Saturday, October 27, 2018

Miami Street Photography Festival 2018

Hello readers and friends,


While I have been away from blogging due to time restrictions, I do have to take the time to announce that I have been in receipt of great news. Those news being, that I have been voted a finalist at Miami Street Photography Festival 2018!

I will have work exhibited at Art Basel Miami, Street Photo Milano between the 6th and the 9th of December and for an extended period of time at the History Miami Center of Photography.

I thank the judges for the honour and congratulate all the other finalists, it is an honour to be included and be recognised by such a prestigious panel!


More info here:

https://www.miamistreetphotographyfestival.org/2018-mspf-finalists

Until next time,


Luis

Monday, December 04, 2017

Project "Poor Man's Digital Leica NX" - Part 2 of Many(?)

The "Poor Man's Digital Leica" shoots press

Before starting part two of this series on the experimental "Poor Man's Digital Leica", I'd recommend that you read part one here 

It's been a week since modifying the very underrated Samsung NX100 to take L39/LTM wide lenses. At the moment, the widest L39/LTM lens I have is a Jupiter-12 35mm f2.8, with which the NX100's crop sensor, translates to a 50mm f2.8, pretty much within "standard" lens territory. Although I prefer working with wider lenses, there's much to be said about working at this focal length, Cartier-Bresson's favourite working focal length.
I have stepped things up a notch and put the camera through its paces as an opportunity to shoot a protest arose. I wanted to see how, under the pressure of shooting some press images and maybe some video, the combination would cope. I took with me the other two lenses, the Jupiter-8 and the Industar-61, but I didn't really make use of them.

The lens proved once again that it does have a sweet spot, even wide open at 3 meters. I have shot even closer at 1.5 meters but I found that I needed to adjust a little at that distance. Things can get tricky above 5 meters for some reason and the distance markings on the lens above that seem to be  arbitrary, in the way that they don't quite match with the actual distance from camera to subject.
Nevertheless, the image quality is what we as photographers strive for and the combination did not disappoint, nor got in the way whatsoever of the process of image making (like a Leica!). Images are sharp and detailed and if you set the color filters right you have scope for nice and soft contrast as well as colour, to high and punchy contrast and colour. I shot as I usually do, RAW+JPG, because I prefer keeping a digital negative and have a JPG for proofing and/or sharing straight away. However, I shot RAW+JPG monochrome (the camera's classic filter) with the contrast and sharpness notched up to maximum. I believe the images will speak for themselves (shot with the lens between f2.8 to f4, ISO 400 to 1600, straight out of the camera with little to no adjustment):

Shot at ISO 400, f4

The 3m sweet spot

Images have a pop with this combination when up close and personal

That focussing zone sweet spot again.

A slight misfocus but the lens is so good that it's easily fixed in post.

A snapshot almost from the hip. Sharp all round.

Gold to silver

Not quite as wide as I am used to for this type of shot, but still works pretty well

Lens generally holds pretty well at wide apertures



The Tri-X/Neopan like rendering of tones in black and white really makes me want to shoot this combination in black and white only. However, the images look just as good in colour (a slightly smaller selection):



 







Video

Below is a short video with the Jupiter-12, in black and white with the lens zone focussed to 3m wide open (make sure that you manually set the quality of the video to 720p when you maximise it):





 

The classic look that the lens lends to video does not only apply to black and white footage,it is very cinematic in both. Below some colour footage same settings(wide open, set to 3m):













 

As pointed in the first post of the series, the camera won't be on the vast majority of people's top of the list for video, but it is clear that with the right optics, in this case with the Jupiter-12, some very interesting results can be achieved. Footage gets a classic cinematic look, a certain atmosphere straight out of the camera, which I suppose can be tweaked further by a dedicated videographer. However, you'd be stuck for sound (the camera records monaural sound).

Part 2 Conclusion

This combination of lens and camera is an absolute joy to shoot and use.It really lets you simply concentrate on picture taking or video shooting (although, see above). The camera's AMOLED screen lets you quickly judge if you nailed the focussing or not, it is bright, contrasty and sharp even in brighter light, but if you are old fashioned like me you can use the viewfinder, although it can be tricky (and the viewfinder does not come as standard, it is a difficult to find accessory and more often than not pricy).However, I do feel the need to get something wider in terms of lenses, they are kind of my staple in my work. This could come in the near future in the form of a LTM Voigtlander Super Wide Heliar 15mm f4.5 or a Russian Russar 20mm f5.6, although I am inclined to the Voigtlander, as 15mm in a cropped sensor will correspond to the angle of view of a 22mm or thereabouts and all the visual narrative power that wide angle lenses entail. I am looking forward to putting one of those in front of the NX100, it is an underrated camera, a pleasure to shoot and the image quality is not bad at all.

It is at this point however, looking like this current kit combination will be a permanent fixture of my kit bag. 
Stay tuned for more!


Until next time,

Luis

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Project "Poor Man's Digital Leica NX" - Part 1 of Many(?)

The Pinnacle of Photography

So yes, Leicas. The pinnacle of all that photography represents; craftsmanship, vision, ubiquity, a sprinkle of serendipity and...expensive.

Of nearly 20 years of photography, every time I have been close to starting a little Leica system, life takes me somewhere else. I wasn't always a fan of the rangefinder, more due to ignorance than anything else. When you start photography, all everyone dangles in front of you are SLRs and you couldn't possibly be taken serious without one could you? I could not understand the allure of the rangefinder. But that was the beggining and those are waters past. I acquired my first rangefinder 12 years ago, a Zorki 4K, with a Jupiter-8 lens for peanuts and despite its quirks (of which there are a few, bearable but a few) of this wannabe Leica from the ex-USSR, it got me hooked on rangefinders. I used one and I  finally could understand its advantages, particularly for the street shooter, like myself. Over time I collected both fixed lens and interchangeable lens rangefinders and one day I acquired a couple of Jupiter-12 lenses, the Soviet Biogon. These lenses are great on film, but they left me now yearning for something else: A digital  Leica or the like. So, I was kind of in a way back to square one: I'd like to invest in a digital rangefinder, but I suppose the first paragraph explains it all, again.
In the meantime, the mirrorless market was diversifying and options a plenty. I wanted to be able to use my nice, sharp vintage rangefinder lenses with a digital camera. Albeit, it was possible to do so, there were limitations. You could only mount 50mm lenses and above, nothing below, unless of course you'd invest on a full frame mirrorless like the Sony A7 series, or a Leica, or a used Epson RD-1, which leaves us back at the first paragraph.

The Experiment

Being one not afraid of experimentation, I recently looked through the options (used of course), looking for a camera easy to modify and experiment with, not too expensive as to not be a total loss if the experiment did not work, but I wanted something with decent image quality. So recently, I bought a Samsung NX100, with the Electronic Finder. I tried the 50mm LTM lenses I have, the Jupiter-8 and the Industar-61 (with the L39 to NX adapter) and was blown away by the quality and their versatility, given the age of these optics. The problem was of course, sensor size. Being an APS-C sensor, a cropped sensor, my 50mm lenses were turning to 75mm, which for me it is neither here or there for street shooting, unless of course, I am doing portraits. So, I took a deep breath and grabbed my used yet very nice condition NX and after dismantling it to check where things are placed within it, I decided to get to work on it with a dremel. 


I must apologize for the shortness of the video, I was filming it with my mobile and the battery ran out. I undertook the task on the spur of the moment, so I didn't really look at the battery on my mobile. However, you can see the jist of how to get a Jupiter-12 to work on your NX camera. Why do this, why bother? The Jupiter-12 is a Zeiss Biogon copy and a really nice lens to work with. The problem fitting it on most mirrorless cameras, is that its back element protrudes and the shutter box does not allow it to fit. Now, acquiring a L39 adapter is not an issue, you can get one on eBay quite cheaply, fitting the lens is another matter. Hence, the modification. I managed to retain the AF contacts, in the case that, for whatever reason, I decide getting AF lenses for it, but I highly doubt I'll ever. One question remains and that is if I would manage to fit a Super-Wide Heliar in it. Off the top of my head, I think the back element may have a larger diameter, as such it may require complete removal of the AF contacts. 

If you are now wondering about how does it look like in the end as well as results take a look at some initial tests (and of course, photos of the camera with the Jupiter-8 and Jupiter-12 mounted).


 Here we have the Samsung NX100 with a Jupiter-8, 50mm, f2. Nice lens. Jackson approves.
I also have one with the Industar-61 somewhere, will post it when I find it.


 Here we have the Contax version of the Jupiter-12, with a Contax RF to LTM adapter. Very nice too.

Finally, the Jupiter-12 LTM on the NX100. Super Nice!


It's Alive!
Shooting the NX100 with L39(LTM) lenses, even the 50mm, is an experience. It took me sometime to adjust to the viewfinder of the NX100 (which is optional by the way, you can use the screen, I am just old fashioned and like to compose with my eye). The NX100 finder is not the highest resolution, but my eyesight is still 20/20 and the camera offers AF assist options, which help a lot, giving you a rangefinder like experience. The L39/LTM optics marry well with the sensor, particularly if you shoot RAW. Although JPGs are ok, I personally find them not to my taste and I only use them if I am shooting monochrome, in which they actually look great with a film like look. The "Classic" in-camera filter, a black & white filter, is actually pretty good in achieving this.

 Below are some inital test shots which I have done on my way to an appointment, nothing too fancy (yet) just literally testing the camera with the lens. I will of course, be updating this blog with more material and better samples as well as a comparison between the Jupiter-8 and Industar-61 on the camera. Here are the initial samples:
The Jupiter-12 (the L39/LTM) has a real sweet spot at 3m of a good few inches around that mark, wide open! This was a quick grabshot at ISO1600
Another example of its sweet spot at 3m.

Contrast is very good and so is colour rendering. This shot in a beam of sunlight was handled well and albeit my zone focusing was very slightly off, at f8 its near indiscernible. 

The Jupiter-12 is a digital photography Rembrandt's dream on the NX100.

Even in not so great light as with today's London snowy weather, the combination of the NX100 and Jupiter-12, delivers



The Jupiter-12 LTM is great with zone focusing for grabshots

Video with the Jupiter-12 on the NX100
I am, at the moment, not producing a lot of video and the NX100 itself is not a serious choice for video, despite it being video capable and having a relatively large sensor. It is only capable of 720p video with mono sound. Video is not the reason I got this camera anyway. However, I could not stop myself trying the combination on video mode, with zone focus. Simply put, I believe if you want to do video with the NX100 and you want a distinct look, go for the Jupiter-12 lens combo. Here's a couple of quick samples, taken while snow fell on bemused Londoners.


Anyway, back to stills


So, what is there to take from this?
Quite simply, if you want a rangefinder like camera which will give you great results, with a bit of creative thinking and curiosity, you don't need to spend much. And there are really affordable choices out there, that will give you the experience or a little test drive before you plunge into real rangefinder world. Also, that it is indeed possible to use a Jupiter-12 and likely wider lenses with a NX camera (or at least the NX100), you just have to be a little brave and have a dremel to hand. This may make many a NX100 user happy to find, although be prepared to possibly lose AF capability on the camera.

There is still some finishing to do on my camera; it still needs proper flocking inside the box and I would like to try a wider lens such as a Russar or a Super Wide Heliar and see if further modification is needed.

But ultimately, is it a real "Poor Man's Digital Leica"?
I dare say, yes!



Until next time, 

Luis



PS: keep an eye out for further updates on this one.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Shooting a Hassie H5D-40 on the street

It's been a while since I have sat down to write anything meaningful and/or photography related in this blog. A compound of many things such as other professional commitments and lack of time have made it difficult to keep posting or taking pictures for myself regularly. But recently I had an opportunity that I couldn't deny myself,which was shooting with a Hassie outside the studio,on the street, which is what I love to do. I've always wanted a Hassie. No it's not a dog breed, nor a lady of loose morals, albeit misspelled. It's the affectionate nickname many photographers give to their Hasselblads. The name Hasselblad for me is enough to send me on flights of fancy, daydreaming and planning assignments that I hope one day to materialise. I admire craftsmanship and in particular if that craftsmanship translates into functional craftsmanship of the highest quality, helping you materialise your vision as you want it to be. And this is what defines Hasselblad as photographic tool and that's why many photographers covet one. Well some don't need to covet and those are the lucky ones. Craftsmanship of that quality costs and while it does, it does not mean that the opportunities to use or own one are not out there for a wider range of photographers.

The Hasselblad H5D-40 with HC80mm f2.8

I have always been the type of photographer that likes to stretch their own skills and equipment beyond their limits and get them a little beyond their comfort zone. It's a good developmental experience. I have always looked at classic photographers and admired how they did so much with so little. It all came down to skill and knowing your equipment and pushing boundaries. This is one of the reasons why I love street and press photography, because it puts me in that situation and these styles create opportunities to pull out visual narratives out of real life and real people, which in terms of availability makes these styles great, they're everyone and they're everywhere. I love using both digital and film in all their formats, but I love the quality and versatility of medium format. The medium just has an ability to bring subjects to life that is not quite there in 35mm (and I love 35mm) or APS-C, while still keeping the size of the camera relatively small. This characteristic is obviously also present in digital medium format, but Hasselblad simply does it better.

I had the chance to shoot with a Hasselblad H5D-40, for a couple of weekends, and use their excellent Phocus software to convert the images. Yes, convert. Hasselblad is serious about quality as such the camera shoots RAW in their proprietary .3FR format, which needs to be converted for any use. More on this later. The camera is of two parts (another reason why I love the system), the camera part (H5D - the latest model) and the back (40 - a 40 megapixel back, there are other backs with different pixel counts which can be used). The backs are interchangeable and you can use either film or digital, whatever your creative vision requires.
 
By now you must be thinking, why kick up a fuss about a medium format camera being used on the street. Well the reason is, in  many a photographer's head, the place of the Hasselblad is firmly on a tripod, in the studio or at least in hand in a studio. And many a street photographer want their camera to be as inconspicuous as possible as to not get in the way of things. In fact, when I used my loan one on the street, apart from puzzled looks, other photographers asked questions as to why and how would I use such a beast of a camera on the street.

I had in the past, about 10 years or so ago, met a fellow photographer who was shooting press with a Hasselblad H1 with a film back. I had a go at it and imediately fell in love with it. Since then, the H series cameras never struck me as the type of camera to be slotted in a specific type of photography. In fact, I thought back then and still do, that everything about its design just shouts versatility and flexibility. I would argue that the older 500 series were more of a studio oriented cameras, but even that is very subjective. Granted, the H series are not lightweight cameras, the H5D-40 coming in at 2.3Kg with standard lens (HC80mm), battery and card included. But 2.3Kg is hardly Bob Sapp and I don't mind my cameras a little on the heavy side, in fact I prefer it. The camera is extremely comfortable to hold for long periods of time and if you have a strap that goes across your chest and back, you barely fell it. Of course, other lenses may be heavier, but with the standard lens you feel relatively free.

Going back to my statement above on the H series body, the camera is very versatile and everything is very well thought out and believe it or not, one of the things that impressed me the most was that the battery is the handle, which is of course, removable for charging. Trust me, I have left the house many a times with a camera to then realize out in the field that I forgot the battery. I don't leave batteries in cameras, because they are easy to forget inside and that can lead to all kinds of problems. The Hasselblad way, it's impossible to forget. Battery life is also great for a camera of that size with that big sensor with such large output to handle (between 50-80MB files), probably why turning the handle into a battery was a good idea. I managed about 150 shots (and that's not counting reviewing and deleting) with still some juice left in it in the end. I never actually managed to completely drain it to zero. So I would say, that you can probably shoot 180 maybe a bit over 200 pushing it on a single charge.

The controls are just very well placed, with very little finger gymnastics to do. At first, when you look at the size of the camera you think it's going to be a real handful, but again the ingenuity of the design quickly fades away any such worries.
One thing in fact, that unapologetically does hint that Hasselblad really wants users to use the camera outside the studio or perhaps even in a more casual style of shooting is that it has a built-in flash, which is not that common on high end "studio" cameras. I did not use it on any of the photos I took below, but used it on small objects and things around the house just to get an idea of how good it is and I can tell it's a good little built-in unit and if I wanted to go shoot street with flash for fill effects and travel a little lighter, I could rely on it, leaving the hotshoe units at home.

Another feature that I found useful but seldom used was the TrueFocus feature. In short, it takes into account that you are shooting a medium format camera and getting accurate focus at large apertures can be tricky particularly at certain distances. With the TrueFocus feature you can tell the camera were is the correct focus and if there are any changes such as subject or camera movement, the camera will make focussing adjustments to ensure you get what you want in focus.
Focussing with medium format cameras digital or film with large apertures is trickier and critical. The larger size of the format gives you shallower depth of field. While there is a level of misfocus that is acceptable (street photographers often use zone focus and print viewing size/distance ratio to determine this), at times it can really make or break a photo. As such, the TrueFocus feature is a welcome feature, but probably with subjects that are still or slow. The problem I had (for want of a better expression) is that I felt compelled to use the HC80mm f2.8 at large apertures, because it's just a beautiful lens with a beautiful bokeh to do so with. The shallower depth of field native to the format allows you to further isolate your subject, giving you beautiful defocussed backgrounds, near 3D effect to subjects in focus (particularly if you fill in with a flash) and if you have a beautifully crafted lens like the HC80mm f2.8 mounted on your camera, you are more than tempted to exploit that. While it can be hard in the situations I have used it in, mainly in a press capacity, the AF is actually quite capable and will help you get the shot at large apertures.  I have found myself plenty of times, walking backwards to keep up with my moving subjects and the camera did well. If you pace yourself well, the camera can cope with the incoming moving subjects, contrary to what many photographers would think of it outside the studio. Of course, we live in the era of the ultra fast focussing and shooting Canon or Nikon DSLR designed for the press photographer that help you get that shot more easily, but even in all their glory they fall short in image quality to the Hasselblad by comparison and that's just the way it is, you can't beat physics. The larger sensor of the Hasselblad simply outperforms the smaller sensors of even the highest end APS-C or Full Frame DSLR.  Any of the focussing mistakes I have made during my trial were due to me and myself alone (and the temptation to make use of the gorgeous bokeh of the HC80mm lens at large apertures). In part it comes down to knowing your equipment too.

So ultimately, I am kicking a fuss about using a medium format camera on the street, because quality is paramount for 99% of us and a Hassie can do it just as well in the studio as on the street and head and shoulders above others, you just need to know the camera.

The only thing that left me scratching my head was how picky the camera was with memory cards. The camera uses compact flash cards and it would simply reject almost all my cards, giving an "incompatible media" message of some sort, with the exception of a Fujifilm 2GB 40x card and a Fujifilm 4GB 100x card. So I decided to get a Fujifilm 16GB 40x card, which to my surprise did not reject but would not read, displaying a message of "missing media". I then bought a 4GB Sandisk, 25MB/s card which it accepted. Among the rejected brands were a Lexar 8GB 133x, a Toshiba 2GB card, a Lexar 1GB 100x, 2 Kingston 2GB and 1GB cards and a few other cards. It turned out in the end, that the camera needed a firmware update, which I didn't perform because the camera was on loan from Hasselblad and not mine, as such I didn't want to take any liberties or risks.

I had made plans to shoot some things such as small essays and a model at a local lido, but these plans did not materialise, so I decided to stick to press and street work, which pretty much ended up closer to press work, due to time constraints. The only thing I wished I had was a wide angle lens for the camera, but the HC80mm was what was available, and you don't stop yourself if someone throws you an opportunity to shoot with a Hasselblad. Here's a selection of images (please do not reproduce without expressed, explicit consent):



 A demonstration leader receives a call during a march against Trident and for the human rights of refugees
ISO400 @1/640 f2.8. The subject was pacing relatively fast but the H5D-40's focus handled it well. I was walking backwards and adjusting focus repetitively
the camera was responsive throughout. 


 A member of Anonymous joins the Anti-Trident March
ISO400 @ 1/200 f6.3. Sunpak Hammerhead Flash set @ 1/16
Subject walked across the frame while I walked towards the subject. The AF was responsive throughout.
Note the near "3D effect" result from using fill flash with the large aperture of the HC80mm lens.

An emotional Vanessa Redgrave addresses the crowd during the Anti-Trident gathering at Trafalgar Square
ISO200 @ 1/640 f2.8











A Kurdish artist marches down the road ahead of demonstrators with a painting entitled "Massacre of the Kurds" during a march agains the genocide of Kurds by the Turkish regime under Erdogan
ISO100 @ 1/320 f2.8


 A demonstrator takes a rest during the Kurdish Demonstration against the Erdogan regime's genocide of Kurds.
 ISO400 @ 1/250 f2.8

 A Father and Son at the Kurdish Demonstration against the genocide of Kurds by the Erdogan Regime
ISO400 @ 1/500 f5

A Kurdish man at the Kurdish demonstration against Erdogan gathering at Trafalgar Square
ISO400 @ 1/320 f2.8


Indian women perform traditional dancing at the Million Women Rise march
ISO200 @1/320 f6.3
Once again, the camera's AF demonstrates that it can deal with subjects moving towards the camera and changing direction.

 Two young ladies joined the crowd of women at the Million Women Rise march
ISO 100 @ 1/320 f2.8

 A Million Women Rise demonstrator plays a percursion instrument and dances throughout the march
ISO400 @ 1/320 f2.8 
One of the instances in which I had to walk backwards and shoot, carefully keeping distance and priming the AF for the shot

A Million Women Rise March leader addresses the demonstrators and public from a pedicab. Another instance 
where the AF of the H5D was challenged but coped quite well with moving subjects.
ISO400 @ 1/500 f2.8


The system is not totally complete without Hasselblad's own, free Phocus software. You need to use Phocus to turn the .3FR files into .3FF, for then to be able to make a TIFF or a JPEG from them. TIFF is recommended for obvious reasons, you just get a higher quality file with loads of colour information. But be aware that it will churn out a 114-120MB file from the 40MP 3FF file. While there may be other solutions out there, I found Phocus intuitive to use and it does a great job in pulling out detail, dealing with noise and the awesome dynamic range. I have tried the free and very good multi format RAWTherapee too for comparison, which although less of a two step process as it can read the 3FR files and process them straight into a TIFF or JPEG file, it does not quite know how to process the noise from the sensor, particularly the chroma noise and its sharpening algorythms seemed a bit harsh with the files. The colour also looked dull, although it could be pushed in the software. Phocus is also compatible with other file formats,  as it picked up the files from my Sony A700 that I had taken along when out shooting, simply because it had a wide angle attached to it. I have not tried to process those with Phocus, but that might be another blog posting.
There is a tremendous amount of colour information and dynamic range from the 40MP back of the H5D-40. I didn't take any measurements, but I could say that accidental overexposure is not much of a problem, if you knock a setting off accidentally while out shooting by a good 4-5 stops, you could still end up with a usable file. Colour rendition and skin tones looked accurate and "silky" to me, so plenty of scope to get gritty in post editing if you want a "street grit" look. Finally, you can print those files the size of a wall if you so wish. The H5D-40 makes all those pixels count.

In conclusion, I ended up feeling very positive about using a Hassie on the street and I am now considering to invest in my own kit. It's a highly capable, highly versatile, high quality photographic, technical tool that true to Hasselblad's promise, can help you take your photography from "good enough" to excellent, even if you are just on the beat on the streets. As such I can't recommend it enough to street photographers if it's within your budget and you are after a high quality output to do work you can hang on the exhibition floor walls or why not, print your work on a wall!



Until next time,

Luis

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Loose Fujica 35EE lens barrel? It's a very simple fix

Loose Fujica 35 ee lens barrel? Here's the solution which I found by going the wrong way about it ( I disassembled the camera unnecessarily). Open the back and you will spot the two grooves on either side of the lens back element. Use a couple of precision screwdrivers or anything appropriate and safe and turn it around if I remember, clockwise. I am posting this because I haven't used my Fujica for 2 years, as there's nothing online to describe such a simple fix. A repairer suggested that the lens barrel had to be opened but it doesn't at all. Hope this helps someone out there. Until next time, Luis

Sunday, November 15, 2015

My new book "Commute"

Dear readers and friends,


I have now on sale at Blurb one of my book projects, "Commute". It is an ongoing project and I am planning a series of books, but here's the first. To find out more and see a small preview, please see below.


Until next time,

Luis

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Broken Polaroid cable release wire? Play it again Sam,but you are missing a note.....

My awesome Polaroid Land 340 finally after years suffered the old age malaise of the broken release cable that happens when you close the camera. It does not to all but if they see some frequent use they will at some point snap the cable in two when you close them. I searched the Web for a solution and all I found was that you either modify the release to use a modern release or just buy another one to cannibalise for parts or throw it away. Well I was not happy about that at all and I like keeping my cameras in their original design. So a light bulb went on in my head and I recalled piano wire which is highly tensile and very strong. So, I bought my self some Size 7 (0.018") from Hugh Craig Harpsichords(or here) on EBay and it worked like a charm. I had to break off the release button as it was molded around the original cable,but kept the top which I glued back to a small cogwheel that I then epoxied to the famous red button. To prevent further accidents I cut an empty clean ink tube from a rollerball pen and slid it over the area that is affected by the closing mechanism. And voilá, Land 340 back in action on its beautiful vintage charm.




Until next time, Luis




Monday, August 03, 2015

Pentax SLOMO Test



Today I had to run some errands and bored in the public transport I decided to play with my Pentax MX-1 newly discovered Slow Motion video capability and ability to apply filters onto video (in this case Black and White with a Blue filter). So here's some random video captures in slomo on the street. Shot from the hip, of course, street photography style. Added my own track to it as the silent movie era is long gone. Although the camera only captures slomo in VGA mode (640x480) and only 15s at a time, it's still pretty awesome in terms of image quality (which I hope won't be lost on upload here).

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Shadow play

Greetings friends, readers and casual passers-by,

I have finally had some time to shoot for myself today as I am free of responsibilities for most of this week. I took my new Pentax MX-1 and my old Samsung GX20 that has been in the locker for ages, out for some street work, since the sun was out. The light was hard as such I engaged in some shadow play. When the sun is out, life re-emerges and today the streets were bustling. I have been out for 7h which was great, I haven't done so in years with all the other stuff in my life. Anyway, enough about that, here are today's.
































Until next time,

Luis