Flatlands: Part One

Flatlands is my new photography series that I plan to one day present in book form. In Flatlands, I explore how time, degradation, context, and cropping can change the connotation of images. There are three rules I follow when creating Flatlands photographs:

1. The subject must be a flat image

2. No text describing the original context of the image can be present in the final photograph

3. The image must exist in the physical world (that is, no images can be rephotographed off a computer or television screen)

Here is a selection of Flatlands images I have made so far:

Spotlight: Rolleiflex Automat (Type K4/50) with Rolleikin Adapter

The Rolleiflex Automat is a professional twin lens reflex camera from 1949. It makes square 6x6cm negatives on 120 film. HOWEVER, if used with a "Rolleikin" kit, you can adapt the Rolleiflex Automat to use 35mm film. This is how I used the camera, mostly because I had just shot a roll with the very similar Minolta Autocord 6x6 TLR, and wanted a more unique experience.

The Rolleikin kit comes in a cute little box with all the parts you need to turn your camera into a 35mm shooting machine:

Yep, some assembly is required, but it's pretty intuitive. I only had to look up instructions once or twice. The most noticeable piece is the interchangeable back, which sports a 35mm frame counter. There's a little 35mm film-plane adapter that must be stuck into the film chamber, and various metal twiddly bits that must replace the 120 reels to allow 35mm film to advance and rewind properly. Once everything is installed, the mechanism works well.

The most obvious difference when shooting 35mm film with the Rolleiflex is field of view. With 120 film, the Rollei's 75mm lens provides a standard, even slightly-wide viewing angle. Since 35mm film is much smaller than 120, that 75mm lens gets cropped and turns into a short-telephoto, which totally switches up how the camera can be used. With the Rolleikin installed, the Rolleiflex is turned into a portrait machine. To help compose with the tighter field of view, the Rolleikin comes with a little mask you can slide on top of the focusing screen:

Since 35mm film is transported vertically with the Rolleikin, all photographs must be composed vertically. This was fine for me, since I pretty much only used the camera to make portraits (plus, vertical compositions > horizontal compositions). I found working under the restrictions of the Rolleikin to be a fun diversion. I mean, when's the last time you used a camera with a fixed telephoto lens? I enjoyed myself.

So enough about the Rolleikin, what about the Rolleiflex Automat itself?

Well, it's a fine twins lens reflex for its time. This K4/50 model is the second Rolleiflex to utilize the twin aperture and shutter speed dials set to the right and left of the lenses, which work beautifully. It's really easy to adjust and view aperture (f/3.5 ~ f/22) and shutter speed ( 1/500 ~ 1 sec). One small annoyance is how the 1/500th speed MUST be selected before the shutter is cocked. But hey, at least it's there. Most leaf shutters of the time maxed out at 1/300 or 1/400. The shutter release is lockable, and has a thread for cable releases.

The shutter is cocked and the film is advanced by turning a crank on the side of the camera. The film advance mechanism automatically stops on each frame. Double exposures and NOT possible, unfortunately. This camera comes from an age when multiple exposures were mostly only thought of as mistakes.

A major downside of this camera is its focusing screen. Ugh. It's extremely dim and dull, with no focusing assists (it has a plain matte screen with grid lines). Even under bright light, finding exact focus is extremely difficult and frustrating. With newer cameras, subjects POP into focus on the screen, but not so with this older model of Rolleiflex. While using the camera, I would continuously crank the focus back and forth, back and forth, and then ultimately just take an educated guess. A lot of shots turned out a bit soft, as a result.

Okay, so only after shooting a complete roll with this camera did I learn its strangest feature. On the back of the focusing hood is a magnifying glass, and if you flip down the hood's sportsfinder, there's a mirror on the underside of it. You can look through the magnifying glass, into the mirror, and actually view the focusing screen at eye-level. It's super cool, until you realize the eye-level view is inverted (upside-down), and heavily cropped. In the end, it's useless, but still a neat little party trick.

Below are some photos I made with the Rolleiflex Automat and Rolleikin adapter. I used TMax 400 35mm film.

Drawing: The Cats

Two portraits depicting our cats, Merry and Furiosa, set in a vintage frame. Made as a gift for my wife for her 30th birthday. 5"x7", artist pen on paper.

Drawing: Katie Working

An observational drawing of Katie working a voice shift. Artist pen on paper, 5.5 x 8 inches.

Spotlight: Olympus OM-3

The Olympus OM-3 is a 35mm SLR camera from 1983. The camera is fully manual, and requires batteries only for the light meter. In fact, I believe the OM-3 is the final completely mechanical camera Olympus ever made. These OM-3 cameras did not sell well at the time, most likely because photographers either flocked to the more advanced electronic OM-4 (which also came out in 1983), or saved money and bought a mechanical OM-1(n), which remained on the market while the OM-3 was sold. The lack of sales led to a limited production run, which makes the OM-3 a pretty rare camera today.

The OM-3 has an advanced light meter that it shares with its OM-4 brother, which includes spot, multi-spot, and average metering. I just stuck to average metering during my time with the camera, cause I'm basic. The meter is a horizontal digital display that is viewable at the bottom of the camera's finder. It's easy enough to read in most light, and lights up at the press of a button if your surroundings get too dark. It's not my favorite display ( I prefer my meters vertical), but it gets the job done.

Besides the metering, the OM-3 is a relatively simple, no-frills camera. Since the OM-3 is mechanical, there are no automatic exposure modes to speak of. Unlike the OM-1(n), which this camera was meant to replace, the OM-3 does not have a mirror lock-up mode, or even a self-timer function. Like nearly all Olympus cameras, multiple exposures are not possible to perform with the OM-3. Boo.

The shutter on the OM-3 is pretty quick, maxing out at 1/2000. Like all other mainline OM cameras, speeds are changed via a dial around the base of the lens mount. I like this setup. With OM cameras, you make adjustments to the shutter speed, aperture, and focus with your left hand, while all your right hand has to do is grip the camera and press the shutter release. At first the lack of a shutter dial on top of the camera is odd, but you get used to the OM method pretty quick.

Other features include interchangeable focusing screens (of which there are many), a built-in diopter for different types of eyes, and a battery-check button that pleasantly screams at you when battery power is sufficient.

Overall, the OM-3 is a fine camera, perfect for a student of photography. Unfortunately, the rarity and high price of the OM-3 will keep it out of the hands of most 35mm enthusiasts. Below are some photos I made with my OM-3, together with a 50mm f/1.8 Zuiko lens and Tri-X 400 film.

Spotlight: Nikon N2020

Since it's the year 2020, I thought it appropriate to take a look at the Nikon N2020! The N2020 was released in 1986, and is the first Nikon SLR camera with in-body auto-focus. It's also the last Nikon camera to use their superior, non-italicized logo. I assume the "2020" moniker references the camera mimicking the human eye's ability to focus, or something. My dad owned an N2020 and used it to photograph paintings for the many years that he was an art dealer in downtown Chicago. He gifted me his N2020 a couple years ago, but unfortunately it was in a state beyond repair. I bought the above N2020 from KEH in great condition for a little over $40.

I love the design and layout of the N2020. No LCD screen bullshit, just a beautiful arrangement of tactile knobs and dials that do everything you need a camera to do. I always prefer dials over screens, not only because I'm a bit of a hipster, but because dials let you see your camera's current settings, even when the power is off. The N2020 is around the same size as a Nikon FM or FE, but with a nice little added grip that makes handling the camera a bit more comfortable.

The auto-focus works fine for still subjects, but has difficulty tracking moving subjects. AF works like any modern camera: half-press the shutter release to focus, full-press to make an exposure. There's only one AF point in the center of the focusing screen, and it's pretty big, so it can be difficult to tell the camera exactly where you need to focus. Luckily, the screen is big, bright and sharp, so manual focus is easy to pull off if the AF gives you trouble. The default screen is all matte, but you can buy ones that have focusing assists, like a microprism or split-prism screen.

The shutter goes from 1 second to 1/2000, plus bulb. Aperture priority mode is also available, which I used for pretty much the entire roll that I shot. I think there's also a program mode, but I don't bother with that crap. Exposure compensation ranges from +2 to -2 EV. Film sensitivity can be set between 12 and 3200 ISO, or automatically via the DX mode. Unfortunately, there is no way to perform multiple exposures with the N2020, which surprises me, because this is supposed to be a semi-professional camera. Lame. The film advances automatically after every exposure, whether you want it to or not. If you set the exposure mode to "C," the camera will continuously make exposures for as long as you hold down the release, at the blazing speed of 1.7 frames per second. Somewhat hilariously, despite all the automatic features of the N2020, film rewind is still done manually via a traditional crank.

The N2020 is powered by four AAA batteries, which are inserted by removing the bottom plate of the camera. In my experience, AAA batteries like to bleed and cause massive corrosive damage. Every N2020 I came across before this one (at flea markets, estate sales, etc) were inoperable because of battery compartment damage. So, be careful when buying this camera used, and make sure to take the batteries out of your N2020 if you're not gonna use it for a while.

Below are some photographs I made with my N2020 while on a walk with my wife and her sister. I used a 50mm f/1.4 D lens and Ilford HP5+ film.