L☥fe with Jordy Photography: 2019

Monday 2 December 2019

Newcastle on Film - K-Mart Branded Focal 100 35mm Film

I have written about this film before. To refresh your memories, Focal was the house re-brand name for all things photography for Kmart. No, they didn't make things themselves but they took other branded products to sell and re-branded them under a Kmart name. They had cameras, lenses, camera accessories and, film. For example, the Focal 1000 TLX 35mm film camera was a re-branded Ricoh Singlex TLS 35mm camera.

Because the Focal products were re-branded for Kmart, I am not sure what original brand their Focal 100 film must have been. It was produced by 3M Ferrania in Italy and production ceased in the early 1990s. It has kept very well in the freezer as you can see. I shot this film at box speed, even though I suspect it's expiry date was 2006-ish.

My Canon EOS 300V was the camera I used to shoot this roll. I can't find an exact release date but did find some forums in 2003 that were discussing the new release of this camera. So, it appears that this film camera was made after the release of the Canon D30, a 3.1 Megapixel camera which (according to Wikipedia) was Canon's first 'home grown digital SLR'.

Now, I do have a digital camera; a Canon 600D (also known as the Canon Rebel T3i - I think!). The 35mm Canon 300V is very similar in the way it operates except; it uses film. I have some EF lenses that I can use with my 600D but, the best thing in my opinion, is that I can also use them on the 300V.

These photos were taken, using my Canon EF 50mm f1.8 and Canon EF 85mm f1.8. I think it's great that I can interchange these lenses with the older film camera!

Also, I can use my Canon 430 EX II flash with the film camera as well as my set of Cokin Filters!

Ok, so my next project is already loaded into a Minolta X-700; a roll of AGFA Photo APX 100 Pro. A black and white film, I have already tried and it turned out wonderfully! Watch this space!

Port Wine Magnolia from our garden. Such a beautiful fragrance when in flower!
Taken with the Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens.

Flowers from our back garden. Taken with the Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens with the aperture wide open!

James Fletcher Park - Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Looking over to the Obelisk - Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Great spot for lunch or a quiet coffee! James Fletcher Park - Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Birds eye view - James Fletcher Park, Newcastle, Australia.

Welcome to Newcastle, Australia! A coal ship almost dwarves the buildings as
it enters Newcastle Harbour. From this perspective, the ship is a decent size but, when
walking down on the footpath below, the ship is the same size as most of the
buildings along the foreshore!

I don't know where this cat comes from but I took photos of it a couple of months ago as well.
It must live locally; it appears to be well looked after!
Newcastle, Australia

Taken at the start of spring, Garfield Gardens all prepared and planting completed for a
burst of colour! Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

Lovely colours of the Sunrise. Beach at Newcastle, Australia.

Beautiful warm colour early in the morning! Beach at Newcastle, Australia.

Who has never played the clowns at a fair or market day? Market Day at
Maitland, NSW, Australia.

Wednesday 20 November 2019

Sunrise with Fujicolor Superia 100 (expired 2006)

I hate getting caught out with a camera that has about 3 - 4 exposures left on a roll when I could still carry on shooting! About half way through the roll of Kodak Ektar 100 I spoke of in my last post, I figured I should get another roll out of the fridge and throw it in my camera bag as a precautionary measure.

The roll I chose was the closest one I could get my hands on. As it turns out, it was an expired (2006) Fujicolor Superia 100 with 24 exposures. Now although this roll was in the fridge, it had been in the freezer for years and as with previous rolls, I shot it as box speed because freezing film keeps it fresh!

The one thing I really wanted to do with this roll was to capture the early morning light along the coast of Newcastle; it had been so long since I had been up and about at Sunrise! Taking photos at Sunrise is one thing; getting out of bed early in the morning early enough for a coffee and a half hour trip into the beach is another. So I compromised.

I waited until I had finished a nightshift!

Usually after night work, I am so totally ready to get home and dive into bed but, on this particular beautiful morning the Sun was shining, the sea breeze was so refreshing and as I walked out of the building I felt invigorated! I drove about 5 minutes down to the ANZAC Memorial Walk where I managed to get a couple of photos. This Memorial Walk is a 160 metre cliff top walking bridge that has great views of the coastline. It is adorned with steel silhouettes of Soldiers and engraved with almost 11,000 names of Newcastle and Hunter Valley men and women who enlisted in World War 1.

From there I went down the hill to the Merewether Ocean Baths and, although the Sun had been up about 30-40 minutes already, there was still that early morning light feel; low on the horizon, long shadows and good reflections off the still water.

That whole area along there, Bar Beach, Merewether Beach, was so busy with early morning risers going through their rituals of walking or running or just sitting at the coffee shop near the beach having an early morning cuppa.

After I finished there and was making my way back to the car, I had to get one shot of the fit people running up and down the 'stairs of death' at Merewether. It's a good workout but, as I walked up them to get to the car park and they were passing me up and down, I was feeling totally inadequate!

Other photos I got out of this roll were of our dog Rocky making himself comfortable on our bed, a few shipping photos of Port Hunter and some more Sunrise photos taken whilst I was walking down the hill of Watt Street on the way to work one morning.

These were shot on my Minolta Dynax 40 with a Minolta AF 28-100mm f3.5 zoom lens.

Above and Below. Taken using f5.6 with a shutter speed of about 1/30sec. I was a bit concerned that at that speed there may have been some movement but, very

happy when I saw how sharp they turned out!

I am so happy with the colour I am getting from this expired film as these

Sunrise photos (above & below) as I walked to work one morning, attest to!

Wednesday 23 October 2019

Kodak Ektar 100 - Konica-Minolta Dynax 40

The Konica-Minolta Dynax 40 is a landmark camera in my collection. It was my first eBay purchase.

I bought it before the 're-surgence' of film photography started to push up the price of vintage cameras for a massive AU$30 plus postage! It was in perfect condition and seriously; what a bargain!

A 35mm SLR, it was introduced in 2004 as a consumer level camera. In some other countries it was sold as the Dynax 30, Maxxum 50 or a-50. It boasts pre-programmed settings for portrait, landscape, night portrait, macro and sports modes. It also comes with aperture and shutter priority, and full manual mode. It has a pop-up flash but also a hotshoe for external flash units. Flash is synched at 1/90 sec and shutter speeds from 30 seconds to 1/2000 sec.

It came with the standard auto focus kit lens 28-100mm f3.5-5.6. It offers 4 focus points, spot, left hand side, right hand side and the combination of all those three to give a good focus spread.

Apart from a Pentax point and shoot, it is the lightest camera in my collection and is a great size that can fit into my man bag easily.

I have been shooting with a lot of expired film recently and wanted to get back into something that was not past its use by date! I had 2 rolls of Kodak Ektar tucked away in the fridge door!

I am usually never without a camera! When I go for a walk during a work break; my camera is in my hand. If there is something happening like the town show, a street festival, car show, I always have a camera handy.

I don't really need to talk about the lovely Kodak Ektar 100; so much has been written about that film that, if you haven't heard of it then you can't be a really serious film lover!

Some of these are taken at my favourite lunch time hangout, Newcastle Beach. Others are taken further north at Nobbys Beach. Kim & I visited the quaint village of Broke in the Hunter Valley for the Broke Village Fair in late September where there was lots of yummy food stalls, live music, some Cosplay artists and, some very nice vintage motorcycles and cars. There was also a ton of dry dirt just hanging in the air thanks to a current drought the country is experiencing; really fine dirt that puffed up into the air with every footstep. The night photos are from a work break safari around Newcastle at a very late nightshift hour.

My preference for shooting is Aperture Priority. I know how to shoot in manual mode but I like that when using Aperture Priority I can control Depth of Field and trust that the camera will work out the rest. I also don't have to spend time mucking around with the light meter; I can get a quicker shot in. I also prefer to shoot at box speed, unless I am shooting an expired film. It takes some of the worry out of how a film might turn out. Film Photography is expensive enough at times to be caught experimenting and nothing to show for it!

If you see something you like, it might be for sale! Contact me!

Nobbys Beach, Newcastle, Australia.

Ocean Baths, Newcastle, Australia.

Ocean Baths Pumphouse, Newcastle, Australia.
A much loved and very much photographed Newcastle icon!

Newcastle Beach looking over toward the Canoe Pool and the facade of the Ocean Baths
on the left. Newcastle, Australia

Late night Promenade, Newcastle Beach, Australia.

East End Hub - Newcastle, Australia

Friday 4 October 2019

Canon AE-1 Program and Fomapan Classic 100

I apologise for my lack of publishing of late. I have a very good reason though! Our new front garden is testament to the hard work that Kim & I put into removing very large Yucca and Dracaena plants, not to mention the huge Cycads, that were there when we moved in 10 years ago. We now have a softer much more colourful garden that will look wonderful once the new plants have established themselves.

Anyway, here I am again!

I was contacted back in May by Cathy, an ex-RAAF colleague with who I have been able to stay in contact with thanks to the wonders of modern day social media! Sadly, her husband Graeme had passed away and she was now going through his things. He'd been an avid photographer and she asked me if I would be able to use a couple of his old cameras she had found in the cupboard. A Canon AE-1 Program 35mm SLR with a Cosina MC 35-70mm f3.5-4.8 Macro lens and a Canon T50 with a Mitakon MC 80-200mm f4.5 lens.

If you have been following me for a while, you will know that I am always more than happy to welcome a vintage camera (or two) into my collection. Each camera I have is different in it's own way and I take it in turns to load them with film to keep them active! Of course, I said that I would love to add them to my collection!

They arrived and I had them out of the box before you could say 'Ansel Adams'!

The lenses were clean and without any mould. The cameras looked to be in perfect condition but, unfortunately, the batteries had not been taken out of the Canon T50 and they had corroded badly. I eventually got them out and cleaned out the battery space and terminals but there was obviously more damage done to electrical components as a result and I couldn't get a heart beat. On the upside though, both of these cameras are an FD lens mount so, I may have missed out on using the T50 but the lens with that camera will work with the AE-1 Program camera!

The Canon AE-1 Program on the other hand, was in perfect condition! All it needed was a dust out and an air blast and it was ready to go. It has the sweetest sounding shutter I have ever heard.

The AE-1 Program has Shutter and Aperture priority controls but can also be used in fully manual mode. There are LEDs inside the viewfinder to provide information to the photographer. Shutter speeds up to 1/1000 and a flash synch speed of 1/60 (which is still a little slow but it's the same as I have on a fav Pentax and I haven't had any problems there).

I wanted to use a black and white film for the testing of the camera and lenses and so I chose a Fomapan Classic 100 for the occasion. This film has a wide exposure latitude, which makes it good for varied lighting conditions, a fine grain with good resolution and sharpness. You can judge the outcome for yourself!