A “Rare” Series of Kodak Retina II

This time I want to talk a little about the Kodak Retina II (Typ 011). A camera (for the era in which it was built) high performance. Indeed, it was equipped with a coupled rangefinder and a Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 50 mm f/2 lens. What makes a bit special the copy in my possession is a small white triangle (which means not coated) between marks that identify the lens  and which is present only in a small number of copies, produced in Germany during 1948 for the domestic market. Of course this is only a little curiosity that adds nothing to the value of the camera itself, if not from the historical point of view.

Agfa Isolette III: A Well Deserved Tribute

This is the fiftieth post of this blog! It is now two years since I started shooting again with film. And to do that, I have from time to time, let fascinate by many “vintage” cameras  which, in during the late 70’s/ early ’80,s when I was a young photography enthusiast I would have considered old and obsolete, not up to fulfill my alleged. ..talent. Obviously, the inexperience led me to consider the modern (at the time) Nikon F2, Pentax Lx, Olympus OM1 etc. as the only ones capable of producing high-end images. Of course I was wrong and I understand it … thirty or more years later, during my second analog life. One of the cameras that gave me the most satisfaction was an humble medium format folding made in the ’50s: the Agfa Isolette III.

Shooting a Leica Lens – Leitz Summitar 50 mm f/2

Finally, I got a Leica M …. namely, a M2. But also to use a legendary camera, you need the right lenses. So I had to find some… just to start and got a 35mm Voigtlander Color Skopar f /2.5 (Leica M mount) and are waiting for a Leitz Elmar 90 mm f/4 with Ltm mount (M39). But in the meantime, a friend of mine lent me a “Collapsible” Leitz Summitar 5 cm f/2  Ltm mount too, a bit ruined … just to test it. While waiting for a Ltm to Leica M Mount adapter ring, I decided to test first this one, both in digital (with a Fujifilm X-T10) that on film by mounting it on my Canon 7 rangefinder.

Kodak Retina Ia – My First One

Since I started (again) to deal with analog photography, I discovered that there are many enthusiasts who use and collect eagerly Retina cameras and Retinette produced (in numerous models and variants) by Kodak Nagel in Germany from the thirties to the late sixty. At the beginning I did not give much weight to the thing: I was attracted more by other types of cameras, but then some “virtual” friends have strongly advised me to try them. I must also say that my “family camera”, the one with which my father photographed my childhood … was a Retinette Ia!

Another Voigtlander: The Vito Csr Test

Just a month ago,I presented on the “pages” of this blog, the Voigtlander Vitoret. A very simple camera but belonging, in some way, to the glorious Vito series. Having heard good things about Vitos, gradually my collection has grown, enriched with some easily available models on the market for low prices. The first one I tried was the Vito CLR, but there have been problems of development in the first roll and overlapping frames in the second (as published in this post). So I look to make a decent roll before publishing a complete test. Even so, the Clr in question is equipped with Color Skopar lens, which has a much higher reputation than the Lanthar used on Vitoret and on the camera I’m showing today: the Vito CSR.

The Bayern Film Tour – Part Two

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).

The Bayern Film Tour – Part One

Leica R-E & Vario Elmar 35-70mm – XP2 Labdeveloped

As loyal readers already know, at the beginning of December I faced (after almost 15 years) traveling exclusively using film cameras only. In this post I showed the equipment that I planned to use. Furthermore, I also had an Olympus OM10 with three Zuiko lenses (28, 50 and 135mm) as a backup just in case. Once in Munich (Bayern), I bought a nice Olympus OM2n, accompanied by a Zuiko 35-70mm f/3.5-4,5 and a Tokina RMC 24mm f/2.8. The films I used were Ilford XP2 Super 400, Kodak T-Max 400 and Ilford Delta 3200. In total, I took 8 rolls of 36 frames. A ridiculous number of shots when compared with those obtained in a half-day with any digital camera. But this is precisely the reason that led me back to the film, so I am absolutely delighted to have chosen this path.

Leica R5 – But she wasn’t mine

Who knows why, for some reason, every time I used a Leica, was never mine? The first time, an M7 with Summicron 35mm, I was entrusted by the magazine which I collaborate with (Fotografia Reflex), the second time, a D-Lux 6 (Digital), directly from the Leica factory itself. You can see some of the results on the Leica official blog. This time, I had the opportunity to test one R5 with the Vario-Elmar zoom 35-70mm f/3.5, thanks to a friend who had just bought it. Basically, I’m doing the beta-tester for him! Sooner or later … I’ll have to decide to get one of my own … 😉