A Night Of Firsts....

[mtbbrian]

For New Year's Eve, my lovely and talented wife and I went to the First Night Celebrations here in Salt Lake.
I took my camera as you can imagine to explore the goings on. The camera, my first new camera in more than 22 years, is the first range finder camera I have ever owned, the Voightlanger Bessa R2A. All photographs were shot on Tri_X, pushed two stops to 1600 and were done with the 35 f2.5 lens.

This photograph was frame number one....

[mtbbrian]

These are what I think are the best photographs of the night..




I saw these two, and knew there was a photograph waiting to happen...



I don't know what it was like where you were on New Year's Eve, but here in Salt Lake City, it was COLD! The energy these two had got a crowd moving enough to keep warm...




So far, I am very impressed with this camera.

Brian

:thumbsup:

[MJS]

Pretty cool stuff. Are you sending out your film or doing it yourself? Give the TMAX a shot if its still around. I used to have really good results with the 100, 400 and 3200 speed stuff. I'm sending along the link for B&H to their TMAX stuff.

Good luck with the new toy, umm, I mean tool, yeah tool, that's it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=Ff9GXvQTJn!-230107800!1168112964955?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&shs=kodak+tmax

[mtbbrian]

TMAX is still around.
I know it well, especially the 400 and 3200 varieties.
It's just that Tri-X is what's "speaking to me" right now.
Brian
:thumbsup:

[Charles Hess]

Good stuff, Brian, as they all 'speak' rangefinder. Tri-X remains a great film, never was a fan of T-Max, find that I've been using Ilford's XP2 a lot lately, probably because it's so easy to get processed.

[schrackman]

you couldn't have picked a tougher lighting situation for your first roll, could you? LOL

I think you did a great job on all these. I especially liked the third one. Can't wait to see more!

[megan]

I so love Tri-X. Impressive beginnings, B, especially the first and last shot. This camera seems to be a great fit for you.

[Photo-John]

What's up with the drummers? They allow hippies in Salt Lake?

Glad you got a chance to play with the new camera, Brian. Is it all you expected it to be? I'm interested to hear what new challenges you encounter with the rangefinder. There's always something you don't expect.

My favorite black and white films were always ISO 125. I love Plus X and whatever the Ilford equivalent is. Back when I processed my own film I'd shoot it at 64 and underdevelop it about 15%. The overexposure gives you better shadow detail and the underdevlopment delivers better highlight detail giving you a much better range of tones. I was never a fan of TMAX because I found it very hard to develop it so that it actually had a nice smooth tonal range.

[mtbbrian]

LOL John...
Despite Utah's reputation for being "the reddest state in the nation", hippies and the like are abound here. "The powers to be" believe, in part anyway that some diversity is good.

I have always liked the 400 ASA varieties, Tri-X and TMAX.
The new camera?
It's everything I had imagined it would be, I love it's size, before with my SLR I could hand hold it down to 1/15 of a second, now I can hand hold my camera down to 1/4 of second.
It is a little more hands on than what I was used to with my F100, which is part the reason I made the change, I wanted to get back to being more hands on with my my photography, and I think my photography will improve by doing this.
I think the transistion is going well, in part from my Holga experiences.
Another thing too, is that with each lens comes different challenges, for example with two of the three lenes I have, I can use the regular viewfinder because it has focus lines that help with focusing and compostion. But, with the 25mm lens, I have to use an external viewfinder that sits in the hot shoe, which can only really be used for composition. So you have to guess at focusing. As I said earlier, these were shot with the 35mm, the other lens I can use "normally" is the 75mm. Since I did these I have shot some with the 25mm, so I am anxious to see the results.
Yeah, I have to retrain myself, somewhat anyway, as far as focusing goes. Using an AF SLR is way different than using a rangefinder, but I know I can manage.
Right now, the biggest challenge I see, is when the roll gets to the end of the roll, two of the last two frames were severely torn.

Thanks for asking about it and commenting on it everyone! Watch here for more about my adventures with a rangefinder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brian
:thumbsup:

[mtbbrian]

you couldn't have picked a tougher lighting situation for your first roll, could you? LOL

I am always up for a challenge Ray!
Brian
:thumbsup:

[Photo-John]

LBut, with the 25mm lens, I have to use an external viewfinder that sits in the hot shoe, which can only really be used for composition. So you have to guess at focusing.

You don't really have to guess. I used to really like using the hyperfocal focusing guide on the Vivitar 17mm lens I used with my Pentax Program Plus. Focus it on 10-20 feet and shoot from the hip!

[Old Timer]

Love the look and feel of these images Brian. They remind me so much of my 60's photo experience when Tri X ruled. Ninety percent of what I shot back then was Tri X rated at ASA 600 and developed in D76 for 8 minutes at 68 degrees if memory serves. Tri X is so versatile you can use and abuse it in so many ways and still get images that your proud to show off. I am so into my digital experience now, but your photos bring back a lot of memories and some yearning for the old days. My get old the 60's vintage Pentax and run a few rolls of Tri x through it just for kicks.

[another view]

Very nice, Brian! I love the look of Tri-X. Wish I had the time to do more with it... I seriously considered getting rid of my SLR's and going with these cameras for awhile. That day still may come with the Leica M8 digital now available (not that one for me, it's quite pricey - but maybe Bessa will have one at some point).

So 1/4 sec handheld? I take it you're not a caffiene junky like moi?

[mtbbrian]

Thanks Steve.
Come On Steve! Ditch the SLR and get a rangefinder!
There is the Epson R-D1 , I have heard a lot of great things about it.
The price isn't M8 high, but it's around $3K. Check this from Epson's site.
For the body, three lenes and a few miscellanous items I got into this system for just under $1700. I like coffee, but I think my Army training has helped with being able to go as slow as a 1/4 of a second.
Come On I know you want a rangefinder!
Brian
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: