Leica IIIC, VC 21 and Kodak Profoto : mundane shots in London

Knightsbidge

Quite a while back actually, I shot a first roll after the IIIC was repaired. But one roll is not enough right?

Notting Hill

So, on a sunny day, I loaded the little fellow with a roll of Kodak Profoto 100 a fool proof colour print film that comes and goes from the shelfs, and screwed the Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mmF4 on its front.

First set of pictures were taken during a big walk to Notting Hill, Portobello road and back.

The area is usually very colourful and have a lovely rendering on film.

And the 21mm give some good dynamics to the pictures.

If you are familiar with my blog, you remember that a couple of years back I bought a metal 21/25mm external viewfinder made by Voigtlander to replace the plastic one that comes with the lens.

The optics of the plastic finder seems to unglue itself and move so its not fit for its purpose. I brought it back to the shop once, then tried to repair it myself, not so easy. In the end I bought the separate viewfinder for about half of the price of the lens ( both new).

As I am in no haste of finishing any roll, a week passed for the next stroll to Brick Lane.

Crossing the City on our way to Brick Lane ( because the tube broke down), we came across this white dead tree which in fact an art work by Maurizio Catellan.

… and we finally hit brick lane and its murals.

And another week passed, until we finally walked by Marylebone (above) and Soho ( Below).

In between, the Thai restaurant below is situated opposite the Aperture Camera shop where the IIIC was repaired.

There is always some action in Soho, but not enough to finish the roll. Luckily there is always a Sunday walk to Hyde Park…

where a lucky young fellow turned 30.

Very happy to walk around with the IIIC again and see that’s its working fine. The 21mm is still a hard beast to master and there are a couple of missed shots with my fingers in the frame. I finally quite like the film, maybe its better for evenly lit scenes. But overall I cannot complain.

Roll 11 – The Leica IIIC is back from repair

So the Leica IIIC went for a repair, at Analogue UK, he was suffering for a lazy curtain causing half of the frames to be underexposed.

When I collected the camera from the shop I loaded it with a roll of Ilford FP4, screwed in the Summaron 35mmF3.5 and hit the road for some test shots.

I have been quite slow to go expose the whole roll. The IIIc even flew to Singapore ( and back ) for a week of work when I only took 4 shots ( I was super busy).

One of the 4 shots is a portrait of my shy colleague Terrance above, while we had lunch at Keppel Bay.

The other 32 shots were taken around London, in my usual areas, Chelsea above, Regent’s Street below.

Or even people strolling along King’s road.

So what do I think about the repair? Well the main defect is gone, clearly there is no comparison with my two rolls from Paris in April.

If I want to be picky I would say that I still fill that I still found the right side of the pictures like the above a tad darker. But this is very subjective

When the light is more subdued left and right seems identically exposed.

Up close and personal, with some flare, that’s not on the body, relax.

The Austin Mini (Special) was my very first car back in 1986!

A colourful street, converted in black and white inside the camera.

Around that time everything felt regal.

Emergency Exit, inside a party bus

Fenwick has been sold and will go soon have I heard

Oh I recently read a review of the TT Artisan 28mmF5.6 LTM version, this is a very tempting lens to complete my LTM kit for a limited budget. The original Summaron prices has rocketed sky high. As we enter July tomorrow, Christmas is just 6 month away 🙂

Everything comes to an end. I hope yo enjoyed the post.

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.

4 MONTH IN THE BACK OF THE HASSIE (THE BLACK AND WHITE VERSION)

If you have read the last post you have probably guessed the plot of this one : a roll of HP5, loaded in the back of the Hasselblad with no label, is first loaded around May, and used to shoot a single frame, the above view of Battersea Power Station as seen from other side of the river.

A few weeks later it travelled to Brick lane on a sunny Saturday afternoon, very close to where my photo lab is (Analogue Films).

The area is famous for its murals.

Probably the next day, I went for a walk in Chelsea Harbour and its surroundings

and then the camera, the back (the other back) and the film they contain all go back in to the box. Until a couple of weeks back, where I started the famous walk from Maida Vale to Regents park and further.

I thought this film was contained in the back with the “400 ” label, when it was on the other ones, so the shots from the one above were “pulled” at 100. I think the film handled it pretty well, if not for obvious marking problems.

Regents Canal is pretty nice place to walk through, a bit of Venetian style given by the boat, but something more urban brought by the metal bridges and the street art.

At the end of the Canal is the unique Chinese floating restaurant.

Back in Regent’s park to look at Freeze Art Fair open air sculpture, the tree of socks was waiting for my last frame

Is there any moral? One stop does not mater much surely, probably don’t keep your film 4 month in your camera. Ilford 120 rolls are known to have some backing paper issues, I should check if this is the case with this roll instead of blaming the storage in the cupboard.

The Hassie made it to London

Wellington Arch

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.

Car boot coffee stall.

I hope you enjoyed watching