Last shoot for the year

This is considered my last portrait shoot for the year. Thanks to Agnes for agreeing to the photo shoot session...a great session to test out my Bronica setup as well as learning how to shoot better with film.

Composing and taking note of details at the same time seems to be tough...especially when you spend half the time checking on focusing and exposure...
Well, its a good experience thou! At least, it prep me for my next session.

Here's a few shots! Reala


Kodak Portra 400


Bronica SQ-Ai, 135mm f4 and 80mm f2.8 PS
Reala 100 and Portra 400

My Old camera - OM1N

This camera doesnt belong to me anymore, i have sold it to Van and while she is on a vacation, i borrowed it to rekindled the shooting experience with it.

Its still a great SLR to use on street...light and small and you cannot deny the greatness of close focusing on these slr that you can never try on a rangefinder and not to mention the thru the lens view.

Oh well the Solution VX 200 is an expired film that i bought at a lomo shop...should have try it with a lomo camera..like the fish eye??

Hopefully i can finish the roll today.

My 2 favourite Vintage 50mm lenses

Aside from the canon lenses, there are 2 other vintage lenses that have been with me for a very long time. It has never crossed my mind to sell any of these 2 lenses.

The rendering from both lenses are amazing and in fact full of character...

The Chiyoko 5cm f2 is a 7 elements/ 4 groups, following summitar design, throws out high contrast images in bnw and my copy seems to rendered swirly bokeh when shot at f2.

The Nikkor 5cm f2 has 6 elements/ 3 groups, single coated, it was believed to be a planar design lens..
This lens is a great lens for portrait, soft and glowy...(not as bad as the signature glow from the f1.4 lens)




As the market get quieter, these 2 lens are not too difficult to search for at a reasonable price.

Its X'mas

Its X'mas and lights are hanging everywhere! Met Chris for a tea and couldn't resist to get some bokeh ball background..
Merry X'mas everyone

Rolleiflex 2.8F
Kodak Portra 400

Seletar

A very random meet up with Elaine to Seletar...





Rolleiflex 2.8F
Kodak Portra 400

Photoshoot

Tried the Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 finally...
A pre arranged shoot for Luedella .


Canon 60D, EF 70-200 f2.8

What are you shooting with today?

Finally, after a long time, im going to do a model shoot today.

So here's my equipment...what about yours?

(Bronica SQ-Ai, 80mm and 135mm PS lens, Rolleiflex 2.8F)

Fuji XE1 , XF 18mm f2

Flexaret VII

Its been awhile since i last took this camera out on the streets...

Something amazing with these old film camera is that despite its age, its performing a lot better than i thought it could. The sharpness and rendering of the film texture is definitely irreplaceable in today's digital camera..








Flexaret VII, 
Arista Ultra 400, HC110

Gardens by the bay

The weather was so humid and i thought spending a day at Cloud forest would be nice!









Nikon 28 Ti, Kodak Hawkeye 400

Streets with Rolleiflex 2.8D

Walked a long way today...there is no compromise in the amount of sharpness and details off a planar lens..












Rolleiflex 2.8D
Arista Ultra EDU II, R09

Rolleiflex 2.8D

I couldn't resist this Rolleiflex copy that i saw and so i decided to spare myself from the regrets and paid for it.
Its a 2.8D and the whole camera was decently clean enough for its age.

This copy has the Planar lens...which is also one reason that i bought it for. My 2.8F was a xenotar lens version and i would love to see the difference between the both.





Something i realised on the 2.8D was the viewing seems to have very strong vignetting. I couldnt figure out why is that so but apparently, this seems to be normal for the 2.8D. Well, focus was still possible


So here i have 2 of them...never enough for these beautiful cameras.

A Rainy Day

Its the monsoon season now, and everyday seems to rain. Well it didnt really tampered my mood for shooting, in fact, i love how opportunity arise differently..

Taking shelter...

Canon 7, Canon 35mm f1.5 ltm
Kentmere 100 @ 400, R09

Canon 35mm f1.5

The fastest Canon 35mm lenses in the rangefinder section, the Canon 35mm f1.5 ltm. I couldnt really find much info about this lens except that its made in 1958 and its 8 elements.

The price of this lens has soar much recently due to its collector value.

I managed to find a nice copy with the help from Benny...

This lens is much more compact than i have thought it will be.

The funny thing about shopping in Japan's camera store, sometimes the owner will offer you a camera body as a "rear lens cap" and price for the body are usually good....so in this case, i got the Canon 7 as well.


I just loaded a roll of film...and time to bring it out for some street shoots....

Random Shoot

My only and favourite compact camera currently





Nikon 28 Ti, Kodak Colorplus 200

Familiar faces

Its good to see familiar faces once awhile on the street. I met this man almost a year ago and recently while going back to the neighbourhood, we saw him again with his bicycle.



Resting his feet, he told us that he cycle daily and goes as far as Jurong on his bicycle...


Canon 7s, Canon 35mm f2.8 ltm
Efiniti UXI 200, R09

A Mistaken roll of Color Negative - Developed in R09 (Cross Processed)

The problem about bulk rolling of B&W film is that, one needs to be more diligent in classifying and storing the film. I am a little lazy in this part of the process...and as a result, there is a roll of film which i mistakenly took it for a B&W...only till i reel it into my developing reels did i discover it (No scotch-tape!!).

Well, there is always a first time for everything...and so instead of reeling it back into the cannister, i turned it into Sepia by cross processing it with R09 developer.

















Canon 7s, Canon 35mm f2.8 ltm
Efiniti UXI 200, R09

A new Perspective - Canon FL 19mm R

I bought a new lens....I bought a Canon lens....but this round, its not a Leica Screw Mount lens.

It all started when i read about the various lenses that Canon produced for its rangefinder series and i realised that the widest lens that was produced was a 19mm f3.5 lens.

Benny owned a nice copy of this lens in ltm, but given the price of it now, its definitely out of my reach...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ngminchai/4566863629/

So when i started googling, i noticed that for the 19mm, there was a total of 3 versions produced. The ltm was one of it, and then a FL 19mm was build for the SLR and followed by a later copy FL 19mm R (which stands for Retrospective).

Quoted off here
World's highest quality super-wide-angle lens with the fastest lens speed of f/3.5 in its class. Because it is a retrofocus type, through-the-lens focusing can be performed, and the entire 96-degree field of view can be recorded on film. Optically, the various aberration compensations are excellent. It is especially free of astigmatism and image distortion is held to less than one per cent. Therefore, clear and sharp images are possible to the outermost edges, and overall sharpness is superb. It is a lens that is regularly used by professional photographers.

I found my copy thru evil bay. Seller was nice to help out with the cheaper shipping but took me super long to discovered that it has arrived..
Anyway i was looking at the FL instead of the FL R, given that the size seems slightly smaller but nonetheless...

Same optical performance, yet a fraction of the price of the ltm and FL versions




Oh and not to start a new set of system, i got the Canon Converter B to use it on my Leica M. Well, by mounting it on the M, its not rangefinder coupled....so in a way, unless you are confident of your zone focusing, if not, the choices of FL lenses on the M bodies are limited to only wider lenses...


Mounted on my M4-P, its as heavy as the Canon 50mm f1.2 ltm mounted on my M2.


Well, it totally attracts alot of attention on the streets...

The pictures from this lens is a totally new perspective for me. The widest lens on street that i had used most often is the CV 25mm f4 and while i tried shooting the same way as the 25mm lens, it didnt really work out well for me.

To get the similar framing, i need to shoot at 0.5m on this 19mm lens compared to focusing at 1m on the 25mm lens. Of course, why should i shoot it like the 25mm lens? I should change a new perspective in shooting!
So here are some pictures that i took over the weekend..








Its really a once in awhile lens to carry out on streets. I still prefer the compactness of the CV 25mm f4 on streets...maybe i should explore landscape with this lens. As far as i noticed, the distortion is little...


Leica M4-P, Canon FL 19mm R
Kentmere 100 @ 200, HC110

Berlin

Canon P, CV 25mm f4
Trix 400 @ 800, HC110,

(Nippon Kogaku) Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM version

As i sold away my Nikon S2 setup, i kept this little nikkor lens in my dry cabinet. Yes, its a LTM version and one lens that i am reluctant to let go. It served my lust for a separate nikkor setup and still provide one of the very best image quality.

I bought this lens in September 2011 but i could not find an entry on this lens in my archival...
As far as i know, this little lens has the same optical spec as the S mount version. As per kenrockwell described, its a 6 elements in 4 groups, symmetrical design with two cemented doublets on each side of the diaphragm, 2 additional single elements in front and back. 8 reversed curved blades

Fit on my leica M2, its tiny..its light and its not easy to change its aperture...




Talk about its performance, its an amazing lens with superb IQ

While going thru my dry cabinet, i found this lens in one corner and took it with me to SEA aquarium and in low light condition, i shoot mainly wide open at f2.5.










Ask me if i will sell away this lens? Definitely no! At a fraction of most lenses price..this lens display a true character for itself. Sharp, high contrast and great tones especially for B&W film shots...

Leica M2, Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 ltm
Kentmere 100 @ 800, HC110