Agfa Isoflash-Rapid

Week 44 - Agfa Isoflash-Rapid 35 mm film camera purchased at the Westminster Antique Mall for $7. The Agfa Isoflash-Rapid is a German made camera produced in the 1960's that uses two rapid cassettes instead of the standard 35mmh film canister. The film from a rapid cassette is advanced by a gear inside the camera into a second empty rapid cassette. The second cassette was then sent in for processing. This two cassette system was brought back by Agfa to compete with Kodak's 126 film cassette. The Agfa Isoflash-Rapid's shutter will not fire without film in the camera. Fortunately there was film in the camera for me to test out the shutter at the antique store. I tried to develop the film in the camera but it came out blank.

I used an expired 12 exposure roll of Fujicolor 100 as the camera is only able to shoot 16 frames on a regular 12 exposure roll of 35mm film. I had to load the film from the Fuji canister into the empty rapid cassette in a changing bag before loading the film into the camera. I went for a nice walk around Hanover last Saturday morning with the intention of grabbing a few shots of autumn color, but the leaves on the trees were not quite ready. I thought the expired film performed well though, the camera was small and light, easy to shoot with using the fixed focus lens. 

I hand processed the roll with Film Photography Project's C-41 kit and scanned the negatives with Epson V500 Photo.

Polaroid One Step Close Up

Week 40 - Polaroid One Step Close Up, a Polaroid 600 instant film camera given to me by a friend who found it in his closet. The camera has a built in flip up flash powered by the internal battery of each Polaroid 600 type film pack. This closeup model features two focusing distances, with a slider between close up of 2-4 feet and distance of 4 feet to infinity. There is also a lighten/darken switch to adjust the exposure of your photos.

I had on hand an expired box of Impossible Project 600 black and white film, leftover from an expired film bag special from Impossible Project. My frugality will not allow me to purchase full price film, I usually only purchase the factory seconds or expired film bag specials. I also like the unpredictable results achieved with these films. If I want to get consistent, predictable results, I shoot with Fuji Instax Wide and Mini.

With no ideas or destinations in mind this week for subject matter, I turned to shooting photos of my friends, and a self portrait. I found I liked the outdoor shots better. One of my photographer friends commented that his portrait had Holga-like qualities with the softly focused edges and another friend liked the unique black and white instant photo, something that you don't usually see. They were all pleased when I gave them their photos after scanning them.

Time to get ready for Fall Polaroid Week coming up week after next, I hope the new Fuji Instax Mini Monochrome will be available by then.

Olympus OM10 - 52 Cameras, 52 Weeks

Week 33 - Olympus OM10 purchased from someone on Craigslist for $10. It came with a 70-205mm Vivitar Zoom lens, but I purchased a 50mm Olympus Zuiko f1.8 lens for it from ebay for $20 with free shipping. The camera came with 36 rolls of exposed color film that I plan to develop in the coming weeks (it could even take months). I'm not sure if the photos will turn out as the camera and film were in a storage shed for years.

The film for this week was expired Kodak Portra 160NC and the photos were shot around Baltimore, MD and Codorus State Park, Hanover, PA. My favorite photos are the sunrise over Lake Marburg and the field landscape with big puffy clouds.

I mixed a new batch of C-41 Chemicals for this roll, scanned with Epson V500 Photo and Spot Dusted and adjusted for levels in Photoshop. Adjusting for levels is simply scanning the film on automatic, opening the file in Photoshop and selecting the lightest and darkest points in the levels dialog box. This brings the colors into range with the least amount of manipulation of the file.

Polaroid Land Camera 360 - 52 Cameras, 52 WeeksWeek

Week 23 Camera - Polaroid Land Camera 360 Electronic Flash model (without the electronic flash) that Brenda bought for me on her birthday! We were poking around in a few antique stores, I saw this camera and I was mulling over whether I wanted to add another pack film camera to my collection in light of the fact that pack film will no longer be produced by Fuji. But the camera was in such good condition and had the flip up Zeiss viewfinder, so Brenda bought it for me (it was only $10). I had trouble figuring out how to get to the battery compartment, but a quick search online provided the answer. As suspected, there were a couple of corroded batteries, but after cleaning with white vinegar, I popped in a battery and the shutter clicked twice - awesome!

On Sunday, I loaded my last pack of Fuji FP-3000b, found my Polaroid 516 Cloud Filter attachment and Brenda and I were off on a car ride up to Peter's Orchards and Pine Grove Furnace State Park, in the Michaux State Forest. I'm so glad that Brenda likes to ride along with me on these little photography excursions - at Peter's Orchards we stocked up on apple butter, honey, and a jar of pumpkin butter to try. To get to Peter's Orchards, it's a straight drive up Route 94 through Cross Keys and York Springs with part of the ride over some roller coaster type hills that can leave your stomach in the air (fun!). It seems an endless drive over the hills surrounded by acres of apple trees until suddenly there is the fruit market in the middle of the orchards. I especially love to drive through the orchards after the leaves have fallen as the bare trees have interesting gnarly branches that I haven't quite been able to capture well on film.

After shooting at the fruit market, we headed north with another stop for a photo and then to Pine Grove Furnace. The Furnace stack is near the Appalachian Trail and the park campgrounds. I love the texture of the rocks that form the furnace and the remains of the walls behind it with the foliage poking through. I made a couple of accidental double exposures here as I wasn't sure I had cocked the shutter. I also took a few iPhone photos for reference to make a sketch or two. 

The Polaroid 360 operated smoothly though the exposures were a little too dark, I probably should have adjusted the exposure more. The photos were scanned on Epson V500 Photo and I also scanned the negative side of the peel apart film, one of the scans is shown above.