First photos taken with my restored 1936 Contax II

[nicolas_douez]

Har ! Konica Centuria 100. Don't search the explanation further Alberto !<p>

 

Use a <b>good</b> color prints film, and have another try. Fuji Superia 100 is cheap and outstanding - very, very close in quality to its big brother Fuji Reala II - which should even be far cheaper in Brazil than it's in the expensive EU ;-).<p>

 

<i>Rule number one : never try to save money using bad films !</i><p>Affix this sentence over your bed and make a prayer in front of it every evening !<p>:)=<div></div>

[mskovacs]

Very fine work

[krawczyk]

Ok, I confess that I can't resist to shoot a Konica film that are bought by my family.

 

When I will send my films to develop in a Frontier what I need ask for the operator? No color correcting? No USM? No pusshing?

[nicolas_douez]

Nothing !

[krawczyk]

In Brazil we have avaliable only Fuji Reala, what is the diference oh this film and Reala II if they exists?

[jeremy_tok]

May I know where you obtained those shutter ribbons?

[nicolas_douez]

Shutter ribbons : my wife got them from a fabric factory. They are silk/acetate 3.0 mm woven ribbons and work well - they seem to be very strong and far less prone to unstretching than other craft stores ribbons (see the excellent chapter of the Kiev Survival Site about that).

 

When it's time to replace them - because one day they will break (the latest, the best) - I will certainly use 3.0 mm wide woven silk ribbons we can get from Mr Aki Asahi or Mr Jon Goodman. Original Arsenal ribbons for Kiev cameras can also be obtained from several cameras and cameras parts FSU sellers on the auction site. No doubt they are a good match too.

 

Alberto, nowhere will you see the sign II regarding Reala - neither on the box nor along the negative strips.

 

What we all call Reala II is the current version of the Reala. The first Reala, released in 1988 if I remember correctly, was an outstanding film for its time but with some defects (the reds were not well mastered ; the contrast was too low ; the general color rendition was a bit too magenta).

 

The new Reala, thus called Reala II by the users and the journalists, and also by Fuji in the press releases during its first months, was released in 1997 or 1998 (anyone would correct if I'm wrong but I'm sure it's not before the end of 1996 as I shot a Reala 1st version 120 roll in september of 1996) and was a great improvement of the 1st version with strictly nothing bad to notice IMHO.

 

So - what you find now in shops is Reala II. Use it, and banish that Konica grainynoisyblueishdarkish of a &@#! negative !

 

:)=

[grahams]

Nicholas - Bravo! For the job on the Contax, and for the website.

[mskovacs]

I wonder if AA is the secret source of the HS mystical shutter ribbon?

[krawczyk]

Mike don't be herectic you read the alchemical description of the source of ribbons in HS.

[nicolas_douez]

Just ask Mr A.A if one if his good customers might not be Mr H.S. but I'd bid you've reached the target Mike ;-))

 

BTW Jon Goodman also has 3.0mm silk woven shutter ribbons. They might come from the same fabric as Mr A.A.'s ones do.

[michael schub]

HS is given to extraordinary pronouncements. Nevertheless he does exquisite work and is a very nice person.

 

My hat is off to Nicolas - having taken a Kiev apart in an unsuccessful attempt at repair I am convinced it is more a job for a watchmaker, but oh my what an instrument and what lenses.