Rolling out the Rollei

25-06-18

I’ve had my slightly battered Rolleiflex 3.5F since the late 1980’s, the slow shutter speeds eventually started sticking so took it in to be CLA’d in 2008, and have never used it since. Thought it was about time to give it a test run. Found a roll of Ilford Delta 400 (expired 2006) and quickly shot some images with it around the garden on Friday. Developed it Friday evening in some Adox FX39, (just enough in the bottle) and let it dry overnight.

The images aren’t anything special, just wanted to know if everything was working as it should.

Lavender 

With Rolleinar II closeup lens.

It was extremely bright and sunny on Friday (still is) so the lighting was really harsh.

Blackberry Flowers

With Rolleinar II closeup lens in a dark part of the garden.

Berries

With Rolleinar II closeup lens in a dark part of the garden.

Rose

With Rolleinar II closeup lens in a dark part of the garden.

Fleur (Do Not Disturb)

Every time I moved in close to take a photo she decided to move !

Me & My Shadow with some Timber

Everything seems to be working fine with the camera, and considering how out of date the film was I’m quite pleased with the results. Out with the PhotoBuddies on Thursday so I might take it along with some fresh film.

Advertisements

In The Garden

29-05-18

The cats were out in the garden this morning practising their stalking skills on each other. Of course as soon as I went out with a camera they stopped and followed me around, I’m sure it was just in case I might have had some cat treats with me.

Fleur

Mimi (Fleurs Daughter)

They were both full of energy this morning, and brought a smile to my face with their playfulness.

The weather has been a bit unsettled over the last few days, but at least we haven’t had any of the severe storms like some other parts of the UK, Yet. The garden is very green at the moment, and lots of the plants are late in flowering. It was windy today making it a bit difficult to photograph the flowers that were out.

Rose

Sage

The Bee’s were enjoying this.

New Pine

Wild Rose

 

Nikon FM2

04-06-17

One of my Beer & Curry night buddies very kindly donated his old Nikon FM2 to me. It’s very well used and he wasn’t sure if everything still worked as it should.

It came with 3 Nikon lenses, a 50mm f1.8, 28mm f2.8, and a 70-210mm f4.

So I popped in some fresh batteries and loaded up with £1.00 a roll Agfa Vista 200.

Frame 0

Didn’t expect this to come out as I was winding on to frame No.1. Nice shot of my Giottos blower though !

In The Garden – 50mm Lens

Mimi

Mimi is difficult to photograph because of the amount of white fur she has, and she’s very lively, but I’m guessing a bird or something must of caught her attention giving me time to grab this shot. Film tends to cope with the whites better than my digital camera’s.

70 – 210mm Lens

Lilac Tree

An exciting shot of my washing! But a good subject for testing the focus and Bokeh on the lens.

Street Art – 28mm Lens

The film was processed at a quick photo store which means lots of scratches and marks. Had to use Digital ICE on the Coolscan to remove it, this softens the image so a little bit of sharpening in post processing was needed.

Really liked the Nikon, good viewfinder and a wide range of shutter speeds so it’s really flexible.

In The Garden

Well it’s taken me a long time to shake off my man flu but I felt much better yesterday, the weather helped, it was actually sunny and quite warm for a change. So a catch up on the garden chores were desperately needed.

I read a few weeks ago much to my disbelief and dismay that garden plants from many DIY stores and nurseries have been treated with insecticides that can be deadly to bees. I really don’t understand this, one of the reasons I buy plants is to attract wildlife, not kill it. But it makes money for big chemical corporations I guess !!!!!!!!!!!. The film “Idiocracy” comes to mind. The good news is one of the biggest DIY chains in the UK is no longer going to sell plants treated with insecticides, hopefully the others will follow their lead.

After the lawn was mowed and shrubs were pruned I took the camera into the garden to get a few images of some of the flowers, they have had a hard time this year with the cold and rain.

In The Garden Today

Thought I would spend the day pottering around the garden, having a slight hangover I thought the fresh air would do me good. It was a lovely sunny day but the wind was cold.

Reason For The Hangover!

 I really enjoy seeing this band they are called “The Moonlights”, and the venue had 2 beers I hadn’t tried before, well that’s my excuse.

Lavender Bud

Bluebells

Grape Hyacinth

Corn Flower

Rhododendron

Forget Me Not

Lavender

Clematis

Clematis

It’s a bugs life

I used my Olympus EPL1 with an old Helios 58mm lens and extension tube. It was quite tricky getting the shots because of the breezy conditions and really narrow depth of field. It’s lovely to see the signs of spring well underway in the garden, not so good to see the amount of work I need to do.

Fungi in my garden

23-10-16

Noticed some Fungi in the garden this morning, so grabbed the Olympus EPL1 and Helios 58mm – f2 lens. I think the fungi are growing along some old tree roots.