More Monsoon with Photax 2x

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>I had some expired Ilford Pan 100. Tried it out on the rainy clouds. A few pictures in the morning and evening light just before the drizzle. Used the Photax 2x converter with the Pentacon 50mm lens on the Praktica MTL3. The more I use this camera the smoother it seems to operate. Perhaps it is growing on me!<br />Here are some samples.<br /><br /></p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>When I bought it last year from Ebay the meter was not working; no button cell was supplied. I got a cell 357 from a neighborhood shop and then tuned the resistor pots in the meter. It has been working well ever since. I calibrated it with another camera and a Gossen Pilot Selenium meter. The cell 357 is inexpensive here, costs about US $ 0.10 [a Dime!]. has been working for a year, now.</p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>This shot was taken around 11:30 a.m. by the new poster one could say that the Boutique is doing well. The Cell phone towers are all over, now. Many on top of private homes. The home owners get a good rental income from these. Of course their property taxes would also go up for the part commercial use.</p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>They have painted the dome [Gopuram in Sanskrit] in Gold color. sets off nicely against the dark rain clouds.</p><div></div>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Ah, one of my favourite camera/lens combinations. Your ingenuity never ceases to astound me, <strong>SP</strong>.<br /> I have a Photax converter I've never tried, being a little distrustful of a converter's ability to maintain the integrity of the lens. How would you rate the quality of this particular example? BTW, that's a <em>really</em> cheap battery! Interesting poster on the boutique; are young Indian women really wearing this type of fashion?</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Not a good combination with the Sonnar 135mm. I think the Photax 2x works better with the Pentacon 50mm. It could also be the lighting. May work better in bright Sunlight. Will try again later.</p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>It had started raining at a distance. The darker sky afar in due to the rain. The atmosphere was heavy with water particles.</p><div></div>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Looks like the rains will be very late this year. The Met people forecast a wet August and September; they are usually wrong. But everyone hopes that they are true this time! Thanks for viewing.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Yes <strong>Rick</strong>! Please do try the Photax converter on the Pentacon 50mm. It works really well. I have tried the Regent converter too with good results. But the Photax is better, really sharp. i bought these converters very cheap for about BP 1.00 each. But they were fungus infested. I cleaned them both with Ammonia nd Peroxide 50-50 mix. Since then they have been very clean and useful. I would love to see your results with that combination, especially, your Winter lighting phenomenon.<br>

It does not work so well with the CZJ Tessar 50mm that I tried a few times. The center focus was okay but the periphery was distorted.<br>

They make that Battery here, according to the retailer. He gave me 16% discount when I bought a 6-pack strip.<br>

Yes many younger ones [Yuppies!] in the professions, IT, Call Centers, BIO-technology in the making are the customers. Some of the posters are a bit exaggerated to look "sexy" as the one in the picture. Mostly, the dresses are custom made to suit the taste and the user environment.<br>

People seem to be spending a lot on dresses and Jewelry, nowadays. It is a bit shocking, especially in the aggregate. It is estimated that 60% of the gold in the world is now in India! The diamond cutting industry from Antwerp and Amsterdam has moved to Bombay and Surat. There is a lot of conspicuous consumption happening! Regards, sp.</p>

[JTG1]

<p>Very nice SP, I think I will add a Praktica to my want list.</p>

<p>~Jack</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Always a real pleasure.</p>

<p>If the softness is from the converter, it still goes well with the subject matter.</p>

<p>I continue to be astonished at the way your weather and mine seem to be so similar at times. We've had rain nearly every day and very humid conditions. No one has actually used the word <em>monsoon</em> yet, but the global changes plus el Niño have made for rather different weather than we used to see.</p>

<p>I guess I really need to dig out my MTL etc series cameras and see if the meters are still working. I'm afraid I tended to assume they weren't and only tested the shutters, etc. with an external meter.</p>

<p> </p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your photos. Good advice about the teleconverters. Except for dedicated (read expensive) converters, it's often a matter of trial and error and many times (as in the case of the Pentacon 50 and Photax converter) the two really work well together. I got lucky pairing a Soligor 1.5X converter with a Rokkor 250mm f5.6 mirror lens and got really good sharpess. I think my worst combination was using a Kalt 2X with my old Tamron 85-210 f4.5 (late 70's lens). I would try the Sonnar again, maybe with more light and a smaller aperture. <br>

I have lately neglected acquiring gear for my M42 mount cameras (Praktica FX-2, Pentax Spotmatic, and Fujica ST-605N), but I think my next purchase for that group will be a 2X converter of some type.<br>

Just curious about Ilford Pan 100: is it similar to Ilford FP4+ or is it very different?<br>

Thanks again for sharing your photos.</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Thanks <strong>JDM</strong>, I should have used a faster and more grainy film for this moisture laden atmosphere. That might have provided the necessary contrast and definition. Three of the four L-series that I bought on Ebay have their meters working. Not a bad score for 30 to 40 year old cameras. A couple of those needed tweaking and calibration. I did not expect them to work; but it was a pleasant surprise when they did. Thanks <strong>Mike</strong> ! Soligor made excellent lenses;many still hold a good value. Your M42 collection is an impressive set. The Ilford Pan 100 is somewhat like the Kodak Plus-x that I had used long ago. But it is not as good as the Kodak Academy, which had rich tones. The Pan 100 is a little less tolerant of lattitude, I would guess. I have not used the FP4. So am unable to compare. Regards, sp.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>I had been curious about about Kodak Academy for years until I scored a few rolls on ebay. The kind I found was Academy 200. I don't know if there was more than one kind of Academy since it wasn't made to be sold in the USA. Curiously, it had a pink antihalation layer resembling the TMAX family of films, but conventional grain like Plus-X and Tri-X. One of my favorite black & white films is Eastman 5222 (or Double-X). I would buy short ends from time to time. I usually rated it at E.I. 200 or 250 depending upon light. It has less contrast than Plus-X or Tri-X and grain somewhat in between. It's hard to get now as most places only sell color short ends now. FP4+ is generally known for generous latitude. I used it for a while when it was less expensive. Now I use Plus-X (sold as Arista Premium) and Tri-X. For flat lighting, maybe you could try with Pan 100 what I do with Plus-X sometimes: when lighting is overcast, I often rate my Plus-X at E.I. 200 and increase development slightly. Perhaps that would work with Pan 100?</p>

[subbarayan_prasanna]

<p>Yes, they have stopped distributing Academy here. I used the same ASA200 film about a year ago. In fact Kodak as well as others have stopped distributing B&W films altogether in India. Only color films are sold all over the place. I just got my new ORWO film in a 400ft reel from a dealer in Bombay. He imports and sells them to Documentary makers and archivists. I have not tried the new ORWO film yet. Will do so in the near future. Some professionals import Ilford B&W films directly from the UK. It is very expensive, though. Fuji makes a Pro-Plus 100 color film in collaboration with Jindal here. Konica-Minolta sell their Centuria film from Madras; rumours are that they would close down soon. But Fuji and Kodak seem to be doing well with films. They supply both movie films and still camera films. Each has a wide network of franchisee labs and outlets numbering over 800 around the country. Thanks for the details. regards, sp.</p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Subbarayan, are Fuji and Kodak only distributing color motion picture films or do they still offer B&W? If Kodak (listed as Eastman) offers Eastman 5222 it might be worth looking into. Here is a link to a thread I started in No Words that has an Eastman 5222 picture of mine. <br>

<a href="../no-words-forum/00Wvc4">http://www.photo.net/no-words-forum/00Wvc4</a></p>

 

[sanjoy_chatterjee]

<p>Hi Subbarayan, its great to hear about the availability of ORWO film. I love the 400ASA film, lovely grain structure. I would love to have the dealer's phone number or the address in Bombay. That will be very great. I live in New Delhi.</p>