Film Photography Podcast – Episode 97 – February 15, 2014
The internet radio show for people who love to shoot film! Nikon Pronea APS camera! Canon AL-1 35mm SLR! Hand Tinting Prints! ORWO Film! Our Favourite Flickr! Polaroid 600 Giveaway and More!
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Show Notes
Film Photography Podcast – Episode 97 – February 15th, 2014
Show Notes By: Alex Luyckx
In studio today (and hyped up on Chocolate and Sugar) is Michael, John, Leslie, Dane, Mark! On today’s shoe: Nikon Pronea APS SLR, the Canon AL-1, Polaroid 600 Giveaway, Listener Letters, Flickr Favorites, hand tinting prints, ORWO film and more!
Chris Nielsen (who sent in all the candy including the PINEAPPLE LUMPS!) has an interesting tidbit on the Trip 35. He claims that even when you set it to manual aperture, the camera’s lightmeter will still set an aperture to prevent overexposure, but will allow for under exposure.
What is APS? APS is the Advanced Photo System introduced in the late 1990s was a replacement for 110 as a no fuss, no muss photo system. Depending on the camera you can shoot APS in three formats, C for Classic (3:2 aspect ratio), H for High Definition (16:9), and P for Panoramic (3:1). Since the entire frame is exposed, it’s just when you print that a magnetic strip on the film tells the minilab how to print the image.
APS never caught on, mostly because the labs were against spending the $40,000. to invest in the hardware. Also, with the rise of digital cameras in the mid 1990s, consumers soon turned to digital and by 2012 Fuji had stopped producing APS film (the last of the big five companies to do so).
The APS film (depending on the camera) can even been switched mid roll (as everything is stored inside in the cartridge). Each cartridge has indicators, saying if the roll is unexposed, partially exposed, exposed, and developed. You can crack open a fully developed roll by using a screw driver to unlock the cartridge and tape it down to scan them on you flatbed.
Mark loves the APS format and brought in his Minolta Vectis 30, a basic chunky “Mom” camera. It has a 30-80mm zoom lens and a fully automatic. The film itself can’t really be developed at home, so you can send it away to The Darkroom!
While APS was aimed at the consumer market, Nikon and Canon both produced a SLR that took APS film. Nikon produced two models of Pronea, in 1996 the Pronea 600i/Pronea 6s, and in 1999 the Pronea S. Don’t let their size or format fool you. These can do the full Program Mode, scene mode, along with Aperture and Shutter Priority and full Manual. The camera control layout is similar to that of their Coolpix digital camera. The Pronea series uses the normal Nikon F mount meaning you can use your existing Nikon AF lenses on the camera; even your DX (Designed for Crop Sensor Nikon Digital SLR cameras) lenses will work wonderfully on the camera.
Canon AL-1 35mm SLR camera – The Canon AL-1 is an odd member of the A series of 35mm SLRs. On the surface it looks like the perfect student camera with manual exposure, manual focus. It takes the FD lens mount but also mounts R and FL lenses. It even takes readily available AA size batteries. You can add the Winder A and Winder A2 to the camera too! Produced in 1982. it has a rather unique function…it will tell you when the picture is in focus, in the viewfinder itself. It does this through contrast comparison by through a semi-silvered mirror. The body itself is mostly plastic, and the battery compartment is easily broken. The other downside to the camera is that the slowest shutter speed is 1/15”. You can find them for around 10-30 dollars on ebay.
Hand-Tinted Prints – Long time listener Ed Keer asks a couple questions of the gang. The first is about digital printing at home – is it worth the cost or is it better to leave it to the labs? Leslie has a response; the simple fact is that most home printers/ink produce a non-archival print, lasting only 26 years. Not to mention you many have to make multiple prints before it gets to be just right. It’s easier to let a lab to it, or send it off to The Darkroom or Blue Moon Camera and Machine to have traditional silver wet prints made.
Ed’s second question is about hand tinting prints. Leslie again comes to the rescue. The idea of hand tinting prints is as old as photography itself; there are several examples of hand-tinted daguerreotypes. It’s something that Leslie has a lot of experience as she has logged many hours doing this. Leslie does not recommend the use of watercolor but rather dedicated photo oils. Arista and Marshall are the two brands to go with. You can also use colored pencils; the best are the ones that dissolve in turpentine. The kits also include two other chemicals that will be handy,. The first is PM Solution and the other is Marlene. You will also need spotting bushes, toothpicks, pink erasers, a pallet, foam core, sheet cotton, and cotton balls.
The best sort of prints to tint is fiber-based prints. The best papers are Ilford Semi-Matte Warm Tone or Ilford Art 300. The most important part is to have a texture on the paper, something to grab the pigment. Before you starting with hand coloring your print, make sure you’ve spotted the print and toned it. Once this is done, tape the print down on the foam core (painters/artist tape, something that won’t damage your print). Dot the color where you want it, slowly building up the layers, each time using the cotton balls to buff the color. Once you have it done, use the PM solution to smooth everything out, and then use the Marline to clean off areas likes the whites and blacks; the pink eraser also works for this as well. You can also use Marline to clean off the entire print and start again! The pencils or spotting brushes are great for adding details. Expect to spend a lot of time on this; Leslie can (and has) spent up to 300 hours on a single print. But like anything with photography, it’s an investment. Interested in getting started with this? You can find everything you need at Freestyle!
ORWO films may be new to North America however the stock has been around for a long time. The reason being is that before 1991 the company was behind the Iron Curtain. The plant was captured by the Russians at the end of World War II and remained in East Germany.
The film is the European equivalent to Kodak’s motion picture film stocks and we in North American can get two stocks. The first is N74+, an ASA-400 film – it has a wide latitude and can be compared with Eastman Double-X. The second is UN54 (my favourite!) is an ASA-100 film and can be compared to Plus-X. UN54 can be developed as a negative or positive.
In North America you can buy the stock in 400’ or 100’ bulk rolls then roll them yourself into 35mm cartridges. The film is limited to what we can get in the west as the film is in high demand in Europe. Both films are panchromatic, and have an anti-halation layer, so there won’t be that Polypan-F glow! Developing can be done in traditional B&W film chemistry, times can be found on the Massive Dev Chart. Or you can send it off to The Darkroom. You can find it online through: www.orwona.com
My Favorite Flickr! So what Flickr users are the favorites of the FPP gang? John has been using their iOS app to browse different groups and users, and has come up with a couple favorites. John’s first pick is TheCincyKid, a fellow Mamyia shooter (uses an RB67) and lover of natural light, plus has some wonderful images and subject matter. John’s second choice is BlueGoo Studios; he has some fantastic surreal B&W images that John found through various groups on Flickr. One of Leslie’s favs is Zalmy Berkowitz, a Polaroid shooter and master of available light, although a small photostream, the work there is incredible! Leslie’s second pick is Stallberger, she enjoys the simplistic beauty of his images, and he’s just like the rest of us, who loves to use these old cameras.
Flickr has always been the driving force behind the FPP. It was what inspired Michael to pick up his film camera again back in 2008 and continues to inspire today! It also serves as a wealth of developing information, and community buildings. Did you know that the FPP has a group on Flickr? It’s a free service, sign up (it’s free) and join the group! Take some time to explore other flickr groups, if you’re into a certain style, camera, film stock, subject matter, there’s probably a group for it, or more!
Michael Raso on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelraso/
Mat Marrash on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/mat4226/
John Fedele on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/john_eyes_the_world/
Leslie Lazenby on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/65448995@N05/
Dane Johnson on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/danej777/
Mark Dalzell on Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/photos/metropolismusic/
Donate to The FPP! Help keep these shoes coming by donating to The FPP. Visit our DONATE PAGE here. It’s YOU that keeps us going! Thanks to listener Mark O’Brien and The FPP Store we’re giving away a Polaroid 600 Express camera and a pack of film!! Enter this contest HERE by March 1, 2014!
That’s it for us this week! We’ll be back in a short two weeks. Closing out todays show is some Darren Riley (BALLARD!) and Pink Delicates!