Feet, Boots and the Making of a Path

 

I received a note from a reader who shared a few thoughts after reading my essay about walking making paths (https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2024/04/caminante-no-hay-camino-antonio-machado.html). In this essay I shared my thoughts about how the Spanish poet Antonio Machado proposed that through our travel in life, we make our own paths, perhaps where paths did not exist before our walk. The the final image of his poem compared our passage to wake trails boats make through the waves. Machado suggested that those wake trails disappear after our passage, like a vanishing past.

I did not agree with that perspective, and wrote:

.. In my walks, I might have made a road or two. And I have looked back, without regret yet sometimes with nostalgia. And when I sit in my rocking chair and try to understand, I still believe that ships do not lose their wake trails in the sea, because trails made by cutting waves find their way back to beaches they know, to the mossy rocks that await them.

Wake trails do not disappear.

 

As I sat down to respond to the reader, memories of past trails came to my mind, in a rather unexpected way. Indeed, I found myself dancing under a mirror ball at Nancy Sinatra’s song These Boots are Made for Walkin’! It was the late 1960’s and I was in middle school.

So, I thought I would answer the reader as a street photographer.

I looked through my “Unused Moments” file and chose three photos taken with a medium format Twin Lens Reflex Minolta Autocord, which not only allows for becoming an unnoticed photographer and does not make people change their behavior, but puts me “at their level” both regarding perspective and willingness to become one with their moment.

 

Bare feet and boots (photo atop the page). I take photos of moments that sometimes do not tell a story by themselves. But when put together, they represent a medley of attitudes and behaviors. There is a kindness in this frame, and a promise. The bare feet are the future “explorers” for a path; the boots of woman have already stopped to give the friendly dog a pat on the head. There is much action in this frozen moment.

Singing in the street. And there is music and dancing in this photo. These Southwestern boots are made for the regional identity of a cowboy/cowgirl and for country songs. It feels like a path from the past that did not disappear with the passage.

 

 

Ice cream and memories. This one made my smile! Well, perhaps there is more than boots and feet that make us stop, linger a bit, and enjoy an ice cream cone on a hot day. The feet of that walker had stopped, but the mind was perhaps traveling between the past and the future. And I was there to find that split second to freeze a tongue reaching the ice cream scoop!

 

… Robert Frost took the “less traveled road” when “two roads diverged in a yellow wood”, and “that has made all the difference”.

The roads we make by walking did not exist before our passage. They were not less taken. But they will be taken by others, some day.

As such roads do not disappear like wake trails boats make in the water.

 

PS/ I hope I was able to answer my reader, even if I used “Kodak Moments” instead of words…

 

February 22, 2025

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2025

 

Nikon’s AI Manual Focus Lenses Refer to “Auto Indexing” not “Artificial Intelligence”

 

 

I have been following the new wave of new cameras, some using film, others digital but looking like vintage cameras.  The latter seem to follow the periodic nostalgia humans have to fashion, the arts and perhaps values. Interestingly, some of the “new retro” looking cameras is advertised as having the feel of vintage ones.

I have never owned a digital camera, but did try a few my friends strongly suggested I should experience. I have always returned to my black boxes with a few shutter speeds. The reason has been two-fold: partnership and feel. Like any artist or artisan using a tool, creativity is undeniably related to the joy of using that tool. And sometimes, it is the journey through that partnership that provides the satisfaction and pleasure, no matter the outcome.

So, as I was reading that some of the new cameras are now made in metal not “plastic”, I looked at the shelves where my cameras are organized by maker, rangefinders separate from SLRs and medium format TLRs, including the section where non-functioning cameras and partially dismantled ones are displayed. The latter have been my “organ donors” to repair ones that suffered untimely ailments…

In the Nikon section, my eyes fell upon the 1982 FG. I had bought it to complete my collection, but the moment I handled it almost a quarter century ago, I knew it will not be the tool that would be my partner in creativity, nor provide the feel during the experience.

But, over the years, I have periodically pushed myself to give it a second chance, ignore the un-nikonness of it, pretend that the film advance lever was a smooth as a Nikon F3, that the metering was revolutionary, and that it fit in my hands like gloves made of Peccary leather.

I used it last a year ago (https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2024/07/prescott-arizona-2024-july-4th-frontier.html) but as always, I put it back on the shelf, knowing that I will again get the urge to find a reason as to why I own it.

A few days ago, reading about new cameras, I wondered how it will feel and use a 1970s all-metal and glass lens that was at least 3 times heavier than the FG itself. And that lens was the first version of the 1970s Vivitar Series1 70-210mm zoom made by Kiron, made for the Nikon F. I had used that lens decades ago on my 1968 Nikon F to take school soccer game photos. I recall, even then, a few parents wondering what kind of prehistoric camera I was using. So, it has been sitting on the shelf since.

Here is the Vivitar Series 1 lens

And its imposing presence!

But with the urge of using it on the FG, I went downtown Prescott to test the new contraption.

The zoom range is certainly not suitable for street photography, nor is the size/weight of the lens for quick handling. And, forget about candid shots when people see that massive tube in front of my face! However, I managed to take a few shots using the FG’s aperture priority mode at f11 aperture. The photo at the top of the page is my favorite, and I will discuss it later, but given the history of the lens, a few words about the evolution of Nikon SLR camera mounts seems appropriate.

A quick history of Nikon lens mounts

The first Nikon F camera was produced in 1959 and had a patented “Nikon Bayonet” mount. The lenses made for that bayonet mount had an aperture coupling prong (sometimes called rabbit ears) coupled with a small lever on the external Photomic light meter unit and, after a full rotation by the photographer of the aperture ring, the rabbit ears “told” the camera what aperture the lens was so the light meter can indicate the appropriate speed in the viewfinder.

It was not until 1977 that Nikon introduced to the bayonet mount a structure leading to a new way of coupling the aperture ring to the light meter. It was called AI or Auto Indexing AI lenses have a ridge that catches a feeler on a ring surrounding the lens mount on the camera.

While non-AI lenses’ rabbit ears had to couple with the light meter lever and the photographer had to rotate the aperture ring to inform the light meter about the lens, now AI lenses had an internal mechanical structure that immediately upon mounting the lens, informed the camera about the maximum aperture of the lens allowing the light meter to get ready for the correct metering using that specific lens. So, from 1959 to 1977, not only all Nikon SLR lenses were Non-AI (sometimes also called Pre-AI) but there were third party lens manufacturers who produced a plethora of Non-AI lenses. None of these lenses had the quality or performance of a Nikon, but many stood out with their creativity and surprisingly impressive results. The first Kiron made version of the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm was among those that shined (there were 6 versions of that lens but none achieved the performance of the first version, the only one that was Non-AI).

Nikon continued the tradition of the rabbit ears, to visually identify them as AI. But more importantly, the AI lenses could still be mounted and used on the older F-mount cameras.

Finally, given the sublime built and performance of Non-AI lenses, Nikon (and others) made upgrading rings with that famous groove to allow Non-AI lenses behave like AI lenses on the post 1977 Nikon mounts. These metamorphosed lenses are called AI’d allowing seamlessly the use historic Nikon lenses on newer Nikon cameras.

Visual difference between Non-AI and AI lenses

The original rabbit ears for the Nikon F bayonet mount are solid metal. Here is the venerable 50mm f1.4 Nikkor-S Auto from 1964.

 

All professionally AI’d lenses had the new ring added to the lens and perforated rabbit ears. The new conversion ring added a second, in smaller numbers, set of aperture numbers to the lens. These changes can be seen on my 1971 Nikkor- P 180mm f2.8 lens.

 

And then there are non-professional conversions. These are the most creative ones (when they work) and shows how much owners cared about their old lens and wanted to continue using them post 1977. I have seen quite a few such creative conversions, but the one done on my Vivitar 70-210mm is the most unusual but it works! Whoever did this was a minimalist – he added a home-made T-clip to the existing aperture ring to catch the new groove of the Nikon mounting base and make the 1972 Vivitar Non-AI zoom lens AI’d!  Perhaps it is fun to use this lens just for this peculiar characteristic?

 

Why did I go into this long explanation? First, hopefully some readers will find it interesting as a historical overview, but also because I have many of those AI’d lenses that continue to provide the vintage look to photography none of the modern Nikon lenses can. Perhaps to the avid B&W photographer, they would provide a unique experience.

But, the photo at the top of this page says otherwise. I was genuinely surprised by the sharpness of the result as I took the photo handheld, at full zoom and f11 from about 50 meters of the memorial statue. The contrast is low, as expected, even with the makeshift lens shade I made. But with no zoom creep, the focusing is very reliable and the sharpness of the lens is truly surprising. Here is a cropped section of the inscription on the memorial, which was the spot I focused on hoping that, the two gentlemen (and the dog) sitting a few meters in the background will be more blurred. Too bad I did not have the chance to take a second shot at f4….

 

I knew that the heft and width of the Vivitar lens felt just right in my hands and I was able to remain very steady, something I had never managed when using the FG with smaller and lighter lenses.

Is it possible that, after 25 years, I have found the right lens-camera combination for the FG?

 

February 9, 2025

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2025

 

PS/ I realise that many young photographers have not seen or used a Non-AI lens fitting the Nikon F, nor perhaps the AI lenses that made the Nikon 2 and Nikon 3 milestones in photographic history. Yet, I find it a timely retrospective trip to see what the term AI once meant to those who ran miles of film pellicule through their cameras and spend endless hours in makeshift darkrooms to burn or dodge a 5x7 or 8x10 photographic paper under the faint light of an enlarger.

And, what AI means today to those who have all the technology in their hands and can see, the instant it has been taken, the photo on the screen back of the camera. And, in full sunlight, they can edit those photos with AI.

For me, washing the printed paper with cold water in the darkroom sink, surrounded with the lingering aroma of the Stop Bath solution (for those who still remember what that is), is a pleasure I am not ready to forego.

 

From Asclepius’s Rod to the Medical Caduceus: An Inspiration for Photography

 

When I heard about President Jimmy Carter’s passing after a century of existence, I recalled a trip to Egypt I took 25 years ago as a public health professional. After the second day of discussions with primary care physicians, President Carter’s work in eradicating a water-borne parasitic worm disease came up.

“When I was a young doctor, I extracted a lot of Guinea worms creeping out from the legs and arms of tribal residents. President Carter helped us and the world stop the cycle of the parasites in our drinking water. But recently I have seen these worms in Sudan, where I worked for a while” an older physician told me.

“I have never seen one in my travels to Africa, the Middle East or Asia” I said.

“And that is a good thing. You know, it was like Asclepius’s Rod – we used to slowly coil the worm around a wooden stick. Just like spaghetti around a Chinese chop stick!” he recalled with a wink.

… So, this morning, in a rather peculiar way, I made a connection between my photography and my health care profession.

But first, a word about Asclepsius’s Rod (or Rod of Asclepsius) and the modern Caduceus of medicine.

Here is a depiction of the origin of Asclepius’s Rod (or staff) as seen in the statue of Asclepius at the Archeological Museum of Epidaurus in Peloponnese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius)

And the caduceus as the modern symbol of medicine:

 

The visual difference between the two is obvious: two serpents vs one, and a winged vs non winged staff. However, the history (or mythology) behind each is significantly different. Indeed, the Asclepius’s Rod is said to represent a non-venomous rat snake, later called Asclepian Snake, which was believed to freely wander around where Asclepius’s patients slept. The caduceus, however, was the symbol of the Greek messenger of the gods Hermes and a guide to the underworld.  

 

Here is a statue of Hermes carrying the caduceus, kept at the Vatican Museums, in Rome. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes)

 

 

In Roman mythology, the Greek Hermes continued to exist as Mercury. In neither mythology, Hermes was associated with medicine or healing but he did carry what became the modern symbol of medicine, the caduceus, especially in the United States. It is however often said that the real symbol of medicine is the Asclepius’s Rod, and that the adoption of Hermes’s staff was a misunderstanding of Greco-Roman mythology, although Hermes also represented alchemy, which was associated with pharmacy in Medieval times.

Further, many believe that Asclepius’s Rod does not have a snake around it but a Guinea worm, or Dracunculus medinensis, a nematode responsible for dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease). And as the Egyptian physician told me, these worms were historically extracted by the healer wrapping them around a rod upon exit from a patient’s skin. (The counter argument may be that the statue at the Archeological Museum of Epidaurus clearly shows a snake. But mythology relies more on symbolism than facts, and the snake was historically believed to represent healing and regenerative power due the shedding of its skin).

 

Ok, this long introduction brings me to some of my photos and perhaps gives a context that I had not considered before.

 

A.    Photo atop this essay page of my dogs playing. I took this one a few days ago, on Christmas day. The posture of the dogs reminded me of the two snakes coiling on the caduceus.

 

B.      Street actors in a Shakespeare play. I took this one in Baltimore Maryland.

 

C.     Couple on the boardwalk, Baltimore, Maryland. A tender moment captured as I was walking with my camera as companion..

 

D.    Photo of a couple in embrace in swimming pool. This one was a challenge as I took it from the balcony of my hotel room in Mont-Tremblant, Québec, Canada. I had a Mamiya Pro 645 medium camera with me, and taking a photo with a waist finder by pointing the lens downward was tricky. It takes a minute to see the woman on the right and the man to the left of this composition, but realizing that I was looking down and seeing the shadow of the men’s right leg in the shadow in the pool water helps… The photo made the cover of my fifth book of poetry and travel stories.

 

 

E.     Photo of a couple on the beach, in Nazaré, Portugal. This one may qualify as the “pre-embrace” and made the cover of my 7^th book, this one in French, published in Canada.

 

 

Interestingly, the global Guinea Worm Disease eradication work of the late President Jimmy Carter made me think of the snakes (guinea worm?) wrapping around Asclepius’s Rod and Hermes’s Caduceus. And both as a healthcare professional and a photographer, I saw a continuum between medicine and the arts, somehow going back to the historical healers who were philosophers, artists, poets and founders of today’s medicine.

 

As for my photos, are they reflections of my Défaut professionnel or the result of keen timing by a street photographer? I will never know, but writing this essay sure felt like a self psychoanalysis!

 

January 5, 2025

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2025

Prescott, AZ, 2024 Holiday Parade Through the Eye of a 1959 Petri F1.9 Rangefinder Camera

 

The annual Prescott Holiday Parade was a good time to use one of my cameras that has been “ignored” for a long while. This time, my choice was for a 1959 Petri 1.9 Super rangefinder manufactured by a long disappeared Japanese camera company.

It is not a well known camera as the name Petri has never been associated with a quality SLRs. But this model, made in the early years of the manufacturer deserves attention and has a cult following in the rangefinder world.

Made by the Kuribayashi Camera Industry, founded in 1907, the Petri F1.9 was produced in 1958 and production lasted for only 4 years.  It was aimed at competing in the global rangefinder camera market, but its marketing coincided with the introduction of the venerable Leica M3...  The Kuribayashi Company filed for bankruptcy in 1977.

The Petri F1.9 is a fixed 45mm lens minimalist watchmaker’s camera. However, it is beautifully made and has lasted the past decades gracefully if.. you find one with functioning and accurate speeds! I got mine as a “consolation present” from the buyer who sold me an equally non-functioning Soviet FED-2 rangefinder camera from the 1950s. It was in the late 1990s and film cameras were sold as paperweight since the world was going the digital route and users of film were considered neo-Dodo birds.  Somehow, a Ukrainian camera man in Baltimore, Maryland repaired both cameras and gave me many years of enjoyment using the FED-2. As for the Petri, after dry-shooting it a few times, I reserved a fine spot for it on my shelf.

Here is my camera:

 

And a testimony statement about the company’s dedication to quality and customer support on a sticker inside the back cover:

Till this weekend. I tested winding and clicking a few times, and checked the lens blades for oil deposit – all seemed to function as it should. I put half a roll of film in it (I roll my own film in canisters) and took it to the Holiday Parade for a few street photography test shots.

I was delighted when I inspected the negative strip – frame distances were perfect, and I could tell that there was ample contrast the lens had captured. However, the black and white shades seemed to be following each other abruptly, without noticeable transition of gray. That could mean extreme differences in bright and dark segments of the frame during printing under the enlarger where lenses are typically f3.5 or 4.5 thus not allowing enough light to create the shades of gray during the 10-15 second light exposure time I prefer.

So, I went back to my FED-2 which originally came with a badly calibrated Jupiter-3 Soviet fast lens but has a wide opening of f1.5 allowing more light to go through it under the enlarger. As I have often done so, I replaced the enlarger’s flat field lens with a camera convex lens and proceeded to my darkroom work.

Here is my FED-2 with the 1956 Jupiter-3 lens I used on the enlarger:

 

The photos:

Well, the most dramatic was the one at the top of the page. I wanted to test the 45mm lens at f18 and 1/125^th second. What I got is a very “creative” yet phantasmagoric photo! My first reaction was “these are creatures from another planet!”  but I quickly settled for the effect of a vintage soft camera lens coupled with a re-calibrated Soviet lens on the enlarger. But, I admit that I do like the result which was the type of surprises I like, even if they look apocalyptic!

 

The next photo is more “from our world” although flare (even with a hood) is apparent along with good sharpness at f4 that also surprised me. The thing I wanted to capture was the head of the small dog the young woman was holding on her chest – a careful look will detect the ears of the dog and its left eye pointingly looking at me! Not bad for that much detail and sharpness from a 65+ years old lens.

 

Finally, a photo that combines the two characteristics I have so far seen from this lens – minimal gray scale transition and, an uncanny depth of field. In this photo the foreground is blurred ad the same time that is the background although the name of the gallery where I had my first Prescott exhibit as a guest artist is in perfect focus!

 

Will I take this camera with me when I need predictable, sharp and smooth transition of shades? Clearly not. However, I will use this camera again for creative, hence somewhat unexpected results. The lens seems to be doing things with my scenes that I cannot create via lens opening and speed changes. Artists have been using plastic Holga medium size cameras for years to achieve such surprises.

Maybe my lens is defective. Or maybe this was my first half-roll with the camera and I will learn to celebrate its character more than hope it will render what I was aiming to capture.

One parting thought—for a photographer who enjoys the design and feel of a camera, the Petri F1.9 is a joy to carry and use. And if the goal is to discover, all over again what you thought you saw through the viewfinder, this is the overall perfect camera for that!

 

December 8, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

New Photos from Upper Antelope Canyon Cave, Arizona

 

I received numerous comments regarding the photos I took in the Upper Antelope Canyon, Arizona. Here is the link to my preview post: https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2024/09/upper-antelope-canyon-on-navajo-land-in.html

The readers were surprised that a 1980’s film camera, a Minolta X-700 and a lesser known lens, the Soligor 20mm f2.8 wide angle could take such sharp and contrasty photos in a dimly lit cave on ASA 100 film, handheld. And many asked if there were more that I can post.

Previously, I had printed, under my vintage HANSA enlarger, a few photos I chose from reviewing the negative strip. Based on the request of readers, I went back and chose a couple more to print.

The photo atop this entry has a single source of light resulting in a depth of field often seen in similar shots, although most are made with professional medium or large format cameras on a tripod. My photos are handheld and on 35mm film, adding the challenge I like when using vintage cameras and lenses.

The photo below has multiple sources of light, coming from cracks and small openings in the cave ceiling. I like the originality of this one more as I believe it gives the viewer ample space for imagination and personal interpretation.

Many thanks to my readers for their comments and hope these two new photos will excite a few of them to dust off their vintage camera and get back to film photography!

 

November 9, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

Double Exposure on Film: the Quantum Spacetime of Photography?

 

 

It will be Halloween soon and yesterday there was the Fall Arts show downtown.  It was time for my 1979 Mamiya 645 1000s to get some exercise hanging from my neck while walking around.

I came across a re-enactment of how Prescott was in the 1800s, and decided to take a few photos.

After I clicked once, a young man came to me curious about my camera.

“That is an antique!” he started, “and I could hear the shutter from 20 feet away.”

“It is the large mirror falling,” I said “yes, old medium format cameras are not made for photo taking during a piano concerto.”

“My Nikon is mirrorless,” he proudly continued, “It is the latest technology.”

I slowly winded the film turning the noisy winding crank.

“And it has a crank?!”

“It does, just like cars had in the 1920s” I said in a serious tone.

“So, you use film, an antique camera with a crank, and try to focus through a waist screen. Tell me, why?”

“I suppose for the same reason some people still enjoy driving and repairing vintage cars – for the companionship between tool and user.”

He started laughing and I noticed he had perfect teeth.

“Do you drive a vintage car?”

“Well, mine will qualify as vintage in 4 years and I will get a plate that says so” I responded.

At this point he was keen on seeing my photos.

“Can I find you on Facebook? Instagram? Snapchat?”

“Tell you what, you will not find me on any of these sites. But I will give you the link too my blog – check it out after a couple of days, since it will take me that long to develop the film, hang it to dry, then use my 1950s enlarger in the darkroom to print photos, hang them to dry, then scan them so I can post on my blog.”

“And now a blog!” he exclaimed. “Yes, I will check.”

 

After he left, I wondered what my antique camera can do that his mirrorless wonder cannot. As I was in thought, my eyes fell upon the “MULTI” switch on the right of the camera body. That is for taking multiple exposures on the same film frame. I had used it once decades ago just to try it and the photos I got were not for street photography. Maybe for creative landscape shots, but not for capturing events in the streets.

I had no idea if modern digital cameras can take multiple exposures on the sensor they harbor. But I decided to try it on film.

… The photo at the outset is a double exposure – I switched the lever to “MULTI” took one shot, cocked the shutter via the crank which now did not advance the film, and took another shot a few seconds after the first one. Of course by then my camera hold had slightly shifted and the enactors had moved. So I had no idea what to expect, and even if that function still was working on the Mamiya.

I find it an interesting composition, and of course I love the Mamiya Sekor 150mm lens I used.

The woman shading her eyes from the sun has a second “her” superposed lower, as my hold of the camera was lower for the second shot. But she had already moved making the photo sequence an active one. Par contre, the woman on the right had remained still, perfectly. The tree branches are almost symmetrically placed in both shots, although the post upon which the first woman is resting her left hand has a slight displacement due to my camera movement between the shots. And, to the background of the first woman one can discern a cowboy hat, and a woman with an umbrella.

The most interesting movement is the man with a cowboy hat that is seen right in line behind the head of the first woman and who was not in the frame with the first shot – he had just walked by during the seconds between the two shots!

 

The photo at the outset was the first print I did of that frame by exposing the photographic paper 10 seconds under the enlarger light. The dark areas were contrasty but seem to be hiding more people and events. So, I tried another print this time with 8 seconds exposure.  Here is that photo:

This underexposed version tells a very different story – the woman with umbrella was there all along holding hands with the man wearing a cowboy hat, but the 10 seconds enlarger light exposure had totally covered them in black! Now, we can see them both in the first shot, and also in the second superimposed one as they too had moved forward and do not seem to be holding hands. What I love about this detail is that we now have the couple in profile in the first frame and in portraiture in the second – lovely!

 

… As I looked at the two printed photos and the magic of double exposure on film, I could not resist thinking about the concept of timespace in Quantum Mechanics. Simply put, some aspects of our space and time that are continuous, freeze or stop “commuting”.  Time is certainly a commuting concept – it moves forward, but also can go back. Space is less easily understood as changing, unless one thinks about the warping and expanding of the space concept proposed by Einstein.

Quantum spacetime puts these two concepts together and proposes that what was fluid, changing or moving can stop being so, or they get “quantized” – hence the term “Quantum.”

Well, in double exposed film frames, the movement and the space around the movement have been frozen yet we know they moved. And the resulting new form, as if timespace, is now broken into smaller segments. In a funny way, I think about this scenario as the “fabric of frozen movement” (my definition.)

 

… More importantly, I wonder if the young man will indeed check my blog and perhaps send me an email about his impression of the photos.

Or, maybe he just went to his friends and said:

Guess who I met today?  A photographer stuck in the 1950s! And he had to wind up his camera with a crank so it can shoot!!!”

 

October 6, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

A Vintage Soviet Medium Format Camera at an American Classic Corvettes Car Show

 

 

Prescott, Arizona, is home to one of the most popular vintage Corvette car shows. Among the reasons is the dry desert weather that preserves cars from rust and other damages. Also, many of the retired residents have enough space on their house land to build large garages often transformed into classic cars restoration. The king of these cars is the Corvette, a symbol of American muscle cars.

There is an annual Corvette car show downtown Prescott, and thousands of visitors marvel at the pristine restorations of Corvettes many more than 60 years old. For me, it is also an opportunity to take a vintage film camera for street photography.

Yesterday I decided to take one of my 1972 Soviet medium format Salyut S camera for that sortie. A few days ago I tested the camera with the 90mm Vega 12-b I had used decades ago, and while the camera worked fine, the lens was frozen. Thinking that the blades got stuck from years on inaction, I proceeded to open the lens and get the blades back into action. Unfortunately it was more complicated than that as the automatic blade control mechanism had broken.

.. In the 1990s, with the advent of digital cameras, film and mechanical cameras were sold or even given away as they were deemed relics of a glorious past. I acquired a number of classic cameras during that time period, especially focusing on getting two of the same models so I would be able to perform “organ transplant” since mechanical camera repair professionals were getting as extinguished as the users of these photographic tools were.  I have two of these Vega lenses, and I decided to rescue the ailing one:

To my surprise, when I took the rear cap off the second lens, I realised that I had already, a couple of decades ago, harvested parts of that lens! As for many vintage Soviet lenses I have, it used to be popular for whoever repaired or re-calibrated a lens to scratch the new calibration parameters on the inner metal surface of the lens, and often, with the edge of a screwdriver, carve their name. I suddenly saw that I had done the same thing when I repaired that lens decades ago!

Here are the partly dismantled optical elements of the non-functioning lens and my name carved on the inside of the “donor” lens:

So, at least for now, I will not be able to use that Vega lens for the Corvette show.

 

The next possibility was a monster lens not made for street photography, the Soviet Kaleinar 3B 150mm f2.8. It is a stereotypical Soviet lens being all glass and all steel. It weighs 1100 grams and fitted on the Salyut camera (1420 grams) one will have 5.6 pounds of weight hanging from the neck! What is more challenging though is the focusing – one has to turn the ring more than one rotation to get into focus, and even then, the weight of the outfit and the non-friendly pressure the shutter release requires make the steady holding of the camera impossible.

Here is a size comparison between the Vega and Kaleinar lenses:

 

Needless to say, the Kaleinar was not built for street photography, rather for portraiture on a steady tripod. And I have used this lens decades ago for portraiture, always handheld, and never in a sunny setting as it flares easily and loses contrast. But the portraits I took had a unique charm – a pronounced bokeh even at f5.6, and a “proletarian” feel to the captured moment, compared to what one got from Japanese lenses of the era. It was a down to earth capture that did fit the character of most people I captured on 60 or 100 ASA film.

Ok, I tested the lens, it was working fine and out to the Corvette show we went.

The photo at the outset of this page is the first one I took at the lens’s minimum focusing distance of 1.8 meter, the diaphragm closed to f16 and the speed set to 1/125^th seconds. The desert sun was at its zenith and there were reflections on the glass and metal surfaces of the 1956 corvette’s cabin. I did not expect much from this shot, but surprisingly, there was little flare and sharpness and contrast were acceptable.

My second test was at f8 and shutter set at 1/250^th seconds. I wanted to capture the spirit of folks admiring the corvettes and the head of an alien the owner of this car placed in the cabin allowed to experiment with lens sharpness and out of focus frame areas. I find this photo quite delightful.

It was time to test the bokeh of the lens taking into account the light transition between the foreground and the background. As I had seen before the Kaleinar exhibits significant, albeit less than smooth bokeh even at f5.6 which was the set aperture for this photo:

Another test of test was at f11 and shutter speed of 1/125^th seconds focusing on an artwork across the street, about 25 meters away. It was the life size sculpture of the most common predator we have in Arizona – the coyote. We almost see them daily around our houses making walking a dog a challenge.

The sculpture was made of scrap metal, nuts and bolts allowing me to test the sharpness of the lens and the contrast it displays:

Finally, an example why quick framing and focusing, hence street photography, is not really possible with the Kaleinar. People were walking near a corvette and I wanted to capture both the walkers and the car. Unfortunately by the time I focused (or tried to) and clicked, the car was mostly covered by and the frame was badly focused:

 

So, the performance of the lens and camera were still very acceptable, and I may use the setup for portraiture again. Most importantly, I was pleased to have a vintage camera at a vintage car show. In some way, both the owners of those cars and I have one thing in common – owning, maintaining and using a tool or machine from a past era makes us partners in the process, rather than passive users of technology that is programmed to be predictably functional but often override our desires of the moment.

.. Talking of functional, I have to decide if I want to spend hours taking the broken Vega lens apart, just for the challenge of it...

PS/ as always, I was probably the only one, among the thousands of people, who went to a classic muscle-car show and did not take photos of the cars.

 

September 29, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024