My last posting about my 55 years of photography using mechanical cameras found a soft emotional spot among photographers who still cannot exchange film for digital outputs through today’s wonder electronics (https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2022/05/fifty-five-years-of-b-film-photography.html.) I received emails describing their reasons for still enjoying the nostalgia of the golden years of B&W photography and darkroom work. Also, asking questions as what has worked best for me in street photography for decades around the globe.
So, here are a few more thoughts.
I always traveled with two cameras, as many do. Depending on the country or city I was visiting, one would be a 35mm and the other a 120mm camera, often a TLR such as Minolta Autocord. But if I opted for 35mm only, it would be an SLR and a rangefinder.
Although I have more cameras than a leopard has spots, I have trusted my 1969 Nikon F more than any other classic camera. It has never let me down and it fits my hands and eyes perfectly. There are two rangefinder cameras that go along with that trust –a 1954 Canon L and a 1954 Leica IIIF.
And then there are dozens of cameras that have historical meanings, are quirky, or even unpredictable. These would be my “surprise” shot makers as I would discover, in the dark room, what came out on the negative strip compared to what my intent was. German pre and post-war cameras fit in this category, along with Soviet 35mm and 120mm ones.
… Based on the feedback I got about my last posting, I decided to take a 1969 Miranda Sensorex, fully functional and sporting the lovely Miranda 50mm f1.4 lens to a car show downtown. My goal was not to take photos of cars but of the atmosphere these cars create among people, in the street.
The picture above is an example of what old lenses can do. I wanted the car, with its doors folding up and an artwork painted on its hood, to be like an exotic bird that had just come down on a cowboy town and made people curious. Or, a mythological flying creature as it was painted on its hood. I shot it with ASA 100 film at an aperture of 8 and 1/125 shutter speed.
Will a digital picture gave the same smooth transition of the gray scale between the partial shade from the trees, the mid-day desert sun and the mix lighting on the background building? I assume so, but with some darkroom work, I find that these transitions are smoother on film.
And then, let us not forget the 6 steps, using both hand, that are necessary to get the 1 kilogram Miranda Sensorex ready for its “shutter trip”! That sound can never be as sweet as any microchip-simulated mechanical shutter sound!
So, here are my Miranda Sensorex and Nikon F FTN cameras, both from 1969. I have repaired the metering system of the former once, but have never touched the inner workings of the Nikon after miles and miles of pellicule that have passed through it.
June 5, 2022
©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2022
