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An unfortunate day in Cambridge

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  • An unfortunate day in Cambridge

    We had an outing today to Cambridge, for Freya to take some street shots on B&W film for her latest school project. The camera she was using was a vintage Ricoh 500GX rangefinder recently purchased from ebay. I had wanted to shoot a test roll of colour print film in advance to make sure it was working correctly and indeed I managed this yesterday, but did not have time to get it processed. So we took the exposed roll to Cambridge and left it at Snappy Snaps for the one hour service whilst we did some shots around the market.

    It has to be said that Freya did not enjoy the all manual shooting experience with a semi-wide angle 40mm lens. The rangefinder square is quite difficult to see in the viewfinder and she did not take easily to the concept of zone focussing. She made it plain that she would prefer an SLR!

    Well, it looks like she will get her wish, because when we collected the prints from Snappy Snaps it was obvious the Ricoh suffers from a significant light leak. It also means that I have to get Freya a replacement camera PDQ to complete the project on time. From then on she reverted to her DSLR, which freed me up to take a few pictures myself. Previously I had been busy advising her how to use the Ricoh and also noting the exposure details for each frame, a requirement for her project. I bet HCB didn't give a stuff whether a shot was at f8 or f11.

    Anyway, here are a few of my shots from the day, taken with my E-M5:-
















    John

    "A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there � even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity." ~ Robert Doisneau

  • #2
    Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

    an interesting slice of life you have captured there John

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    • #3
      Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

      The two ladies shopping is brilliant John. Perfect vision of modern iPad Christmas shopping.
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/flip_photo_flickr/

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

        P.M. Sent, John.
        The picture tells the story, great when you have a bad memory.DW.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

          I think I was standing behind you when you took the photo of the buskers!

          (stalker!)
          Paul

          Retired and loving it.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

            Lovely shots John - I lived in Cambridge for many a year and I recognised most of the places. Makes me all nostalgic in mood!

            PS - as an aside I really can't see the point in forcing photography students to use film cameras. What's the point? Sure, film can be fun and it has a look that digital is hard to emulate, but really - photography should be about the artistry and final result shouldn't it? HCB didn't use 4x5 plate cameras - he used the best technology of the day!
            Paul
            Panasonic S1Rii and S5 with a few lenses
            flickr
            Portfolio Site

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            • #7
              Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

              It's true HC-B used the best technology of the day, an M3 I believe, and it's still considered to be the best technology even today! Some believe the M3 was the best M ever made.
              Steve

              on flickr

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              • #8
                Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                Originally posted by Phill D View Post
                The two ladies shopping is brilliant John. Perfect vision of modern iPad Christmas shopping.
                Just what I was thinking.
                It's the image that's important, not the tools used to make it.

                David M's Photoblog

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                  No 35mm AFs anymore, but I have a XA, 35-RD or an OM4-Ti that you/she could borrow to complete the project.

                  Graham

                  We often repeat the mistakes we most enjoy...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                    Originally posted by Walti View Post
                    I think I was standing behind you when you took the photo of the buskers!

                    (stalker!)
                    It's a small world!
                    John

                    "A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there � even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity." ~ Robert Doisneau

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                      Originally posted by pdk42 View Post
                      Lovely shots John - I lived in Cambridge for many a year and I recognised most of the places. Makes me all nostalgic in mood!

                      PS - as an aside I really can't see the point in forcing photography students to use film cameras. What's the point? Sure, film can be fun and it has a look that digital is hard to emulate, but really - photography should be about the artistry and final result shouldn't it? HCB didn't use 4x5 plate cameras - he used the best technology of the day!
                      I can see the point of including film as it is still very much a current part of photography, but I think it's a little harsh for the students to gain their first experience of this in a street environment!
                      John

                      "A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there � even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity." ~ Robert Doisneau

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                        Originally posted by Graham_of_Rainham View Post
                        No 35mm AFs anymore, but I have a XA, 35-RD or an OM4-Ti that you/she could borrow to complete the project.

                        Thanks Graham, that is very much appreciated but hopefully the Minolta AF SLR I've ordered (see my other thread) will do the job for film photography.
                        John

                        "A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there � even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity." ~ Robert Doisneau

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                          Originally posted by David M View Post
                          Just what I was thinking.

                          Expect there is no iPad in sight, just her handbag!

                          Nice set John, shame about the light leak as I thought it was sold as newly resealed?
                          Stuff from Cuba
                          More stuff from Cuba
                          It all started here

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                          • #14
                            Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                            Originally posted by Beagletorque View Post
                            Expect there is no iPad in sight, just her handbag!

                            Nice set John, shame about the light leak as I thought it was sold as newly resealed?
                            I've zoomed in on the original file and it is indeed just a handbag.

                            Yes, the camera has recently had the seals replaced but they don't appear to have done a very good job - or the light is leaking in elsewhere. I will have to return it, of course and hopefully they can fix it because it is one I would like to keep.
                            John

                            "A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there � even if you put them end to end, they still only add up to one, two, perhaps three seconds, snatched from eternity." ~ Robert Doisneau

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: An unfortunate day in Cambridge

                              Originally posted by Zuiko View Post
                              I've zoomed in on the original file and it is indeed just a handbag.

                              Yes, the camera has recently had the seals replaced but they don't appear to have done a very good job - or the light is leaking in elsewhere. I will have to return it, of course and hopefully they can fix it because it is one I would like to keep.
                              I have some seal replacements if you want to try some DiY

                              Graham

                              We often repeat the mistakes we most enjoy...

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