Meritar on the Mall

I bought a Meritar M42 lens recently for about BP 2.00. Looks very neat and clean. Possibly was never used.

Afriend gave me a Kodak ASA 400 roll of 24 exp. It is B&W but is meant ofr C-41 process. I loaded it in my

Praktica Nova I and took it for a trial run.

 

They have built a new shopping mall nearby on Mysore Road. The road is getting expanded to 4 lanes with a

divider; the mall is located on a corner site of a busy traffic crossing with signals. So it is going to be messy

in a few months for the traffic and the shoppers.

 

I found this to be a strange building with pseudo revival motifs made with expensive craftsmanship. Took the film

to Kodak Franchisee “Whizz Photo” here. They refused to process saying that they do only color as they do not

have the dye for B&W; as they could not guarantee the tones they won’t process the film!

 

So I brought it home and tried the same in my old ‘reliable” brew. I find that the Kodak film seems to have more

“tolerance” than their lab! So here are some samples.

 

It was a day of bright haze, with no sunshine. Exposed the film at f/16 ans 1/250 sec or f/11 and 1/250sec.<div></div>

I used a hood but did not use a tripod. The building was all white made to imitate a marble like color.<div></div>

The hood is home made with a paper cup to suit the Meritar. Just slips over the front ring.<div></div>

The ASA 400 helped a lot in the hazy light; can't say much for tones. I did not expect mcuh of that from this film, especially with my home processing.<div></div>

They seem to sell more of other things than what the Colonel served! Reconciling to native taste!<div></div>

Voluted capitals on slender columns look funny; recalling the cast iron age of revival.<div></div>

I still have not rationalized the volume and class of customers that would make this kind of shopping viable!<div></div>

I have not found an appropriate use for this type of film. Perhaps it will work well when there are deep shadows. It does not seem to raise tones as much as the regular silver film does, though it may be too early for me to conclude that. The Meritar seems quite sharp, especially, at smaller apertures. Would appreciate your comments/views.

regards, sp

<p>It's a shame the local C-41 lab won't process it, since of course it is designed to be processed in normal C-41 chemistry.</p>

<p>Nice pictures, Subbarayan.<br>

The Meritar is much maligned but it was my first SLR lens and for a considerable time my only one. Looking back, I'm impressed with just how much detail those three elements can render.</p>

<p>Good work, Subbarayan. I especially like the first photo.</p>

<p>Nice pictures Subbarayan. I am surprized that you have KFC in India.</p>

<p>Looks like your home brew did a good job with the 400. Sharp results with nice detail in the high values.</p>

<p>Great pics, as usual,<strong> Subbarayan</strong> , and I'm surprised by the quality from such a simple old lens. The architecture is nothing short of astonishing....I assume the film was CN400, in which case the correct C41 processing could have made quite a difference to your tones. But your achievements with your "brew" are pretty amazing!</p>

<p>Very interesting series SP. I have a Meritar on Praktica IV and I like it. I am not sure of its formula design however, but it looks suspiciously 3 element-ish(if that's an actual word)</p>

<p>The Ludwig (Dresden) Meritar was the low cost lens option on some post war East German cameras. They were three elements and worked quite well as trplets do. My father had Exa cameras in the 1960's which could either have the cheaper Meritar or the more pricey lenses including Carl Zeiss (Jena) lenses. Like most East German optical products of the time they were quite well made, somewhat clonky styling and relatively good value compared to the same level of product from Japan.</p>

<p>Wow!<br>

In all areas: photographic, "filmic", and cultural.<br>

Is the McDonalds chicken or lamb? I'm betting it is not a "sesame seed bun, all-beef patty".</p>

<p>Although I've got three or four of the supposedly rarer Ludwig Victars, I was shocked to realize that I have only a couple of fixed lens versions of this lens.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Always love looking at your shots Subbarayan, Maccas in India....aren't cows sacred there? Your Meritar looks good, most three element lenses will do a good job if stopped down to F8-11.<br>

You need to take the next roll of that film to the lab and tell them that it is designed to be processed exactly the same as colour film, same paper, same chemicals....no dyes needed! Then again, if they don't know that then maybe they are not such a good lab to trust your film with.</p>

<p>A while back I tried the Kodak CN400 in my Contax IIa and found that it's not too bad. I used an orange filter with a filter factor of 5X and it helped a lot with the contrast. Maybe a little too much but it worked.</p>

<p>Anyways, interesting series Subbarayan. I always enjoy seeing your photos.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone; very encouraging. <strong>Rick</strong> , the film canister label says <strong>Kodak 400 BWC</strong> and “process C-41 only.” I guess each region has its own label; in some I have seen the label as <strong>T400 CN</strong> . <br /> <br /> Yes, <strong>JDM</strong> they sell more of what they call “veggie burger” that has vegetable patties in the sesame bun. Of course, Chicken and lamb, too; but lamb here in most regions is goat's meat and they call it Mutton. Some wool gathering regions [dry and/or mountainous] have a lot of sheep and use sheep’s meat in “sheesh kabab”, "Rogan Josh" and the like.<br /> <br /> <strong>Tony</strong> , thanks for the clarification on the processing. I shall take it to the lab, next time, and show them a copy of the Kodak documentation on this and insist that they process in C-41.<br /> <br /> The Meritar seems good enough for my kind of daylight pictures, as good as my Domiplan if not better. Thanks again, regards, sp</p>

<p>Umm, finger lickin good ! <br>

Yeah, the architecture is a bit wild. <br>

OK so I grew up with Kentucky Fried Chicken (Original Recipe was all they had then) so I know all about that, and the Golden Arches, but what about the native eateries? What can I get there? Is it good, or do you think my western appetite might be unaccustomed to the local menu? I'm thinkin they are not doing chili-dogs with cheese and onions. </p>

<p>Hi SG! The native eateries are quite ethnic pertaining to each region. In Southern India you get mostly steaming hot <strong>Iddlies</strong> [salty rice &gram muffins, steamed],<strong> Dosa</strong> s [Pancakes, crepe like, with stuffing options of veggies,greens,etc] and <strong>Vada</strong> s [savoury donuts made of Black gram flour with greens and coconut, onions etc.] and you will get the unleavened bread too. Coffee is with milk [almost no one drinks black coffee here] and Tea [also with milk and sugar].<br>

In Norhtern India it is mostly unleavened bread [<strong>Nan or Roti</strong> ] and Bean soup [<strong>Dal</strong> ]. Those are the standards and staples. But, there are loads of innovations these days with increasing competition and more items available on the supply side and variegated demands and tastes. You won't get much Coffee in the North. They make mostly Tea, from the sweet watery ones in the Northeast to the creamy dense beverage in the Northwest.<br>

You can stomach and enjoy most items if you tell them to cut down on the chili peppers; Central India is quite generous with chili peppers! regards, sp</p>

<p>I'm drooling. (I was going to say "practically", but I think it's best to be honest)</p>

<p>Although there are a lot of people here from India, there are very few Indian restaurants in my area. :(</p>

<p>Yes, mutton is rarely labeled as such here, but I have seen some very, very large "lamb" parts in the market. The one place where mutton is mutton (not, as they used to say of persons dressed too "young" in style, "mutton dressed as lamb") is in the barbecue (aka barbeque, or just plain BBQ) areas of western Kentucky, where one can tell by the barbecued mutton on the menu that is it a "good place".</p>

<p>very interesting post and comments, I learned a lot, thanks, it reminded me a little of a new mall developemtn I saw last month in suburban Toronto, called the Shops at Don Mills, which seems hopelessly over the top, as in Rolls Royce level price points mismatched to a large degree to the local area folk, perhaps less dramatically than your mall. Makes wonder about the architects and the developers and who did the persuading in the sales pitch to raise the money for these dream projects. Interestng lens, I know about some M42 lenses but had never of yours, it will be interesting to see what you can get out of it with the right processing, Good luck persuading your local photo lab. I hope you will have an opportunity to post more photos.</p>

<p>OK, so we got JDM drooling, so how 'bout some close in work on the eateries? I need to see these iddlies and dosas. Being a fan of rice and pancakes, muffins and all such things, but not so much coffee with milk, I'm wondering if you have a knack for getting in close and getting a shot on the grill so to speak... </p>