Showing posts with label Rangefinder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rangefinder. Show all posts
Monday, October 6, 2014
Street Critique: DC Street Festivals
Sunday, September 14, 2014
It's Just Like Music - Playing a Show at The Pinch!
I recently started playing with a band and last Friday was my first show with them. I think it's pretty safe to say that we killed it (which was made more impressive by the fact that I didn't totally believe I knew how most of the songs ended) and I can't wait to keep playing with them. I also had a chance to grab some photos of the opening acts, so check out some words about the band and photos from the night after the break.
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| Sea Knuckle at The Pinch |
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Gear Rambles: The Olympus 35RC
The Olympus 35RC: Absolute Photographic Perfection. Or pretty much as close as it can get, in my opinion.
The Olympus is a smartphone size 35mm rangefinder, complete with coupled viewfinder, hot shoe, meter, solid metal construction, automatic flash metering, a self timer, dead quiet shutter, and a Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 lens welded to the front. It has every single thing I could really ask for in an everyday shooter, save for a slightly faster lens, but even then the shutter is so smooth that 1/15 can produce "close enough" results.
It's well designed features seem to be placed in such logical areas that even my gorilla hands can manage, and it simply stays out of the way when it comes time to work. The shutter is a mechanical leaf shutter, as opposed to one of those clanky focal plane shutters, so it's discreet and quiet, and syncs all the way to 1/500 when mated to a flash! Cool!
The 35RC comes with a built in, automatically winding film counter and uses a modern quick loading system for new rolls of film. I can change film whilst multiple drinks deep!
The annoyingly slim aperture ring is in the classic Zuiko position, right between the rear of the lens and camera body, so it can be pretty tough to adjust on the fly. A bit more girth in the aperture ring department is really the only item on my list of wants and I manage just fine 'as is.' If you want to use a flash, the lens is coupled to a Guide Number based flashmatic system, so you tell the camera how powerful of a flash you are using and the 35RC will automatically set the aperture of a given exposure according to how far you have focused the lens. Subject is 10 feet away? Cool, the 35RC will automatically select the necessary aperture needed to make a proper exposure out of the light produced by your flash.
You're pretty much set as soon as you learn the power of your flash and figure out how to focus the lens (a short twist of the lens barrel). I have no idea why camera companies decided to make on-camera manual flash photography more difficult than this system. Oh, and the 35RC can do this flash power automatic aperture setting thing without a battery. I have had my RC for a few weeks now and I have yet to install a battery. The shutter still fires at all speeds so I either just guess using the Sunny16 or take a quick meter reading with my hand held Sekonic meter.
The viewfinder even has generic exposure information etched into the glass and a little needle moves to the aperture number you have set when you depress the shutter, so you know what aperture you are using for each picture. Without a battery! Science!
Now, my qualms…that have to do with my exact copy. I bought it on a whim from KEH.com for about $20. It was listed in Ugly condition and I have never gambled on a KEH Ugly before, so I gave it a shot and unfortunately, the lens is covered in scratches and fungus (see top pic). That means pixel peoples will most likely recoil in horror when they zoom into the 35RC photos I've included with this writeup. The images are, really not that sharp or predictably rendered. All bets are off when the sun enters the equation. Highlights? Goners. Mid-tones swirl around in some transitional clam chowder. Results left to the Tri-X gods to determine on some unknown evaluation and absorption process.
But that's just my copy. And I'm keeping it for special purposes when the ethereal results from it's fungified and unpredictable lens could come in handy. The Bastille Day celebration photos that have been sprinkled throughout this review are a perfect example of such an occasion. I am already on the lookout for a clean copy of the 35RC and then I will be done with purchasing 35mm cameras forever. (YEA…..RIGHT)
The Olympus is a smartphone size 35mm rangefinder, complete with coupled viewfinder, hot shoe, meter, solid metal construction, automatic flash metering, a self timer, dead quiet shutter, and a Zuiko 42mm f/2.8 lens welded to the front. It has every single thing I could really ask for in an everyday shooter, save for a slightly faster lens, but even then the shutter is so smooth that 1/15 can produce "close enough" results.
It's well designed features seem to be placed in such logical areas that even my gorilla hands can manage, and it simply stays out of the way when it comes time to work. The shutter is a mechanical leaf shutter, as opposed to one of those clanky focal plane shutters, so it's discreet and quiet, and syncs all the way to 1/500 when mated to a flash! Cool!
The 35RC comes with a built in, automatically winding film counter and uses a modern quick loading system for new rolls of film. I can change film whilst multiple drinks deep!
The annoyingly slim aperture ring is in the classic Zuiko position, right between the rear of the lens and camera body, so it can be pretty tough to adjust on the fly. A bit more girth in the aperture ring department is really the only item on my list of wants and I manage just fine 'as is.' If you want to use a flash, the lens is coupled to a Guide Number based flashmatic system, so you tell the camera how powerful of a flash you are using and the 35RC will automatically set the aperture of a given exposure according to how far you have focused the lens. Subject is 10 feet away? Cool, the 35RC will automatically select the necessary aperture needed to make a proper exposure out of the light produced by your flash.
You're pretty much set as soon as you learn the power of your flash and figure out how to focus the lens (a short twist of the lens barrel). I have no idea why camera companies decided to make on-camera manual flash photography more difficult than this system. Oh, and the 35RC can do this flash power automatic aperture setting thing without a battery. I have had my RC for a few weeks now and I have yet to install a battery. The shutter still fires at all speeds so I either just guess using the Sunny16 or take a quick meter reading with my hand held Sekonic meter.
The viewfinder even has generic exposure information etched into the glass and a little needle moves to the aperture number you have set when you depress the shutter, so you know what aperture you are using for each picture. Without a battery! Science!
Now, my qualms…that have to do with my exact copy. I bought it on a whim from KEH.com for about $20. It was listed in Ugly condition and I have never gambled on a KEH Ugly before, so I gave it a shot and unfortunately, the lens is covered in scratches and fungus (see top pic). That means pixel peoples will most likely recoil in horror when they zoom into the 35RC photos I've included with this writeup. The images are, really not that sharp or predictably rendered. All bets are off when the sun enters the equation. Highlights? Goners. Mid-tones swirl around in some transitional clam chowder. Results left to the Tri-X gods to determine on some unknown evaluation and absorption process.
But that's just my copy. And I'm keeping it for special purposes when the ethereal results from it's fungified and unpredictable lens could come in handy. The Bastille Day celebration photos that have been sprinkled throughout this review are a perfect example of such an occasion. I am already on the lookout for a clean copy of the 35RC and then I will be done with purchasing 35mm cameras forever. (YEA…..RIGHT)
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Report from the basement: My first trip to the Dougout
I finally made it up to the Dougout a few weeks ago, which is, in summary; an un-airconditioned DIY music venue in NE DC that serves as a small stage for local acts, an outpost for various associates in the scene.
Also an impromptu barbershop for anyone that needs a cut.
In essence, it's everything I couldn't get together but would have loved to be a part of back when I was focused on trying to make music.
The menu that night consisted of The Obsessives, Boardroom Heroes and Kill Lincoln. The temperature in the basement viewing area was somewhere around 80ish degrees but all the bands powered through and took care of business.
As per my new usual, I loaded some Tri-X into my BessaR and looked to add some artificial light to the mix. This time mounting my SB-600 on-camera and making some Hail Mary exposures. I'm still getting used to this adding flash without chimping a digital playback screen and I think I am making some progress.
The film was then souped in Kodak HC110 and scanned with my PrimeFilmXA film scanner.
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| Steve-O Par |
The menu that night consisted of The Obsessives, Boardroom Heroes and Kill Lincoln. The temperature in the basement viewing area was somewhere around 80ish degrees but all the bands powered through and took care of business.
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| Kill Lincoln |
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| The Obsessives |
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| The Obsessives |
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| Boardroom Heroes |
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| Kill Lincoln plus audience members |
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