Cinestill 50D On Square Format

I shot CineStill 50D on a 6x6 Yashica Mat 124G. I love the results because of the amount of real estate that you get on the square negative, in particular. 

I know that this is not a common practice, particularly among people who are shooting fashion on film. I'm curious how many of you have shot it on 6x6. Or in your opinion, do you think it would be better to shoot it on 6x4.5 or 6x7 or even 6x9? 

Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below. And the other question that I've got is, obviously in this shoot, I've been using Cinestill 50D, but would you, if you are going into Lightroom afterwards, would you convert the negative from colour into black and white or would you go and do some post-processing with film? 

I'm curious how many people are purists and just stick to the negative as it comes out, or how many of us actually go away and change the images completely. So, let me know what your thoughts are. I'd love to hear from you and I look forward to seeing you in the next video.

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Provia 100F

I was using Provia 100F which is a Fujichrome Slide Film on the Yashica Mat 124G. 

I was quite excited to use this film as it comes quite strongly recommended for portrait style shoots. However, before shooting I was aware that the film stock is not very forgiving due to its relatively narrow exposure latitude. In effect, it wouldn't perform well if over exposed. 

The shoot day was quite  overcast which provided a natural softbox however you can see from the image histogram that the highlights have clipped. Alongside this, there is a slight reddish tinge to the image itself. 

Let's see how we can edit this in lightroom, the first thing would be to sort out the white balance and you can use the picker tool to select a point from the image to balance this from. 

Lightroom 2021 has new functions such as this masking tool. I am quite keen on reducing the reddish tinge to this image and bringing out the colours in the background.The image as is, is a little dull and would like it to pop a little bit more. It’s also an opportunity to see how Provia comes out with some tweaking in Lightroom 2021! 

The first step to achieve this would be to go ahead and use the masking tool in Lightroom. It’s pretty cool to see how it automates this. 

Now that Luke has been selected, let's scroll down and reduce this reddish colour by adjusting the saturation. That’s better, I don't want to go overboard on this so I’m going to move on to adjusting the graffiti backdrop. 

I’ll create a new mask and this time invert it so the adjustments only affect that graffiti. Unclick the overlay so I can see how the adjustments look. First, I’ll adjust the exposure, that looks about right. Let’s bring the highlights down a little too. I do like the ‘dehaze’ tool, you can see if you whack it right to 100% what happens but that is way too much so let’s bring that down to something more reasonable. 

Adjusting the shadows to see what it can lift out further, again just a slight adjustment here. I want those blacks to be a a little deeper in colour. The background is looking much more vibrant and richer than before. 

Let’s make a few final adjustments to Luke, bring up the exposure a little along with the shadows to get a bit more of an even look. Those reds still popping out a little so I’m going to bring that down a bit further. That looks good to me! 

Now when you look at these images side-by-side. The original image on the left looks flatter and dull where as on the right the portrait itself is looking more balanced and my goal to bring out the vibrance in the background has been achieved! Perhaps adjusting the red in the graffiti might add to it but I’m good. What are your thoughts on this edit, how would you have approached it? Do you edit your film images or not? Tell me in the comments below! Check out this video next! See you on there! 

You can grab a copy of the book here

Yashica Mat 124G Walk In Knightsbridge With Kodak TriX

A long wintery walk in Central London with my Yashica Mat 124G. The film roll options were between Kodak TriX, TMY and Ilford XP2 (C41 BW). Twelve shots to play with so I went with the Kodak TriX hoping to capture a grainy central London landscape.  

The Yashica Mat 124G comes with a light meter onboard which is incredibly useful. The ease of using it in comparison with using a phone meter or handheld dedicated meter such as a Sekonic is undeniable. 

First shot walk past the Victoria and Albert Museum. Walking along further a car had bumped in to the back of another car which was blocking a Deliveroo delivery man from getting to his destination. A little quicker reaction would have made a great street snap but by the time I had set it up the car had been moved along. Turning back to capture this road with some leading tree lines looked a good alternative close option! 

A little bit surprised to find tropical looking trees in this part of town. Street photography is showing how things can change so quickly in the scene you might be walking in. Take this third shot for example. Framed up the shot only to have a lorry come and park right in front. Exercising a little patience (you can hear the lorry in the video!) and changing my line a little to capture this shot. 

Earlier on I had noticed this classic MG parked up and knew I would come back and take a snap of that. Back on to Kensington High Street walking along and a snap of Harrods. A lot of construction work is going on in the area. Perhaps an opportunity while crowd footfall remained low and slow!  A chair shot to reflect that fact on the ground. 

A little further along I tried a moving walking shot of two pedestrians walking along to see what I was able to capture. Not too surprised by the resulting outcome! 

Crossing the road over into Hyde Park and saw a little waterfall which looked picturesque before finishing up around the lake area. Was a little tempted by the ice cream and pizza place but erred on the side of health! 

Bronica Zenza ETRS With CineStill 800T

It was absolutely roasting on the day I had organised a series of workshops across London. To catch some cool air we stopped over in this cafe. Almost immediately I knew I had to get some shots on some CineStill 800T in here. So many tungsten lights! We reserved up a little spot while we waited for our cold drinks to arrive.

Armed with my Bronica Zenza ETRS I loaded up the roll and got shooting.

Why did the images come out blasted in orange? Well, if you haven’t checked out my previous video on this check it out here:

Essentially if the ‘remjet’ layer hasn’t been removed properly from the Kodak T rolls and then is processed in C41 chemicals you get this result. CineStill reimbursed everyone after it turned out the entire batch had turned out this way. Whilst I was disappointed not to see the actual results from this film I am really pleased with the shots nonetheless!

The Bronica’s waist level finder is an absolute dream to shoot with. Combined with the fact you have only fifteen shots per roll you are forced to carefully think about what you’re going to shoot and you have to move to reassess the best possible options. Using an eye level finder is a very different experience. You will have to slow down and eradicate the ‘spray and pray’ option which digital offers widely.

A little bit disappointed with the later images. Always remember to carry your light meter with you and definitely check the light meter reading if you’re changing your setting. You can use a simple phone light meter or a more expensive option such as the Sekonic light meters.

Get out there! Shoot and make mistakes, that’s the beauty of photography whether digital or analog. Learn to slow down your process, reflect on what your taking. Get in touch with your questions and comments. Would love to hear what you would like to learn more about or anything that you think I may have missed!

Zeiss Ikon Nettar vs Yashica Mat 124G with Ilford Delta 400

These cameras both use the 6x6 picture format on Medium Format film. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar being the older more rustic version in comparison with the Yashica Mat 124G.

You can have a look at some of my previous videos on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar here.

It was time to test out both cameras under the same conditions using the same film (Ilford Delta 400) and settings throughout. This way I could see how they would perform and what differences potentially could pop up.

Taking a leaf from the Thoreau and his wandering walks in the wild I decided to take a walk of my own in the urban jungle. The walk started on a bright sunny but cold and windy Spring day. I saw these newly painted houses and thought that would be a good place to start.

Surprisingly switching between both cameras was quite seamless. Having the Yashica Mat 124G around my neck and the Zeiss Ikon Nettar tucked away in my jacket pocket. I found taking the folding camera out easy to quick take out of my pocket and snap the shot in frame.

Each time I tried to align it as closely to where the lens from the Yashica was pointing and snap it from that perspective. You can see from the first shot the tones have come out darker in the Yashica on the car and trees. This was to become a consistent theme throughout all the images.

I carried on along and found a side entrance to some apartments which I wandered down to see if there was a route to the other side through. After a short walk through some pastel pink coloured buildings (which I was very much tempted to snap but then thought I don’t have Portra 800 loaded!) I came to a dead-end. I turned back and looked up to see this staircase winding down the side of the building with just the right amount of light on it. While I did my best to shorten the interchange time between cameras, the light had changed slightly after snapping first on the Yashica Mat 124G. The tones have come out a bit darker on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar probably due to the reduction of light on the frame. On a side note, I did find framing and shooting the shot upwards a little tricky and fiddly.

I double-backed on myself and got back to the street where I started from and carried on, turning left and find this row of Victorian Houses. I do like a chequered entrance and with a bike in frame it was a winning combination. The images are almost identical here in tonality, although I slightly prefer the framing on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar.

Coming to the end of the road, I had a decision to make, whether to carryon walking straight or turn left. The decision was made by the graffiti on the wall on the left hand side. Be Happy! The clouds were starting to draw over and the light was intermittent and variable. The framing on the Yashica 124G has come out better probably because of the viewfinder which allows for a more intuitive framing experience. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar has a little square viewfinder which is not entirely accurate in giving you a realistic view of what the image will turn out to be.

The low-ish walled bridge was just about reachable to place my camera on top and capture a few snaps of the railway lines. Initially, I had thought about taking the images of the train tracks but then saw these trains coming along and decided to shoot those in frame. Next time, I’ll stick with the railway lines!

London ‘Mews’ streets are just the best to shoot. More recently, I have seen a trend in these little side streets being blocked off to the public which is quite sad. Capturing the vanishing point of this street on the square 6x6 format was a bit tricky. It would be interesting to see how a 6x9 format would fare here.

The architecture was starting to change as I crossed the main road. Moving away from terraced Victorian homes to more detached villa style homes. Notable persons of historical interest even resided in these homes from almost over a century ago.

As you can see from the image comparison, both cameras came out with near identical shots. The only real difference between the two being with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar shots coming out lighter and less constrasty on the blacks.

CineStill 800T on Yashica T5 vs Yashica Mat 124G

Which film camera would fare better, I wondered? The rise in popularity of the modest compact camera has been one to watch over the past year or so. I certainly was very excited to be shooting with the Yashica T5, in part, because of my experience with the Yashica Mat 124G and hoping to find a similar enjoyable shooting experience.

At the early onset of the digital camera era, I remember there being a lot of discussions about Megapixels - it entirely dominated the conversation. Which got me thinking about how much detail the compact camera with its tiny body and lens could take. Would the images come out similarly or exactly the same? Of course both Yashica cameras are very different to each other, so it’s not a like to like comparison in the fullest sense of the experience but fun nonetheless!

Low light conditions along the River Thames called for some higher ISO film which had been lounging around in my bag for a while now. I always find unwrapping CineStill 800T film a little tricky, they use some strong glue! It was the first time I would be shooting this film in the late afternoon and I was very much looking forward to seeing the results.

The Yashica T5 is very simple to load, frighteningly simple. I can see why this would appeal to the enthusiast for sure! Everything boils down to the number 35 on this camera. The Carl Zeiss Tessar 35mm f/3.5 lens can allow you take images as close as 35cm away from you which is great for any budding street photographer. The ISO ranges is from 50-3200 and when you load the film it will automatically adjust the settings using its inbuilt DX Code Reader.

In comparison the 80mm f/3.5 lens produces some fabulously sharp images on the Yashica Mat 124Gs however the ISO range is only up to 400. So when shooting on this camera you will need to push the film in development. You won’t be able to get as close to your subject as the Yashica T5 but it is surprisingly far less invasive in public than holding up a 35mm to your eye. Also, the limited 12 shots will force you to think carefully about what is actually worth shooting.

The automatic focus on the Yashica T5 is handy and takes a few seconds to adjust while it makes whirring sound. I have found that it likes to compensate for the lack of light constantly by adjusting to using its quite powerful on board flash. If you don’t want this trigger then you’ll have to manually switch it off each time which can be quite tedious.

Taking images on the Yashica Mat 124G is a serene experience, the simple click sound can be lost if in a loud environment but it compensates for it by its quite enjoyable winding mechanism. It will need a lot more delicate care and touch when using it.

Both cameras feature a plastic body design which aids in their lighter weight and portability. However, you do need to be careful with both from knocking them about. The compact non professional Yashica T5 is great for those grab and go situations, easily loaded and popped in to your bag or pocket. The Yashica Mat 124G is really for a photographer looking to capture much more detail and depth in their images with a clearer idea and purpose of what they will be shooting.

Overall, there are some distinct differences in results between both cameras. The Yashica Mat 124G pushing to the blue end of the spectrum in far more the shots than the Yashica T5. Was this down to the differences in the lenses between the cameras or the format of the film?

Finally a big thank you to Lucas & Molly for helping with filming and capturing some wonderful snaps on their film cameras! You can follow them on IG here:

Lucas: @analogsquare Cover Image by Molly: @eclectachrome

Pentax Me Super First Walk In Notting Hill With Kodak Portra 800

My first walk with the Pentax ended up in a complete disaster. I had put a roll of Kentmere 400 through to test how it would fare. Having thought that the roll had run though the camera fine, I sent it off for development. Only after having the film developed it was brought to my attention that nothing was actually shot on it.

So what was wrong with the Pentax ME Super (or K1000)? Well, it turns out that even though I had seen the film catch and reel on to the camera, when closed, it was not moving to the next frame. This required the roll mechanism to be replaced entirely, which took a few weeks to get done.

With a tinge of excitement and trepidation I took my camera out for a walk in Notting Hill one cold Spring day with two of my favourite photographers, Lucas & Molly. This time feeling more confident, I put in a roll of Kodak Portra 800 due to the continuing murky English weather conditions.

The camera is so light and small its a delight to carry with you. Almost feels like nothing which makes me wonder if it was the materials they used to make it or did they leave something out. Compared to similar cameras it’s certainly one of the lightest and smallest I have held. I suppose any Leica would be a clear challenger.

I do like the catch mechanism in the Pentax Super ME but it can be a little fiddly if you haven’t shot with it before. I need to work on my technique a little more and with a little more practice I should be able to load the camera with one hand soon. Not sure if that is at all a possibility with Medium Format cameras!!

The location couldn’t be more perfect. The pastel colours of the homes intermixed with cobbled roads and old school telephone boxes. There’s certainly plenty here for someone trying to capture colour and environment of a place.

As we walked along Portobello Road I found myself learning something new each time I took a snap with the camera. What I particularly enjoyed was a three light indicator which pops up with you slightly depress the trigger. It forewarns you whether the image will/will not come out due to the f-stop on the camera against the ISO of the film. Extremely handy and so helpful in its absolute simplicity. This reason alone could be a reason for why someone could consider getting one of these cameras.

Given the lack of light, I think Kodak Portra 800 performs really well here and certainly has given me some optimism in using this film more often around London now using not only this camera but another analogue cameras too. I am curious however to find out how an equivalent 35mm lens would fare.

One thing to note is if you are wearing gloves to not let your fingers get too close to the lens. This can be quite tricky due to the size of the camera but certainly one thing to watch!

Overall, its a fabulously compact piece of kit. If you’re on a budget and an enthusiastically want to explore analog photography more than look no further than the Pentax Super ME (K1000). Only those who own really understand its sheer beauty!

Finally, a special thanks to Lucas & Molly for the great conversation, company and being so generous with their support as always! You can follow them on Instagram here:

@analogsquare

@eclectachrome

Yashica Mat 124G & Fuji 160 Walk In The Park

Word has it that Nietzsche used to walk up to 8 hours a day with a paper and pen. Where do you think all the notebooks went? We can sort of hazard a guess to what he may have been ruminating about…When’s the last time you got up for a spontaneous walk in the park?

When word had got to me about the Fuji Pro 400H being discontinued I was quite upset however alas Analogue Wonderland came to the rescue with a new batch of Fuji NS 160. With little hesitation I order my first few rolls and waited for the right time to explore this new film!

My first thoughts were; a) how different this film stock would be compared to the Fuji Pro 400H? and b) how it would compare to Kodak Portra 160? But that aside I decided to go for a first walk with this as is see what it could do!

The sun was so strong and bright as I walked in to the park with my Yashica Mat 124G and my roll of 120film. I sat down opposite the cafe area and started loading up the roll with the sun warming my back. I didn’t have to work too hard for the first shot as this man came and sat down opposite me. I popped opened the viewfinder and framed up the first snap.

The great thing about my Yashica is it’s onboard lightmeter. Simply dial in your ISO and the light meter correctly adjusts for the conditions. Now, this may not always be the case for old film photography equipment but with good care, or perhaps a service you can recondition these wonderful cameras and get going on your analog photography journey!

The thing about Fuji Pro 400H is its ability to really make colours come out strong in every frame. Choosing a good location therefore is super important so that you can maximise the real estate on each picture you take. Of course, I didn’t know how the Fuji NS 160 would compare but I hazard a guess that the colour rendition would be up there.

Bearing in mind the film stock I would strongly recommend shooting with it where you have strong colours available. Perhaps you may be using this film for shooting portraits, in which case it will be perform exceptionally well with people of different tonalities. (I have yet to try it with Fuji NS 160 but looking forward to an opportunity as and when it may arise!)

The blue, green and brown settled well for the second image with the dog walker in the middle of the frame. The line of trees disappears in to the distance drawing you in to the image. Late mornings are great time to explore, there are not too many people about but just enough to create some interesting compositions! It would be interesting to see how the film would fare in late summer afternoon settings too!

I waited for the morning walkers to cut across the deep green grass and large blue sky before taking the third image. This was more a ‘scientific’ shot, getting an image with large swathes of two colours and how they would perform.

As I was walking along, so many opportunities to take candid street style shots appeared. I initially framed this image to take of the person sitting on the bench as they walked in front on me with their yellow jacket. However the the shadow created by the light hitting the tree felt like the tributaries of a river on the floor and I just couldn’t resist but take that image.

Crossing over back in to the other side of the park over the railway line I saw the light falling down and thought this could make a rustic image. I think someone framed within it would look even better but probably would need a reflector or secondary light for the subject.

Loved this disused train station, got me working thinking about how train stations were used when they first came in to existence. No platforms, I wonder how safe it was just to board straight from the rail itself?

Overall, really pleased with how these images came out. I definitely I am looking forward to exploring this film stock more in different conditions. Certainly would be good to see how it fares under different light conditions, landscapes and portraits too!

Shooting Kodak TMax 400 on Zeiss Ikon Nettar

The drive down was long but enjoyable one. The weather continued to improve and made the drive through little English roads just that more navigable. On occasions, a view presented itself which merited a quick stop, review and then continuing on the winding journey to the coast.

I was a little hesitant at first to dive into the world of 6x9 film cameras due to the over inflated pricing of the cameras! The Zeiss Ikon Nettar 6x9 camera which is little heard of but is a bargain film camera for the size of the negative it produces. The final versions of these cameras came out in the early 1950s so it is a testament to the quality and simplicity of the build of the camera which has seen them survive so long.

The light kept piercing through the clouds occasionally as the fresh sea breeze drifted through the car window. I was beginning to wonder if it would be easy to find a parking spot close enough to the beach. Driving along the coast eventually brought some luck, followed by the slightest of scrambles up the shingle ridge and I was ready to snap away!

One of the main reasons to shoot on this format is because it gives the same aspect ratio as a 35mm so it’s natural to step up to this medium format for the significantly larger negative it offers. For those looking for more detail on the image, this would be a worthy step up. I suspect that professional photographers probably did use this for their higher clientele work and went through many, many rolls. I’m not sure if that would be practical in today’s world!

I placed my camera bag down on the shingle beach and took a look around. Lucas had already skittled off on an adventure looking for the right angle and shot. I sat for a bit just observing the waves coming and washing ashore, it was just nice to soak in the crisp fresh air.

Rustling through my bag looking for the films which I had brought along, I pulled out a few rolls of 120 film. Always tricky making a decision, sometimes having less is more. I realised at some point I would have to try out the Zeiss Ikon Nettar and now was as good a time as ever. Black and White film can be more forgiving so I loaded up a roll of Kodak TMax 400 in the bitterly cold wind. With one foot on the film wrapper, I closed the back of the case and scrolled the film through. I looked up and then went for a walk.

Shooting Fujicolor ISO 100 on Yashica T5

It has almost become strange to get snowfall in the south of England. I remember, when I was very young, when winter days would bring in several days of snowfall. Now, we get a few hours if we are lucky. This winter seems more colder than usual, but this has probably been amplified by the lockdown so when we got a break in the weather, I grabbed the Yashica T5 for a long walk.

It was a bright sunny day and the skies were clear. First time using the Fujicolor ISO 100 film which has been imported to the UK. It had been a while since I had shot some colour film and I really wanted to enjoy the walk while documenting it in a simple way. Enter the Yashica T5 compact camera with its f3.5 Carl Zeiss lens, with ISO 50-3200 range.

I decided to wonder in the direction of the countryside through the urban metropolis. Wandering through back streets and main roads along the way I took the opportunity to capture some new graffiti and the now dilapidated billboards along the way. Sadly, no Banksy style art here but the occasional Covid denials art got captured with the low-lying winter sun.

‘With the introduction of (New Super Uniform Fine Grain) technology, the reproduction range from highlights to shadows has expanded. By matching with the excellent graininess unique to ISO100, it reproduces a natural skin color with good connection. Product application: High-sensitivity fine particles for daylight / general photography. ISO sensitivity: ISO100’

Source: https://www.fujifilm.com/jp/ja/consumer/films/negative-and-reversal

This was an enjoyable film to shoot with. If you want a grainy colour film stock with a slow speed rating, then this is a good shout. If you compare it with Kodak Ektar 100 then it certainly has more grain and more subtle colour renditions.

I shot some images of the sky and there was a strong push towards the blue end of the colour spectrum. The images have an old cinematic feel to them, something from the 70s or 80s! I wonder if I had shot some CineStill 800T or Kodak 500T how similar the images would have been as these tungsten balanced films also produce a blue tinge when shot in daylight.

In comparison when shooting in an area with dry grass the colour came out more orange, perhaps due to the film pushing towards the away from the red end of the spectrum. Ultimately, there is no push to balance out the spectral sensitivity in this film which is one thing to carefully consider before shooting!

Fujicolor 100 is sold as an ‘Industrial’ film, I’m not entirely sure what this means! However, if you are looking for a film that does create a cinematic style look in daylight conditions then you should definitely shoot a roll or more.

The short winter days with their low light and occasional blue skies are enjoyable when they come! I enjoyed the casual nature of shooting with the Yashica and the Fujicolor 100. Next time, I may even take another slow rated ISO 100 film for comparison. I wonder how it may look in an ‘Industrial’ or even a ‘bright light’ setting?