Pentax 17 vs Canon Dial 35 - Fight!

It sure is a very handsome camera

Big news. Pentax have just launched their first film camera for a very long time. It’s called the Pentax 17 and it looks awesome. It takes 17mm (hence the name) high shots on 35mm film (that’s half-frame). You can get 72 shots from a single cassette of film. It has automatic exposure, a nifty wind-on lever and lots of shooting modes. The focus is manual (you choose from a number of different zones) but then it does something very clever to put the lens in a position that will maximise sharpness if that is what you want. It has a built-in flash and really looks the business. But I won’t be getting one I’m afraid.

The price is just too high, at nearly 500 pounds. Now, don’t get me wrong, for a brand new camera with this pedigree this is absolutely good value. It would have been very hard for Pentax to launch this thing at a lower price. They will have had to do lots of work on design and tooling just to get the thing out of the door. If you are the kind of person who wants to have a proper warranty and ongoing support for your film cameras this is for you. If it breaks you’ll be able to make it someone else’s problem.

However, I’m not quite like that. I prefer to get super-cheap old cameras and then see what I can do with them. For the price of a Pentax 17 you could get lots of Chaika, Olympus Pen, and Canon Dial 35 devices. And some of them might even work.

A dial and a dial

At the time of writing ebay are showing a few Canon Dial 35 devices for quite a bit less than a Pentax. I managed to pick up a fully working model and the pictures it takes are just lovely.

The university in fine fettle

The Dial 35 is manual focus and auto exposure - like the Pentax 17. It also has a very neat little clockwork winding motor. And it looks like something from both the past and the future. If you have the cash, absolutely get the Pentax. If you haven’t or want to have a more interesting journey, then I reckon you should lurk around eBay until a cheap Canon Dial 35 comes around.

Fixing Radioactive Pentax Lenses

It got a bit dusty in the two days it was under the light

Back in the day, if you wanted to add a bit of zing to the rear element of your camera lenses, dropping some Thorium into the glass mix was the thing to do. Never mind that Thorium is radioactive, it changes the refractive index of the glass and improve sharpness. However, after a few years the Thorium in the glass undergoes radioactive decay, causing it to change colour and give pictures a distinct yellow tinge. I noticed this in some pictures I took a while back. And for the last few days I’ve been doing something about it.

For the last three days or so I’ve been shining an Ikea led lamp onto the lens. This lamp apparently gives out a fairly bit of ultraviolet light which triggers another stage in the radioactive decay process and causes the Thorium to turn transparent again. I think it has made a difference, but I’ll need to take some more colour pictures to find out properly.

Camera Comedy Capers

I’ve started the images with the one that worked properly

It was a nice afternoon. So I suggested that we take a big 4x5 large format camera over to the Humber Bridge and take some pictures. And have an ice cream. So we did.

It didn’t go that smoothly. We had trouble fitting the film magazines onto the back of the camera because I’d forgotten how the fixings worked, and then I managed to take not just two, but three pictures on the same frame.

This would probably have worked if my shirt had kept out of the picture.

The capers didn’t end when we got home. I managed to load two frames into one side of the film holder in the developer tank, leading to some partial development and really interesting coloured marks on the negative.

I think the camera got shifted when we put the film in. We really should have both towers in the picture.

Oh well. At least the ice-cream was nice.

Enter the Bolex

It does look good though

I’ve found a way of making photography even more expensive and difficult. I’ve bought another movie camera. This time it is a Bolex H16. My particular model was made around 1950. It’s clockwork and came with three lenses. Two of which work.

All I need to do is undoo that screw in the middle

The camera uses “double perforation” 16mm film which goes from the top spool to the bottom one. The perforations are there so that the camera mechanism can pull the film down one frame at a time in the film gate. A little pin or “claw” moves up and down grabbing each perforation, holding it still while the camera takes a picture on it and then moving on to the next frame. The original 16mm film had perforations on both sides, but later versions did away with the second perforation to make more room for the image. Single perforation “Super 8” cameras, made from the late 1950’s are more desirable because this film is much more common. Double perforation film seems to be only available in the ‘states.

You can convert a “double perforation” camera into a “single perforation” one by getting rid of the little spikes on one side of the wheels that pull the film into the camera. I might have a go at doing this, but first I want to run a film through the camera to prove that it works properly. I can wind it up and press the trigger and everything moves and makes a very satisfying “movie camera” sound, but I really need a bit more than that. So, now the hunt is on for some suitable film.

Minox Cameras and "The Exchange" in HackSpace Magazine

I meant to mention this earlier, but I’ve been too busy having fun. The June issue of HackSpace magazine is out and contains a couple of my articles. The first is about Minox photography and how you can use 3D printing to bring an old camera back into use. The second is all about “The Exchange”, a Raspberry Pi powered AI backend for the red telephone.

Not Quite so Failed Filming

I’ve inverted the image because it is a negative

I took another look at the failed film that I developed yesterday. It turns out that if you shine a really bright light through the film you can see a kind of image. What you can see above is a car on the bottom right of each frame parked in street that is going away from the camera, some trees along the top of the frame and some buildings down the left hand side. Admittedly it is hard to spot these details but I have managed to convince myself that the pictures are there and that the camera is working as it should. I’ve also convinced myself that developing your own cine film at home is a stupid idea.

So the next step is to save up some pennies (or sell a camera) to afford a proper cartridge of film and developing.

Pentax Developing on Father's Day

Hull Tidal Barrier

Humber Street

Spent a very happy Father’s Day morning developing some pictures we took up town yesterday using the very heavy Pentax 67. I’m not too unhappy with the results.

Failed Filming

I think the date on the film is 1980

The plan was simple. Take some footage with the Bolex 150 Super 8 camera and then develop it to see if we can see anything. Above you can see the Super 8 cartridge that came with the camera. It would normally be sent back to Kodak for processing (which was included in the price) but I don’t think they are still providing the service. So put the film in a dark bag, pulled out the length we had exposed and then popped it into a developing tank.

Getting into movies is turning out harder than I expected

Turns out that 40 year old colour film developed in black and white chemistry doesn’t do anything useful. I was hoping for at least some evidence of an image that I could use to check if the Bolex 150 was working correctly. I think we are going to have to bite the bullet and order a cassette of film.

"Fixing" a Bolex 150 Super 8 Camera with a flick of the wrist

The camera I bought on Monday arrived today. It’s beautifully made of very solid metal and is around fifty years old. I optimistically popped some batteries in it and pressed the trigger to start making movies. Nothing happened. Not terribly surprising. We did some tests and managed to prove that the batteries were connected and supplying power. The drive motor in the camera (the thing that pushes the film through it) is mounted in the camera handle and quite easy to get to. So we took the handle off and had a look.

It turns out that all we had to do was slightly turn the motor shaft and the camera sprang to life. However it failed again later. It turns out that there is a “dead spot” on the motor shaft. If it stops in that position the motor gets stuck. This might be due to a faulty coil in the motor, or a bit of dirt on the commutator (the shiny ring around the motor shaft which transmits power into the motor). We’ve cleaned things up a bit and the camera mostly works a treat, but it still gets stuck every now and then, which is a bit sad. However, we’ve found a solution. All you have to do is hold the camera in your hand and give it a “flick” on the motor axis. This jogs the motor shaft slightly, getting it into a working position.

With that that proviso, we now have a working camera. Even the light meter is responding correctly. The camera came with some very old film which we are going to try putting through it.

Film for Travelling

I was in the wonderful WEX shop in Leeds today stocking up on film. I’m off on my travels soon and I want some good stuff to record things on. I ended up buying Ilford HP5. The thinking is that it is just fast enough to take pictures inside without a flash and just slow enough to take pictures outside in the daylight.

We’ll see how it goes.

Lomomatic 110 Camera with Purple Film

I’m not sure ifyou should buy a camera just becuase of its looks. But then again…

The Lomomatic 110 camera is the first completely new 110 film camera to be made for a while. Lomography (who specialise in interesting cameras) released it a little while back. It’s a rather expensive alternative to a cheap second hand 110 camera, but it does have a ton of style. It also has a proper electronic shutter and a glass lens with adjustable focus - which are not things you usually find on a 110 camera. Of course, I got my hands on one and loaded it up with Lomo Purple film. It’s a fun camera to use. You wind it on by opening and closing the body and you can also attach the cutest little flash gun to the side. It is very plasticy though and I found the shutter button a bit fiddly to press (best to use a fingernail and press it with that). The 110 film has tiny negatives, but I wasn’t too unhappy with the level of detail.

This is not how I remember Dalby forsest looking…

Should have held the camera horizontal

I think the camera shake adds a lot to this one…

The camera didn’t get the colours wrong, that’s down to the awesome film. But it did get the exposure and the focus mostly right. The only times things went wrong were when I forgot to adjust a setting. I took some pictures of people and they came out sharp and snappy, but with weird colours which added a lot to the atmosphere.

It’s a nice enough camera, very stylish and beautifully presented. I’m not sure I’d advise anyone other than a camera nerd to get one though. Probably better to pick up a cheap second-hand 110 camera if you want to try the format, or perhaps a Pentax Auto 110 (which is an awesome tiny SLR camera of which more later).

What I would advise you to do though is pick up some of the funky Lomographic 110 films. They are available at quite appealing prices in 110 format and you can get them developed at around the same cost as a 35mm film. I’m presently trying the “turquoise” film (which seems to turn people cyan). I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

I am an idiot

This one is almost artistic

A while back I made the mistake of sending the same film through the camera twice. At the time I vowed never to do that again. Well, that worked. Above you can see the results of doing it again...

The first pass was with a Canon Dial 35 and the second with a Canon AE-1. While it saves me a bit in film it has the disadvantage of leaving me with lots of unusable pictures.

Dial Tulips

I took this picture with my little Canon Dial 35 half frame camera. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.

Radioactive Lenses

Some of the lenses in my cameras are radioactive. Not in a particularly dangerous way, although if you managed to swallow one or left it in your underpants for several weeks it might not do you much good. As the radioactive elements decay they turn yellow, which means that some of my pictures have a yellow/gold tinge that I don’t really mind that much. It gives pictures taken in Hull a nice “French Riviera” look. The solution, when I get around to it, is to shine a bright UV light on the lens and speed up the decay process and turn the yellow white again.

Don't let me go to West Yorkshire Cameras in Leeds...

Hmm. What to do…

…because if I do, I’ll buy something. Today it was a lens. But it did allow me to capture the above tense moment in a hard fought game of Pokémon.

Converting Polaroid Land Cameras: Step 1

After the first part of the operation

We had a lot of fun today drilling and sawing. We’re following these instructions to convert some Polaroid Land cameras from very old Polaroid film which is no longer made to 5x4 and Fuji Instax. The procedure is simple enough, although you do need to be careful when using the drill (and it is best if you have sharp drills). You have to remove the back of the camera, along with a pressure plate assembly which used to squeeze the chemicals onto the photographs. You then add a 3D printed back plate along with a film holder.

We need to tidy up the tape we added to make the camera light tight against the 3D printed back.

We’ve got the back off the camera, adjusted the camera focus and fitted the new back. The next step is to change the “infinity stop” on the front of the camera so that it will focus at the correct place for the Instax Film holder we are using.

Rule 1: Point the camera in the right direction..

This is actually of a group of people

Photography is hard. First you have to set the lens aperture and shutter speed. Then finally, you have to point the camera in the right direction. Took some pictures today using a camera which uses a “sports viewfinder” which is just a wire frame you look through in the right direction. I looked in the wrong direction and we now have a bunch of tree pictures we weren’t expecting….

May the Fourth be with you

You can even see me in this picture if you look carefully enough….

Up town today to take some pictures at a local “May the Fourth” Star Wars event. It was great fun. Lots of bits and bobs for sale and loads of people in character. I was using Ilford HP5 film which is fast and gives a really nice grainy effect.

You talking to me?

Yet more Canon Dial mending

New dial and its inspiration

Over the weekend I bought yet another Canon Dial from those lovely folks at West Yorkshire Cameras. It was sold as “broken” from their outlet store. They handed it to me and then gave me a plastic bag holding the side rubbers which had been removed as part of an attempted repair.

I’ve been playing with it and It now works fine. All I had to do was remove the winder and free off the gears inside and add the tiniest amount of oil. Then I stuck the rubbers back on. Joy of joys, the meter works! I’m not sure what it is about these cameras that I like so much, but I’ve now got a couple that I can use which is nice.

Fun with colour film

Local Blossom

Took a colour film in to be processed today. I like doing this. It is a bit pricy I suppose, but it is my hobby, so there. And apparently you can spend an awful lot of money on golf clubs (not to mention course fees) - so there’s that. Anyhoo, they came out pretty well.

Just some trees

Hull University Wilberforce building artwork

University library looking good in the rain

These pictures are from scans that I got when the film was processed. I think they look pretty good, although the physical prints look even nicer. They aren’t particularly high resolution but I’ve found it pretty much impossible to make better ones with my own scanner.