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Un peu la flemme de traduire sur le coup .. Ben oui .. Ca arrive ... :-)
Medium format photography has never been for me on the top of my list. I mean, I’ve read about it, about the larger negatives you get, the better contrast, but never gave too much thought. Oh these twin lens reflex look nice of course but they seemed a bit odd to use, not very convenient. And well, I was playing with my rangefinder anyway and very happy about it. Last week, a member on dslreports.com (cwnorris) offer to give his old Yashica Mat 124 to whoever is willing to pay shipping. This was on the Digital Imaging forum and not a lot of people are interested in film photography so the offer was there for me to grab. I thought to myself: "Oh boy, another old stuff which will end up in a box …" but I took on the offer. I received the package a few days later. To my surprise, this was a very nice setup ! The whole kit was in an old red steel box. The camera was in pristine condition ! I mean, no scuff anywhere to be seen. Lots of small accessories, leather pouch, a big flash from the old time, old battery, old lens cleaning solution and old cleaning paper !! Everything old but in perfect condition. I thought … Wow … This is nice !! But I really thought the camera would have a problem … Either a stuck shutter, slow speeds, some haze in the glass … I don’t know … Something wrong. Well I had to try right ? So I bought some 120 black and white film at my local store, read the manual, mount the camera on the tripod and shot with a release cable my 12 exposures (with Neopan 400 pushed at 800). Mostly of my pregnant wife and my daughter of course. They’ve been very patient by the way 
… I spent something like 30 minutes to learn how to load a 120 film on my reel (what a pain in the neck !! I’m getting better though) and developed the film as usual. I was getting pretty serious about the whole things since the speeds on the camera seemed pretty accurate from the sound of it. I took the roll out of the tank. First I had something on the negatives which was already surprising … But then they looked stunning !!!!! Actually, these were my best negatives ever ! Lots of contrast and details everywhere. Exposure was spot on (I didn’t use the camera meter, which is functionning, but my more reliable Sekonic …) … It was a pleasure to look at ! I told my wife I didn’t even want to scan them (was affraid to be disapointed …) but just frame a couple !! 
.. Anyway tonight I’ve spent some time scanning them (Epson 4490). Wow. This is what they were talking about … So much freaking details !!! Everywhere !! It’s unbelievable. Contrast is gorgeous ! I didn’t need to touch a thing !! I left the orange cast (I scan my black and white in color mode, just like everybody else I guess …) because I thought it added a "je ne sais quoi" touch 
… It’s difficult to really realize the details you get with the picture I’m posting. I’ll write some more on the experience some other days. But I wanted to share with you this new adventure ! The whole experience reminds me of the pleasure I got when I first handled a Leica. Some kind of mystiscm around the whole thing. Of course, I bought some more films. I won’t use this camera on a daily basis. But I think I’m gonna have a lot of fun to use it with my twins (due in less than a week !! Stay tuned !) and will try to produce some nice pictures … The whole experience is really refreshing for me !!!
A big THANK YOU to cwnorris on dslreports.com. I think you’ve started something !!
Je viens juste d'acheter par le biais de http://rangefinderforum.com un superbe Kiev-4 qui est un appareil de l'ere sovietique. J'ai ecris un petit article (en anglais uniquement ... Je n'ai pas le courage de traduire mes articles comme vous avez pu le remarquer ...). Un appareil surprenant que je vais me faire un plaisir d'utiliser cet hiver !
I’ve just acquired thru http://rangefinderforum.com (Thanks to KragMeister for the fine camera at an excellent price !) a lovel Kiev-4 which is one of the finest FSU camera. I’ve played a bit this afternoon and wrote a small write-up about it. It can be read here
A surprising camera which is going to get some good use this winter !!
Je viens juste d'essayer NeatImage 5.0 avec une peloche d'Ilford 3200 et je dois avouer que je suis bluffer par ce logiciel !! J'ai ecris un petit article sur l'experience: http://www.400iso.com/?page_id=91 ... J'ai bien sur utilise une photo de ma fille pour le test :-)
I’ve just tried NeatImage 5.0 on some of last week Ilford 3200 rolls and I have to say that I am very impressed by this piece of software ! I wrote an initial write-up on my experience which I thought could be useful to some people. HERE
I’ve used one of my latest daughter picture for the experiment 
J'ai toujours voulu personalise mon Canonet QL17. C'est aujourd'hui chose faite avec ce superbe cuir bleu ! :-) Detail sur la procedure dans la rubrique articles !
I had some fun changing the leather of my Canonet QL17. I’ve always wanted to personalize this fine camera. Well, I’ve done it ! I’ve described the process HERE
Hi there,
I just found out about this website who has a bunch of interesting videos all related to photography. Here is the link.
I’ve found this interesting article describing the process to develop your film using … Coffee, tea and even vitamin C !! I definitely need to try this. Looks like caffeine works as the reducing agent … Should work with Coke right ? I think I’m going to try with Coke !! 
More on the process here
I’ve posted some black and white shots (XP2) taken with my Canon f/1.2. As you can see, results are on par with color: Great bokeh and acceptable contrast. This one is a shot of my good friend Alex from califoto.com who is playing with his newly acquired Canon QL17 (I sold it to him ! But don’t worry, I have another one )Other pictures can be seen in the review here
Technorati Tags : Canon f/1.2
As you might know, I was using Qumana LE to update my blog. For some reason, it stopped working and I didn’t receive good support from the Qumana team. Too bad, it was a nice product. I was very disapointed in their communication. Especially since they quote me when I first tried their Software. Anyway, I’ve found this plugin for wordpress and it replaces nicely qumana. It’s not perfect but it is very intuitive and integrated into Wordpress.
You can find it here.
Technorati Tags : qumana, wordpress, wysiwyg
Well, with the news about AgfaPhoto, I have to find alternative for Rodinal. I’m going to buy some gallon whenever B&H reopen (don’t you love these Jewish holiday ? It’s impossible to order anything until the 27th on most of NYC photo store ) and I also have Kodak HC-110 … But I might be interested in mixing my own … After all, all I need is p-aminophenol hydrochloride, potassium metabisulfite, sodium hydroxide and water … Should be easy enough 
Well, this is another bad news for all film lovers. Looks like Agfa decided to reject the offer from PhotoMe to takeover their film operation … (more details HERE … I guess this is good news for Ilford and Fuji but it still worry me … I was planning on adding another rather expensive piece of equipment at the end of the year (M7 ? MP ? Make a guess ) but I’m a little unsure at this point. After my trip to Japan I’m getting less and less interested in Digital … I had so much pleasure using my 2 Leica that I can’t think of using something else …
I also have a problem with this news since my main developer is Rodinal … I guess I’ll have to buy one or two gallon … Dang !
I just wanted to share with you an online magazine I’ve just discovered: MakingRoom Magazine. Beautiful portfolio on different theme, slick design. A must read for everybody !
Very interesting column from Mike Johnston at Luminous Landscape ( here) who came up with 10 rules to be a successfull photographer. Definitely worth reading it.
I don’t understand some people. This guy is trying to demonstrate that film is doomed. “Film is dead as sure as the LP is dead.” … Well looks like the guy is malinformed. There is still plenty of new LPs released every day. Is it for everybody ? Of course not. It’s called a niche market and this is probably what is going to happen to film as we know it. Am I going to be able to find black and white film in 20 years ? Yes of course, I have no doubt. Is it going to be Tri-X or Neopan (my 2 favorite films …), probably not. Is it going to be more expensive ? You betcha. Is it a problem ? Well, it depends on your financial situation of course
Why are people so worry about the future of film ? Because they love it so much ? This is understandable but they need to understand that there is still money to be made with film. And as long as there is money to be made, film will exist.
