Show us yer film shots then!

mothdust said:
Lynton and Lynmouth, Devon :)
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It just reminded me of Trevose Head, I swear the same bloke built the lot along that coast...lol


rwhrwz.jpg
 
Andysnap said:
Ooh, we're staying near there in June, looks interesting.
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You'll like it i.e. Lynton and Lynmouth, and the area around ...my hope last year, in the trip to Cornwall, that it would change to this area and would have come....erm well if I could have hired a donkey with trailer instead of walking o_O:rolleyes: ;)
 
Some lovely shots recently!

I have to admit, I haven't shot 35mm film for a while. Having just gone on a snowboarding trip for the first time in three years, I dug out the trusty Pentax and realised there was still a film in it. I had no idea what was on it, but there was a charming and slightly out of focus shot of a derelict car:


Car by Nick, on Flickr
 
This was from just before Christmas; Kenilworth Castle put on a special light show event called "Enchanted". I discovered I had a 24-shot roll of Fuji Superia 1600, so it seemed a good idea to try it out. Unfortunately our residents' pass doesn't work at special events (Kenilworth Castle literally belongs to the people of Kenilworth, managed by English Heritage, so residents can buy a free pass for £1!), and entry was quite expensive, so I wandered round outside with my Pentax LX, the Vivitar 35-70mm f/2.8 zoom and the Tokina 80-200 f/3.8 (I think) zoom, plus my newish tripod. One problem was that the colours were changing so for the longish exposures of several seconds I was expecting some to verge towards white as they cycled through. Didn't happen too much, as I soon learned to press the shutter as it started to turn. These are a bit similar but quite good fun...

1) wide shot

000100520011 by Chris R, on Flickr

2) EDIT: The Keep...

000100520015 by Chris R, on Flickr

3) The sharpest and perhaps most successful

000100520024 by Chris R, on Flickr
 
I am constantly amazed at just how good the little Ross Ensign 16-20 is, an uncoated lens from 1950-something pointing straight into the sunlight in a package that fits into a coat pocket.

Toward-Castle-Crag by Andy, on Flickr
 
You're right, Andy; they're cracking little cameras if you can get one that's not succumbed to the ravages of time, although they do seem quite robust. Here's one I took with my newly serviced 1620 in early December when we had that last lot of snow. I was impressed by how the Ross Xpres lens coped with the dull, flat conditions (it was the sort of snow equivalent of fine drizzle at the time) and this was a hand-held shot. Plus you get 16 shots on a roll of 120 too, which seems like luxury after being used to 8 or 12! :) Lovely lighting on that shot of yours above too, well spotted. (y)

img765 by J White, on Flickr

1950s Ensign Selfix 1620, Ilford XP2 400.
 
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Looking back, I think the Ensign Selfix story is a quite a sad one really. Ensign, who before the second world war were one of the biggest producers of cameras in the world, suffered the loss of their factory in the London blitz, surviving afterwards by merging with Ross (who were a manufacturer of high quality lenses). Going from what I've read, after the war Ensign decided that image quality was what mattered and set about producing affordable but high-quality cameras (aimed at what we now call the enthusiast/prosumer market) to beat the leading foreign competition of the day. To do this they concentrated on medium format folding roll film cameras and, from what I've seen from the results I've had from their 820 and 1620 cameras fitted with the Ross Xpres lens, I've no reason to doubt that they achieved their goal, or at least equalled the quality of any similarly priced camera of the day.

However, 35mm film in neat little canisters was gaining popularity, probably due to convenience more than anything, and as far as I know Ensign never produced a 35mm camera. Their fate was sealed, the general public flocked to the new 35mm camera market and 120 roll film was destined to become the domain of a few keen amateurs and the professional photography sector. With the bulk of their market eroded, I suppose it's no surprise that Ensign faded away and went out of business. Perhaps only now, as we run some modern films through these cameras and view the results (which to be honest, if professionally scanned, would probably stand some comparison with results from some, if not most, of today's full frame DSLRs), do we begin to realise just what they'd given us in the early 1950s
 
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Two shots from the Leeds Corn Exchange on Cinestill 800T film in a Canon FTb with a Tamron Adaptall 28mm lens.

Hand-held at 1/30s and about f4 - a tripod would have been handy although it would have blocked the pathway on the narrow gallery.


The Corn Exchange, Leeds by Kevin Allan, on Flickr


Corn Exchange #2 by Kevin Allan, on Flickr
 
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And another from the Ross Ensign 16-20 (well 2 actually, stitched in PSE) on Kodak Portra 160. Looking across Derwent Water to Catbells, really wish I'd had this one available for the reflections month.

Catbells-Pano by Andy, on Flickr
 
Andysnap said:
And another from the Ross Ensign 16-20 (well 2 actually, stitched in PSE) on Kodak Portra 160. Looking across Derwent Water to Catbells, really wish I'd had this one available for the reflections month.

Catbells-Pano by Andy, on Flickr
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Andy that is truely stunning I could easily see that on the wall.
 
I wasn't sure whether to post this one as it's more a snapshot and not particularly sharp (due to subject movement, plus a bit of camera shake, plus focus slightly off the eyes) but there's something about the colours on it that I like... and what the heck, it's Monday! Part of a test roll to check my £4.99 eBay camera was working OK:
Kitty the tamed and adopted feral cat, taken with a 1996 Canon Sureshot Supreme on Fuji Superia 400.

Kitty by J White, on Flickr
 
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FishyFish said:
Is that first one a double exposure, or is the top of that mast translucent?

Lovely photos BTW. (y)
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I see what you mean, but this is one exposure. I think that it looks sort of translucent because the switch in colour of the mast from light to dark aligns with the mountains/horizon behind it. I was also shooting through glass that was fogging very heavily, which I tried my best to clear off, but you can still see some effects if you look at how bright lights render in the photograph (they have that new Star Trek flare look). It is possible that this also played a part in the look of the mast.
 
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