An update on the "Hal wants to travel the World" project

[bueh]

The camera arrived here in Frankfurt, Germany on April 19, 2005 and I

shot a quick test roll in the evening. I'm glad I did, because this

camera has quite some issues, not all of them were discovered until I

had my second (and last) roll developed. This second roll was shot

Thursday, April 21, 2005 and I got the developed film back the next

day. I spent Friday scanning both rolls with an Agfa film scanner and

spent the weekend preparing the files for the internet.

<p>

However, on Sunday I realized that Hal's picture quality may be quite

bad, but not as bad as it looked like in those scans of the B/W film.

I ended up having to scan the first roll of film again with my very

own cheap flatbed scanner, whose negative scanning ability is not so

hot (the main reasons why I post only very few images, especially in

35mm format).

<p>

I am now in the process of preparing the scans for the internet, too.

I hope I will start posting my Hal pictures soon. Earlier today I

brought Hal to the post office and sent him on his way across the Big

Pond to the next participant. The postal worker told me that it might

take up to four weeks for Hal to reach his destination. So I guess we

will have to wait again and keep our fingers crossed.

<br> 

<p>

<tt><i><b><big>Some useful advice for future participants:

</tt></i></b></big>

<p>

It was pretty much obvious from the beginning of the tour that the

picture quality of the Halina Paulette electric is pretty bad. Sorry

Andrea, I don't want to sound anti-Hal-ist, but Roman already

discovered that the whole lens mount assembly is slightly crooked. I

guess that this feature was factory-built-in from the start. So it is

questionable if the lens even projects an sharp image on the film

plane at large apertures, both Roman and I tried our best to use as

small apertures as possible.

<P>

The Halinar Anastigmat lens is exceptionally prone to strong light

effects like flare, glare and ghosting when it is not pointed along

with the sun (or any other excessively bright light source). I was

very lucky because I found out I had a lens hood that fitted the

filter thread of the Halinar, so all my pictures where taken with the

benefit of this lens hood. Yet still these problems did occur. Sorry

guys, I did not send the hood along with the camera, I still need it

for other cameras.

<p>

My pictures with the second roll of film were taken on a bright, sunny

day while carrying the camera in the lower half of the ever-ready

case. On about one third of the pictures there is a light leak

visible, fortunately mostly only on the left or right edge of the

frame. So my suggestions for future Hal enthusiasths: find out where

that light leak is or tape over all possible spots.

<p>

Another fine feature is the following: when all goes well, you advance

one frame and cock the shutter with one stroke of the film advance

lever. You press the shutter release which fires the leaf shutter and

you start this operation again by operating the lever. After each

advanced frame the lever locks so you won't waste film. I found out

the hard way that this mechanism now and then isn't working as it

should: Sometimes, when you press down the shutter release not deep

enough, the shutter will fire and you will take your picture but the

spooling lock will still prevent you from advancing the film and

cocking the shutter. This little feature happened to me nearly at the

end of my first roll of film. I was surprised that after only 30

exposures I had reached the end of the roll and rewound the film back

into the canister. When I got back the developed film the next day I

realized that I still must have had six or seven frames of unexposured

film in the camera. So if you find yourself suddenly unable to advance

the film after you have taken a picture, press the shutter release all

the way down again and you will be able to wind the film and continue

shooting (this will not cause a double exposure).

<p>

The frames lines in the viewfinder are quite difficult to see. My

entire first roll of film was shot without realizing that these frames

lines even existed and that the finder shows more than the lens covers

on film. As the viewfinder is not parallax-corrected and these lines

are the only hints for what will not end up on film, I blissfully cut

off people's heads or arms in every single picture. So here is my

advice: try hard to see those lines and compose your shots

accordingly. You will lose about the upper third of what you see in

the finder when you focus close.

<p>

Finally, the focus ring on the lens is extremely hard to turn. Roman

also reported that the shutter speeds seemed to be a bit off and

caused overexposure in his shots. I used the very forgiving Kodak

400NC, but I suspect that he is right. As <b><a

href="http://www.upcnet.es/~org/htm/main_hp.htm">this page</a></b>

suggests, both issues may be symptoms that the oil from the focus

helical found its way to the shutter leaves, making them a bit sticky.

<br> 

</p><p>

<tt><i><b><big>HAL WANTS TO TRAVEL THE WORLD</tt></b></big> - Diary:</i>

</p><p>Feb 26, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BIaN">

Andrea's first posting about the Halina Paulette and a PICTURE

</a></b>

</p><p>Feb 28, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BJll">

Andrea shows more Halina PICTURES and an idea is born...

</a></b>

</p><p>Mar 10, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BS9p">

Hal has arrived at Roman in Vienna, Austria

</a></b>

</p><p>Mar 11, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BSLw">

Hal's PICTURES of Vienna

</a></b>

</p><p>Mar 20, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BZ2T">

Hal fails to show up in Germany

</a></b>

</p><p>Mar 31, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Bh1T">

The long wait continues

</a></b>

</p><p>Apr 12, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Bon4">

Hal returns to Roman in Austria</a></b></p>

<p>Apr 19, 2005: <b><a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BttP">

Hal has finally arrived in Frankfurt, Germany</a></b></p>

[mskovacs]

Yes, I have a Deutsche Post "packet" with ten 9x12cm film holders coming from Germany and its been over 6 weeks. I'm becoming concerned. The gentleman has 5 more so I may have to meet him when I visit Koeln in September.

[andrea_ingram]

It's good to hear that Hal is in good spirits [must have been the schnapps!]. Anyway, half the fun of this isto see if you can get Hal to take some reasonable pictures - even with his little 'problems'. Have fun:-)

[bj_bignell]

Bueh: Who'd you send it to? I know I'm expecting it from a guy named David, and CE has to be in there somewhere... AFAIK, I'm at the end of the list. If that's true, I'll put out a call to anyone here in Canada who'd like to have a go with Hal.