Still clicking away

<p>Minox 8x11 is not forgotten. I have a Minox B from the 70's, never been serviced and still taking pictures. These

came out of it just a couple of weeks ago: <a

href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/minox/20080811-granbakken/index.html">http://abdallah.hiof.no/minox/20080811-granbakken/index.html</a></p>

 

<p>- Børre Ludvigsen </p>

Nice photos !

Thanks. After having ignored film since 1999, I started bringing out my old cameras early last year (and acquiring some new ones

while prices are low), among them my father's Minox B. The film still in it must have been from the late 80's - twenty years old. And the

results were very much better than I had hoped: <a href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/20070926-minox/">http://abdallah.hiof.no/20070926-

minox/</a> </p>

 

<p>But a warning to anyone who might want to experiment with 20 year old film; <b>DON'T</b>. You might be able to coax useable pictures out

of a film <b>exposed</b> 20 years ago, but unexposed will have fogged so much from general cosmic radiation that it will be unusable. I

know because I've tried, to my great regret. 2 films from Beirut this summer had barely discernable images and the grain was

awful.</p>

 

<p>I also suspect that the reason my 20 year old film turned out as well as it did is because it was sitting in the Minox, in a cupboard, in a box

protected by its own, rather hefty metal casing and a bunch of other shielding objects. Had it been in the plastic box, I suspect it would have been as

badly fogged as the film I thoughtlessly imagined would work.</p>

 

<p>By the way Martin, is it true that you have gone completely digital?</p>

 

<p>- Børre b(a)hiof.no</p>

Børre, I still use my Minox and Leica R film cameras. In October, I shall be on Taishan and Sanqing Mountain (both are UNESCO World Heritage sites) with my Minox BL, Leica R5+Elmarit R19mm/2.8

and Lumix FZ30

<p>Lucky! Let's see your pictures when you get back. Have you considered taking a light-weight panhead and your widest lens

for spherical panoramas? While not quite WHS (the nearest one is Urnes across the next fjord) these: <a

href="http://abdallah.hiof.no/2006_june/content.html#borgund">http://abdallah.hiof.no/2006_june/content.html#borgund</a> were

taken with an R-D1 and a CV 12/5.6 two summers back.</p>

 

<p>If they get the digital "8x11" right, it too can be used for stitching high-resolution, multirow, planar landscape and architectural

panoramas.</p>

 

<p>- Børre</p>

I bought a Minox LX on KEH.com a few days ago and am waiting for it. Seems it hasn't shipped yet while Minox films I ordered already arrived yesterday... In the mean time, I'm studying user manuals and forum discussions. I'm delighted to know people are still using 8x11 format and forum is still kicking. Cheers from Milwaukee.