed Lens EBC Fujinon 90mm, F/3.5 (equivalent to 39~41mm on a 35mm camera) , Leaf shutter.
Dimensions: H 119 mm x W 201 mm x D 132 mm
Weight: 1510g
About the Camera
There isn’t much to the camera, the shutter and aperture dials are on the lens itself which also has a built in hood. Of course the focus ring is also on the lens, but besides that there is a spirit level on the top plate, a dial to choose between 120 or 220 film, 2 shutter release buttons (front one has a lock), a shot counter and a hot shoe mount. What makes it so simple is the fact that it’s completely mechanical, no electronics or light meter. This is good and bad, good in that you’re not dependant on old electronics or batteries but bad in that you need to carry a light meter around with you (be it your phone or actual light meter).
The Body
The body is plastic which was probably done to reduce the weight of the camera, otherwise it would have weighed at least 5kgs or more if it was a metal body and panels. Even though its plastic it does still feel solid in the hand, although if your into that super high quality sounding/feeling stuff like Leica etc then the sound of the shutter release, winding the film and opening/closing the back door wont appeal to you :-D.
The Good
The main reasons you buy this camera are for the insanely large format of the negatives it produces and the sharpness of the lens. To put the negative size into perspective its 5 times larger than 35mm size negatives. This is as close as you will come to large format film photography before having to buy a large format camera. The sharpness of the lens even at f3.5 is pretty amazing, I’m yet to use this camera on a tripod to take landscape/cityscape type images but even hand held is amazing.
Why I Chose it
The reason i ended up going for this camera over so many others, was purely due to cost. I would have loved an inter-changeable lens medium format camera like a Mamiya 6/7, or Pentax 67 but the cost of a decent one with a 35mm equivalent focal length lens was way out of my price range. I managed to get my one in mint condition for $750AUD, for what you get for that price i think is pretty amazing. It was hard to find something else similarly spec’d in the same price range.
Cons
There are a few, i wish it had interchangeable lenses. Would be nice to have wider and tighter focal length lenses to switch out. The lack of an internal light meter, having to take out my phone or use another light meter can be a pain at times although it does slow you down which is a good idea when you only get 8 shots from a 120 roll of film (cost per shot shoots up). Lastly my only other issue with the camera is its size, to be honest its the only reason why i hesitate to take it out as often as id like to otherwise i would shoot with it a lot more. I understand why its as big as it is, if it wasn’t it wouldn’t be taking 6x9 sized negatives.
If you like the 39~41mm focal length (35mm equivalent), don’t mind a large camera, want a seriously sharp lens and are looking for large high resolution negatives, the Fuji GW690III is for you.
Enough with the words, here are some of my favourites I’ve taken with it so far.
Bali and the Fuji GW690III
Getting some use out of the Fuji GW690 III, forcing myself to use this amazing camera that tends to sit on my shelf while in Bail.
I purchased my Fuji GW690III on the 22nd of June 2019, and since then i would have shot around 18 or so rolls. The rolls i have shot have been great, super impressed with the camera and the lens which is the 90mm f3.5 which is roughly around a 38mm in 35mm format.
I think the cost of the 120mm film and the developing of it has maybe stopped me from shooting it as much as i have 35mm film for example. I want to make more of an effort in 2020 to shoot it more. With that said at the start of 2020 we had a family holiday to Bali, something close and cheap so i decided to take my Fujifilm X-T2 and the Fuji GW690III. On this trip i also decided to try some Fujifilm Pro 400H for the first time and also took some trusty Kodak Tri-X 400, Portra 400 & 800.
Recently been liking the Fuji stock and will probably continue with it for a little longer. Here are some of the photos from the Bali trip earlier in January 2020.
Fuji GW690II + Kodak Tri-X 400
Definitely my favourite black and white film on both 35mm and 120mm film. I like the extra contrast you get from it over Tmax. Will continue to be my black and white film for a while.
Fuji GW690III - Fujifilm Pro 400H
I really like the colours of Fujfilm stocks at the moment, the blue’s and greens are really calling me. Really like this film and will be shooting some more with it to try and get some more consistent results.
Fuji GW690III - Kodak Portra 800
There arent many 800 speed 120mm film stocks to choose from, there is Cinestill but thats super hard to get your hands (yet to try), Portra 800 makes up 5 of the 18 rolls ive shot on the Fuji, and really like the results.
Japan on 35mm Film
I have an awesome wife! She took me to Japan for my 40th birthday and i shot most of it on my 35mm film camera.
So let’s get it out of the way, i turned 40. The only benefit of this is that i have an awesome wife.
Those who know me know that i don’t like parties let alone one that celebrates me, so when my wife asked me months and months ago what i wanted to do for my 40th all i said was “I don’t want a party” and thats where it begins.
On Friday the 7th of February i went to work like any other day, around 4pm that afternoon i come back to my desk and there is my wife with a box. She brought a cake to celebrate my birthday because i “wasn’t going to be around for it”. Hmmmm that got me thinking, so after the embarrassment of singing me happy birthday with my work colleagues and eating some epic South American cake my mum made, my wife then tells me that we need to get going because we are flying out somewhere that evening.
Let me make it very clear, i had no idea what so ever that this was happening, no clue, no inkling.
So we get home and she’s got a half packed bag for me and tells me to add anything else to it and get all my camera gear ready that i wanted to take.
On a side note, sadly i busted my digital camera (Fujifilm X-T2) which needs repairing so i packed my Contax S2b with my Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.7. I also threw in my Fuji GW690III and my Fujifilm X-T10 with 1 lens the 35mm f1.4 for those evening shots that i wouldn’t be able to get with my film cameras.
So the question had to be asked, what type of weather do i pack for? Do i pack my boardies to go for a swim? My response “its going to be cold”.
That got me thinking for destinations, ruled out the close obvious destinations that are always hot or currently in summer like Bali, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand. The first country that came to mind was Japan or if not Korea.
So we get to the airport and check in and at this point in time there was no hiding where we were going, and yes it was Japan.
This was the 4th time i had been to Japan and ever since getting back into film ive wanted to shoot film there, japan and film just go hand in hand and after getting my film back im even more convinced. One thing i didn’t have a lot of at the time was film, but i knew i was going to a place where id have plenty of different stocks to choose from.
This trip I decided to try some different film stocks, I already had some rolls of Kodak Colorplus 200 and Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400 that I bought and had in the fridge waiting for me to try but not enough to get me through this 8 day trip. Eventually when I got there I bought some Fujifilm Superia Venus 800, Fujifilm Superia Premium 400 and some more Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400. I’ve been shooting with Kodak Portra 400 & 800 for most the year and thought it was time try some other stocks.
While in Japan I also bought myself a Yashica ML 24mm f2.8, wanted something slightly wider than the 35mm. Sadly the Carl Zeiss was a little out of my price range, but the Yashica is in typical Japanese grade.
Japan trips i tend to over plan to make sure we can get the most out of the trip, as i didn’t know it was happening we stuck around the Tokyo area, exploring maybe 1 hour from Tokyo on different days and a day trip out to the Fuji 5 lakes region.
Here are the shots from the trip all shot on the Contax S2b with either the Carl Zeiss 35mm, 50mm or Yashica 24mm. Shots split via film stock.
Contax S2b - Kodak Colorplus 200
I had shot Kodak Colorplus 200 before but was an expired roll, but was keen to give it another try. To be honest another big factor was that they are cheap. Im super happy with how the shots came out with this stock, plenty of detail and colours are nice. Ill be keeping a spare roll of colorplus in fridge i think.
Contax S2b - Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400
First time shooting Superia Xtra 400, and i’m instantly a fan. Ive really been enjoying the greener rather than the warmer which lends itself to the Fujifilm stocks. Also reasonably priced, i think i’ll be switching my Kodak Portra 400 to the Fujifilm Superia Xtra 400 for a while to learn more about this stock. Also got my favourite image of this trip from this stock which is the clothes store with the 2 girls walking past it and the pink neo PIN NAP above them.
Contax S2b - Fujifilm Superia Venus 800
Much like the reasoning behind the Superia Xtra 400, i’m into the green colours at the moment so wanted to try a substitute to Kodak Portra 800. Im not as convinced with the Venus 800 as i was with the Xtra 400, but it’s my first roll. Brought a bunch of these back with me so will have to take it through its paces.
Tempe Photo Walk
While waiting on some repairs to be done to my car, i decided to wonder around Tempe with my 35mm film camera and a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400.
A couple of weeks ago i decided to get some of the gutter rash i did on 2 of my wheels fixed from a repair place in Tempe. I was told that the process can take up to 2 hours to complete.
I could have easily gone back home and come back or wondered through Ikea for 2 hours which is across the road, but instead i decided to take my Contax S2b with my Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2.8 and the Planar 50mm f1.7 with a roll of Kodak Tri-X 400 and do a photo walk around the back streets of Tempe.
I honestly wasn’t expecting much and definitely didn’t think id be able to finish a roll within that 2 hour period (which i didn’t), but pleasantly surprised with the images i got back.
I shot the Kodak Tri-X 400 at ISO 200 instead, film developed and scanned (standard jpg) at Rewind Photo Lab (not sponsored :-P).
Here are all of the shots i took while on the photo walk good and bad, hope you like.
World Time Attack Challenge 2019
Another year goes by another WTAC. What its like to experience a WTAC, one of the best time attack events you could go to anywhere in the world.
I’ve been a car guy for as long as i can remember, i think the first initiation into cars for most boys are hot wheels. Im 39 and i’m still buying them for my “kids”. What really got me into the car scene (and anime at the same time) was Initial D back in 2000. Didn’t take long for the Hachiroku to be my dream car, and now with the price of them it literally is a dream car as i don’t think i could ever justify spending 18-35k AUD on one.
This clearly sparked my curiosity for drifting and Japanese cars, which then got me into Best Motoring and Hot Version which is when i first came across Keiichi Tsuchiya. I would even watch them when there was no subtitles or voice overs.
Hot Version introduced me to Ken Nomura and his Blitz ER34. Long story short i bought my own ER34 4 door in 2007 and managed to see Ken drift he’s back in 2012 during a D1 Grand Prix event in Odaiba. These days i dont have the ER34 (which i miss) but rather a car i’ve wanted for a long time an MY15 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Up until this point i hadn’t been to many live Motorsport events, yes i had been to the Autosalon’s when they were around but that was mainly static cars. Only other thing was a couple of V8 Super Car events. In 2010 that all changed for me.
WTAC (World Time Attack Challenge) was initiated in 2010, and i can proudly say i’ve been to every event since. It’s the Motorsport event that i look forward to the most each year. The event gets better and bigger with each year as well.
If you don’t know anything about it, its basically 2 days of time attack racing which is split into various categories. So each driver is trying to put down the quickest lap over the 2 days. In between those heats are some drifting demos, drag races, show n shine and some bike demos amongst other things. You can see the full itinerary on the WTAC site.
What i love about WTAC is the fact i get to see a lot of the big names ive seen in so many of those Best Motoring and Hot Version videos in person like Keiichi Tsuchiya, Manabu Orido, Tarzan Yamada and Nobuteru Taniguchi. Along with some famous cars like the RE-Amemiya GT-300 RX-7, Mazda 767b and Skaife’s Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R.
Last year the winner was Barton Mawer in his Porsche 968 with a time of 1:19.8250, its crazy to think that the fastest a V8 Super Car can go around this track is a 1.29.8424, thats 10 seconds slower!
This years event was no exception, and didn’t disappoint. Congratulations to Barton Mawer in his Porsche 968 who again won the event with a 1:19.2770 besting his time from last year by 0.00.6000 or a second.
Check out some images from the show and shine:
Here are some of the images from the Time Attack:
I also decided to take my Contax S2b with me and a roll of expired Fujifilm Superia Reala 100 which i shot at ISO 25 just in case as i wasnt sure how old it was. Here are some of the shots from that roll (probably some of my faves from the event).
If you haven’t been to a WTAC event yet put it in your calendar for 2020, maybe even enter your car in the show and shine, what the hell why not the time attack?
Thanks for visiting.
* Title graphic done by Ari Lobos.
The World of Medium Format Film
Lucky find, the film camera collection grows a little. Shots with the Yashica Mat.
I never thought I’d make it into the 120mm world. I considered it but never really thought I’d actually end up getting a medium format film camera, well that’s changed.
Not sure if I’ve mentioned it on this blog but since getting back into film I’ve also gotten into thrift shopping in the hope of finding more film cameras.
Once a month (sometimes twice) ill head down to my local Salvation Army store to see what they have. Most of the time there isn’t anything worth while but occasionally I’ll find something. My first worth while find was a Minolta XG-1 with Rokkor 40mm f2 lens which my son now uses and it produces some nice images.
Lets get on with the find this post is really about, that would be when I came across a Yashica Mat TLR. When I first saw it I knew what type of camera it was and had a rough idea around how it worked but was a little reluctant to purchase it.
So I called an attendant around to open the cabinet to take a closer look at it. Close up the leather was peeling on almost every panel, it needed a clean and the shutter button felt a little sticky. Things I kind of expect from a camera this old that hadn’t ever been restored. I opened it up and had a look around and seemed to be in good condition, lenses seemed clean, view finder was good, shutter speeds seemed to be accurate when firing and the film advance winder did its job.
I jumped on eBay and had a quick look to see what they go for and saw they were around the $280-350 AUD for a working example. Considering it was $80 I took a gamble and bought it.
When I brought it home I gave it a quick clean and ripped off the old peeling leather and cleaned off as much of the glue residue as possible. I then jumped online and purchased my first roll of 120mm film from Walkens House of Film which was a roll of Kodak TMax 400. I figured I’d have a better chance at getting something half decent from some black and white film first. Here are some of the images from that first roll.
Once i knew that the camera worked i ordered a replacement leather set for the camera off of eBay to give it a fresh look. The pictures of the actual camera at the start of the post are it with the new leather panels.
For those that don’t know much about the Yashica Mat its a 6x6 square format twin lens camera which has one lens to look through and the 2nd lens is the one that exposes the film. It also has a waist level view finder which is mirrored, so when composing and making micro adjustments your always moving the wrong way (takes some getting used to). It has two 80mm fixed lenses that range from f3.5 to f22 and a max shutter speed of 1/500, ISO is limited to 400. These Yashica TLR cameras were manufactured from 1957 up until around the 1980s, they went through different specs and names but essentially had the same layout. My particular model doesn’t come with a built in light meter so having to use my phone with an app. Having to meter with an external device and the fact that it’s a waist level view finder, your forced to slow down even more so than I would with my manual focus Contax S2b with build in light meter. This is a good segue onto what it’s like to shoot with the Yashica Mat.
I find focusing to be hard with the standard screen it comes with, I tend to focus back and forth past my focal point and gradually shorten the distance until I hit that focal point (well I think I’ve hit it). This can take me 30 seconds or so as I’m second guessing myself as to whether I’m actually on my desired focus point, it doesn’t help that the view finder isn’t the brightest out there. Once I hit focus I then compose, this definitely takes longer than it should because of the mirrored view in the view finder were moving left is actually right. I really don’t think I’ll ever get used to this to be honest.
I make it sound like it’s a nightmare to use this camera, but it’s not. Yes it’s a slower process but with practice like most things I’ll get faster at using it. I definitely think it makes getting nice results back so much more rewarding as you had to work for it.
Of course if your going to be shooting anything that requires you to be moving from scene to scene quickly and getting those shots out, this probably isn’t the camera for it.
I’ve been shooting stuff with it that’s been slow paced with no time restraints, so I’ve been enjoying learning the qwerks of the camera.
As you can imagine I have only touched the surface of medium format and look forward to getting into it a lot more, with the potential of getting another medium format camera in the future (watch this space).
I havent put many rolls through this camera yet, maybe 3-4 but here are some of my faves so far.
Thanks for visiting.