What camera(s) did you use this weekend?

This is always an interesting question because I'm always interested in knowing what you all took out and what made you choose that particular camera. I shot a Minolta XE-7 (whose light meter is slightly off; I have to set the ISO at 200 in order to get ISO 400 readings), a Minolta XD-11 (what a jewel!), a Canon F-1 (my favorite), and a worn but great Canon FTbn. Most of my shooting was in the woods trying to capture the bright greens and all of the standing water from near-torrential rains Friday night. Most of the time was divided between the XE-7 and the FTbn since I just got the XE-7 and wanted to road test it, and I just replaced seals in the FTbn so I wanted to see if they cured the small light leak issue. I took the XD-11 and F-1 out mainly because I just enjoy using them so much. What did the rest of you use over the weekend and what were your subjects?

 

Nikon S2 with a 50mm lens, walking paths along Great bay, NH.

 

Olympus E-510, Olympus OM-1, Canon G9 (IR-modified), Canon G10. Swamp walk in Ferndale, WA and a tour of Westport, WA harbor and Westport State Park The two Canons are almost always along for the ride. The OM-1 is being tested after CLA by Camtech (camera works very well, photographer is slowly relearning film after years of digital) Subjects varied - landscapes, still lifes, abstracts.

 

Voightlander Bessa-L and Vitessa 125.

 

Mamiya 645 with 55mm lens.
Subjects were working boats along the river.

 

Alas, my weekend with a bad eye and all was entirely digital, and with the eye (it's slowly improving) I was very glad for autofocus. (although, as the picture shows, it sometimes ain't all it could be)
Am awaiting some new film with bated breath though, so soon.

 

Flowers/plants at conservatory, Volunteer Park, Seattle. Rolleiflex E-2 (Xenotar 3.5) with UC 100, Rolleicord Vb (Xenar) with Velvia 100, Retina IIa (Xenon 50 f2) with Neopan 100. Metz 54 MZ-4i as needed. Beautiful sunny day, most interior shots had optimal lighting. Gossen digital for EV's, bracketed just a few, shot up all three rolls.
No tripods on weekends but there were very few visitors, I'm getting old and shakey so I asked, they said "sure." Stayed out of everyones way pretty well, most said "take your time." Having Panda Labs in Seattle process, I'll scan and edit at home in Oregon, then mail back up for printing. Panda always does an excellent job for me, recommended highly.
Now the excitement builds, waiting to see the results. Hope your shots are all keepers Andy, have a great week.
Patrick

 

This weekend I had loads of fun! I shot with the good old Polaroid and I shot some black and white (which is kind of unusual for me) with the trust AE-1. I am starting to enjoy black and white occasionally. It is pretty thought provoking. I am more of a Kodachrome guy usually.

 

I was sluggish and only used my Canon T-90 to photograph some local gravel pit machinery.

 

The Vitomatic IIa ran some Porta VC 400 thru it : will this what came out , also a Zeiss Ikon
Ikonta 521/2 novar Anastigmat used Fuji Chrome in it !

 

Plus-X in an old N90s at Coney Island. The annual freak show is just getting warmed up.

 

I was out just at sunrise (I didn't get myself in gear fast enough to set up what I wanted to) at Bluffers Park again. This time instead of a Fed 5C, I was out with a Nikon FT2 Nikkormat and an f4/200 Nikkor. I did get a couple of nice silhouettes of a bunch of people at the lifeguard's stand against the sunrise as a backdrop. I'm going earler tomorrow morning so I don't waste my time driving there (it's Victoria Day here in Canada and I'm off).

 

RB-67 with some 135 format Tri-x 400 loaded and metered at 1600ASA.

 

I shot a couple frames only on Bronica SQ-Ai. Most of my time was spent trying to figure out why the AE prism didn't agree with the meters on my other cameras. Finally had my "doh" moment: on my 120 back the little white mark on the ISO dial has the paint all rubbed off, so I was aligning ISO with the only other mark, a green arrow for the exposure composition. Once I read the manual and set the ISO correctly, everything fell in place.
I also shot a couple frames on a Contax 167MT which a friend gave me a couple weeks back.

 

Finished a roll in a Balda Baldinette and almost in a Bessa I. Then had to stop shooting: burst water heater, flooded basement, plumber, home depot, misery. However, in the evenings, I did fix a jammed shutter in a Contina IIa, adjust a balky Jupiter-8 from my Zorki, and strip five old folders for parts before consigning them to the trash.

 

Well, my grand daughter got in some time with her Nikon L35 AW AF ,1986 age camera. I gave this to her at X-Mas and she's got the hang of using the viewfinder and pressing the shutter down. Aim? ... well, that's another story. She loves the flash and says cheese before every time she takes a shot.
Camera age --------- 22 years +
Photographer age - 2 years 2 months

 

Rolleicord Va with Fuji Acros at Tent Rocks Kasha Katuwe National Monument. Not much careful composing since I was partly in charge of a bunch of cub scouts while hiking there. Also got a few group shots on Fuji Reala there. Justt got done developing the B&W film and it looks like I managed to produce a few keepers.

 

Horseman VH-R, with 6x7 roll film back and Pacemaker Crown Graphic, 4x5 with 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 roll film back Arista ISO black and white film, 120. Someone asked me if the Graphic was digital.
Dave

 

Two rolls in a Minolta 16II to check out my repair on it. Just for kicks and giggles I adapted one of those .42X aux fisheye lenses to fit it. It looked hilarious on the submini. Also refoamed a Olympus 35 RC and a Oly Pen S 3.5. Got film in the Pen and just now going to load the RC and take it for a walk. If I have the time I'll soup the submini film before I hit the sack.

 

Finished a roll in the Aires 35-III and loaded the Ricoh Five-One-Nine. Shot some teens making out at the park. Picked up my Nikon FM2n at the repair shop (had a full CLA) and dropped off the Yashica Super Tl with the stuck battery cover and a Nikon F2 for a CLA. The FM2n works like butter now and I could hardly wait to load a roll and shoot some peonies in my backyard. Today I went into town and had lunch with a friend in a local garden where we could shoot florials. A bride was getting photographed and I asked the bride and the photographer if I could take a few frames. The photographer took one look at my Ricoh rangefinder and laughed...both said fine. Clearly there was no fear of competition from this goofy old guy with the antique camera. After lunch I went home to finish my chores but went down to the lake this evening with Suzie and finished off the roll in the Nikon. It is a beautiful evening, here in Lenexa.

 

Zorki 1 plus retractable Industar 50, Olympus OM1 and Zuiko 50/1.4, Nikon FM2n and Plastic-funtastic Nikkor 50/1.8 and I have in my suitcase Zorki 4 and Jupiter 8. I am in Philadelphia on a trip now and I have already made a coupple of pictures of a cruiser ca 1898 called Olympia.

 

Nikon D90 to make a video called Using aWooden Field Camera which is on youtube.

 

Since you asked... a 1949 Baby Speed, 6x9 Graphic back, 4 rolls of 120 Plus-X and 32 No. 5 flashbulbs. Just another NYC after-hours freak show. Now I gotta soup and scan this stuff... as usual.

 

Friday at the 261st Anniversary celebration of the Royal Dutch Engineers at the Engineer Museum:
Leica IIIa, Elmar 90mm f/4, No2 yellow filter, Fikus hood, Vidom viewfinder, Kodak BW400CN.
Then one rainy trip with the jeep to the Fortress city of Geertruidenberg where I used:
Pentacon Praktica MTL-50 with Industar-61 LZ lens and loaded with Spector 200 Color film.
Also carried my Epson R-D1 around with a Voigtlander 35mm f/1.7 Ultron on both days. And I sold a 1950s Agfa Box camera and a roll of film to a young DSLR shutterbug, I have enough box cameras, and he desperately wanted one.

 

Last week I re-discovered by Yashica Campus so I took that one out this weekend, shot a roll of old Portra 400BW (or something). And I also used my little Olympus MJU-1 again, it's too new to fit in this forum but it's just one of those point-and-shoot cameras I've learned to love....
Then I've opened many boxes of cameras, sorting out which to keep and which to sell, it's a hard job but well, when one needs more space to live.

 

Minolta XE-1 (European version of XE-7) for colour and Pentax SP500 for black and white.

Then I've opened many boxes of cameras, sorting out which to keep and which to sell, it's a hard job but well, when one needs more space to live.​

This is something I need to do too. I think I am going to give some away.

 

Happy to see other Seattlite photographers post here. This weekend's weather was wonderful. Clear with temperatures in in the low to mid 70s. Except to those of us acclimatized to this region, 70F feels like 90F. After I reached a situation where I could acquire some of the great cameras of my youth, rheumatoid arthritis limited my ability to actually get around and use them.
I did however get out today. I had high hope for exercising several of my cameras but settled for just one. A gorgeous Nikon FM2n in black with a 28-50 mm zoom lens. I sense that this lens is not considered a cult classic but I am eager to try it out.
Waiting in the bullpen are a Voigtlander III, a Minolta XE-7, a Super Ikonta B and an Bronica ETRS.

 

I was clambering about on the Thames foreshore with a Zeiss-Ikon folder and Ektachrome 100G.

 

Black Leicaflex SL Mot (without motor, of course). With summicron-R 50/2 Wetzlar on Ilford Pan-F.
The film is drying and looks promising...

 

I just finished a roll of Ultra Color 100 in my Minolta SRT-101. I took some interesting photos downtown. And also a few long exposures of my Jacob's Ladder. Those should look really cool. If anyone here doesn't know what a Jacob's Ladder is, you can look it up on Google. But basically, a it's high voltage arc that climbs a pair of wires...it starts at the bottom and climbs up a gap between the wires. When the arc reaches the widest point at the top, it breaks and then restarts again at the bottom. So you end up with a cycling arc that repeatedly climbs up the gap. I'm using a 15,000 volt transformer to power the Jacob's Ladder. A high voltage arc looks a lot like a flame, and the arc drawn from a transformer makes a very distinctive low pitched humming sound, because of the 60 hz alternating current. I'm really curious about the interesting blur and ripple effect I should get from the long exposure.

Next, I'm going to shoot another roll of Kodachrome, hopefully in a couple of days. Hey, Patrick...did ya read that?

 

I went out with 3 cameras this weekend. My new Graflex XL with 100mm and 180mm lenses, my Canon Digital Rebel with 70-300mm lens and my 1910 Houghton Ensign box camera. I went for a drive on Sat first to Algonquin park (Ontario) and got to see a moose (that's why I brought the telephoto zoom and the digital camera). I used the Graflex mainly for landscape shots on Sat. On Sun I went out to Balls Falls with the Graflex and the Ensign and shot the two falls at the conservation area. Can't wait to see what the pictures look like! I shot with Fuji Provia colour slide film, Kodak TMAX B&W and I used 645 and 67 backs on the Graflex. I had a blast, I am really enjoying using the Graflex!

 

I just received a 50mm f/1.4 lens and so I was out at dusk with my XD-7 trying it out in the fading light.

 

Kodak Retina IIIS with Schneider Kreuznach Xenon 50mm f1.9

 

I took out my "blue" Fed-2 to run some test film with my newly aquired Orion 15 28mm lens, and the Jupiter 9 I also another recent find. I'll post something from them soon.

 

I played a lot with but didn't load an old friend .. my Super Ikonta B. I shot a roll through the 60's Voigtlander Vitomatic IIIb. I just went for a walk and took lots of shots on Orthomatic 100. Need now to get some developer.
I'm fresh out. Oh, I finished a Ilford 400 roll on Sat morning with the Baby Ikonta 645. It's more consistent at
the moment than it's mother.! I think Momma and Daddy Graflex XL need to see the doctor!

 

Add my 1930 Zeiss Ikonta to the Nikkormat FT2. I had it out for a spin.

 

Cameras used this weekend: Minolta SRT 100 w/ MC Rokkor 55 mm f1.7 (TX) and Minolta XE-5 w/ MD Celtic 35mm f2.8 (Fuji Superia 200). I just got the Celtic and was trying it out. I have a 135 mm f2.8 Celtic on the way that I won on Ebay.
Chris- Jacob's Ladders are really cool to watch. When I was in high school one of my friends built one and brought it to physics class. FWIW, though, the Jacob's Ladder is probably one of the most overused props in low budget sci-fi movies. Good luck with your Jacob's Ladder pics. Post some if you can.

 

Great answers so far, everyone ! Quite a wild and wonderful variety of cameras (from a wild and wonderful bunch of people, even if our significant others don't quite understand us!); I'd love to see pics from all of these.

 

Here's one from the Canon G9 - IR modified by LifePixel:

Twin Sisters Mountain in Acme, WA

 

I realize that that G9 is not a "classic" camera, but it was one of the cameras I used this weekend. The OM-1 film is still being processed - Fuji Neopan SS 100

 

Minolta Autopak 800 and a Walz 35-s with a fast Kominar lens.

 

Hasselblad 500 C/M with 80mm Planar T* and 150mm Sonnar T*. I will ask people in this forum what is about Hasselblad - fully mechanical - that no one talks about it or shows prints taken with this classic gear.

 

Zeiss Contina-Matic III with 30/45/75mm Pantar lenses and Kodachrome 64. Things get kinda fiddly when the accessory rangefinder is in meters and the lenses are in feet!

 

Canon 30D with 24-70 L, Flexaret with Agfa Scala film

 

Canon F-1 and FDn 17mm F4 lens with Ilford b&w film. Nikon D40 with Nikkor-P 105mm F2.5 Sonnar, using the Canon to meter.

 

Nikon F3HP and FE. I'm a confirmed film and tripod guy. I'm working on collecting (at low prices) all the best Nikon film gear from about 1984. Works great!

 

Depends on how you define "use." I bought 2 35mm cams last weekend and played with them all this past week. But I have not put any film thru them yet. Still cleaning them up.
For the record, I got a Zorkii 4, and a Yashica Electro 35. Both are functional. And I did find a battery sub for the Electro.

 

I was shooting some portraits of my niece and two year old grand nephew with my Mamiya C330F on Fuji Professional 160 S .

 

This weekend (a longer weekend means more shooting !) for me it's mainly the Minolta XD-11 with the Canon F-1 running a strong second, a Vivitar 35ES, and for something a little different I've been playing with a Kodak Automatic 35 and a Minolta AF-C (what a sharp lens! ), but not really shooting them at length. My Canon 1vHS has gotten quite a bit of action with the 17-40L mounted on it along with my 30D as well, but it's mostly the XD-11.

 

Rolleicord III (w/Fuji Astia); Oly XA w/Tri-X (not technically a classic, I think, but still lots of fun).

 

This weekend, I did an eightieth (very young at heart) birthday party with my Nikon Nikkormat FT2 and my Yashica A with dual flashes. It was a lot of fun.

 

Today I shot some EV-S in a Nikon FE with a 90/2.8 Panagor macro and a 55/3.5 Micro Nikkor AI. The camera had the E screen I usually use as well as a -2 diopter. Tomorrow morning we have our town's Memorial Day parade. I think I'll shoot that with a Bronica SQ-A with the 50/3.5 PS lens and some medium speed b&w film.

 

I was building and shooting with my brand new Kikkerland build-it-yoursef paper pin-hole camera. with some T-Max 400. I will develop them this week.

 

Canon EF with 35mm F2 lens loaded with Fuji Velvia 100