Using a Vintage 20mm Wide Angle Lens for Street Photography on Mothers’ Day, 2024

 

 

Most photographers will not use such a super wide lens for street photo journalism, and I have never used it. The reason is two-fold: to tell a story, there has to be a specific moment to be framed as the human eye sees it. A 50mm lens fits my inquisitive eye, although others prefer a 35mm. But not a 20mm which captures so much of the setting that the story gets lost. Second, a 20mm lens has too many distortions, lacks sharpness and definition throughout the entire frame, unless it is a Zeiss Flektogon.

But, since I was able to get my 1981 Minolta X-700 restored to function, I wanted to test a 20mm lens that I had owned for 25 years but never used it. It is a Soligor which is not highly regarded and was often thrown in as a bonus when film cameras were sold as absolute with the advent of digital technology. It is a lens made in Japan for an American company and aimed for amateur use.

But like many who use and collect vintage photographic tools, using what is said as “not worth using” is a challenge to take on. And I had yet another challenge in mind: the Soligor, as a manual focus lens, needs to be focus only up to 6 meters. Then you set it to the infinity setting and your cameras becomes a point-and-shoot one. And, given how much “territory” a 20mm lens covers on a 35 mm film frame, I wondered if I can shoot from the hip by pointing the camera in the direction of the story I wanted to capture. This is even better than using a waist viewer camera like a TLR Rolleiflex with which you still have to look down the waist finder and let people realise you are taking a photo. It is better because people then change their behaviour and the moment loses its authenticity.

 

So, I rolled about 10 frames worth of film into an old canister and took the Soligor to the Mother’s Day arts show.

Here is the lens made by Tokina in 1986. Note the lovely period neck strap on the Minolta…

 

It was a new experience, as I was hoping it to be. I ended up having 12 frames on that film strip, and finished shooting in a short time. It was a cloudy day, so I used f5.6, f8 and f11, with the focus set to infinity. But I had no idea what I was getting in the frame! Yet, I knew that people did not get spooked by having a camera pointed in their direction, if they even knew that I was releasing the shutter.

So I rushed back home to develop the film and see what I captured.

 

Since I did not what to expect about the performance of the lens, I was surprised how sharp the results were in the middle of the frame when shot at less than 10 meters from the subject using an aperture of f8.  Par contre, when using an f5.6 at a longer distance, the sharpness was mediocre at best.

So, I chose two photos to describe my experience.

The one at the outset of the page has both a story, and without knowing what I was framing (!) captured the environment of the story. There were two men, in photogenic Southwestern attire on a bench watching the people visiting the art kiosks. One man was smoking a cigar and was perfect for a photo. I was about 10 meters away and dedicated two frames to the moment.

When I printed the frame using a Soviet Industar 61 L/D 53mm rangefinder camera lens on my 1950’s enlarger, I was delighted by the composition. So, it took me a few attempts, using variable exposure times and dodging and burning to get the shades I wanted. Especially of the clouds.

For a comparison, I zoomed into the frame (by moving the enlarger lens higher) to fill the frame with what a 50mm lens would have captured. And that made me pleased of using the wide angle lens because the 50mm perspective captures less of a story.

It is also to be noted that in the above version, the gray of the shade given by the tall trees around the area does not provide the contrast and the focus on the man I had in mind. But the final version, the one atop the page, makes that man the center of the story as the man with the cigar is brighter and there is “sun” around his feet. This is of the because dodging that I did by shading the enlarger light over the man with my fingers for about 2 seconds, which also lightened the area around his feet giving the impression of a ray of sunshine. The entire exposure time was 5 seconds, with an added second of burning to enhance the clouds.

(I assume young photographers have rarely worked in a darkroom with film, so these terms and rather primitive techniques may be unknown to them.)

 

Ok, the next photo was taken with an f5.6 aperture and 1/125 second shutter speed. The woman wearing Western attire was about 30 meters away, and I wanted the dogs to be in the picture too. Again, I zoomed in to print what a 50mm lens would have seen to test the contrast and definition of the 20mm. Clearly, the Soligor is sharper at closer distances.

 

So, was it worth shooting 12 frames to get one good photo? For me it was the experience of using a new tool, the anticipated surprise about the results after shooting “blind”, and as an enthusiast about vintage cameras and lenses, the joy of using a forgotten lens.

Maybe I will try the lens again, now that I know its limitations.

 

May 12, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

Earth Day 2024 – Moments Using a (Almost) Century Old Soviet Camera and a 1950s Lens

 

 

 

It was Earth Day yesterday, and the annual gathering in downtown Prescott provided the opportunity to test a 1950s Soviet lens I had never used before.

It was sometimes in the 1990s, when digital cameras were becoming popular and ir was believed that “film was dead”. So I was able to add to my vintage camera collection numerous 35mm and medium format cameras and lenses sometimes sold cheaper than a few rolls of film. Among them were Soviet rangefinder cameras which often were often inoperable due to amateurs’ attempt to repair them.

Yet, they came with multiple vintage lenses to make the sale attractive. Interestingly, I was able to clean and recalibrate the lenses more often the cameras, which was worth the effort because many of the lenses from the 1940s and 1950s were copies of German Zeiss lenses.

I have used many of those lenses over the past decades. I like the surprises (as opposed to the consistency of Japanese and German lenses) such lenses-with-a history keep for me when I see blank paper become a photograph in the developer tray, under a darkroom’s red light. And that feeling has remained delightfully unchanged for me over the past half a century!

So, I tried the 1950s Jupiter-9 85mm 2.8 lens on my L39 mount rangefinder cameras from a Leica IIIF to a couple Zorkii and a FED-2, all from the 1950s. The Jupiter-9 did not focus correctly at infinity. Finally, I tried it on a 1938 FED-NKVD, the first FED model, made in Kharkov, Ukraine then part of USSR, and was a true copy of Leica II. Surprise! I had a perfect focus at infinity and almost perfect focus at 3 meters.

A word about the FED-NKVD camera.

NKVD was the Soviet Ministry of the Interior, which became the KGB. The FED camera was named after Felix E. Dzerzhinsky, hence FED, who started the Soviet camera industry and then became the head of KGB.  The engraved inscription lines are in Cyrillic, where in addition to FED, Kharkov and Dzerzhinsky, the word TRUDKOMMUNA, meaning labor community, is prominent. This is an important historical testimonial, since the FED factory started in 1934 with a workforce of youth, often described as homeless, to live and work in a commune. In 1949 the inscription on the viewfinder top plate was changed to a simple FED and the quality of the engraving lost its hand-engraved quality.

Given the historical meaning of the FED-NKVD, it is the most collectible of all Soviet cameras. Based on the engraving and the serial number, my camera was probably made between 1938 and 1940.

Here is my camera with the Jupiter-9 lens and a 1960s ROBIN Japanese bright line viewfinder for the 85mm lens:

 

Since I did not know what quality of photos the lens would yield, I loaded only enough film in a canister for 5 shots, and took my trusty 1954 Canon L-3 rangefinder with the tiny Canon 35mm lens, also from the 1950s.

Here is the Canon L-3:

And a size comparison between the two lenses. Note that while the infinity setting lines up with the red line on the focusing ring, the f-stop settings ring is totally misaligned indicating that someone, somewhere had taken this lens apart and put it back incorrectly….

 

Ok, the Earth Day gathering usually brings in organizations educating residents about brush and forest fire safety; school representatives to teach the youth about conservation of nature, safety around wild animals, responsible use of water; as well as vendors of products that are friendly for the environment and perhaps the earth.

That is why a number of car manufacturers had their latest electric car models on display. The 35mm wide lens came in handy in capturing the shape and size (compared to the bicycle parked in front of it) of the imposing Tesla Truck. I thought it was a perfect photo to describe the goals of the Earth Day.

Next, I was wondering how to tell a story that includes a pony there for kids to pet. As I was looking for that story, I challenged myself in trying to capture a moment and an angle when the pony and those around it would for a certain mélange of superimposition. I took a few shots with close ups using the 35mm lens.

Here is what I was aiming for – there are three people around that pony (two  women and a man) but the viewer may not see them immediately:

More, I wanted to line up my shot with the statue of a local hero, Bucky O’Neill, on his horse in the background to represent the setting, the Courthouse Plaza in downtown Prescott.  

Here is a cropped portion of the photo showing what is known as the Rough Rider Monument honoring those from Prescott who served in the Rough Riders during the Spanish War in 1898.

This statue was more than 100 meters away in the background -- not bad for a simple construct vintage 35 mm lens.

As I walked around, one vendor of optical instruments aimed at bird watching, gave me the feeling of being under the “eye” of multiple lenses while holding one vintage one to my face!

 

Finally, here is the best test photo I got from my almost a century old camera and the 1950s imperfectly assembled Jupiter-9 Soviet lens:

As expected, the focusing did not work well on this camera-lens combination, but the softness and vintage photo effect was delightful. Indeed, the Jupiter-9, being a copy of the 1930s German Zeiss Sonnar 85mm, is known for its low contrast and soft rendition, even when set at f11 on a sunny day. But, that is a plus when this lens is used for portraiture at wider openings like f4 – it will give a creamy blur to the background (bokeh) and not show skin imperfections on the subject.

Perhaps I will try it as a portrait lens some time soon.

 

April 21, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

Heartfelt "Thank You" to Readers of my Blogs

 

I started my first blog in 2005 in memory of our daughter who passed at the age of 12. Since then I have shared my interests in various forms of expression through three blogs covering my photography and darkroom work (2013), my essays and poetry (2013) and paintings/sculpture inspired by the Southwestern arts (2017).

At the beginning of 2024, I was humbled to surpass more than 80,000 views of these blogs from 60+ countries. The past decade has been a delightful departure from the media I had used in the past all of which included printed matter of books and articles. And in some instances, while readers of my blogs are kept anonymous, many have continued to communicate with me via email.

For all of you unknown or known, I want to express my gratitude for reading what I post.

And for any new visitor to one of my blogs, here are the coordinates if exploring is something you enjoy:

I provide the links to my latest postings. As in any blog, previous posts can be read by scrolling down or choosing the years of posting shown on the right of the screen.

B&W photography blog (2013)

https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-1967-ricoh-singlex-tls-from-antiques.html

 

Essays and poetry (2013)

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/3446791370092270154

 

Painting and sculpture (2017)

https://vaheark.blogspot.com/2023/11/woman-and-quail.html

 

Many thanks!

 

February 11, 2024

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2024

A 1967 Ricoh Singlex TLS – From an Antiques Shop to Street Photography

 

 

 

I like walking through antiques stores. A couple of weeks ago I came across a box where a pêle-mêle of old photography equipment and parts were thrown. Most were useless, except two cameras – a Yashica Electro and a Ricoh Singlex TLS. The Yashica was just the shell (someone had used the parts for repair) but the Ricoh looked in good shape. I recalled using that 1960s camera decades ago before the speeds got so erratic that I retired it to a display shelve.

Both cameras were without a lens and the inside of the Ricoh was filled with debris and the mirror almost opaque with dust and grime. The rewind was turning loose, and I noticed that the rewind release button was stuck due to a ding on the bottom plate the camera. So I could not test if the shutter was working. However, since the asking price was less than that of a cup of coffee, I picked it up.

A few days later I decided to take the base plate off and see if there were any ”insides” to the camera. To my surprise it was all there! So, it was time to go back in time and see if I can get a 60 year old camera work again.

With the dented base plate off, the release button popped out nicely. Now I could rewind, and cock the shutter. But the shutter did not release when pressed. Upon inspection, I realized that someone had tried to “repair” that camera and had bent the horizontal bar that triggers the shutter. However the bending had not worked since the plunger that pushes that bar was not touching the bar. I had repaired such issues before but knew that bending the bar can also upset its weight balance just enough to affect the timing of the speed dial. But at this point I just wanted to see if I can take on the challenge.

So after an hour of careful manipulation, I got the bar close enough so the plunger can touch the bar. And, the sweet sound of a Copal metal curtain came alive, as the camera did rewind, cock and fire again! For those who have used a Ricoh Simplex, that sound is unique and comforting, albeit very loud.

Finally, I tested the speeds, and after a few dozen rewinds all speeds seemed reasonably good to the ear. I blow dusted the inside getting fine debris to fly out, and lubricated all the moving parts.

Time to find a lens. I have a number of M42 mount vintage lenses from cameras I have used in the past 50 years. Among my favorites from the 1960-1970s screw mount M42s is the Asahi Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 55mm 1.8, a friend had given me along with his father's Honeywell Pentax camera. So, I loaded a roll of film and took my new camera for a test to a downtown Holidays Kids gathering.

Here is the Ricoh Singlex with the Takumar lens

 

Results

Kids were riding ponies and there was a carriage ride. I was more interested in testing the camera than capturing a moment in the streets. So, I tested the speeds using various light combinations.

The photo of the horses atop the page was taken at 1/1000 sec (which a rarely use) and f5.6 on that very bright mid-day. It seems like the speed is accurate enough, but it is more a testimony to the lens – a 50+ old lens accommodating the untested shutter!

This photo was to test both speed and aperture in a mix of shade and light. There are issues with the corners of the frame, but also a lovely 3D feel to the center of it. A bit of unintentional creativity.

 

The horses were trotting at a good pace and my 1/125 sec speed with a f8 aperture was not a good combination. Still the lines on the building are free of distortion.

 

Finally a nostalgic shot with Thumb Butte, the iconic 6,514 feet high natural landmark of Prescott in the background. This can be mistaken for a 1970s photo ….

 

So, was it worth spending time to rehabilitate an old camera found in a box in an antiques shop? For all who like to take their digital camera out and take dozens of pictures in a second, I assume not.

Yet, when that camera, its feel, the winding noise of the steel gears, and its loud metal curtain come alive, it is less about taking pictures but more about nostalgia. Just like the old camera sitting in a dusty box for decades, hearing the shutter trip, is for me a lovely trip in time.

 

December 25, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023

 

PS/ I put a 1.35v battery to test the step-down meter but the needle did not move. I forgot to take the battery out, and a day later, when I flipped the switch again, just for fun, the meter was functional! I have seen this happen in early vintage cameras – some call it “capacitor freeze” when after decades of non use, the circuitry sort of hibernates, and can come back to life when electricity “warms it up”. But, I think it is the sliding of the switch up and down that cleans the oxidation and re-establishes current flow.

Holiday Parade 2023 Through a Nikon F3 HP, Prescott, AZ

 

I do not use cameras that function on a battery source. Exceptions are my 1969 Nikon F Photomic, the 1971 Nikon F2, and the 1980 Olympus OM. In all three cases, the batteries are only for the light meter, which I rarely use.

In 1984 I bought a 1982 Nikon F3 HP to see if I can discover the “wonders of electronic cameras.” It was a truly professional camera but on a trip to Asia, something happened with the circuitry and that marvelous machine became a paperweight. I always travel with a fully mechanical camera, so the 1950s Canon L1 rangefinder saved the day. However, I put the F3 on the shelve and forgot to have it checked. That was more than 20 years ago.

A month ago, I saw a box full of old camera parts in an antiques store. Looking through it I recognized the MD-4 winder made for the F3, with corrosion-free AA battery carrier inserted. I asked the lady if the winder works. She laughed:

“This is an antiques store, things are for collection only.”

The price was ridiculously low, so I thought I would mount it on my F3 to enhance its “antique” appearance.

Then, I recalled that the power supply from the winder was supposed to bypass the battery circuitry of the camera and make it run on the 6 AA batteries of the winder. A true genius of Nikon engineers perhaps anticipating a malfunction in the field that can be remedied by the winder.

So, 6 AA batteries and that sweet melody of the F3 shutter took me back decades.

… This weekend there was the Holiday Parade in Prescott, and I decided to test if my F3, sporting the venerable Nikkor 105mm 2.5 will perform again. I took photos using the camera as a manual one by setting the shutter speed and aperture (even though the shutter is triggered via battery power) and also by switching to the 40 year old technology of the Aperture Priority where I set the aperture and the camera’s digital brain chooses the “best” shutter speed.

Here is my 1982 Nikon F3 HP with the winder:

As for the negative development and printing process, I developed using my usual development/stop bath/fixer times, but when printing under the enlarger I overexposed the paper by 2 seconds. I always did so when using the Nikkor 105 for portraiture – I get a pronounced contrast of black, gray and white helping to create a more mysterious portrait even when taken in a studio.

Here are a few photos:

First, the one at the outset shows an outlier among the parade participants.  Wearing formal attire, his high wheeler gave a unique moment to my Nikkor 105. The overexposure under the enlarger accentuated the shades making him stand out as I had imagined when tripping the shutter.

This woman almost posed for me. I thought she might have noticed my old camera and perhaps that brought back memories of her F3 – not sure, but again it is an unscripted moment in the parade.

It is difficult to talk about Prescott, the cowboy city, without mentioning horses.

This photo followed a test of the Aperture Priority function of the F3. On a very bright and sunny day, I opened the lens to f5.6 and the shutter was set to 1/1000 sec. I like the marriage of opaque and translucidity. If nothing, the trainer of these young women who were twirling flags should be happy – their synchronization was excellent!

So it was a pleasant experience seeing how my 41 year old Nikon F3 HP came back to like with a winder I found in an antiques shop. Next time I will use a 50mm lens to have more framing latitude.

 

December 3, 2023

©Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023

Veterans' Day 2023, Prescott, AZ

 

In the past years, I have posted photos from the annual Veterans’ Day parade in Prescott, AZ^1,2. Any celebration where large numbers of people gather is an opportunity for street photography, and I enjoy walking the streets looking for an unusual angle to capture.

And, in the past I have taken photos of the parade, although my old (antique?) mechanical cameras are no match to the quick firing digital wonders, especially when marching groups parade in the streets. But I enjoy the challenge.

This year, I decided to leave the parade photos to the digital cameras and find a few moments that not reflect the celebration of Veterans’ Day but somehow perhaps put the honoring of those who have served within a larger context, given the wars that are active around the globe.

To make the challenge of using a mechanical camera even more pronounced, I decided to use a 1970s Yashica TLR camera. In addition to the difficulty of using a TLR when all around you is moving, it is a waist finder “black box” with a “normal lens” i.e. the equivalent of 50mm lens on a 35mm camera. 

I have numerous TLR classic cameras, starting with a 1948 Rolliflex. In the past 40 years I have used them mostly for portraiture and street photography of subjects who told a story by being in a certain setting. And, as with all my cameras, the “personality” of the camera almost means more than the quality of the photos it can take, since I have never pursuit technical quality of the “printed moments” but the story a photograph could tell. And that brings me back to the Yashica TLR I took with me last Saturday.

I have 6 Yashica TLR cameras, the oldest being a Yashica Mat that had Yashinon lenses said to be made in Germany. But my favorite is a 1970s Yashica Mat 124 that looks and feels like a Rolleiflex, with the added benefit of having a direct read light meter. I have never used the light meter as I am a “Sunny 16 Rule”³ photographer who does the dodging and burning while printing in the darkroom and do not expect to have had the aperture and speed combination I set for each photo I took to be perfect.

But this time I decided to do a photographic organ transplant and replace the 1970s Yashica’s viewer and hood with that of a 1980s Yashica Mat 124 G which is the most coveted and last model with a somewhat reliable light meter. The reason I switched hoods was that the arm attached to the hood was inoperable on the old 124 and the hood of the 124 G is exactly the same as the older 124 so I could, after 3 decades of using the 124, test if the light meter works! 

And it did, although erratically.

I do not like the 124 G (the “G” stands for gold as the ends of the light meter wires are covered in actual gold to assure constant and reliable electric flow…). It makes a grinding noise when advancing the film, and compared to the chrome and leather of its predecessor it feels plasticy. Again, that identity thing…

Here they are next to each other, with the 124 G missing the hood now worn by the older 124.

 

So, I took a few photos using the light meter for the first time. Needless to say I prefer the results using the Sunny 16 Rule, and do not like that extra seconds I have to spend reading the meter and then setting the aperture of the speed. I guess after more than 55 years of mechanical cameras use, I am an old dog who cannot learn new tricks…

 

The photo at the outset was what I was looking for – a man was dressed in Santa attire displaying two small flags planted in his belt. I had a short second to set the frame before he disappeared in the crowd.

The other photo I chose is more typical of such parades. Yet, it depicts a way of life for veterans living a civilian life.

Both photos are far from being technically perfect. But they do present a context and segments of stories from the 2023 global realities.

 

November 13, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023

References

1.       https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2019/11/veterans-day-2019-prescott-arizona.html

2.       https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2017/11/veterans-day-parade-through-eye-of-1954.html

3.       https://liveingray.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-sunny-16-rule-in-b-street.html

Rejected Photos But Not Rejected Memories

 

I was looking for an old published article in a box saying “Academia” when, a folder labeled “Yashica 14 rejects” got my attention.

Among the many vintage rangefinder cameras I used in the past decades, the 1960s Yashica 14e had the most imposing and fastest (f1.4) 45mm fixed, leaf shutter lens. Since street photography is anathema to flash use, the Yashica was among my favorites for low-light moments.  In the 1990s I took the Yashica as a backup camera on trips to Asia, Africa and India, even though I never knew when it was going to jam or break.

It never did, and I ended up trading it for an Olympus OM-1 that was smaller and more reliable.

I looked in the folder. There were a dozen of photos I had printed that were either developed or printed improperly. But I kept them, not sure why.

Well, now looking through them I realised that aside the memories, there were a few that had made no impression to my memory – I just could not recall where I took them! So, to reward the eccentricity of keeping “reject photos” I decided to give them a new life by posting them.

 

Hyderabad and Mumbai.  The opening photo is from Hyderabad. I do recall taking photos of cows, but not this one where a young man posed along. It is a common scene in the city that once was the nation’s capital.

The second one is from New Delhi, again one capturing a familiar scene.

 

Now for the unknown photos.

While the motorcycles in the above photo were (are?) stereotypical of the ones seen in India, the scooters in this one remind me the ones seen in Asia. However, I rarely have seen street dogs in Singapore, Japan, Malaysia or Taiwan. Maybe this one was not a street dog? Further, I do not recall security screens on windows in any of these countries. However, the blurred sign on the building may contain an Asian alphabet.

 

So, this one is a mystery.

 

Next, a couple of photos that almost seem from another photographer’s portfolio! Where did I take these photos? However, they do show the prowess of the Yashinon f1.4 lens especially the shutter speed. 

The second photo is focused quite well for fast movement (two acrobats jumping in concert) although it seems that I have tried to, in a very maladroit manner, dodge the lower half of the frame under the enlarger. Probably the acrobat was too dark given contre-jour lighting.

 

And finally, here is a photo I found in that folder, one that took me back at least four decades, to a time when beer cans had pull tabs. Indeed, it is a sign for Schlitz beer, somewhere on an old wall. Again, I have no recollection where and when I took this photo, but I am very glad I did. It is truly a testimony of bygone times. Schlitz beer, as it was once known as America's favorite working man's beer is gone. The sound pull tabs made when pulled off the can and then thrown on an ash tray, is gone. 

But I now have this photo to remind me of all that.

As I look at those once forgotten photos, I am glad that I kept then. When it comes to reliving memories, even when incomplete, there are no rejected moments.

 PS/ Another photo taken with the  Yashica 14e was posted on my literary blog, this time from Zagreb, showing the ability of the Yashinon f1.4 lens in very low light and very low speed, taken handheld 

https://vahezen.blogspot.com/2023/10/when-buildings-swirl-before-sunrise.html

 

October 28, 2023

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023