Sony/Minolta pictures of the week / 11 January 2015

[howardstanbury]

<p>I'm stretching things a little this week as I had a film processed that was in my camera from before Christmas. I have an old Minolta A5 rangefinder camera (no batteries, no exposure meter!) and I put an outdated Kodak Color Plus 200 film through it. I used an app on my iPhone as an exposure meter and guessed focusing distances as the rangefinder in the camera is misaligned (I tended towards smaller apertures to improve my chances of getting it right).</p>

<p><a title="Geek by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7578/15606658753_2372452766_c.jpg" alt="Geek" width="800" height="800" /></a><br>

^ The entrance to the 'Geek is Good' exhibition at the History of Science Museum, Oxford</p>

<p><a title="Portal, Museum of the History of Science by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8619/16228971222_fedb26d36d_c.jpg" alt="Portal, Museum of the History of Science" width="538" height="800" /></a><br>

^ The museum itself is in this building, but this rather fabulous doorway isn't used</p>

<p><a title="Puncture on Broad Street by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8565/16224642081_07c0b42d33_c.jpg" alt="Puncture on Broad Street" width="800" height="566" /></a><br>

^ Across the way in Broad Street, this bike has a flat tyre.</p>

<p>As ever, please add your selection of pictures taken with Sony/Minolta gear, digital or film, to a maximum of 3 photos.</p>

[howardstanbury]

<p>The camera itself is a lovely example of 1960s Minolta engineering</p>

<p><a title="Minolta A5 rangefinder camera | 3 by Howard Stanbury, on Flickr" href=" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4019/4464992807_babd701c59.jpg" alt="Minolta A5 rangefinder camera | 3" width="500" height="456" /></a></p>

<p>Of course in those days Minolta was the brand - rather like Maxxum or Dynax was later; the company's name is on the bottom of the camera, partly visible, 'Chiyoda Kogaku'. The lens is a Rokkor-TD f/2.8 45mm.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>Howard that door is very impressive. My bicycle self deflates if unused for a while.<br>

My wife wanted a copy of an ancestor portrait but my scanner was not connected. I used the Nex3 to get an image then processed it in PSE12. </p><div></div>

[randy_cooprider1]

With the temperature down low the windows tend to ice up. Nex3 program.<div></div>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>A7, Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8</p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Howard, Geek is not only Good but even Great, considering your perfectly matching app-titude for combining early Minolta technology with a very 2015 solution to light metering :) Did you have the film scanned by the processing lab, or do your own scanning at home?<br>

Randy your ancestral inlaws look much refreshed after your treatment but it also brings out some moire-like patterns on the gentleman's knee. Were you working from an original print or from a reproduction?<br>

Very nice DOF across the fungal orchard Leo, my preference would be to see it flipped the other way around though - was your viewpoint like shown or did you rotate the image for composition purposes?</p>

<p>I'll start off with a last image from my New Mexico trip: a macro shot of the seed-like body of an opilionid warming in the early morning sun. It was apparently ok being frozen at night and slowly coming back to life after dawn.</p>

<div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Next something closer to home. From Lake Prado in Chino Hills CA, a snow-white pair of swans with very big noses:</p><div></div>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Speaking of big noses, here's another fine example: a California thrasher in full song. They are related to mockingbirds and pretty common, but a lot more wary. Like their behavior, the song is a shy version of (parts of) a mockingbird's repertoire. This shot and the previous were taken with a450 + Minolta 600 f4 apo.</p><div></div>

[howardstanbury]

<p>Thanks, Paul - these were lab scans tweaked by me in Lightroom. I can do my own scanning but in this instance I spent £1 to have a CD made of my negatives.</p>

<p>Fabulous wildlife pictures again, Paul.</p>

<p>Randy and Louis: I'm struck by both your pictures of patterns.</p>

[randy_cooprider1]

<p>Paul, pretty sure it was a copy. Also me and the bug have a lot in common {;o)</p>