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I’m finally getting through various equipment issues – the Leicaflex is back from repair, the enlarger is aligned, the broken Rodagon enlarging lens is on its way back to Germany for repair, and my friends at National Camera hooked me up with a Nikor 80mm lens to do some medium format work in the mean time. It was really satisfying printing that first 6×6 negative and having something real come out of it.

Now the problem is I’ve made a bunch of 11×14″ prints that I can’t scan to share. I setup a makeshift copystand to take pictures of them for now, but they kind of suck, so I’ll be making some smaller prints to share this weekend.

The copystand:

This was the first 6×6 neg I enlarged – It’s a car I shot at the JJ Hill car show we (Bentley \ Maserati) sponsored last year, but unfortunately my hand was not steady and the image was blurry.

Jaguar

The next 6×6 enlargement went much better:

Studebaker

5 more pictures after the jump;

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Just got these back from National Camera – and I have to say – this is why I love film. Digital just can’t do this.

Two more after the jump:

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Well, I got my test rolls back from National Camera – and the extent of the Leica’s shutter issues are clearly apparent. It’s next in line for an overhaul in the next few weeks.

Bad exposure or no – I like these shots. These were taken at Tettegouche State Park this past fall, and now I’ve got an easy excuse to go again.

3 more photos after the jump:

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When I was where the Minnehaha meets the Mississippi, there was a loud clang, and voices arose from nowhere.

Turns out, there was 5 or 6 people that came from about 3/4 of a mile up this drainage tunnel. The gate is unchained, and could be an interesting tunnel to shoot \ explore. Am I wierd?

(These are scans of negatives that Ritz didn’t handle very well. The negs are a bit on the thin side, and I adjusted as much as I could in Lightroom without spending a couple of hours each, but they still aren’t great)

3 more photos after the jump:

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Saturday I wandered around with the intention of exploring the Mississippi river banks in Minneapolis, and while I ended up at a park I’ve been to before – Minnehaha falls park – I explored down to the river and saw things I haven’t seen before.

I took the Pentax loaded with b&w film, and my Tower rangefinder camera loaded with some Kodak UC100 pro film. I’ve got a thing for old cameras, and figured it would be a good time to play with my new lightmeter (Sekonic Brockway Norwood Director ~ late 50’s vintage) (I’ll post on my gear at some point in the near future).

The weather was nice – 15-20 degrees, sunny, fresh snow, no other people around, a nice quiet Saturday afternoon.

I decided to drop the film at Ritz (Ridgedale) for processing + their high-res scanning services, and no prints. Should be done in about two hours. I get a call an hour later saying their machine went down, they don’t know when it will be fixed, but will call with an update. Monday morning – no update – I call – they’re done. Pick them up, and after the order being $25 instead of $20 – I’ve got film and two CDs. Import to Lightroom and its pretty obvious they suck. Bad scanning levels, tons of dust, and oh yeah – scratched negatives. Soooo glad this is essentially a test roll. (I also have film at national camera for similar services – to decide where to get the rest of my film processed)

2009 or 1959?

That being said, I’m happy with the camera, and the photos it puts out. They definitely have that old camera feel – and I can think of some situations that I’ll love having that old camera feel. You just can’t replicate the old aesthetic with modern gear.