The weather has been very bad in Singapore recently so I did not shoot anything since the first of Jan. Good opportunity for my usual reflective post on 2020. The COVID has of course reduced the photo opportunities this year, no travels since February, less local events. Anyway, I still managed to spend some time on my hobby : burn some film.
Below is a breakdown of my 52 roll in film types:
| Row Labels | Count of Film No |
| Fuji Across | 8 |
| Ilford HP5 Plus | 6 |
| Rollei Retro 80s | 6 |
| Kodak TRI X | 5 |
| Ilford Delta 400 | 4 |
| Cinestill 800T | 3 |
| Shanghai GP3 | 2 |
| Ultrafine Xtreme 400 | 2 |
| Kodak TMY 400 | 2 |
| Polypan 50 | 2 |
| Ilford hp5 | 2 |
| Kodak Portra 400 | 2 |
| Kodak Ultramax | 1 |
| Kodak Colorplus | 1 |
| Ilford Delta 3200 | 1 |
| Kodak Pro Image | 1 |
| Kentmere 400 pan | 1 |
| Fuji Neopan 400 | 1 |
| Ilford Pan F | 1 |
| Rollei Superpan 200 | 1 |
| Film brand | Rolls |
| Ilford | 14 |
| Kodak | 12 |
| Fuji | 9 |
| Rollei | 7 |
| Cinestill | 3 |
| Shanghai | 2 |
| Ultrafine | 2 |
| Polypan | 2 |
| Kentmere | 1 |
| Grand Total | 52 |
I mostly shot black and white again. Mostly because I converted to Caffenol in the middle of the year, and have now processed around 20 rolls using this method. I lost 4 rolls more of less in the process, but I have a good standard procedure now. I also bought a roll of HP5+. Both steps make me shot black and white film for a lot cheaper.
Ilford in getting to the top of the list this year, surpassing the usual Kodak. I think Kodak is very close only because of the color films. In term of black and white, Fuji is this year in front of Kodak. I bought some expired Acros 100 which gives super good results in Caffenol.
Below is the breakdown of cameras I used:
| Cameras | Rolls |
| Leica M6 | 18 |
| Leica IIIc | 10 |
| Hasselblad 500CM | 7 |
| Leica M4 | 6 |
| Agfa Isolette III | 4 |
| Nikon F3 | 4 |
| Nikon F | 1 |
| Heineken | 1 |
| Minolta Himatic 7s | 1 |
No surprise the 3 Leica bodies and the Hasselblad are still trusting the top of the list. The M6 is really a picture making machine, actually I just had the joints redone and the crank fixed.
I did not buy any new cameras this year still I made some nice additions to my kit. I bought a new Sekonic 308-X meter as the old one died, a friend offered me a Keks EM01 light meter, which fits on the cold shoe o fthe M4 or IIIc, a very nice add on.
I tried to fix the rangefinder of the Isolette III and managed to shot a few rolls with it, making it climb to the fifth rank.
Actually I bought a second body for parts which has a few issues, so I may play to fix it or send it for service.
Curiously I digged the Nikon F3 from the Nikon box (I have a Leica box, a Nikon box and a various box). I gad very pleasant results mostly with the 50mm F1.4AIS.
Lugging a SLR around is not longer a pleasure and this guy is so beaten up that I am a bit ashamed to carry it in the streets, but amazing results this year.
I only shot one roll with the Nikon F, with the 50mmF1.4 Non AI, on Polypan 50. My two photomnic meters are no longer metering or I can t be bothered to buy new batteries to use them. Using the Sekonic is just as good.
Finally two rolls with the Minolta 7S, great performer, still flimsy and the underwater Heineken Camera whose housing is leaving his last days.
Also the nice discovery of the year is the Whampoa Color photo lab which does a great job for processing and scanning color films.
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