I like film...(open thread)

[Bateleur]

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My apologies, no posts from me for a while... something about Mr Windows closing the Gates on my scanner, something about a missing dll, (What ever that is.) I'm afraid it take a while before I pluck up the courage to do something about it, computers and I are not good friends, but rest assured my dark room and I are, so without further ado a print fresh out of the fixer ready for washing...

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[Peter_S]

Trevor Hunt, first ski descent of the SE couloir of Chatyn-Tau (4310m). Georgia, Caucasus.
Contax T3, Heliopan yellow filter, FP4+ 100 (in ID-11 - something went a little wrong during development, but it worked for this image in the end).
Hasselblad X1 scan

[wattsy]

I know there's a temptation to aim for something more mannered but there's a lot to be said for a straight-on, unfussy portrait. So many great details here, this photograph just reeks of history. It would interesting to know how the subject, with her confident and optimistic looking smile in a newly independent Uganda, feels fifty or so years later.

 

 

Leica IIIc | Summitar 50 | Kodachrome II

Kampala 1965

 

_______________

Alone in Bangkok essay on BURN Magazine

[Guest Nowhereman]

Thanks for pointing out that thread! Also thanks for sharing these very impressive results!

 

Sadly, just now the BEOON seems to become quite scarce/ overpriced. There is currently none on German e-bay or from any of the mainstream Leica vintage dealers. Maybe too many people are reading this forum ;-)

 

Kind regards

Mathias

 

Mathias - Thanks for the kind words. There are other solutions for excellent camera scanning. Another thread mentions that the Valloy enlarger, with its copy stand, apparently, is much cheaper these days than the BEOON. Other enlarger brands have copy stands as well. Also, I wonder whether the BELUN copy stand, for LTM cameras, can be adapted for M-Mount cameras. 

 

The advantage of the BEOON is that it's solid and offers a turn-key solution for digitalizing with cameras that can use an M-Mount. Also, it is fast and easily transportable. The key element of the BEOON setup is to use a good enlarger lens: the corner quality of an enlarger lens (optimized for a flat field) will be better than that of macro lenses (designed for 3-D objects as well).

 

In my case, I don't know the degree to which use of the M10, with it's large dynamic range) is preferable to the M9 — I cannot compare because I sold the M9 before getting the M10. And I never digitalized transparency film with the M9. It is clear, though, that slide film scanning requires greater dynamic range than negative film.

_______________

Alone in Bangkok essay on BURN Magazine

[johnwolf]

 

M6 | ZM 50 Planar | Tri-X

[honcho]

Koltur, April 2017.

 

Fuji GSW690iii

Fuji Acros 100 in Adox RO9

Heliopan R25

 

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[Guest Nowhereman]

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I know there's a temptation to aim for something more mannered but there's a lot to be said for a straight-on, unfussy portrait. So many great details here, this photograph just reeks of history. It would interesting to know how the subject, with her confident and optimistic looking smile in a newly independent Uganda, feels fifty or so years later.

 

Ian - Yes, taken 2½ years after independence. When I took out this slide to digitalize it, I had the exactly the same thought as you did.

_______________

Alone in Bangkok essay on BURN Magazine

[Steve Ricoh]

Thanks for pointing out that thread! Also thanks for sharing these very impressive results!

Sadly, just now the BEOON seems to become quite scarce/ overpriced. There is currently none on German e-bay or from any of the mainstream Leica vintage dealers. Maybe too many people are reading this forum ;-)

Kind regards

Mathias

Don't give up, I found one listed with Red Dot cameras and bought it instantly for £199. It's complete less loupe.

[A miller]

Mathias - There are several LUF threads that discuss the setup for, and quality of, BEOON digitalizions. See this thread, which I started when I was surprised how good my combination of BEOON + M10 + Focotar 2 was for digitalizing transparency film: basically I feel that I'm getting quality at least as good as I got with my old Imacon Precision III scanner (6300 true optical resolutions and dMax of 4.2) — with the speed of 5-10 sec per frame. I was also surprised that these files required substantially less post-processing adjustments than I had to for the Imacon scans.

 

Here are a few examples of Kodachrome digitalizations that, in my view, reproduce the look of the film as opposed to having the look of the M10:

 

 

Leica M3 | Summicorn 50 | Kodachrome 25

 

 

 

 

Leica M6 | Summicorn 50 | Agfa Scala

 

Sop Kai Village , Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai

 

 

Leica M3 | Summicorn 50 | Kodachrome 64

 

 

 

 

Leica IIIc | Summitar 50 | Kodachrome II

 

Northern Uganda (1965) on the way to Karamoja

 

 

Leica IIIc | Summitar 50 | Kodachrome II

Kampala 1965

 

_______________

Alone in Bangkok essay on BURN Magazine

 

Totally agree with Ian.  The first is incredible.  The classic beauty and expression of the subject.  And the gorgeous chrome colors.  Looks like a color version of one of Vivian Maier's photos from Chicago...

[Reeray]

Koltur, April 2017.

 

Fuji GSW690iii

Fuji Acros 100 in Adox RO9

Heliopan R25

Fabulous image.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Koltur, April 2017.

 

Fuji GSW690iii

Fuji Acros 100 in Adox RO9

Heliopan R25

Lovely Steve

[Guest JMF]

Koltur, April 2017.

 

Fuji GSW690iii

Fuji Acros 100 in Adox RO9

Heliopan R25

 

 

Superb !

[Bobitybob]

Tree and Fells .....

 

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Canon EOS 1n, EF 28-105, ADOX Silverman 100, R09 1:100 Stand

[Guest Nowhereman]

These 1965 pictures are in Turkanaland in north-west Kenya, probably near Lodwar, at that time a very small town. I was driving alone, back from Lake Turkana, in a VW Beetle, not on roads, but on tracks in the scrub desert, until I reached the Uganda trunk road from Nairobi to Kampala. The distance from Lake Turkana to Kampala is shown on the web as 670 km and 13 hours. As I recall, it took me 12 hours and I got back home at midnight, driving as fast on the highway as the Beetle would go and crashing into a dog that raced across the unlit road a half an hour before reaching Kampala.

 

The Turkana, a Nilotic people with language and culture that have similarities to the Maasai and Samburu in Kenya and the Karamojong in Uganda were, and still are, nomadic pastoralists, with cattle at the core of their culture. They remain one of the poorest ethnic groups in Kenya. I recall a friend, Ford Foundation representative for East Africa, who I was meeting at Lake Turkana telling me that the lake was teeming with fish, and that the Turkana, often near starvation, could vastly improve their lives if they fished and ate fish. 

 

In a web search, I just found the the Norwegian aid agency invested US$22 million in the late-1970s in a huge fish-freezing plant aimed at the Turkana exploiting the lake’s fish stocks; it failed soon after startup. The Turkana, like other semi-nomadic pastoralists live off the milk, blood and meat of their herds. Also, the cost of electricity to operate the giant freezers and the demand for clean water in the desert environment were too high.

 

As for the pictures themselves, these are low contrast negatives shot on Adox KB17 (Leica IIIc and Summarit 50) and have a muddy tonal palette that I was never able to print well in the darkroom. I digitalized them recently and got the same muddy tonal palette, which I processed in a variety of ways: some of the versions I made dark, in one effort bringing out a brooding black cloud; but that took away from the desolation of the huts and people. Finally, I went for the high-key look here, which best reflects what I saw. However, I didn’t post these pictures until I saw a similar tonality in a photograph in David Vestal’s The Craft Photography, showing tractors in what looks like Iowa farmland (page 328). I found I could download this book free from archive.com.

 

Please let me have your reaction to these pictures, but don’t click “Thanks” if you only like the back story — I’d like to know the reactions to the pictures themselves.

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[Suede]

Brickwork

 

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Amsterdam

[edwardkaraa]

These 1965 pictures are in Turkanaland in north-west Kenya, probably near Lodwar, at that time a very small town. I was driving alone, back from Lake Turkana, in a VW Beetle, not on roads, but on tracks in the scrub desert, until I reached the Uganda trunk road from Nairobi to Kampala. The distance from Lake Turkana to Kampala is shown on the web as 670 km and 13 hours. As I recall, it took me 12 hours and I got back home at midnight, driving as fast on the highway as the Beetle would go and crashing into a dog that raced across the unlit road a half an hour before reaching Kampala.

 

The Turkana, a Nilotic people with language and culture that have similarities to the Maasai and Samburu in Kenya and the Karamojong in Uganda were, and still are, nomadic pastoralists, with cattle at the core of their culture. They remain one of the poorest ethnic groups in Kenya. I recall a friend, Ford Foundationrepresentative for East Africa, who I was meeting at Lake Turkana telling me that the lake was teeming with fish, and that the Turkana, often near starvation, could vastly improve their lives if they fished and ate fish.

In a web search, I just found the the Norwegian aid agency invested US$22 million in the late-1970s in a huge fish-freezing plant aimed at the Turkana exploiting the lake’s fish stocks; it failed soon after startup. The Turkana, like other semi-nomadic pastoralists live off the milk, blood and meat of their herds. Also, the cost of electricity to operate the giant freezers and the demand for clean water in the desert environment were too high.

As for the pictures themselves, these are low contrast negatives shot on Adox KB17 (Leica IIIc and Summarit 50) and have a muddy tonal palette that I was never able to print well in the darkroom. I digitalized them recently and got the same muddy tonal palette, which I processed in a variety of ways: some of the versions I made dark, in one effort bringing out a brooding black cloud; but that took away from the desolation of the huts and people. Finally, I went for the high-key look here, which best reflects what I saw. However, I didn’t post these pictures until I saw a similar tonality in a photograph in David Vestal’s The Craft Photography, showing tractors in what looks like Iowa farmland (page 328). I found I could download this book free from archive.com.

Please let me have your reaction to these pictures, but don’t click “Thanks” if you only like the back story — I’d like to know the reactions to the pictures themselves.

Amazing shots, Mitch! I can't comment on the technical aspects from my iPhone screen, but they're just awesome from the documentary and artistic point.

[otto.f]

Koltur, April 2017.

 

Fuji GSW690iii

Fuji Acros 100 in Adox RO9

Heliopan R25

 

Hi honcho,

I like this one very much, great feeling of space and atmosphere. With this B&W tone I find the beige passe-partout less suited, but this may be caused by the contrast with the background white of this forum.

[A miller]

These 1965 pictures are in Turkanaland in north-west Kenya, probably near Lodwar, at that time a very small town. I was driving alone, back from Lake Turkana, in a VW Beetle, not on roads, but on tracks in the scrub desert, until I reached the Uganda trunk road from Nairobi to Kampala. The distance from Lake Turkana to Kampala is shown on the web as 670 km and 13 hours. As I recall, it took me 12 hours and I got back home at midnight, driving as fast on the highway as the Beetle would go and crashing into a dog that raced across the unlit road a half an hour before reaching Kampala.

 

The Turkana, a Nilotic people with language and culture that have similarities to the Maasai and Samburu in Kenya and the Karamojong in Uganda were, and still are, nomadic pastoralists, with cattle at the core of their culture. They remain one of the poorest ethnic groups in Kenya. I recall a friend, Ford Foundation representative for East Africa, who I was meeting at Lake Turkana telling me that the lake was teeming with fish, and that the Turkana, often near starvation, could vastly improve their lives if they fished and ate fish. 

 

In a web search, I just found the the Norwegian aid agency invested US$22 million in the late-1970s in a huge fish-freezing plant aimed at the Turkana exploiting the lake’s fish stocks; it failed soon after startup. The Turkana, like other semi-nomadic pastoralists live off the milk, blood and meat of their herds. Also, the cost of electricity to operate the giant freezers and the demand for clean water in the desert environment were too high.

 

As for the pictures themselves, these are low contrast negatives shot on Adox KB17 (Leica IIIc and Summarit 50) and have a muddy tonal palette that I was never able to print well in the darkroom. I digitalized them recently and got the same muddy tonal palette, which I processed in a variety of ways: some of the versions I made dark, in one effort bringing out a brooding black cloud; but that took away from the desolation of the huts and people. Finally, I went for the high-key look here, which best reflects what I saw. However, I didn’t post these pictures until I saw a similar tonality in a photograph in David Vestal’s The Craft Photography, showing tractors in what looks like Iowa farmland (page 328). I found I could download this book free from archive.com.

 

Please let me have your reaction to these pictures, but don’t click “Thanks” if you only like the back story — I’d like to know the reactions to the pictures themselves.

 

 think these are very good.  They have an artistic bent to them in that the contrast levels are on the extreme side with the highlights "screaming" a bit.  But you obviously have more than a valid license to adopt this rendering. 

 

For me, the extreme "skinny-ness" of the people make the photo and take it to a high level.  That appear to be in distress, which is in a way is consistent with the distressed rendering.  So total thumbs up for me.

 

 

Not sure if you are seeking input on this, but as for whether the file looks like a film photograph more than a digital photograph, I would say that with the screaming highlights it definitely looks like a "hybrid" to me.  But I would give the edge it looking like a film photograph.  I think the edge could be more convincing with a little gentler hand on the highlights (the resilience of which you'd expect with film).  But you've taken an approach and IMHO it holds together as a solid photograph, which I guess is all that matters!

[Michael Hiles]

I like the pictures, but it took me a few minutes. I think they need some narrative to provide context. My first question was “What’s going on here? I don't understand.”

 

Technically, I personally like long smooth tones, which your negatives don’t seem to have. My likes are not at all universal – some would/will applaud the rather harsh look. 

 

Your pictures strike me as excellent reportage, part and in support of a larger story.

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[Guest JMF]

These 1965 pictures are in Turkanaland in north-west Kenya, probably near Lodwar, at that time a very small town. I was driving alone, back from Lake Turkana, in a VW Beetle, not on roads, but on tracks in the scrub desert, until I reached the Uganda trunk road from Nairobi to Kampala. The distance from Lake Turkana to Kampala is shown on the web as 670 km and 13 hours. As I recall, it took me 12 hours and I got back home at midnight, driving as fast on the highway as the Beetle would go and crashing into a dog that raced across the unlit road a half an hour before reaching Kampala.

 

The Turkana, a Nilotic people with language and culture that have similarities to the Maasai and Samburu in Kenya and the Karamojong in Uganda were, and still are, nomadic pastoralists, with cattle at the core of their culture. They remain one of the poorest ethnic groups in Kenya. I recall a friend, Ford Foundation representative for East Africa, who I was meeting at Lake Turkana telling me that the lake was teeming with fish, and that the Turkana, often near starvation, could vastly improve their lives if they fished and ate fish. 

 

In a web search, I just found the the Norwegian aid agency invested US$22 million in the late-1970s in a huge fish-freezing plant aimed at the Turkana exploiting the lake’s fish stocks; it failed soon after startup. The Turkana, like other semi-nomadic pastoralists live off the milk, blood and meat of their herds. Also, the cost of electricity to operate the giant freezers and the demand for clean water in the desert environment were too high.

 

As for the pictures themselves, these are low contrast negatives shot on Adox KB17 (Leica IIIc and Summarit 50) and have a muddy tonal palette that I was never able to print well in the darkroom. I digitalized them recently and got the same muddy tonal palette, which I processed in a variety of ways: some of the versions I made dark, in one effort bringing out a brooding black cloud; but that took away from the desolation of the huts and people. Finally, I went for the high-key look here, which best reflects what I saw. However, I didn’t post these pictures until I saw a similar tonality in a photograph in David Vestal’s The Craft Photography, showing tractors in what looks like Iowa farmland (page 328). I found I could download this book free from archive.com.

 

Please let me have your reaction to these pictures, but don’t click “Thanks” if you only like the back story — I’d like to know the reactions to the pictures themselves.

 

 

Mitch,

I really like the hot desert high key look with crushed blacks  but  I feel  there is  an excess of  contrast or sharpness or clarity added during the post in photoshop? 

 

Reminds of a tricky BW neg I had to deal with:

 

Footvolley by JM__, on Flickr

 

50 Summicron TriX Leica CL

 

My 2 cents, JM.