2023 ROLL#07 – Here comes the Nikon F3

Buckingham

After a three years hiatus I have resolved to pull the Nikon F3 out of the box. The F3 is amazing, a couple of fresh batteries (LR44 I am not fussy), turn the switch ON … et voila! its working.

Smelling something fishy

You can find a few posts on this blog my F3 :

• Another old fellow back from the magic cupboad – Nikon F3
• The Nikon F3 gets out the closet
• THE NIKON F3 : DOES IT FOCUS OR NOT
• Time travel with the Nikon F3

hurry up Alice

But for a quick summary, when my SRT101 broke in 1992 I bought a second hand beaten Nikon F3. Yes that was 30 years ago! I have carried it in a lot of places other this time, it gathered dust in the 2000’s when digital was the rage and did not get much more use when I went back to film and discovered the rangefinders.

I am a rockstar

But I love the F3. It is a camera I was really longing for, and since I bought the 50mm1.4 AIS for a travel in Nepal, I really have a nice combo there.

So, as I now belong a Nikon F facebook group I decided to ditch the L—- for a while and pick up the F3. That was week end before King Charles coronation so a bit of action was to be expected, or at least a few people wondering around.

What is the experience of shooting with the F3? Well last time I used it was in 2020 so I cannot say I am an expert, it is pretty simple. But alas I always compare to the M6, I think the rings turn i opposite direction, so focusing and adjusting aperture takes time.

reluctant models – I was only interested in the back light

I have a problem of focusing it seems. It may be me or the camera (I never had it serviced) ? Some shots are in focus, some slightly off, some were way off. I really got accustomed to the rangefinder patch.

Gillie and Marc sculpture at the back of Saint Paul

Gillie and Marc sculpture at the back of Saint Paul

It is not so critical, but I would have no confidence taking the portrait of someone and propose to print it for him. I would rate my chances at 30%, I think it would go up to 70 with the M6.

Nice legs

All in all a nice and pleasant experience ( nobody go hurt), it is a good camera to handle. A pleasant roll of my favourite film, the TMAX 100.

What’s on the menu?

So ? Back to the box? For the moment yes. But as I have paid for a full package of batteries, I will have to shoot more rolls to recover my investment. And yes I saw some mint F3s and they are still a pure object of lust, even if I am not 100% satisfied.

A final note, the Leica III is back from ApertureUK, and is loaded with a test roll of FP4. To be continued

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A Royal Affair ( 2023 Roll 09)

As most of the planet knows 6th of May 2023 was the coronation of King Charles III of Britain. Being in London it was another good occasion to go out and burn some film.

That was a particularly wet Saturday even for London, so I had a bit of hesitation on the weapon of choice.

I finally settled for the infamous duo : the Leica M6 for film, the Leica M262 for digital. This is the roll of Kodak TMY400 shot on the M6 with the 50mm v5 Summicron.

I did not want to carry too much gear, so I just put the 35mm Asphv2 on the M262 and put the Elmarit 90mmF2.8 in my Wotancraft bag (I cannot remember the model), which usually makes a pretty good job keeping the gear dry in wet weather.

The first set of pictures was shot in Hyde Park after a cumbersome walk around Hyde Park Corner then nearly up to Exhibition road where the park could be entered.

We hang around the giant screens with my friend L. an avid Sony shooter.

Cool crowd, good but not outrageous quantity of drinks ( well ok that was 10h30 am), a bit of silliness and dressing up in a festive mood.

Most everybody was happy to be snapped.

My roll ended up a bit dark, but what do you expect with such a weather.

Finding the exit of the park was just as complicated as getting in but we head out, looking for greener pastures. Through Mayfair and Regents street we made our way to the “Little Republic of Trafalgar Square” where Republicans were demonstrating their opinions on the affair of the day.

Also in good and cheerful atmosphere.

I swapped the lens for the Voigtander 21mmF4, time for a horizontal et a vertical snaps.

These pictures are a bit less descriptive but quite dynamic.

Finally a last supporter of the the King met on the way back, in full attire.

A bit later it was time for the maintenance team to regroup and head back home.

2023 ROLL#03 – LONDON IN COLOR

Borough Market – Hot Chocolate

OMG this is roll 03 already ! But one sec where is roll 01? Well ok Roll 01 is sitting tight in the computer, waiting for its blog post, but I think I could share a few colour shots for a change.

The players – Clerkenwell

So actually the trip starts where Roll02 finished, in Borough Market, I had a bit of a hard time to load a roll of Portra 400 in the M6, god knows why. This is always so easy but not that day. So I missed a few shots and soon after it was loaded it was too dark for the Summaron 3.5. On the way back we walk up to Smithfield market, then up to Clerkenwell, where we met these gents playing chess outside of a church.

Who cares about signs when you drive a Jag – Chelsea

Sunday was more a Chelsea / Thames river walk where I first met the above Jag then towards the Thames I met again the following acquaintance.

The return of the penny farthing- Chelsea

The guy on the penny farthing this time in colour, the cars don’t make much for a background, but I had not enough time to move them around.

Then a long walk along the Thames.

My photographic weeks are long tunnels where nothing happens until the next week end, so after a long apnoea I carried the roll of Portra ( with the camera around it) to the west side that time.

The three wise men

Around Harrods I met these three happy Chelsea pensioners, they are retired servicemen from the British army, leaving in Chelsea. They were happy to pose for me in front of a big car. When I told them with such a big car one may think they were having a good life they told me that indeed they had. Nice to meet happy folks from time to time.

Kensignton Palace entry

Through Hyde Park and towards Nothing Hill I notice the doorbell of Kensington Palace, next time I am invited I’ll know where to ring. Two Pictures are not much for a Sunday but ok there’s no hurry.

Meanwhile life goes on

Opposite 10 downing street Ukrainians continue demonstrating against the war that is still going on in our backyard, while here life goes on.

… a special tourist

Moving eastwards, Benjamin Netanyahu was in town, causing some of his countrymen to express what hey think of his visit to the UK and recent policies. The man travels in style, staying the Savoy.

A couple of shots reminding of the Empire and its colonial past.

Monuments to the Gurkha’s

A Royal Enfield Side Car

Dancing in the streets

Luckily all is not doom and gloom and people are still dancing in the streets.

I hope you enjoyed the walks, maybe a bit of Paris action soon…

2023 Roll#02 – Week end strolls around London

Hey hey, slow shooter I am, we are mid April already, and I am just posting about this year’s second roll.

Around Chalk Farm Tube station

Actually I have my 3rd roll out of the lab now, the 4th is there and a 5th is on the way.

A nice day for a ride

SO this is my last roll of HP5+ from the infamous bulk I bought in Singapore in 2021 before moving to the UK. I am not sure how many rolls that was in total but I think that was worth it.

He is a great painter

HP5 made sense when I was doing Caffenol back then, as it is pretty friendly with this process, but I would say I am not the biggest fan, and unless I go back to shooting one roll a week as I did in Singapore, I may stick to the Kodak emulsions.

Anchored along the Thames

So this roll stayed in the M6 for a while. The first shot was probably taken in February, along Chalk farm on a long walk to Camden. Then subsequent pictures from another very long walk through Sloane street, Battersea Bridge, along the Thames,

Lady with a TLR

and back to South Ken.

Thames Heliport

Yes there is an Heliport along the Thames for the not so climate conscious in haste to join the city.

Black and white

These were 10+ km walks so the week after we probably just had a casual stroll to South Bank via Green Park (above).

Hayworth Gallery

Hayworth Gallery

I can fly

Something different the next week end for a walk to Angel to see a show at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre (Excellent Copelia by Scottish Ballet) and back.

Never get what this one was about

It seems there are defects like the white mark on some shots, not sure to blame processing or a light leak.

Finally comes the Saturday where we walked to Borough Market to stock up cheese.

Friendly Chap

I am not sure if the issue is with the processing or the film was scratched. Pity I wont be able to print it for him.

All shots with the Summaron 35mm F3.5 LTM, I love this lens, but you my know already.

Palms Sunday in Notre Dame de France (London UK)

The French Parish of Notre Dame de France in London is strategically located in Soho, just around Leicester square. I came across Palms Sunday celebration last year and saw they have a very colour procession around the square as part of the celebration.

I made sure to go back this year, working on my soul but also bringing two camera’s.

There is a certain contrast with between entertainment character of the area and a religious celebration, but well, God is everywhere.

A part from the parish members are from African origins and they bring a certain quality of joy and energy in the procession.

Once again the strong contrast between sacred and profane.

Red lanterns in sight

Going back to the church we can see Chinatown, this is really a celebration of diversity.

It is messy when everybody goes back into the church at the same time.

The choir leader.

All shots with Leica M262 and Summicron 35mm Asph vII, except the last shot with Summicron 50mm v5.

For those into music like me, the Sex Pistols played in the Church hall in 1976 and even a second time in 1977, for what I read was the first concert of Sid Vicious.

But also The Clash apparently played there in 1979:

( http://www.blackmarketclash.co.uk/Pages/Gigs/The%20Clash/1979-The-Clash-Live/1979%20gigs/79-07-05_Notre%20Dame/79-07-05_Notre%20Dame.html )

It felt like Xmas

I enjoy browsing back the not so used scans and these are from one roll of November / December 2022. Unlike the most recent roll I posted, this one is shot entirely in London, it is the penultimate of my bulk roll of Ilford HP 5 bought in Singapore from Ruby Photo back in early 2021.

No surprise, the roll was shot with the Leica M6 classic and probably most of the shots were done with the Summicron 35mm Asph v2. The two shots above, early in the roll were taken around Spitalfields Market near my office and they were probably shot on my way to the lab to drop or collect one roll ( ANALOGUE FILMS https://www.analoguefilms.co.uk/)

Sloane Square

Because I am a slow shooter I carried the film around London for a couple of weeks,

Fenwick store in Mayfair will close soon

Chelsea frame maker

The highlight of the roll was bringing some dear friends to Spitalfields and Brick Lane, quite an interesting area for visitors.

But first to Liverpool street station

Then through the street towards the market.

Xmas Spirit indeed

Finally to Brick lane

Excellent Haloumi wrap

The famous shop I did not try

Hope you enjoyed the walk, this was roll #24 of 2022.

The last roll of 2022

A Well travelled one.

Well actually this roll was shot between mid December and the first week of January. It travelled around a bit as it started from London (Spitalfields market on the first three shots)

Then came Xmas holidays and a trip to see the family in Cannes on the French Riviera, and the long awaited trip to Lapland (Guess which shot). I will try to talk about my (limited ) experience shooting in Lapland but maybe another time.

We were back from Lapland in Paris the 1st of Jan

Then finally back in London (one have to work)

Then back to Cannes and Nice again.

and finally back to London where I have to go to Brick lane to drop this roll.

Ok so these two months were not very good for my carbon footprint and I feel a bit ashamed, although some of the trips were done by train. This also mean this roll of Kodak TMY-400 travelled quite a bit and went through at least 6 scans, and is still faring pretty well. I still have a TMZ 3200 that I bought for Lapland and did not shot, so it will also have a bit of mileage and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

All shots were done with a Leica M6 classic and a Summicron 50mm v5 or 35mmAsph v2.

Thanks for watching.

Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons

22 Feb –⁠ 7 May 2023 Hayward Gallery

British Pavilion – Venice Art Biennale – 2011

I first saw Mike Nelson work in the 2011 Venice Biennale where he was occupying the British Pavilion, I quite enjoyed his set-up and particularly the dark room lit with red safety light.

Triple Buff Canyon , the woodshed (2004)

I must say to my shame that his name did not ring a bell when I saw the add for the exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London’s Southbank. But the picture of one of the artworks ( the one bove) was compelling enough to motivate me going.

Inside view of Triple Buff Canyon , the woodshed (2004)

Remnants of the Dark room were to be found both in a first piece looking like the artist storage room as the chandelier below.

But also in a recreation of the dark room itself, behind the dune of Tripple Buff Canyon

The main piece I think is maze of about 20 rooms, build with salvaged items, quite a bit of quite a bit of queue to get in as the space inside is quite narrow to get in.

The gallery upstairs contains a few pieces like the below part of the Asset Strippers group, you can read more here : https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/mike-nelson

The Assets Strippers

The main room of the gallery, which is often the entrance of exhibition if today the last room to be visited. It offers a very striking piece with a 3D metal mesh holding concrete heads Studio Apparatus for Kunst Halle Munster.

Studio Apparatus for Kunst Halle Munster (2014)

A couple more interesting items can be found on the way out including a recreation of the artist studio in the early 2000’s (what a mess 🙂 )

The Amnesiacs (1996-today)

Exhibition is closing on month 7th of March sadly, otherwise I would highly recommend it. I don’t know how long this link will be good bu tyou can check : https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/art-exhibitions/mike-nelson-extinction-beckons?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyP2zldDE_QIVEO7tCh2pGgtiEAAYASAAEgLW0PD_BwE

(All shots Leica M262+ Summicron 50mmV2, except Triple Buff Canyon shot with 35mmF3.5 ltm summaron, 2011 shot was Nikon D700+Nikkor 50mm1.8D)

There is no Planet B

This is not a piece of sci-fi write up, just a few shots from a protest about Climate Change on Trafalgar Square in London in early November.

It seems to become a recurring pattern in my posts (check here ), but this is a reality : some people wants to let the others know that climate is changing and its time we do something about it.

I don’t necessarily do enough myself (oh that business trip to Asia makes me guilty) , but maybe sharing pictures is a small action I can do?

It cannot be less productive than wearing an extinction rebellion tie 🙂 . Ok ok and what about the impact of film processing? Frankly I don’t know. This was shot with my Leica M4 from 1967, with an even older lens, so probably it has less impact that a digital sensor made in the recent years. Tough question, a bit like electric car battery impact vs thermic engine oil consumption.

This guy’s accordion is probably not younger than the M4, he kindly started playing when I asked to take his portrait, but even in 2022 the M4 is still not capturing sound. I used the KEKS EM-01 Light meter , it is nice and light and quite accurate, but I still have problems reading the measure.

This is another roll of my 100ft HP5 roll that I still have not finished, it is not so old, so I don’t think age has deteriorated it that much but I am not really enthralled by the grain. Well another 4 rolls to go. It seems it never finishes, but all in all it should be about 18 rolls overall. I think I’ll buy something else next. Maybe some Ultrafine 400, but it seems the Extreme is sold out. They now have a different product, Finesse, I have to dig a little before engaging me for another 18 rolls, but also that is just 60USD for 100ft roll.

Rebels at rest

By the way this is roll 23 of this year, all in all better than last year (in term of number of rolls anyway) but far from my 55 rolls from a few years back.

Oh I have decide to go back to Caffenol, so watch this space for badly processed pictures in the coming weeks.

I hope you enjoyed the pics, and remember : “There is no planet B”

The happy people party in the park

A few time last summer we bumped into this lot of happy skaters, who were engaged in what can be described as a party.

Good atmosphere, disco music and smiles all around, all lead by the above MC.

Hurry up Alice or you ll be late to the party.

The sun was going down and available light was no much, but good enough for the Summicron 50 and the roll of HP5 loaded in the M6.

A bit of line dancing.

I m just passing by, please ignore me.