Julio Fernandez

For the 14th, boys preparing lines and bait for fishing. Nikon FG, 105/2.5, HP5.

A classy one this week…Zeiss Contessa, loaded with HP5+.

Punta del Este harbor, Nikon FG with 35/2.8 and 105/2.5, HP5+. Moored boats Cleaning fish and preparing bait

Sorry, I never saw pre-cut 35mm film. All my experience (60+ years) is with 100 ft bulk or standard cassettes. I have read that pre-WW2, cut film was rolled in black paper, but this is book knowledge only. Therefore, same as what @martinjones said above.

@NHSN, Those aluminum cans usually had inside a factory-loaded cassette; I do not remember ever seeing bulk film or strips inside, only loaded cassettes. The loader and the template are of course for bulk loading. The template would be quite useful if you do bulk load and use Barnack Leicas or their clones.

Early 60’s probably, but I do not recognize the little black caps of spools. 20-frame rolls went out of fashion in the 70’s.

Very interesting post! Would this camera be practical for a left-handed person?

One from last April, cyclists in an event. Retina IIIS with 35mm lens, FP4+.

Taking out the little FG for a spin with fresh batteries and HP5+ bulk loaded. Initially with a 35/2.8, maybe other lenses will come later on.

Very interesting post! My experience with the Kiev-Contaxes is limited to the previous models with the light meter on top. Although handling is not the easiest, the lenses are usually great, especially the Helios-103. Beautiful picture of the guitarist.

Thanks for this complete and informative post. You always get excellent results from relatively simple cameras! This is a nice rescue, including the conversion to 120 and the winding table. The lens seems quite capable, and the telescoping lens should be more robust than bellows. The out-of-focus areas look good, too. Beautiful winter series in your test roll.

Happy New Year!

To end the year, for the 31st. - Agfa Selectaflex with 90mm lens, FP4+ in Beutler.

An old shot in the harbor, Vivitar USW with Fuji 100 consumer film.

Trying half frame automation this weekend. This Olympus Pen EED has a badly scratched lens, so let us see what is left of that remarkable F-Zuiko. I am using a replacement alkaline 625 battery instead of the no-longer-available mercury cell, exposing at a hopefully compensating ISO. Short load of bulk HP5+ inside.

Confirm, it stops automatically.

Christmas museum, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, 2015. Pentax ME with 18-28 zoom, FP4+.

I guess yes, but probably diapers needed to be changed after the event.

What a sky! I miss Kodachrome 25.

From the Vito II, HP5+.

For the 11th, fishing boat moored. Voigtländer Vito II, HP5+, D76 1:1.

Silica gel definitely does not react with metals. However a common dissicant for short term storage is calcium chloride, CaCl2. It will produce a salt solution as it absorbs humidity, and that solution would produce results like those you suffered. I live in a climate very similar to the Carolines and use a lot of silica gel packs. Never saw this issue.

Old pair of shots, night and day, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Olympus XA with Fuji 400 consumer film.

All frames were like this one? Assuming you focused for the branch in the center. The center has good definition, but all edges are way out of focus. Looks too gross for a film plane alignment problem unless there is something brutally wrong, as for instance the pressure plat is missing. Could be a “vacuum suck” as described by Rick. But in those film plane alignment problems that I have seen, the pattern is not center vs. edges but rather left vs. right or top vs. bottom. Maybe an element inverted in the lens could give this effect?

You could try to operate the shutter in B, with aperture full open, and look through the open lens at a light to verify that your lens is clean enough. For a dry shot In this camera you need to wind and to move the gear next to the film gate in the direction of film advance, before it lets you release the shutter. It is a double exposure prevention mechanism.