Microfilm, Motion Picture Film, and the Pentax H3V

About six months ago I won a 2,000-foot spool of Kodak 2383 on eBay. The film, however,  lacks any edge information, so I can't verify that it is 2383. It matches Kodak's description of the film's physical appearance quite well, though. The ISO is 1.6., which means that at f16 on a sunny day it needs a 1.6-second exposure. In bright light at f1.8, the shutter speed is around 1/30th of a second. At f2.8, 1/8th. That makes hand-holding the camera pretty difficult with this film.

But it yields a vintage look with nice grain. One limitation of this film, it has light damage, so the film HAS to be used in bright light or the images are unusable. Here is what an image taken in low light looks like:


What you're seeing along the edge is light damage caused by a pinhole leak in the film tin. The light has leaked in between the film's perforations. However, in bright light the new image wipes out the existing damage. Here's an example:


Fortunately, I lucked out and wound the film so that the light damage is along the top in the final images.

In addition to this microfilm, I also took some Kodak 250D with with me. 250D is a motion picture film that lends itself particularly well to monochrome work. The gray tones, when exposed correctly, are quite nice. Now, let me be clear that the images from the 250D roll were not exposed correctly. In fact, I only know how to expose the microfilm correctly because I accidentally screwed up the camera's settings. I thought the shutter speed indicator aligned with the cocked indicator, causing all my microfilm images to be perfectly exposed and all my 250D images to be MASSIVELY overexposed. It's complicated, just trust me. So here are some images from the microfilm roll.














You can see the vintage, high-contrast look. It's a nice film for selected uses, but not for action photography.

The 250 D results were less evenly toned and tended to all be high-key. In fact, only two of the 250D shots turned out at all.

A Geriatric Gets a New Life

I bought my Pentax H3V for $11.13 broken at a camera shop in SF with the specific intent of having it repaired so I could make sure that my Pentaxes, which I like a great deal, would be safe and well repaired by the repair shop. In short, the repair was perfect, the camera looks and works great, and I'll be gladly sending each of my Pentaxes to the shop for repairs and servicing. A lot of them would benefit from new light seals and such anyway.

So to fully test the H3V, I went to the Civic Center and ran three rolls of film through it. Foma 400, Walgreens 400, and Kodak BWCN400. My goal had been to photograph Henry Moore's 1973 sculpture "Large Four Piece Reclining Figure" which is outside the symphony hall. That accomplished, I walked around the Civig center photographing things until it looked like I may be stabbed.



THis is the sculpture. I didn't see the reclining figure, either, until I got closer.


Just a reference image with the sculpture name, artist, and year.


Taking this shot, which was number 21 of 27, was when I first began to see the sculpture as a reclining figure. Either I took a while to learn, or the sculptor did something wrong. You may decide for yourself.


A closer version of the previous shot. One of my two favorites from this trip.


Inside the sculpture.


From this angle, it looks like the reclining figure is smiling. I'd be smiling, too, if I could recline all the time.


My other favorite photo.


One nice thing about this piece is that because it's so open shadows move around and through it freely. This presents interesting photographic possibilities.






After finishing the roll, I decided to meander around the area. Not too far, mind you, because it was getting dusk-ish and I look like a victim.




Rendered in color, this moving, inflated flower sculpture is interesting. It's not my favorite, so I'm glad it won't be a permanent addition to the area. It doesn't quite fit the area Zeitgeist, which is all metal and such.


I also walked up to the San Francisco Public Utilities Corporation Building, which opens soon. THis will be a LEED Platinum building. It's gorgeous from any angle (except up close, at least until the construction crews wash the windows of the construction dust.)


I actually used almost the entire Walgreen 400 color roll on this building, but figured you don't want to see 18 variations on the same shot. So here's a different one.


And another different one.

After finishing the color roll, I decided to try the BWCN400 on the inflatable sculpture and see if maybe some up-close shots would change my opinion. Well, not so much. I should have done these shots with color because the sky and the red rendered too close to make the images truly dramatic. They may have been dramatic had I had a deep red filter or more color film. I did have my K-7 on me, but, as I stated above, I look like a victim.



See, in monochrome it just doesn't work, not without some special handling, which I lacked the equipment for.


This sculpture I get and all, but I'm no fan. My take on this piece is that it strives to show life through movement in sculpture. Additionally hinted at because it's a flower. And it's bright red which makes it very noticeable. And it's quite, which is nice. But I can't get into it even though, I think, I like the purpose and intent.


Lest you assert that I dislike kinetic art -- I admit I think it's a bit gimmicky sometimes -- here is a piece of kinetic sculpture that isn't on my thumbs-down list. It's across the street from where the flower is. It's two "L"s and they move in the wind. Nifty.

In short, what did I learn this week? The H3V and Sears Focal 28mm works very well together. I'm not sure who made the Focal lens, but it was made in Japan. I read some posts online with speculation as to who, therefore, made it, but I'm not sold on this being a Tokina. Sun Optics, maybe. Anyway, it's a fabulous lens and cooperates with the H3V quite nicely.

Also I learned not to carry extra film with me. It takes about two minutes per image to scan these. So multiply that by 25 for a normal day and you'll see it takes me about five hours to scan all the images for a given week. Then I have to edit them and downsample them for Internet hosting. These images you see are about 150-225 kilobytes each. The originals on my hard drive are 3.6 to 6.5 megabytes each. I'd run out of Picasa space in a month! So, it takes about another 30 to 45 minutes to contrast balance, sharpen, and remove developing flaws (e.g., a piece of hair) from the negatives before uploading them. So when I do something like take two extra rolls of film, it adds about three hours to my weekend scanning and editing routine. That doesn't make my girlfriend or my dogs happy. So, lesson learned, stick to the one-roll-per-day thing.

Welcome to a Vampire Movie

On Saturday I took in Mount Diablo with a Pentax K2 and my K-7. I brought a few lenses and managed a few shots. The K2 I loaded with Adox 100 CHM ART, which is rebranded Efke film made by Fotokemia. That means it's great film and it truly is.

Right as we reached the summit parking lot, a dense fog bank rolled in shrouding our trip in fog and cooling the air by a dozen degrees. With the fog, I decided to try and get a film noir-like look to the images. It didn't work exactly and I think the result looks like a depression-era vampire movie. Still not a bad result.

I didn't keep track of any exposure data, so today will just be some photos.


Into the Fog, Mount Diablo Summit


Lost in the Fog


Mountaintop Observatory


Lost Trees


A Dark Foreground


Could be a Path


Shortly before the fog hit


An Intrepid Mountaineer


Someone loves topiary too much.

I have an Infinity Complex

Admitting it is the first step. Actually, this post is a study of The Infinity Complex in San Francisco. This is a neat complex with two spears and two shorter structures. I think it's residential, but I'm not certain. Stick around at the end for a couple of added bonuses. For many of the building shots I used lens distortion correction to bring the building back to proper proportions and unsharp mask layers (made somewhat transparent) to correct for the foggy, rainy day. The weather on Friday was awful and I spent a lot of time taking the UV filter off the lens because it had gotten rain on it. That's what a UV filter is for though: keeping rain and dirt off the lens so you can shoot clean.


Stepping off the Muni at Fulsom, I decided to open the roll with a Bay Bridge shot. It was shrouded in fog, like sleeping in on a winter day, wrapped in a comforter. The Bay Bridge's best public vantage point along Embarcadero is at Fulsom. From the Muni stop I also took a quick establish shot of the Infinity Complex.


The brick building in front, next to or perhaps part of the Hills Brothers Coffee building, is a wonderful structure with great angles and a simply great design: nothing unneeded, and nothing left needed.


Arquitectonica has designed some of the most visually appealing buildings in the world. The United States Federal Courthouse in Miami, The Gate in Abu Dhabi, and the Westin Hotel in Times Square are three notable examples. Arquitectonica and Heller Manus Architects designed The Infinity Complex and it is a striking addition to the San Francisco skyline. It would have been interesting to learn their design intent for this project, too.


I am not super thrilled with the coloration here. Very brown. And the photo isn't noteworthy enough to bend over backwards adjusting the curves. Included here to show a shorter side of The Infinity.


A nice example of barrel distortion in this shot. Interesting Infinity Complex factoid: During foundation excavation the construction company discovered a 19th-century whaling ship. I imagine that did the construction schedule no favors.


I removed a couple of light poles from this shot, but other than that it's pretty close to straight off the negative. Probably the best shot from a technical perspective on the roll. I was able to get it by climbing on top of a fence, holding my camera way above my head, and pointing it at the building. It was almost level, too. And sharp considering it was f11 or f16 and a fairly long exposure time (1/30th or 1/60th.)


Even when shooting a building, it's important to take time to photograph some flowers.


Have a good weekend!

Bridgespotting

The Asahi Pentax Spotmatic marked the Pentax's entry into amateur and professional photography. Asahi released eight Spotmatic versions from 1964 through 1976. One of the best -- I argue the best -- was the SP1000, two of which I'm luck enough to own (one is not yet working, though.) I'd never used this camera, I don't think, with a wide-angle lens. So I popped on a Focal 28mm lens, which is surprisingly crisp when focused well, and took it to San Francisco. I took that combination out along with some Imation 100 ISO film. Even though it was a 15-exposure roll, I managed to squeeze 16 frames from it. Also, I was able to take it out at mid-day and sunset for a nice variety of shots.


I forgot to note some of the shots exposures and apertures, and this was one of those shots. I don't agree with graffiti, but it can be interesting to photograph. There are more productive ways to express one's self than vandalizing someone else's property.


He is the 100%. I have no idea what that means. I do know this is blurry because ti was a 1/5th-second hand-held shot.


1/60th, f4. Standard bridge sunset picture. By the time I'd walked up the Embarcadero to shoot the next shot, the sun had fallen so much the exposure time increased substantially.


0.5 second, f11. This, the last shot on the roll, turned out decently well. To stabilize it, I set it on a cement fence post. For proper angle, slid a couple fingers under the lens. I am glad this shot turned out well as it was the best on the roll and one of my better shots so far this year. Thankfully the year is young so I'll hopefully have more, better shots in coming months.