Two weeks ago I took my courage in my hands and pulled the Hassie out of the box. When I say the Hassie I mean the Hassie and my second back. Because after my first outing with the Blad in London (here and here) I was so happy that I put a colour (Kodak Ektar 100 slightly expired) film in one back, and a roll of Ilford HP5+ in the other.
One back has a label “400” which is supposed to make things easier. Well anyway, back in May, and this Ektar roll, that was the Chelsea flower show and the sun was shinning and everything was perfect for a stroll in Chelsea.
I even found a Chinese artist doing whatever he was doing
and a dummy representing Vivienne Westwood close to where her iconic shop was in the 70’s.
Charles Eames plastic chairs are always a colourful delight (some of these are vintage fiberglass ones)
And then the hassie went in the cupboard for summer and went out two weeks ago. And on a beautiful autumn day, I dragged it along regents Canal, where the afternoon light was warm and beautiful.
All of this is water under the bridge. I used the Sekonic 380x as a light meter. A great piece of kit, but no so easy when switching backs.
And of course you are now expecting the catch at the end of the story. So we finish walking around Regents’ Park, went back to the Freeze open air sculpture exhibition, shot the final two frames, roll the roll .. et voila. The back labelled “400” is of course the one containing the Ektar roll. So assuming I had all my head for the first half of the roll, the second half was over exposed by one stop without visible effect on these shots.
You will also notice that there are only nine shots : apart from a portrait of my lovely wife that I keep to myself, there are two incredibly sh!t shots : the floor at my feet and a misfocused Austin mini as the beginning of the film. That’s easily 4 £ lost … errr
I hope you enjoyed the reading, get ready for the other roll soon.
And here is the second roll shot with the Hassie in London last month. Kodak Ektar 100 shot at 100, with Hassie 500CM.
Friendly climate activist (Aren’t they all?)
I use a handled Sekonic L-308X, that is overkill for the job, but I had to change my last one after 10 years of service, some soldering broke, and I though about finding it a new home and treating me to a new meter.
Unhappy campers
I am impressed by the 3D pop on this shot. The hassie is a great ice breaker. I really like these first two shots.
Market Magic
A bit of Easter spirit was still hanging around.
Hassie is for making friends
We bumped into Malaysian students around Borough Market, chit chat about Singapore and Malaysia and took a few pics and weefy.
The Cabbies café
I was quite intrigues when I arrive din London to see these street shops selling food for cabbies and probably the general public also. I never tried though.
A colourful block near Victoria station
Battersea station
Film processed and scanned by Analogue Lab in Shoreditch.
So the good news is that yes the Hassie made it to London. It looks a bit more used than I remember, from when I used it last in Singapore, last year un June. A different time a different place.
Sakura in Saint James Park
For those who picked this blog recently , my Hassie is a 500 CM with the classic 80mmF2.8 lens. I am lucky enough to own the hood for this lens, but also an original strap 9or a knock off) and a second back plus a couple of filters.
Tulips game
I picked up the Hassie probably 8 years ago when I wanted a bit better medium format that my usual folding Agfa. I used the Hassie quite nicely and carried it quite a bit around the world : France, Italy, India, Sri Lanka and more.
Out of focus daffodils but lovely colours
The Hassie is a great camera but I kind of fail out of live with her. Well first I invested so much in the Leica system that I have to justify spending the money. But also as I was warned the Hassie is a big, heavy beast, not super fast to use when you are walking around.
Saint James Park
I think its pretty good for an outing with photog friend or a photo-walk on your own, definitely not a carry around camera when walking 15K a day on weekends with my wife.
Anyway… this is however a great camera, I I still enjoy using it, and also I shave a few films around, particularly a box of Ektar 100 that I bought before leaving Singapore.
I like the particularly vibrant colours of this roll (and the next). Processing was done by Analogue Lab in Shoreditch once again.
Southbank central
One thing the Hassie is for sure is a conversation starter.
So after Roll15, here is Roll14. This one is a bit late as I had to bring it to the lab and it took me the whole week to do it. Well so here is a beautiful roll of Kodak Ektar, processed and scanned by Whampoa color. The roll was shot with the Hasselblad 500CM with the kit lens (Planar 80mmF2.8), as last Sunday I stick to the rule, one camera one lens.
So these are 12 shots done when I met Ez in Joo Chiat, you can see him in one of the shots.
It was a beautiful morning, with a lot of light (and very hot), I shot the Ektar at 100 measure with the Sekonic 308x. As usual there was not a single AA battery in sight at home, so I started my photowalk by scouting for batteries.
So when I brought my last roll of Portra to the lab the uncle coaxed me into buying some Ektar 100, not wanting to look mean I bought not a roll but a box of 5 rolls. I must say this is a decent deal as it comes with five coupons of one dollar to be rebated of their processing. If I remember correctly this is 52 dollars for the 5 rolls and they do processing + super decent scanning at 11 dollars (Singapore Dollars).
Monkey God Temple in Tiong Bahru
I shot Ektar before, but mostly in 35mm, I must say it pays credit to the claim that it is the finest grain film. So I loaded the good old Hassie 500 CM with my first roll and hit the road to give it a try.
Chinese Lantern Tiong Bahru
12 shots on a 120 roll is not much, but walking through overshot areas on a Sunday afternoon, it can be quite a challenge to finish a full roll.
The ex-Majestic Hotel, now the Straight Clan asscoation
We walked from home to Tiong Bahru, then headed to Chinatown. The Straight Clan is where the Majestic hotel used to be. I spent 5 weeks in this hotel in 2006 and have some interesting shots from the construction site period, when it was converted. Maybe I’ll share this some time.
Buddha tooth relic temple
We moved to the Buddha tooth relic temple where I notice the Buddhist flags which where not there last week ( you can check the post) and I though it was a nice opportunity for color sampling and smooth grain demonstration.
A peanuts stand in Chintaown
In Chinatown every year temporary stands selling goods for the occasion the Chinese New Year appear and disappear in a mater of a few weeks. Generally they close late on the eve of the New Year day. This year everybody was masked, there were less stands as the people coming from other countries could not enter Singapore. If you want to ne picky, the focus is on the cage bars, not the seller.
Welcome to the year of the Ox
Exiting Chinatown, I took this shot of the Ox silk paper statue. This is not the best angle as it is quite busy with the traffic lights posts and cars. The best angle is diametrically opposite I think. But you can see here how nice and bright the colors are.
Substation on Armenian street
Nice mural on Substation, an art center on Armenian Street, close to the Peranakan museum. Substation used to host gigs and has a broad program, with what seems to be a focus on the street / youth culture.
Rendez-Vous Hotel
The last shot in order to finish the roll : a mundane view of the Rendez-Vous Hotel at the bottom of Orchard Road. Totally uninteresting but very nice blues.
01. The first shot, in a Hindu temple in little India
Hello, today a little pointless exercise consisting in reviewing the shots of an entire roll. You will see below keepers in a larger size that the dismissed shots.
I loaded the roll during the LUGS (Leica User Group Singapore) outing in Little India last month inside Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. This is always a good place for shooting.
Lesson from the first frame: always skip the first 1 or 2 frames, otherwise in the unlikely event you like the shot, it may be half burned.
02. Sri Veeramakaliamman temple in little India
03. Hindu temple in little India
It is quite rare that I shoot color films with the IIIc, actually I mostly shot Black and white film anyway, I feel very restricted by color film, I generally prefer to shoot digital for color.
04. Coconut stall Little India
05. Coconut stall Little India
So far no shot is great, maybe number 5 is ok, street activity, a bit of the documentary style, probably ok technically. I like the color of the Ektar for “street” photos.
06. Mural
There are many mural in little India now, this one is in a back alley, it is not so great , or maybe too much. The shot is quite bad, not sure its even in focus.
07. Working Class Hero
Probably an Indian actor, the first good shot, nice color. Taken bottom up with the 35mm, the vertical line are of course not straight, but that’s the name of the game.
08. Working class hera take two.
Not as good.
09. Cardboard Man
Ok you get that it it about the plight of people making a leaving from urban scraps. Not such an uncommon sight in Singapore. Informative, but not necessarily a great pic.
10.Elephant Park
I would find that picture quite uninteresting, but technically ok; color-wise it is another chance for the Ektar to rock.
Leaving Chinatown and moving toward city center, two visions of hotel 81 in Jalan Besar.
11. Hotel 81 in Jalan Besar
12. Hotel 81 in Jalan Besar
Second shot is better exposed an less traffic in the middle. Roughly ok, The Art Deco building is attractive, but not overwhelming.
In the street with a camera in hand it is tempting to catch passers by, in particular if they are charming.
12. Female passer-by 1
Too far, would you even have noticed her?
13. Female passer-by 2
Motion blur, Out of focus, bad framing.
14. Female passer-by 3
So what?
15. Colorful
Maybe yes, maybe not, that was just a try.
The same afternoon I walked into Chinatown
16. Ceno2 new mural
Quite a bad pic, maybe OOF ? Shame. I thinks it’s also not Ceno2’s best mural.
17. South Bridge Road commercial building
18. South Bridge Road commercial building
The two commercial buildings are quite ok, I would be happy to show the second one, the colors and details are good to my taste, and the composition not so bad.
19. Strangers with brolly
20. Strangers with brolly
Second version is probably an ok street shot, movement, color and overall an umbrella.
21. Buddha tooth relic temple
Buddha tooth relic temple, one random shot
22. The mosque on new bridge road
I tough the light was great and worth capturing
23. Mural in “Amoy Alley”
I quite like this one, unusual.
24. Satay club
Another random shot, not great angle, too far, not showing much.
25. MBS reflection
Ok ok we can try.
Next great spot is the Merlion Park, it is always endless fun shooting people taking selfies there.
26. The lady in cheamseong
It would have work with better light, the subject here is a bit lost in the background.
27. Posing
This one is really random.
28. Uncle shooting a relative (or friend)
Something was going on, but it was not the right moment yet.
29. The same uncle in action
I think that one is ok, just average but ok. Nice light, funny pause and all.
30. hijacking the shot
Nothing easier to ask somebody who pause if you can also take a shot. Too contrasty but probably OK.
31. The three good fairies
These three Muslim ladies remind me of the good fairies in Walt Disney’s Cinderella. They were very happy to oblige. I like he colorful bags, maybe a second closer shot without the bags would have been a nice complement.
32. Beach Road
The new building on Beach Road in the evening light. Nice tourist shot.
Finally the next 5 shots were taken during the next LUGS outing in Tiong Bahru, on my birthday.
33. a fish stall
Ok I think I took enough fish stalls so far not to call this one a keeper.
34. Another fish stall
I would keep this one, framing is nicer, action is clear. technically I think it’s ok, may need to be overexposed a little bit.
35. Fruit Stall
Obviously random
36. Fruit Stall (again)
The lens was attracted by the lady in the center, but one week later it does not look like it is enough.
37. Tiong Bahru street scene
So where am I a the end of the exercise? I managed to shot 36 and half frames on this roll, all exposed properly and focused reasonably well (two are debatable), the only thing you can take from this is that my IIIC works reasonably well and, probably, produces a comparable result to a modern camera. One picture out of three, I will probably share on one of the Facebook groups I partake in. Real keepers (going on Flickr), will be “Working Class Hero“, “Strangers with brolly“, “the three good fairies“, maybe the “Other fish stall“.
At this point in time he Leica IIIc is my favorite 35mm film camera : it is small and sexy and over the time it get slightly improved : by the addition of the a 35mm Summaron (f3.5), then by the one of a 35mm finder. I always dismissed the 35 finders as being not useful, but in the end this accessory proved very good for composition. Over the years I had the curtain changed, there is still a a small defect when shooting at fast speeds, the right side exposure is a bit under exposed, but it looks like using it more often, at least one roll a month, it seems to be less obvious.
Hope you enjoyed the reading and viewing, to later
This is a lucky year for the Digna, not only did he get to shoot a roll of slides at Christmas but as I was recently on holidays back home I did 2 more rolls with it. 3 rolls in a year this is unseen for this little camera that I use on for holidays.
What I like the best is what I call the “Lomo effect”, the little distortion of the picture that make it a bit more interesting. So these are just holidays snaps, with this little extra.
Musée Fernand Léger – Biot
Musée Fernand Léger – Biot
Musée Fernand Léger – Biot
Piscine Jean-Médecin – Nice
9 lignes obliques – Nice
CGT building – Cannes
Le Marchand de pastèques – Cannes
Pictures are done with KodakPortra 160 and Kodak Ektar 100 all shot at 100ISO.
Ok these are the last pictures of Bukit Brown Cemetery, promised. Until I go back there sometime of course.
I forgot to mention that the pictures were taken the week after the tomb sweeping; a week were people go to the ancertors tombs, clean them and bring offerings. So on the pictures below you can see scent sticks and red candles.
A lot of offerings remaining at this place; candles and sticks of scent plugged in condensed milk cans.
Some Sikh guards guarding Chew Geok Leong’s tomb. Actually, a bit of google-ing and I learned there are more of those in the cemetery.
The 3 films shot with the Hasselblad during out outing to Bukit Brown cemetery are are finally back from the lab. One of the best shots is this statue of a Sikh guard protecting a tomb (actually there are a pair of them). These were 3 different films, this one is an Ektar 100 which is probably the one that gave the best results, the portra 400 NC was not bad either, but I am disappointed with my first ever slide film, I’ll make another post on the subject.
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