The big thing that interested me about Compania Imago is their film canisters… So many individuals and groups out there are winding old expired films into reclaimed canisters and putting new labels on them (and when/if I get a half frame 35mm camera, I plan to start playing with some from Labeauratoire and the friendly people of the Film Photography Project, and I’ve already shot some Cine 200 from Lomography and some Kono Kolorit), but Compania Imago is going one step further, and creating their own film canisters from PLA (plant-derived plastic) and wood pulp. Continue reading “Compania Imago’s film canisters”
Testing Orwo NP7 (Compania Imago)
In yet another instance of my long and ongoing series of photographic failures, when I loaded the first roll of film from Compania Imago (Orwo NP7, expired in 1988), for some reason, I set the LC-A to f/2.8, thereby fixing the shutter speed at 1/60th. I think this was to prevent the LC-A from using unreasonably long shutter speeds while loading the film, though insofar as I loaded it in a well-lit room, that was largely unnecessary.
Anyway, after I got the film loaded, I started shooting around the house a bit, and forgot I was shooting with the Orwo but instead thought I was shooting with the 50ISO Polypan-F that the good people at the Film Photography Project love for its tendency to turn highlights into big glowing blobs, so I shot the sun, bright sky, etc. for a bit. Shortly after, Hana and I went walking around downtown Dallas some, and I shot a bunch there, and then the day after we went to the Dallas Arboretum, where I finished the roll.
Only when I developed the roll (D76 1+1 at 20℃, 14.5 minutes, with agitations for the first 30 seconds (pouring in), then gentle swizzling for 10 seconds every minute, following suggested times here) did I realize there was a problem… Continue reading “Testing Orwo NP7 (Compania Imago)”
Mistakes in at-home development, part 4
Wet emulsion is fragile!!!
unboxing some film from Compania Imago
Compania Imago is a couple of people in Italy that made some new, reusable film canisters out of wood pulp. They had a failed kickstarter some time ago, but went ahead with their project. Back in January, I ordered 2 rolls of each film that they offered at the time, and they finally arrived just last week.
https://youtu.be/SBSYHI3wel0
New Toys: caveat emptor!
As mentioned, the FG was on the fritz, so I did a good bit of research and then picked up a Nikon FE from the ‘bay for a decent price. Here’s the seller’s complete description:
This camera functions as designed and while used is in excellent cosmetic and functional condition. See pictures. Serial number is 3421078. Comes with a bottom half of a leather case as shown
What could possibly go wrong? Continue reading “New Toys: caveat emptor!”
New Toys: Nikon FE
After dealing with what I thought was something broken in the FG for two months, and after finally paying off some debts that had been hovering over us for awhile, and after doing a bunch of research, I bit the bullet and picked up another film SLR.
Initially, I wanted to get a Nikon FM3a, perhaps the best small SLR Nikon ever made. Used, they run between $600 and $700, and so I really thought long and hard about it, and after reading multiple reviews, decided on an $80 FE instead. Continue reading “New Toys: Nikon FE”
New Toys: Micro Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 and PK-13
After many years of hacking together macro things, reversing lenses, stacking lenses together, stacking reversed lenses on extension tubes, picking up old lenses with macro modes, etc., and after liking the results I got with them sometimes, I finally decided to pick up a proper macro lens, mostly to be the major part in a new Scan-O-Matic. I came up with the following criteria:
- a filter ring that doesn’t rotate with focusing
- corner-to-corner sharpness at f/5.6 or better
- no light falloff at f/5.6 or better
- 1:2 ratio (half life size), at least
- a relatively short minimum focus distance
After weeks of research and hemming and hawing, while shopping for a new film camera, I did a quick search for the Micro Nikkor 55mm AI-s and spotted this one for a good price, with the PK-13 extension ring that will get it to 1:1. Continue reading “New Toys: Micro Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 and PK-13”