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After playing with Ilford Delta 3200 recently, I now finally got around to finish, get processed and scan a roll of Delta 400 that was sitting in my Yashica Electro 35 GT for months. And what can I say … I’m totally hooked. I think my search for my favourite b&w film is over. And what’s more, it seems like Delta 400 and the beautiful f/1.7 lens in my Yashica were made for each other.
A couple weeks ago I tried Fujichrome Sensia 100 in my Yashica Electro 35 GT, after I found its tonality rather pleasing in the Color Efex emulation. Well, it turned out I didn’t like it so much in reality. But this might also have been due to the fact that the Yashica’s lens isn’t colour corrected, and I was using the Epson V330 scanner which isn’t up to the task of scanning slide film. Anyway, here’s my flickr stuff tagged “fujichrome sensia 100”, in case you’re interested. It’s only a couple of frames, though.  My favourite shot from the roll, even though it shows a light leak. Wowzers! It’s already September? Well, fitting the rather gray and dull early autumn weather we’re currently experiencing, here’s a recent shot taken on Lucky 100 b&w film.  "Piece o' cake" | Yashica Electro 35 GT + Lucky 100 SHD A few weeks ago, I realised that my Yashica Electro 35 GT’s meter wasn’t giving me any readings anymore. The battery chek light was working, but the meter wasn’t and the shutter operated at its 1/500 sec default speed. So I put it aside, planning to take a look at the electronics once I’d have the spare time to do so. In the meantime, I was gathering information about possible repairs or replacements, and it was clear that I would have to spend at least 100 € to get a camera that is working and will continue working for some time. This morning, I had a little time, so I decided to try and take the camera apart. I was hoping that maybe I could find a loose cable somewhere, and I wanted to clean the viewfinder and have a look at the light seals. The latter are gone, which is why I sometimes get traces of light leaks in my images. So I’m going to ask my local camera repair man if he can take a look at that. Getting to the viewfinder involved disassembling the rewind crank, the ISO dial and the advance lever, which I was able to do using a small screwdriver and pliers. I also took off the baseplate to see if maybe something in or around the battery compartment was loose. But all cables looked ok, and all contacts seemed to be tight. Apart from a little dust and dirt, all seemed ok at first glance. So, after cleaning the viewfinder I put everything together again and decided to also insert the battery, for no particular reason. As before, the battery check light lit up upon pressing the button. But to my amazement, when I pressed the shutter button, the overexposure warning lamp lit up! How could that be? I stopped the lens down to f/16, and the underexposure warning lamp also lit up. I fired a few shots at different apertures pointing the camera to differently lit parts of our living room, and indeed the shutter times changed according to how much light there was. Miraculously, after taking it apart, my camera was working again! I’m curious how long it’s going to last, and if it can be repaired again by just taking the camera apart … UPDATE: It seems the miracle powers wore off pretty quickly. Yesterday, halfway through a roll of film, upon pressing the shutter button I heard a long squealing noise of rising frequency. After that, I couldn’t advance the film nor focus the lens. Something must’ve fused inside. I guess it’s now officially dead … My current stock of film and film cameras. This’ll keep me busy for a couple months, I guess
Top left: Black-and-white negative emulsions. Lucky 100, Delta 400, Tri-X 400, T-MAX 400. Bottom left: Colour negative emulsions. Fuji Reala 100, Fuji Pro 160C, Ektar 100, Fuji Pro 400H, Portra 400, Portra 160VC, Portra 160, Portra 800. Right: Colour reversal emulsions. Elite Chrome Extra Color, Ektar E100G, Ektar E100VS, Fuji Pro 400H, Provia 400X, Astia 100F, Velvia 50, Velvia 100, Provia 100F. To say it with Alan Parsons: “Try anything once.” The only drawback at the moment is that my Yashica is denying operation, some electronics failure I guess. I will either have to take it apart or have it taken apart. Maybe I can fix it myself, but if not, it’s going to be expensive … So, no shooting b&w film at the moment. (You can’t use a Zeiss lens on b&w film. Seriously. You can’t.) |
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March 8th, 2013, 10:19 am | 
