As mentioned in the previous post on the Canon 55 Qd, I went back after a year, in some of the places affected by the disastrous earthquake of 2009 in L’Aquila. This time, I used the camera with the 50mm f/1.8 II lens in some locations where the light was very poor. That’s why I had to push the Kodak Trix @ 800 Iso and in spite of that, in some cases, I had to use very slow speeds handheld. The results, however, do not seem despicable at all.
Lately I published very few posts on this blog. For various reasons I didn’t use film during the first months of this year, but I’m going to get it back, so I’m starting here a series of posts where I will talk about two Canon slrs, used with different films and lenses. The Eos 3000n canon has already been known on these “pages”, while today I propose the Eos 55 Qd. Recently, I returned to L’Aquila for the official presentation of the State of Things, the great collective project of documentary and social photography to which I had the honor and the pleasure of attending (I warmly invite you to check it). I have returned to places of suffering that has been going on for nearly 8 years, renewed since last August by the new earthquake swarm that hit the central Apennines.
I promised you, my dear readers: this would be the last Retina test. Actually it had been there for a bit of time and waited for his chance to be used. The Retina IIa is one of the most sought after on the market and in fact, I struggled just to find a copy in good condition at a reasonable price. The reasons are soon said: small, handy, but at the same time, equipped with a rangefinder and especially, the prestigious and fast Schneider Kreuznach lens Xenon 50mm f/2.
As I wrote last time, my first outdoor experience with the Mamiya RB 67 was tiring but satisfying. In fact, the generous dimensions of the 6×7 cm negative and the quality of the lenses are ideal for landscape photography. Immerse ourselves in nature, in a place almost out of time, it can only do good for the spirit, and if we are able to bring home some good shots …. better yet.
It’s been love at first sight: she was large and heavy but it gave me a feeling of solidity and undeniable power. She went home with her beautiful Sekor C 90mm f/3.8 lens, a Vivitar duplicator and two SDPro backs, (one for 220) but she felt a bit lonely and I proceeded immediately to add Sekor C 50mm f/4.5 and 180mm f/4.5. At that point, I was ready to fight a war. The only problem is that such equipment can fight mainly in the studio photography, because to use it outdoors things get complicated struggle. And so, the time has passed (almost two years), until a few days ago …
Ferrania is a brand that all Italians of a certain age know, at least also in name only, because until the ’70s the advertising signs and neon signs appeared often in alignment with the photographers “shops” even in the remotest villages. Who then did not use at these times at least one Ferrania film roll? In short, it was kind of our local Kodak. Currently, this brand has returned to the attention of analogue photography enthusiasts with a crowdfunding operation to reactivate the film production lines once famous both in Italy and abroad. Anyway, is not the film that I want to speak about here, but a medium format camera: Ferrania Eura. Built since 1959/early ’60s, the Eura was a kind of Italian Holga, but made in a more refined and reliable way as well, with a decidedly higher level design.
After some time, here is the return of a Voigtlander Vito. More precisely, the Vito B, built between 1954 and 1960 in two versions that differ mainly in the size of the viewfinder: the one in my possession is the last, with the biggest viewfinder. A very simple camera, with neither a rangefinder or a lightmeter. However, the lens is the renowned Color Skopar 50mm f/3.5 (or f/2.8), in my case mounted on a Prontor SVS central leaf shutter. What is amazing about this camera is the weight! In a body of small size and rounded lines, holding it you will be surprised by the robustness of the construction. Very beautiful to behold, and pleasant to handle. To test it I wanted to use a film recently introduced on the market: the Foma Retropan 320. The small but fierce house from Czech Republic has decided to propose Retropan as a soft and “retrò” effect coupled with an extended exposure latitude. As first time I rated it to 250 ISO.
A beautiful spring day, a friend who invites you to accompany him on a short trip to the beautiful Todi (one of the many jewels of Umbria) and the constant desire to photograph: what to ask more? And in fact, I immediately accepted the invitation and loaded my Leica M2 with a Tri-x, setting the Voigtlander VC-Meter @ box speed. As you know, in the past I had some problems with this film, when rated @ 400 Iso, but this time, I had on my side the ILFOTEC DD-X and I was sure that the outcome would have been much better.
As I already wrote in the first part of this post, while traveling in Bavaria, apart from a roll shot with the Leica R-E and one with the Canon P (nightshots), I used two Olympus cameras (OM2n and OM10). I have already expressed an opinion about the films I used (Ilford XP2 Super 400 and Kodak Tmax 400).
Voigtlander is another of the names that made the history of photography. It produced many cameras and lenses with the classic German quality. Models such as the Avus and Bessa folding, or the whole Vito series (with various Vaskar, Lanthar, Skopar and Ultron lenses) are well known to fans. The brand still exists but it is not the original manufacturer.
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