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.
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.
Film, Lets Give it Another Go.
Lost love, picking up a film camera for the first time in a long time.
So for a while now i’ve wanted to invest in a nice film camera and get back into what brought me into this hobby to start with years ago.
What made me finally take that step was when i saw my niece Monique, she had a film SLR around her neck. I was a little surprised when i first noticed it, but thinking about it the idea of film would be new and exciting to someone young who never grew up shooting on it.
So she had the Olympus OM-10 that she found at her great grand mothers house in a box with a bunch of other old film cameras that her great grand father used to own. That was it the spark was lit, being a Fuji guy now i thought id look at what options Fuji had in the form of 35mm SLR’s. So began my eBay search, what i thought would be a good first step is the Fujica AX-1 which is the entry level of the series with the AX-5 being the big brother of the lot. What made me buy the Fujica AX-1 in the end was the fact i came across a mint example with a 50mm f1.6.
2 weeks later and i had this awesome little AX-1 in my hands.
I bought a bunch of Fujifilm film from Walkens. Some Fujifilm Acros, Provia, Fujicolor Industrial to test it with. The first roll was a bit rough as i got used to the camera and understanding how the focus prism worked, so yes a number of shots were out of focus. This camera doesn’t have a full manual mode but to be honest i don’t think i would use it in full manual just yet, there would have been many more unusable images if i had. So i just used it in aperture priority and let the camera handle the shutter speed, good thing is that it has a light meter so you can get a good idea of exposure and whether your going to get blurry shot from slow shutter.
After my 3rd roll through the camera I’m now feeling more comfortable with it, and understanding it much better.
Its extremely refreshing going from digital where you can spray and pray that you’ve got a shot, to really slowing it down and thinking whether the shot is worth taking or not because you only have 24-36 shots in your roll. If it is then thinking about your aperture and what/how much you want in focus to confirming whether your shutter speed is high enough to get a sharp image. By then you’ve thought about your composition and maybe adjusted already. Mirrorless cameras with the EVF systems they have make photographers even lazier (but hard to go back when you have used one with EVF :-P).
Film can really be a format that can bring you out of a time when your really struggling to want to pick up your camera, more so after you’ve picked up the prints. Definitely need to have prints done, it wouldn’t complete the process otherwise. I used Digital Camera Warehouse in the Sydney CDB for all of my film development, scans and prints and really happy with the results.
So if your struggling for inspiration, checkout eBay, your local 2nd hand store or your grand parents house for a film camera that might bring that mojo back.
Check out the rest of the images in my Film Collection.
Note: Im not affiliated with any of the companies or brands mentioned, just like using them and pay for their products and services out of my own money.
Thanks for visiting.