Voigtlander Adventures

With my Voigtlander Bessa 1 bellows camera, I find that I am usually working with smaller apertures, reason being that the fastest shutter speed I can use on the camera is 1/250 and, if I were to open up the shutter then the exposure would be blown out because the larger aperture would demand a faster shutter speed than what is available to me

I reasoned that if I wanted to open up the aperture to get a shallower depth of field and keep the shutter speed within the camera parameters, then I should be using a slower film.  

I went out and picked up an Ilford PANF Plus 50 to do some experimenting.  

The reason that I want to get the hang of shallow depth of field for this camera is that I want to eventually use it for portraits.  The Voigtlander camera that I have is about 60-70 years old.  Back then, it was common to use the slower films (ISO 25, 50 & 64) because of their colour quality and less grain effect for portraits. 

I took the camera out to see what would happen.  It was a warm, sunny day with just a hint of cloud in the sky.  I went to the Carrington Marina here in Newcastle.  My intention was to take photos of boats, bollards, ropes and other assorted exciting objects that can be found on a Marina.  

Now, I don't have a dedicated light meter.  I use a Light Meter app on my iPhone!  That may sound funny, but in fact, I have found that it is very accurate and have used it before for my Voigtlander shots and have never had a problem with it.  

Anyway, it must have been the brightness of the day that sort of ruined my larger aperture hopes.  To keep the shutter speed at 1/250 or less, I had to use f8  or  f11 aperture.  My hopes for using f4 & 5.6 went out the window!

Nevertheless, I took the photos and here are the results.  Mind you, they haven't turned out too bad I think!

I think I will purchase this film again but plan more for a shaded area or a room that has decent natural light flowing in.  

Hope you are all well, as I am.

Jordy

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Carrington Marina #1.  Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Carrington Marina #2.  Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Carrington Marina #3.  Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Carrington Marina #4.  Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Carrington Marina #5.  Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Memorial to James Fletcher, 1st Mayor of Wallsend, NSW, Australia.