Film Photography Podcast 176 – December 1st, 2017
Topics on the show today include, the Rollei XF35, Konica Pop, Fakmatic 126 Adapter, Books of the Show, Listener Letters, Social Media, and more!
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Show Notes by Alex Luyckx
The gang is back around the table and with it being the month of December, we’re Lookin’ for Santa! Joining in the hunt today with Michael Raso is Mark O’Brien, Mark Dalzell, Mat Marrash, and Leslie Lazenby! Topics on the show today include, the Rollei XF35, Konica Pop, Fakmatic 126 Adapter, Books of the Show, Listener Letters, Social Media, and more! So grab yourself an eggnog or other favorite holiday drink and settle in next to the fire.
The FakMatic 35mm to 126 Adapter! WOrth the effort?
If you remember from a previous episode, you’ll have heard about the Fakmatic adapter. This is a 3D printed unit out of Italy that allows you to shoot 35mm film in 126 Cartridge Cameras with an adapter unit. Mark D has gotten his hands on one and has been struggling to get it to work. Of course, that has to do with the camera he’s using it in, mostly non-Kodak units. Michael has had a bit more luck working with the Kodak Instamatic X-15F. Thankfully, the adapter is fairly easy to load up with 35mm film and is light tight. You do need a bit of tape to keep it closed. The Fakmatic 35mm to 126 adapter is now available in the FPP on-line store!
above: Mark Dalzell and his Rollei XF35
Good Camera/Crappy Camera – Rollei XF35 and Konica Pop
At first glance, you’re more than likely to skip over this camera, but if you take a closer look, you’ll see something that is worthwhile. The first camera on the table today from Mark Dalzell is the Rollei XF35. The camera is a 1974 fixed lens rangefinder slightly scaled up from the iconic Rollei 35. The main selling point of the camera is the Zeiss Sonnar 40mm f/2,3 lens that takes quality sharp images. The camera is fully automated with no manual control, rangefinder focusing, but there is a display in the viewfinder that shows off the shutter speed and aperture. The camera is topped off with a standard hot shoe and winder. Sadly, Mark hasn’t had any luck with the camera yet having a few roll failures, but the images he’s seen on Flickr have impressed him. Rollei also released under the Voigtlander name, the VF135, basically the same camera with different branding.
above: Tony Kemplen’s Konica Pop! Check out Tony’s awesome Flickr page – https://www.flickr.com/photos/tony_kemplen/collections/72157623113584240/
The second camera that Mark Dalzell has brought is something a little more colourful. The Konica Pop is a 1980s point and shoot that first dropped in 1982. What made the camera stand out was the fun colours you could purchase it in. From the standard black to underwater yellow, army green, and even some metallic. But as the camera itself goes, there’s not much to it. Fixed focus, fixed shutter speed and full Auto-Exposure. The lens itself is a 36mm f/4 that was originally marked with the iconic Hexanon name. The name was dropped in 1985 when the camera had some slight changes made. Another interesting tidbit about the camera is that when it was first released, it came with a flex disk of ABBA music.
Leslie says: “GO PHOTO!”
Books of the Show
This episode we have three books up for a review! Mark Dalzell has been struggling with finding some inspiration of late! But he picked up two books that have helped him out. The first one, although aimed more at kids and digital photography is really good for adults and can be adapted to film photography also. Go Photo! The book, by Alice Proujanksy, is filled with fun activities to get you out and to shoot. Everything is laid out right down the needed materials.
above:The strange faux-vintage Polaroid book!
The second book gives you a chance to learn how not to judge a book by its cover. The book, Polaroid: How to Take Instant Images, may look like it was published in 1985, but don’t let the faux faded cover fool you this book is from 2015. The book takes you through everything from choosing a camera, film, even location, styles, and display. The one thing that is lacking in the book is anything about the Impossible Project Films, but still, you can use these tips for shooting both Impossible and Polaroid Originals film stocks. And as a bonus, a lot of the images in the book are from FPP Superfriends!
The third and final book this show is from Mark O’Brien. Mark O is known for having an extensive library of photography books, but this is one that he recently picked up. A Tree, A Blade of Grass, is a collection of work from noted Japanese Photography Shinzo Maeda. The book, Mark can only describe as Zen, captures the beauty of natural Japan. This is often overlooked in favour of the more urban areas of the island nation. But there’s a draw to these beautiful full-colour images that are different from what you’d see from a landscape photographer of the same era in North America. In addition to beautiful images, the book has full technical information on the cameras, lenses, and films used in the image creation process.
School Donation Program – EF Needs
The FPP school donation program needs your help! We’re currently sitting on a massive fleet of Canon EOS cameras, but we lack the lenses to make the cameras useful. The trouble is that the EF mount is still used by the Canon Digital EOS cameras. So if you happen to have duplicates of your EF (not EF-S) lenses hanging around, we’d be appreciative of getting some of them to get this fleet out of the dock and into the hands of students! You can send the lenses (film or any other unwanted gear) to Film Photography Podcast, School Donation Program PO Box 264 Fair Lawn, NJ 07410.
What’s Hot on the Used Market
Mat has an update from Midwest Photo where he works his day job on what’s the hot products on the used market and what’s not. Currently, the hot medium format cameras are Twin Lens Reflexes, while SLRs are taking more of a back seat. Of course, Hasselblad’s are still priced high due to the brand recognition. The other hot item is Polaroid! With the new OneStep 2 and the new price point.
That’s it for this show, but don’t fear we’ll be back in a couple of weeks! Until then you can join the community over on our Flickr group. You can also write the gang by email: podcast@filmphotographyproject.com or send us holiday cards by mail to Film Photography Podcast PO Box 264 Fair Lawn, NJ 07410!
Before FPP there was…Meadowlands Showcase!
You can see Michael Raso and John Fedele’s 1988 – 1990 Meadowlands Showcase Christmas episodes featuring The Hungry Dutchmen, Bite The Wax Godhead, The Trackman and more on AMAZON PRIME STREAMING or YOU TUBE STREAMING.
The LOW Christmas LP is back in print. Grab your copy from KRANKY Records!