First film outing Voigtlander 21mm f4 Scanner

[Robert Seeney]

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Hi all

 

Bought an M6 a couple of months ago and took it to Tunisia with a 21mm Voigtlander with the intention of shooting the odd roll with it. Ended up shooting the whole holiday on the M6 and 21mm...

 

Thought I would write up a few thoughts in case they help others since I have had so much useful advice from other members.

 

Street shooting in such a well lit country (compared to the Uk which requires searchlights to even reach f4 at present at midday) was straightforward - had a job keeping to 1/1000 at times. No f2 shots for me this holiday - just zone focus at f8/11 and go. Zone focussing worked well although it is fair to say I need more practice on composing street shots. One thing I did find was that I personally find using an external meter far better than the internal one - just seemed to be more in control...took 2 readings for lights/shadows and adjusted on the fly.

 

I was a little nervous about street style shots with strangers but bit the bullet in the soukhs in Tunis and just went for it. WHat I did find that worked for me was being really obvious with my camera (think I picked that up from a Winogrand video). Holding it up next to my head and then just walking straight in for a shot. I did it with one guy who was selling tortoises - his son came up to me and asked me for 5 dinars - which I refused politely - he then asked me to delete the picture . I showed him the back of the M6 and the rolls of film in my pocket and he sighed and waved me away with a casual waft of the hand...

After half a roll my confidence was so high that I was literally in peoples faces and over their shoulders - very very good feeling and no hassle at all after following each shot with a smile.

 

The Voigtlander was very impressive - I realise it has colour shift on digital but on film it works wonders. Only managed one wasted shot with the lens cap on because I was using the external VF and had pre set exposure with the external meter...one to watch for if you are new to external VF like me. Using a yellow filter took a slight adjustment also since using an external meter didn't factor that in and I had a few underexposed shots (but they were easily recoverable). One thing I have to do more of is get lower (towards the floor) - too much sky in my shots.

 

The M6 worked like a charm - cant fault it at all. As the months go by I get more dubious about the M9 dying/getting dropped - didn't have to worry about that happening with the M6 which again was quite liberating.

 

In terms of films i took Pan F, Tri X, Portra 400 and Velvia. Haven't has the Velvia back yet but I accidentally exposed that at 400 since i forgot to change ISO on the M6 and also on my light meter - again, another thing to watch out for! Hopefully the lab can push it for me - sure hope so because my shots of Carthage are on it.

 

Spent all afternoon scanning and doing initial edits of the images. Just some observations - Tri X was a doddle in all regards. Portra 400 seemed to be very noisy and needs a lot of noise reduction for some reason (may be my scanning technique). I also got some weird colour shifts on some of the Portra 400 shots - corrected in PS but don't understand why it has occurred in the first place.

 

My goodness, scanning takes quite some time and there was significant post processing (just basics such as black points etc). However, even with all this effort (which may be due to my lack of scanning experience) the films still retain that film feel that I was after.

Pan F created very flat low contrast files with plenty of latitude in them, Tri X was Tri X, portra was not overly impressive but then again I struggle with colour whether digital or not..usually end u converting 80+% of my shots to B+W anyway.

 

A few shots ( not sure if thats allowed but feel free to delete mods) - any critique appreciated (especially if i can improve scanning techniques etc). Also, if anyone has experience of noise with portra then a PM would be much appreciated - attached a couple of those shots.

 

Rob

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[antistatic]

No criticism from me. I was too busy enjoying your photos. You drive that 21mm well.

[Semuta]

I especially like that first shot. It shows how personal a wide angle can be, to get close but also provide context.

[kanzlr]

Portra likes correct or even a bit too much exposure. It behaves badly when underexposed.

[earleygallery]

Nice work - you'll get more responses if you post in the photo forums though.

 

Using a wide like a 21 regularly is difficult but it obviously works for you, keep at it.

[Robert Seeney]

Many thanks for the comments.

 

With regards to Porta - I just ordered some more so I will try to over-expose a little next time - tricky doing it in rapidly changing light...my hat goes off to photojournalists who shoot like this...I guess that's why they used to use Tri X

 

I like the 21mm - really forced me to get in close and think far more about the shots. Thinking about trialling 28mm but not sure if that will give me too close a focal length since I have 21 and 35mm.

 

More photos now up on my blog if you want to see more.

 

Rob