Holga 120n: First roll of film

I found a Holga 120n in Owen Sound's Value Village (I love that store, best thrift store I have even been too, so much better than Barrie's). I got it for $4.99. For those who don't know about the Holga it is a company that made cheap, plastic camera in various formats. Like all my reviews this isn't so much a technical review as it is a first impressions. I am going to give a some details about the camera but mostly it is about the shooting of the camera.

Holga's are made from all plastic, including the lens. As such no two Holga's are the same, no two give you the same results.The camera has a 60mm f8/f11 plastic meniscus lens and results are unpredictable. Some cameras give you crystal clear results but others often have distorted results. The cameras use zone focus and have a non ttl viewfinder so you never know if you are in focus or not. Because of all that it is not uncommon for fans to multiple copies, because each camera will give a different result. 

The 120n takes 120 medium format film. The camera is supposed to come with two inserts(called masks), one that gives you a 6x6 negative and one that gives a 6x4.5. The 6x6 gives you 12 exposures and the 6x4.5 would give you 16 exposures. The camera I bought only had the 6x6 mask, I can get myself the 6x4.5 mask through B&H camera store's website.

I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 100 black and white film through the camera. The results were interesting. Some of the photos are pretty clear while others were blurry. Each shot had a bit of vignetting around the edges of the shot, like a frame. It gives the shots a unique look. 

I am looking forward to shooting more rolls through this camera, different types of film and maybe even some colour film. It is one of those cameras that the anticipation of what the shots will look like, that make the camera so fun to shoot with. It is so basic, set the zone focal length and shoot. There is no aperture or shutter speed to set, no exposure compensation to worry about. Just get out and shoot and see what you get. It is not a camera that I would use often, or use for projects. But if I am looking for a fun camera to just get out and shoot some cool shots, maybe something a little artistic than this may be the camera I grab. 

A visit to St Thomas Ontario!

A couple of months ago we visited St Thomas, which is in the southwestern part of Ontario, Canada. We went there for a friends Birthday party. I have only driven through the city and this have never taken time to explore. I still didn't get a lot of time to explore but I did get an hour or so the morning after the party to visit the downtown area and take some shots. The city has a lot of history and a lot of it seems to tied up with the railroad. They have a railway museum that unfortunately didn't get to visit, and they have a train sculpture that greets you as you enter the city.

The city has some really nice old buildings that I did get some shots of. I hope to return there sometime and spend more time photographing the city and especially the downtown core. Here are some examples of the shots I did get to capture. All shots were captured using my Yashica Minister D on Ilford HP5+ film using the "Sunny 16" rule to get my exposure.

                                    The train sculpture that greets you as you enter the city!

                                Some shots I captured in St Thomas' downtown core.

My new favourite combo! Yashica Minister D and Ilford HP5+!

Here are some more shots from my Yashica Minister D rangefinder, which has quickly becoming one of my favourite cameras to shoot with. I shot these with Ilford HP5+ black and white film which is my fave film (not that I have tried very many but I love the look of HP5+). I would have to say that this has become one of my "go to" combinations. I love using this camera and love this film. I shot all of these using the "Sunny 16" rule for finding my exposure. I may have to post a future blog entry on this rule.


                                   These shots were taken in the Barrie, Ontario, Canada!

I love how this combination of camera and film captures details and shadows. I can see that this camera/film will be getting a lot of use in the future and will earning a lot more photo blog posts as well. I already have enough pictures for a couple more posts with this combination. 

Shot my first Rangefinder!

A few months ago I bought a Yashica Minister D 35mm film rangefinder for $20 CDN from a young 20ish guy. I don't know how he came by the camera but he listed it up for sale in a local Buy & Sell group on Facebook. I met him (and I am assuming the woman with him was his Mom) at a local coffee shop to check out the camera. I wasn't expecting much for the price he was asking but the pictures he posted looked good. I had done some research on YouTube before messaging him and the camera seemed interesting. So I when I met with him I was shocked by the condition of the camera, it was spotless and came with the original leather case. I had to buy it.

The camera was made by Yashica in 1963. It has an uncoupled meter, which means the meter only gives you suggestions as to exposure but isn't needed for the camera to operate. The camera has a dial at the top that sets the ISO settings based on the film used, that also rotates the exposure dial.

When you push the button on the back of the camera it operates a "match needle" in the meter to give you the exposure setting and the EV number. Then you turn the dials on the lens barrel the set the appropriate exposure value using the EV, shutter speed, aperture. I haven't used the meter yet as it takes the old "Mercury" batteries and modern batteries would give a false reading. However you do not need the meter and I have been shooting the camera using the "Sunny 16" rule and I have been happy with the results.

I have to say that considering that this camera is almost sixty years old the camera works amazingly. The lens is unbelievably sharp! I have ran a roll of Kodak Gold 200 and a couple of rolls of Ilford HP5+ through it and I have to say this may be one of my favourite cameras that I have shot. 

If I had any complaints it would be that the rangefinder patch took a little to get used to. The patch is a light yellow square, is very small in the viewfinder and can be hard to see in bright conditions. I have been using zone focusing so it isn't a huge deal breaker, so other than that this camera is awesome and very fun to shoot with. This is the first rangefinder that I have used, and I want to get more! 

Here are some examples of some of the shots I have taken with this beautiful little camera.

                                           Kodak Gold 200 shot using the Sunny 16 rule

                                            Ilford HP5+ shot using the Sunny 16 rule.

Like I keep saying, this is an amazing camera, I am in love with the shooting experience that this camera gives me. This camera is an example of what people call the "Film Experience" and I am loving that experience. The whole way the exposure settings on this camera work really makes you take your time and think about what you are doing.

I am sure people will say there are better rangefinders out there, and I know there is, but I am very happy with this one. And isn't that what matters?

Kodak Gold 200 film

I have fallen in love with Kodak Gold 200 film! It is considered a "budget" film, but it gives you amazing colour. It is also the only film available to buy in Walmart's up here in Canada as far as I have seen. Like the rest of my reviews this is just a general impression of this film and not an in depth study of it's technical merits. All photos are scans of the prints I got back from the lab, with a little post processing to sharpness and contrast to clean up the scans. The prints look a lot better than the scans do.

Like I said it gives you amazing colour, especially the blues. Blues seem to be this film's strong suit, they are so bright. This shot was taken along the waterfront in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

Minolta X-700 with 28mm prime lens

And I find that the film captures great detail for such a cheap film. This shot taken at a local wetland conservation area offered a lot of different "textures" and I think the film handled it pretty well.

Minolta X-700 with 28mm prime lens

I have shot it with my Minolta X-700 and my Yashica Minister D (and am waiting for my test roll shot through an Olympus Trip 35 that I recently picked up), and I am very happy with the results I got from this relatively cheap film. It will be my go to colour film for general photography.

Yashica Minister D

Yashica Minister D

Yashica Minister D

Yashica Minister D

Minolta X-700

Minolta X-700

Minolta X-700

Minolta X-700

Minolta X-700

More from the Yashica A TLR

I got back another roll of film shot on my Yashica A, and I have to say I love shooting this camera. The whole experience of composing (which something I need to work more on with this camera), focusing and the whole act of shooting with it. I shot a roll of Ilford's Delta 100 which may be my go to film for this camera because of the limited shutter speeds on the camera, ISO 100 seems to shoot great and I love the look.

I have been working on using the "Sunny 16" rule lately for my film shooting and so far I am liking the results. I started using the Sunny 16 rule was because a lot of my cameras don't have built in light meters and pulling out my phone to use the app. I found takes me out of my experience. So far the shots I have been getting using the 16 rule on this camera, my Yashica Minister D (which although it has a light meter, it is uncoupled and not needed to use the camera and I haven't found a battery for it yet) and I have been using it on my Minolta X-700 even though it has a good light meter.

They Yashica A TLR has become one of my fave cameras to shoot with, it feels so retro, so analog and such fun to shoot with. I get a lot of looks when I am shooting with it, young people wonder what it is and old people smile because they haven't seen one in a while.

Here are some of the shots from this roll of film. The double exposure shot was an accident but I kinda like it.

The Film Experience!

I have been continuing my experimentations with film photography. I started getting back into film almost a year ago, when my Wife bought me a Yashica A twin lens reflex camera for our anniversary. I have also decided to try out some of the other cameras in my collection, such as a Ricoh YF-20, a Minolta X-700 (which I love) and I recently bought a Yashica Minister D rangefinder for a very cheap price. The Yashica Minister D may become my fave camera of any in my collection, it is so fun to shoot and takes amazing photos.

I have been loving the experience of shooting film. You hear a lot of people give their reasons for shooting film. It slows them down, makes them think about their shots more. They love the look of the photos they get. They love getting back to old school photography. They say shooting analog makes them a better photographer.

But my reason for enjoying film photography is the anticipation. What my photos will look like, did I get the shot, did I "nail it"? With digital you can know right away if you got the shot. If your exposure is right, did the lighting work, is your composition good? With film you have to wait, in my case I have to wait till I can get my shots developed since I haven't learned, and not sure if I ever will, to develop my own film.

For example I shot my first roll of film through my Yashica Minister D about a week after I bought it and I had to wait for three weeks after I dropped the roll off at Henry's to be developed. It seemed to take forever. I was "dying" to find out if the camera worked, what the shots would look like. I had never shot with a rangefinder camera before, and I couldn't wait to see if the shots were in focus, were they sharp. I was very pleased when I picked up my shots. This was even more true since I had used a film I hadn't shot before, Kodak's Gold 200. I had heard good things, see others photos but hadn't shot it myself yet. I had bought a box of three with a Christmas gift card at Walmart. I have since bought more because I liked the look of the photos.

And this is the reason I am enjoying the film experience, the anticipation, the wait to see your photos. Yes, you can do this as well with digital, wait till you put them on your computer but the temptation is too big to look right away at your shots. I will still shoot digital for some stuff, paid shoots, some projects and any shoots where I need the shots right away. But for personal projects, and just when I want to shoot for fun I think I will then shoot film. It is just more fun!

Yashica Minister D. Film: Kodak Gold 200