Hin's Photo Corner

I had let go my excellent+ copy of Pentax 645N and today, I am taking consolation with my Yashica 124mat G. I took some gear pictures on the Yashica Mat 124G when I first got it in 2010. It is a beauty. 












I had it today with me and contemplating which roll of expired film to use among Ektar, Portra, Acros, Tri-X and Agfa Rollei. I got the roll of Agfa Rollei Retra 80X from Steve and that is the only roll that has not expired. All of my other roll films expired in the range between 2011 and 2013. 

I used to have Rolleiflex Automat and when I researched today, I find this Yashica versus Rollei twin-lens reflex cameras from Frugal Photographer



I have a lobe bug with film cameras and I can buy cameras just for the look and gear porn pictures. Look at what I have done to the film gift from Steve -- the Agfa Rollei Retro and it is still unused after 2 years


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I took these product shots earlier contemplating which roll to go first. All of my roll films expired except the Rollei Retro that Steve gave me as a gift. 


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And I found my vintage camera strap working well with my Yashica.


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I will hopefully find time to use my 120 expired films. 

Film alert I go about online recently shopping for some color 135 films and I find fewer places with good discount and I wonder if the Agfa Vista Plus 400 is worth trying as it cost cheaper to test my unused camera with Contax 137MA -- my red camera.

AgfaPhoto Vista Plus 400 135-36 Film 1175259

I will likely buy a roll to test my red camera with Contax 137 MA

I am doing some soul searching on my 645N gear. I initially got my 645N and started with only one lens with A 75mm f/2.8 which I love dearly. I later got FA 45mm f/2.8 and A 55mm f/2.8 which I also grown to love. I use more with the 45mm for the wider view but the 55mm gives sharper pictures. And I repeated my past mistakes with LBA, I bought gear too fast and before I know it, I have acquired LS 135 f/4.0 and later with A 120mm f/4.0.

I developed my first roll with Fuji Pro 400H from Foto Express in San Jose and I tried for the first time scanning the 120 negatives using the Canon scanning software. On my first trial, I have to admit various unknowns as I am not yet familiar with the process. I managed to get the scanner to perform all the auto cropping and I set "Medium" for handling on dust and scratches. I used 4800 dpi in the beginning and I later turned into smaller dpi with 2400 dpi. The size for the 4800dpi goes about 18Mg whereas the size of the 2400dpi scan goes about 3 to 5 Mg.










Impressions & Notes

• I am somewhat doubtful on my path into Pentax 645N as I contemplate the idea of exploring film with just a simple 35mm camera such as my Ricoh xr-p or Pentax MX
• I have not tried the Canon 8800F on 35mm, I will report later on. I have high hope on its film scanning with b&w and color films that I did with the Ricoh xr-p. Slides will be the next endeavor when I manage well with film.
• The 4800 dpi scan takes quite long as in 8 to 12 minutes for a single picture whereas the 2400 dpi takes about 4 minute in my old Dell system that is 5 year old.
• The dust and scratch removal seems to work to a certain degree on the Canon 8800F flatbed scanner. But when I look at the original picture in the scan, I still see quite a number of dust spots and small scratches easily
• I have not used all the controls in the scanning
  • Auto Tone -- I turned that ON in initial trial. I later learn and try to turn Auto Tone to OFF and rely on post processing in Lightroom
  • Bright Light Correction -- always OFF
  • Dust/Scratch removal -- I used Medium. I have this ON for past proofing and it works quite well especially on color or C41 film such as Kodak BW400CN.
  • Unsharp Mask -- I turned that on in the trial. Later on, I have this OFF and rely on LightRoom instead
  • Grain Correction -- I turned that off
• After my 1st roll, I like the performance and color in the Fuji pro 400H with landscape shots. My local lab with Foto Express in San Jose also recommends the film and it costs less than the other color film that I look up.
• After scanning the 645N films, I also did several trials on 35mm black and white film with Kodak BW400CN on the Canon 8800F scanner, I find results are not as good and satisfactory. For one, the 8800F scanner don't have 'dust and scratch removal' on BW negatives. I scan in 16 bit gray scale in 1200 and 2400 dpi in color negative and results don't seem to appeal me so far.
• Instead of the Canon ScanGear driver, I tried out the free version of VueScan but so far, I don't follow the logic in VueScan and I find the Canon ScanGear working more intuitive and faster than the VueScan. I know everyone praise about the VueScan and I am going to keep trying.
• I have seen great results, most with MF cameras in using 8800F, I visit this Flickr Canon 8800F scanner group for inspiration

Related:

• The Ricoh Love with Ricoh xr-p
• Yashica Mat-124G
• Pentax 645N purchase
• Pentax 645N on KS-0 ballhead
• Ricoh xr-p
• Foto Express in San Jose
• Pentax MX
• My 1st film camera
• Hin's Camera Gear

I have been taken a hiatus from blogging after I get a bit burned out in setting out various milestones to trim my gear. I bought my 645N over six months ago and it was not until the last weekend that I got a reasonably sturdy ballhead that I could take it out for some test shots.


I have a better ballhead with Linhof but I don't have the right base plate for quick release. I took a gamble in getting a cheap and seemingly inexpensive ball-head to try from ebay on KS-0 professional tripod ballhead. It came from Hong Kong and with shipping, it only costs $40. I won't recommend it right away as the build is not as good as I would like. But so far it does the job fine for me. I especially like the two controls knobs to secure the ball-head firmly in place while having the 3rd smallest knob for rotation. The unexpected weakness is on the 3/8" screw that I need to secure with a coin on the quick release. That is very inconvenient to use.



The ball-head claims to support 8 Kg or 17.6 lb and I am yet to test it on a heavier setup with longer telephoto lens. When I mounted my Pentax 645N with a FA 45mm f/2.8, the setup is very sturdy on the ball-head. I can actually carry the camera mounted on tripod while looking for a spot to set up the shooting. When I use the ballhead of my Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 (55BB), the whole thing looks sturdy and easy to use.









Impressions & Notes

• Quite small and have two knobs to tighten the ball-head in place
• Third smallest knob is used for rotation, quite smooth in the field
• ball-head claims to support for 8kg/17.6lb and so far so good in first outing with Pentax 645N
• First weakness is on the use of quick plate that is difficult to tighten unless I use a coin to help
• Second weakness on the knob control on the locking plate as I found the knob getting stuck in unwinding a couple of times. It looks like some lubricant is needed to help to ease up the friction noted.
• I like the extra locking feature which prevents the locking plate from dismounting.
• Build is not fantastic but I find it reasonable for the price.
• Seems easy to use with exception on tightening the locking plate screw, a coin can address the problem but it is still inconvenient for quick release.
• The KS-0 ball-head seems similar in design to Benro ball-head that I have seen.

Related:

• Pentax 645N purchase
• Canon 8800F flatbed film scanner
• Linhof Ballhead and Giottos MH-652
  
• Amvona AT-CF992 tripod
• Tamron SP 500mm f/8.0 adaptall-2 (55BB)
• Pentax K-x White Arrival
• Hin's Camera Gear