Minolta XD5 + Minolta 50/1.4 + Kentmere 400

Film again, and shooting an SLR

October 21, 2024

I haven’t shot any film in almost a month, which has been quite a change from the last few months where I was shooting sometimes a couple rolls per week. I’ve been finding digital easier to just churn out work, shooting as much as I can and having the instant feedback without the added processing time as I fumble around trying to push myself and my work in different directions.

But on this outing I decided to grab a film camera, specifically my grandpa’s old Minolta XD5 paired with the beautiful Minolta 50/1.4 and a roll of Kentmere 400.

Minor White, composition, and shooting an SLR

I’ve used a lot of cameras over the years, but by far I’ve made the most pictures with my Leica M4-2, and my most frequently used digital camera right now is my Leica M262. Both those cameras are rangefinders, which are quite a different shooting experience from a traditional SLR.

For the uninitiated, a rangefinder does not show you exactly what the lens sees. Instead, you look through a viewing window with frame lines superimposed over the scene and you compose images by placing the frame lines around what you want to photograph. In contrast, an SLR is what most people are familiar with when it comes to shooting a camera. You look through a viewfinder and the viewfinder presents you with the image coming through the lens, bounced up in to the viewfinder by a mirror. What you see is what you get (viewfinder coverage aside).

There is a lot that could be written about shooting an SLR vs a rangefinder but what interested me about shooting an SLR on this outing was the way that the SLR shooting experience pulls you in to the frame you’re constructing. The abstraction of the viewing experience encourages a more considered approach to assembling a photograph. I had been spending the last couple days poring over the Minor White archives and admiring White’s absolutely exquisitely composed imagery. Such care and consideration to composition is at the very least less easy to do with a rangefinder. So, with Minor White in the background of my mind the SLR was my chosen camera.

For those interested, the Kentmere was developed in Ilfotec HC, 1+31.

Enjoy some more images below

Ruckus, being a ruckus | Leica M262 + Voigtlander 40/2.8

A cold, wet walk and the 40mm

October 17, 2024

October 17, 2024: The squad heads out to an old haunt for a walk in the woods to once again try and wear out the dog.

We walk for five miles or so. It’s a cool 34 degrees, and by the time we’ve gotten back to the car it’s still 34 degrees. The ground is wet from a rain the day before. Fall is in full effect, the forest feels more sparse, more open. Many of the aspens and birches have lost all their leaves and the forest floor is coated in bright golden leaves. Many of the larches have turned their characteristic gold for fall and the hillsides, when visible, are a beautiful tapestry of evergreens and golden larches.

I shot the Voigtlander 40/2.8 again on the M262. I got along with it less well today than on other days. I often wished I just had a 50 and found the 40 kind of frustrating the way a 35 can be a frustrating in-between focal length. I’ll take the Zeiss next time I go out and see how I feel. But, frustrations aside the little Heliar always spits out the goods if I’m able to get out of my own way and just use the tools at hand.

Bonus, colors!

A new lens, some walks, and three days worth of photos

October 16, 2024

When I first logged on again I felt like I hadn’t posted anything on the blog in weeks, only to find that it was only 8 days ago that I posted the long piece on shooting 28mm. In those eight days I’ve received the new 40mm Heliar I talked about in the last piece and gotten out to take some photos with it, as well as a bonus walk with the classic Zeiss Planar. Below is a selection of images and some rambling. Enjoy, or don’t. I’m not here to tell you what to do.

Walking with the Leica M262 and Voigtlander 40mm f2.8 Heliar:

I’ve been enjoying shooting the Heliar quite a bit. The rendering is very nice, it reminds me a little bit of my beloved Tessar design lenses like the Elmar and Industar lenses. Very sharp and transparent rendering while somehow managing to not be overly clinical. There is also a gentle contrast to the rendering which I very much appreciate. My Zeiss Planar is a fantastic lens but it can sometimes be a bit too punchy, a bit too much micro-contrast.

The 40mm focal length has been nice to shoot again as well too. Like the 50 it feels very natural and transparent but with a little more versatility by virtue of the bit of added width. But unlike a 28 or a 35 it maintains a more natural feeling compression. Shooting it on the M has been easier than I thought it might be. My copy of the Heliar is an LTM lens so paired with a 35/135 adapter it pulls up the 35mm lines, which are fairly accurate to what you end up getting with the 40.

I look forward to shooting it more and getting some more time with the lens. Maybe it’ll become a future blog post.

New trails, walking with the M262 and Zeiss Planar:

On Tuesday, the 15th, we took Ruckus for a walk in a new network of trails that we hadn’t been to, the Harrell trails in Bigfork, Montana. It was a beautiful place to walk especially with the changing leaves and fall color, none of which you’ll see of course since the photos are in monochrome. But, just use your imagination!