Rolleiflex 2.8 handheld with slow shutter speeds =) Ektar 100@400

[wharris]

Just wanted to share how cool it was to actually try out the leaf shutter concept of the rolleiflex.. its kinda hard to believe that you can still handhold something at 1/30th and still get awesome photos =) for these I used Kodaks Ektar 100 pushed to 400 =) another tip i picked up from my research that a film shouldn't be used at its rated speed.. either way just thought i would share some photos with the group =) CC if you like =)

[R.Gould]

Very Nice, as regards handholding, I often hand hold my Rolleiflex down to an 8, same with most of my other old leaf shutter cameras, with out the vibration from a FP shutter, or the clunk of a mirror, (The only reflex cameras I use are my TLR's) it is easy to hold at lower speeds, the only exception to this is my ensign 820, which is to big and heavy,

[T-grain]

thanks for sharing this-I just discovered another dimension of the beloved Ektar-it just looks like Kodachrome-like to me!
was this tungsten lighting? did you develop in a tank?

[Dan Daniel]

Nice shots. Can you say more about the images, not the tech? The soldiers (?) come across as prisoners.

[wharris]

thanks for sharing this-I just discovered another dimension of the beloved Ektar-it just looks like Kodachrome-like to me! was this tungsten lighting? did you develop in a tank?

To be honest this is the first time shooting it =) For the most part i shoot BW but have been fallin for color lately =) the set up was rather easy, had a spot meter that gave me 1/30 at 2.8 and shoot the photos with those settings, as far as developing I used Tetenal's C-41 Press Kit. Being deployed those are the only chems I am able to get sent to me. everything was developed in a metal tank and scanned using epson's v500 with their software. the only major adjustments where to lower the contrast. other then that the photos were straight from the negatives =) To be honest Im not the most technical person when it comes to developing, I went with my gut and trusted that kodak wouldn't sell something if it wasn't meant to be pushed to its limits =) Ill have to check on the lighting but from what I can tell we have regular flood lights and I believe they're daylight, but as you can tell I didn't pay to much attention to it from what Ive gathered film tends to fix most of my white balance issues =) Then again I am new to color film so I dont know =) Hope this answers your questions, sorry like I said, for most of my developing and shooting I usually go with my Gut =) one thing that i did notice was that for there not being that much light the film did retain detail in the shadows although the highlights did lose a bit I think it did really well. I would just recommend lowering the blacks as it tends to kill the balance between the highlights and shadows =)

[wharris]

Nice shots. Can you say more about the images, not the tech? The soldiers (?) come across as prisoners.

Well Ive been trying to tell more of a story with my photos lately. When I saw the fence my first thought was this would be cool to use in some photos. so i started to think what a fence represents. A fence keeps you from something, and for us this deployment keeps us from home. Personally I long to go home and be with my loved ones. Being away you cannot help but start to miss all sorts of things. For me I miss the simple dates I have with my wife, or waking up on the weekends to her making coffee, something we might pass off as daily tasks all of a sudden becomes priceless moments. So one can say we have become prisoners to a greater good if you will. We sacrifice a year of our lives to serve something bigger then ourselves. we confine ourselves to one location so that others can break from from their own prisons. There were tons of thoughts that ran through my mind while photographing these photos. to be honest its a complicated mess trying to describe them in a story format =)

[one90guy]

I think your off to a good start with color. And thank you for your service, be safe and come home to the family. I also know what your talking about missing the simple things. I did mine long ago in Nam.

[wharris]

I think your off to a good start with color. And thank you for your service, be safe and come home to the family. I also know what your talking about missing the simple things. I did mine long ago in Nam.

Well thank you for your service when you serviced =) Im taking another roll and going to try some flash photographer and see how it performs under those circumstances. If anyone can point me out where to get more info for how to use flash with film I would appreciate it =) im horrible at it lol

[Dan Daniel]

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera." -Lewis Hine

Good portraits. Complex, complicated. Lots going on. Keep going.

And I hope that you and all your comrades can soon wake up in your own bed.

[Toffle]

I agree that 1/30 is not particularly slow for a TLR... I try to stay at 1/15 or above, but with the camera in a good position against my chest, I have gotten usable shots at slow speeds.

Ektar at 400 as you have it here really does look reminiscent of the early Jack Delano War Dept. chromes.
Very nice story telling.