Bronica Zenza ETRS With CineStill 800T

It was absolutely roasting on the day I had organised a series of workshops across London. To catch some cool air we stopped over in this cafe. Almost immediately I knew I had to get some shots on some CineStill 800T in here. So many tungsten lights! We reserved up a little spot while we waited for our cold drinks to arrive.

Armed with my Bronica Zenza ETRS I loaded up the roll and got shooting.

Why did the images come out blasted in orange? Well, if you haven’t checked out my previous video on this check it out here:

Essentially if the ‘remjet’ layer hasn’t been removed properly from the Kodak T rolls and then is processed in C41 chemicals you get this result. CineStill reimbursed everyone after it turned out the entire batch had turned out this way. Whilst I was disappointed not to see the actual results from this film I am really pleased with the shots nonetheless!

The Bronica’s waist level finder is an absolute dream to shoot with. Combined with the fact you have only fifteen shots per roll you are forced to carefully think about what you’re going to shoot and you have to move to reassess the best possible options. Using an eye level finder is a very different experience. You will have to slow down and eradicate the ‘spray and pray’ option which digital offers widely.

A little bit disappointed with the later images. Always remember to carry your light meter with you and definitely check the light meter reading if you’re changing your setting. You can use a simple phone light meter or a more expensive option such as the Sekonic light meters.

Get out there! Shoot and make mistakes, that’s the beauty of photography whether digital or analog. Learn to slow down your process, reflect on what your taking. Get in touch with your questions and comments. Would love to hear what you would like to learn more about or anything that you think I may have missed!

Zeiss Ikon Nettar vs Yashica Mat 124G with Ilford Delta 400

These cameras both use the 6x6 picture format on Medium Format film. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar being the older more rustic version in comparison with the Yashica Mat 124G.

You can have a look at some of my previous videos on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar here.

It was time to test out both cameras under the same conditions using the same film (Ilford Delta 400) and settings throughout. This way I could see how they would perform and what differences potentially could pop up.

Taking a leaf from the Thoreau and his wandering walks in the wild I decided to take a walk of my own in the urban jungle. The walk started on a bright sunny but cold and windy Spring day. I saw these newly painted houses and thought that would be a good place to start.

Surprisingly switching between both cameras was quite seamless. Having the Yashica Mat 124G around my neck and the Zeiss Ikon Nettar tucked away in my jacket pocket. I found taking the folding camera out easy to quick take out of my pocket and snap the shot in frame.

Each time I tried to align it as closely to where the lens from the Yashica was pointing and snap it from that perspective. You can see from the first shot the tones have come out darker in the Yashica on the car and trees. This was to become a consistent theme throughout all the images.

I carried on along and found a side entrance to some apartments which I wandered down to see if there was a route to the other side through. After a short walk through some pastel pink coloured buildings (which I was very much tempted to snap but then thought I don’t have Portra 800 loaded!) I came to a dead-end. I turned back and looked up to see this staircase winding down the side of the building with just the right amount of light on it. While I did my best to shorten the interchange time between cameras, the light had changed slightly after snapping first on the Yashica Mat 124G. The tones have come out a bit darker on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar probably due to the reduction of light on the frame. On a side note, I did find framing and shooting the shot upwards a little tricky and fiddly.

I double-backed on myself and got back to the street where I started from and carried on, turning left and find this row of Victorian Houses. I do like a chequered entrance and with a bike in frame it was a winning combination. The images are almost identical here in tonality, although I slightly prefer the framing on the Zeiss Ikon Nettar.

Coming to the end of the road, I had a decision to make, whether to carryon walking straight or turn left. The decision was made by the graffiti on the wall on the left hand side. Be Happy! The clouds were starting to draw over and the light was intermittent and variable. The framing on the Yashica 124G has come out better probably because of the viewfinder which allows for a more intuitive framing experience. The Zeiss Ikon Nettar has a little square viewfinder which is not entirely accurate in giving you a realistic view of what the image will turn out to be.

The low-ish walled bridge was just about reachable to place my camera on top and capture a few snaps of the railway lines. Initially, I had thought about taking the images of the train tracks but then saw these trains coming along and decided to shoot those in frame. Next time, I’ll stick with the railway lines!

London ‘Mews’ streets are just the best to shoot. More recently, I have seen a trend in these little side streets being blocked off to the public which is quite sad. Capturing the vanishing point of this street on the square 6x6 format was a bit tricky. It would be interesting to see how a 6x9 format would fare here.

The architecture was starting to change as I crossed the main road. Moving away from terraced Victorian homes to more detached villa style homes. Notable persons of historical interest even resided in these homes from almost over a century ago.

As you can see from the image comparison, both cameras came out with near identical shots. The only real difference between the two being with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar shots coming out lighter and less constrasty on the blacks.

Yashica Mat 124G & Fuji 160 Walk In The Park

Word has it that Nietzsche used to walk up to 8 hours a day with a paper and pen. Where do you think all the notebooks went? We can sort of hazard a guess to what he may have been ruminating about…When’s the last time you got up for a spontaneous walk in the park?

When word had got to me about the Fuji Pro 400H being discontinued I was quite upset however alas Analogue Wonderland came to the rescue with a new batch of Fuji NS 160. With little hesitation I order my first few rolls and waited for the right time to explore this new film!

My first thoughts were; a) how different this film stock would be compared to the Fuji Pro 400H? and b) how it would compare to Kodak Portra 160? But that aside I decided to go for a first walk with this as is see what it could do!

The sun was so strong and bright as I walked in to the park with my Yashica Mat 124G and my roll of 120film. I sat down opposite the cafe area and started loading up the roll with the sun warming my back. I didn’t have to work too hard for the first shot as this man came and sat down opposite me. I popped opened the viewfinder and framed up the first snap.

The great thing about my Yashica is it’s onboard lightmeter. Simply dial in your ISO and the light meter correctly adjusts for the conditions. Now, this may not always be the case for old film photography equipment but with good care, or perhaps a service you can recondition these wonderful cameras and get going on your analog photography journey!

The thing about Fuji Pro 400H is its ability to really make colours come out strong in every frame. Choosing a good location therefore is super important so that you can maximise the real estate on each picture you take. Of course, I didn’t know how the Fuji NS 160 would compare but I hazard a guess that the colour rendition would be up there.

Bearing in mind the film stock I would strongly recommend shooting with it where you have strong colours available. Perhaps you may be using this film for shooting portraits, in which case it will be perform exceptionally well with people of different tonalities. (I have yet to try it with Fuji NS 160 but looking forward to an opportunity as and when it may arise!)

The blue, green and brown settled well for the second image with the dog walker in the middle of the frame. The line of trees disappears in to the distance drawing you in to the image. Late mornings are great time to explore, there are not too many people about but just enough to create some interesting compositions! It would be interesting to see how the film would fare in late summer afternoon settings too!

I waited for the morning walkers to cut across the deep green grass and large blue sky before taking the third image. This was more a ‘scientific’ shot, getting an image with large swathes of two colours and how they would perform.

As I was walking along, so many opportunities to take candid street style shots appeared. I initially framed this image to take of the person sitting on the bench as they walked in front on me with their yellow jacket. However the the shadow created by the light hitting the tree felt like the tributaries of a river on the floor and I just couldn’t resist but take that image.

Crossing over back in to the other side of the park over the railway line I saw the light falling down and thought this could make a rustic image. I think someone framed within it would look even better but probably would need a reflector or secondary light for the subject.

Loved this disused train station, got me working thinking about how train stations were used when they first came in to existence. No platforms, I wonder how safe it was just to board straight from the rail itself?

Overall, really pleased with how these images came out. I definitely I am looking forward to exploring this film stock more in different conditions. Certainly would be good to see how it fares under different light conditions, landscapes and portraits too!