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

I Want To Tell Stories!

For a while now I have been trying to decide exactly what style of photography I want to concentrate on, family portraits, model shoots, commercial, weddings....well the fact is I don't want to do any of these styles on a regular basis. The style of photography that has always interested me most has been "street photography" but mostly "social documentary".

I want to tell stories with my photography! I want to find projects that I can embrace, explore and cover with my photography. I want to follow in the footsteps of some of my favourite pho For a while now I have been trying to decide exactly what style of photography I want to concentrate on, family portraits, model shoots, commercial, weddings....well the fact is I don't want to do any of these styles on a regular basis. The style of photography that has always interested me most has been "street photography" but mostly "social documentary".
tographers, such as W. Eugene Smith, Jamal Shabazz, Joel Meyerowitz, Elliott Erwitt and more. I want to feel like I am accomplishing something through my pictures. I want to maybe find causes to cover, or just find interesting people to do projects around.

I know that there isn't much money in that style of photography, unless it turns into books/zines, gallery shows and print sales. I am not opposed to do the occasional commercial gig, model shoot or family shoot to earn some extra money, but my main focus going forward will be in the area of Social Documentary photography. I will also continue with standard street photography because I also enjoy it so much.

I will be keeping my Captured Light brand for the time being but it won't be my main focus and may not get updated on a regular basis. I will be using mostly my Richard Belfry Photography brand, or RBPhoto705 for short (the 705 is my area code).

If you have any projects you want covered in the Barrie, Ontario, Canada area please feel free to contact me and we can discuss it.

Taking a step back in time part 2: Minolta X-700

As I have said in my last post I have been bitten by the "Film Bug" and am loving the experience of shooting with some of the old film cameras that I have collected. In the last post I talked about the Yashica A TLR camera that I got as a Anniversary present from my Wife. In this post I will discuss my experience with another camera.....my Minolta X700 SLR. As with all my reviews it will be more about the feel and experience than it is about technical aspects of the camera.

The camera was introduced in 1981 but I am sure when mine was made. I don't exactly remember who I got my Minolta X700 from, it came as part of one of the groups of cameras I received a few years ago. The camera has become one of my favourite cameras to shoot with though.

From the shutter sound to the film advance, everything that goes into shooting this camera is very enjoyable. The X700 has a good weight to it, it is mostly metal and has a heft to it that you know it is there, but I don't find it too heavy to shoot with. All and all it is enjoyable experience shooting with this camera. The camera has nice feeling grip on it and is very comfortable to hold and shoot with. 

The camera has a built in meter and seems to work very well considering the age of the camera. The camera has Aperture (depending on the lens), Shutter and Program modes of shooting. I have shot the camera in Aperture and full Manual modes but haven't tried the Program mode yet. The camera doesn't have "autofocus" and is totally manual focus. It is a challenge since I am used to autofocus with my Canon T5 and rarely use manual focus but I really like focusing with the camera and lens combination I have been using.  

I especially enjoy shooting the camera with the lens I have on it. The lens I have been using is a Minolta 28mm MD 1:2 prime lens. I usually shoot it with an aperture between f8-f16 since I have been using it for street photography. The lens is a nice size, not too big, but also not too small, a good sized prime lens. I am pleased so far with the results I have gotten with this body/lens combination. 

I am currently shooting my second roll of film on this camera (maybe a little too soon to do a review but since it about more about the experience than technical..). The first roll which I have gotten developed was Kodak Ultramax 400. I am currently shooting Illford HP5. The day I shot the Ultramax was a overcast day in October so the colours may not be a dynamic as I would have liked but I was happy with the outcome of the camera. 

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(I do admit to a little digital editing of these shots)

We had stopped at a look out and a scarecrow festival (on our way back from dropping off three rolls of film to be developed. I would have liked a nicer, brighter day but all and all I am happy with the shots, the colours and sharpness are nice. 

All and all I love the Minolta X700 and the Minolta 28mm MD lens. I will post more reviews and updates about the camera as shoot more rolls of film on it. 

Taking a step back in time: Yashica A

The only experience I had shooting with film is limited to the old 110mm point and shoot cameras. I never did any 35mm shooting when I was younger, even though my Dad tried to teach me, I thought it looked too hard. The digital cameras hit the market and I was an early adopter. I had a series of cheap digital point and shoots before I moved up to "Bridge" cameras and then eventually DSLR's.

For years though I have been collecting old film cameras, I have about twenty or so in collection. My collection spans everything from Kodak cameras from 1911 to box cameras from the thirties to Polaroids, Rangefinders  and SLR's from the eighties. But I never really wanted to try shooting them......

Until that is when my Wife bought me a Yashica A twin lens reflex (TLR) medium format camera for our anniversary (third year was leather and the camera came with a leather case, which was falling apart but the camera was awesome shape). Handling this camera and researching it on YouTube fired a desire to try shooting it. It sparked a new interest in shooting film and trying out some of the cameras I have collected.

So I decided to pick up some 120mm film and try out this amazing but really basic old camera. It is totally manual, you set shutter speed and aperture and focus and that is it. There is no meter in the camera so you either have to use an external meter (I found a good app for my phone) or use the "Sunny 16 rule" (which I also had to research to learn how it works). It really forces you to slow down and think about your shots and settings. And the fact that you only get twelve 6x6 shots per roll of film really makes you think and plan your shots. You don't want to waste them. The "viewfinder" is on top of the camera which is huge and it also has a pop out magnifier lens to help with focus. It was an interesting experience and since you are mostly shooting from waste or chest lever it really makes you think about composure. And since the top lens is the one you compose to and the lower lens actually exposes the film you need to keep that in mind as well when composing your shots. So this camera really make you take your time and really think about each and every shot. 

I just got my first two rolls of film back from the developer, I shot a roll of Illford HP5+ and a roll of Illford Delta 100. I have a lot of practice and a lot to learn about exposure using this camera but I am happy with my results, especially since they are first two rolls I have shot. Some of the pictures have some kind of haze or something down the left side, but not all have it so I think it was something to do with that roll of film(the lab mixed them all together so I have to check the negatives to see which roll had this issue). But all and all I am happy and I really enjoyed shooting this camera and will be doing a lot more shooting with it. 

Here are some of the shots I got with this camera. They definitely have a "Look" to them that would be be hard to replicate with a digital camera. 

Like I said I really love this camera and it will be getting a lot more use. I want to try colour film in it as well. And it has sparked my interest in shooting more film cameras. I have two 35mm cameras that I have been shooting as well that will each get there own post. I really regret not doing this earlier.