Extra Frame(s): Alley Pan

I took this panorama I made of our back alley on the Olympus-Pen FT. It's made up of nine different photos. I used the self timer to get in a few of the shots, myself. I like leaving the imperfections untouched in panoramas, because then you can see all the individual shots. My tiny Pen FT did look pretty ridiculous on top of my gigantic Bogen 3051 tripod.

Spotlight: Olympus-Pen FT

The Olympus-Pen FT is a half-frame 35mm camera that had a production run from 1966 to 1972. For those that don't know, "half-frame" means you get twice the number of shots on a roll of film (48 shots on a roll of 24, or 72 on a roll of 36), at the expense of image quality, since your negatives are half the size. Being a half-frame camera, the Pen FT is quite small, making it easy to bring with you wherever you go. It's also very non-threatening when taking photos out on the street.

The "Pen FT" is the successor to the original "Pen F", which came out three years prior. The "FT" added a self timer, a single-stroke film advance, and most importantly, a light meter. Shutter speeds range from 1-1/500th of a second, plus Bulb, which you adjust by twisting the knob on the front of the camera body. Speaking of the body, I love the design of this camera. It just screams "pure, simple elegance". 

I found in use, that even though the negatives are small and the images turned out grainy, they still look great, thanks to the razor sharp 38mm 1:1.8 Zuiko lens that came with the camera. Even at its widest aperture, images mostly came out looking nice and crisp.

Here are some photos I took with my Olympus Pen FT:

Overall, I absolutely loved shooting with the Olympus-Pen FT. Even at half-frame, I'm still pleased with the final images. That natural grain is a look only film can produce. Thanks for looking!

Print: Zebra Rider

I found this spring rider while riding around taking photos with my 35mm Retina Reflex, and knew I had to come back to take a medium-format shot. Mr. Zebra rider hangs out in a park in Evanston on Emerson street.  I used my Mamiya C330 with an 80mm lens, and Arista 200 film.

Thanks for looking!

Set: Hoops

If you've been reading this blog at all, you probably know that I like to photograph alleys. In these alleys hang a bunch of basketball hoops. They're kind of sad, really. To me, these hoops act as a reminder of childhood dreams long past. "Jimmy" gave up his childhood dream of being a basketball star long ago, but the hoop still remains.

I used my Olympus OM-2n with Ilford HP5+ 400 film. I used a Zuiko 35mm 1:2.8 lens that I picked up at an estate sale yesterday. Though I prefer a 50mm lens, it's really nice to have that wider focal length sometimes, especially in cramped alleys.

I'm considering going through the trouble and printing all nine of these in the darkroom as 4x6's... maybe.  Here some other shots I took today while riding my bike looking for basketball hoops:

Porky's Birdhouse

One of Wilmette's few abandoned houses

"MACK"

Thanks for looking!

Print: Echo (Part 3)

This is the third part to my Suburban Echo series. I took four exposures of houses in a retirement village. There were a bunch of old people walking around; one even wanted to know what kind of camera I was using. Old people can be cool sometimes. I used my Mamiya C330 with an 80mm lens.

Thanks for looking!

Roll: Par King (Front 18)

This afternoon, after Katie and I took another trip to the Grove in Glenview to finalize our wedding plans, we took a trip up to the "Par King" miniature golf course in Lincolnshire. We played the first 18 hole course out of two, and had a fun time. It's definitely not as cool and rustic as "Novelty Golf & Games" in Lincolnwood, but it's still pretty sweet. I brought along my Olympus OM-2n with a roll of Fuji 200 and took some photos of the holes we encountered. Here are some of my favorites:

While Par King was a little too clean and well-kept compared to Novelty Golf, we still had a good time. I won by six strokes. Yes.

Thanks for looking!

Spotlight/Roll: The Renaissance Faire (Part 2) on the Nikkormat EL

Last weekend Katie and I headed up to the Renaissance Faire again. This time we brought along Katie's brother, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Nina. I also brought along a little camera called the Nikkormat EL.

The Nikkormat EL is the electronic version of the classic Nikkormat, and features an electronic shutter and aperture-priority mode. The Nikkormat cameras were semi-pro level cameras, just below the pro-level Nikon F series in Nikon's camera line. The EL has a lot of great features in addition to its aperture-priority system, such as mirror lock up and two different ways to lock the camera from accidental exposure. The EL also has the oddest way of inserting a camera battery that I've ever seen. You have to take off the lens, lock up the mirror, and left up a tiny flap to reveal the battery compartment in the mirror box. Ridiculous!

But anyway, I was excited to try this camera out, because I had just borrowed a 50mm 1.4 lens from a friend, and 50 1.4's are my jam.  Here are some of the photos I took:

Thanks for looking!