Analog photography revisited in the digital age
No enthusiast camera collector will escape one or more Leicas sooner or later. Once I was a fierce opponent of Leicas, because of the absurd prices and the arrogance that radiated from the brand. But with my first Barnack, a 1934 Leica IIIa, it was love at first sight and it didn’t stop there. In the meantime I own two more cameras which this story is about and show why my Leica heart has grown even bigger.
Continue reading “The tale of the three Leicas”
The rediscovery and appreciation of medium format is steadily increasing. But not everyone wants to pay a fortune for a Hasselblad or Leica and is looking for cheaper alternatives such as a Bronica or Kiev. But there are much smaller options at Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander. Imagine, top quality and compact in medium format.
Continue reading “Compact medium format: Ikonta and Perkeo”
There are very few camera manufacturers who were as keen on flexibility as Zeiss Ikon. In the fifties, the Contaflex became a unique series with interchangeable front lenses. The rear lens and shutter remained on the camera and the very high quality Tessar Pro lenses could be alternated at the front. From wide to Tele. Welcome to the wonderous world of Zeiss Ikon.
Continue reading “Flexibility in the fifties: Zeiss Ikon Contaflex”
Owners call it the Hasselbladsky, the Russian clone of the famous 1600F. We write the end of the 1950s when the Salyut C sess the light of day in the Kiev factories. With confidence the medium sized camera exports to the West, but soon it turns out to be a love-hate relationship. Although the camera is budget friendly priced, it also seems to be a matter of luck to get one that is actually working.
Continue reading “Kiev 80: From Russia with love”
“It was now light enough to start taking pictures, and I brought my first Contax II camera out of its waterproof oilskin. The flat bottom of our barge hit the earth of France. The boatswain lowered the steel-covered barge front, and there, between the grotesque designs of steel obstacles sticking out of the water, was a thin line of land covered with smoke – our Europe, the ‘Easy Red’ beach” – Robert Capa, June 6th, 1944. D-day, one of the most import days in modern history. Captured by on the most famous photographers, with a Zeiss Ikon Contax II camera.
Continue reading “Contax IIa: the ‘Leica’ of Zeiss Ikon”
It is the camera of the superlatives, the Zeiss Ikon Contarex, the most complicated camera of all time. 1100 parts are located in the almost 1 kilo housing. A repairman must first remove 43 parts to get inside. No wonder the repair costs more than the almost priceless camera from the last glory years of Zeiss Ikon. Pride comes before the fall.
Vive La France. The War was over. The French celebrated long the victory over the occupation by Germany. With long parties, music and probably lots of red wine. But also captured these precious moments with their new folk camera. The mini Sem Kim, the smallest of all with great performance.
Continue reading “The Liberation camera”
In the old days, everything was better says grandpa from his rocking chair. People have a tendency to stick to what is known to them. Or is there a piece of truth in that? I know of people who have exchanged their digital camera for an old-fashioned film camera. Tired of all fancy and complicated thinking in bits and bytes, they firmly believe in the inalienable authenticity of celluloid. The lomographers agree with this, just like the large, increasing group of enthusiastic vintage photographers. Is film better, different or just a sentimental tendency to the past? We put it to the test.
Continue reading “Keep film alive”
After our earlier article on scan software, requests came in to also show some examples of the differences between Epson, Silverfast and in conjunction with Negativelabpro plugin for Adobe Lightroom. For our examples, we use the Epson Perfection V850. Earlier we reviewed the V600, an excellent entry-level scanner, but in order to also work with large format negatives, we have to upgrade to the 7 or 8 series.
Continue reading “Best scansoftware, matter of personal choices.”
Imagine a documentary from the 50s and 60s, or paparazzi chasing stars. Or a hectic and intrusive press conference with dozens of smoking journalists who have only one thing in common: a Graflex to shoot the picture for the front page of the newspaper or magazine. Welcome to the amazing world of the large format.
Continue reading “Graflex Pacemaker Crown: the finest XL camera”