First ever roll - Zorki 4 w/ J-8

[Kier]

Well, I got my first ever roll of film back yesterday! And already I can't wait to shoot some more!

Thought I'd share some of the shots, hopefully get a little feedback? Good or bad, it's all good feedback if it's constructive!

They were taken with a Zorki 4 and a Jupiter 8, which is my first camera (other than a Lumix FX-12 anyway...), and I'm really liking shooting with it so far! A whole new world to me, but one I plan to stay in 😉
I also used a Leningrad 4 to help me with exposure, but it seems next to useless indoors and anything but daylight...

Film was Ilford HP5+, and was processed and scanned by a local store called Photographique ; I haven't tried any post-processing yet, so these are straight scans..

I'm just happy to know that the camera is working, but it seems like a nice sharp lens to me! The best investment I've made since my guitar!

 

[batterytypehah!]

Very nice results! Your focus is spot-on, you have a steady hand in those lower-light shots, and an eye for composition. I like the last shot best. Nice depth of field. What's that, about f/11 at 1/60?

The Zorki and J-8 also seem to be excellent performers.

 

[oftheherd]

Welcome to the forums.

Glad you are enjoying you "new" camera. Your shots look good. I especially liked numbers 3 & 4. I like the bird you caught in number 3, and the tunnel of number 4. Hope to see more of your shots.

 

[paulfish4570]

You've got a good kit there, as well as a good lab. You also have an eye for light. Go where the light draws you; a photo will be in there somewhere ...

 

[denmark.yuzon]

Great photos!!

 

[Kier]

Thanks for the welcome and the kind words!

Focussing and framing through the vf/rf is also new to me and takes me a while, but i'm in no rush and i'm sure i'll get better with time and practise - i cut my friends' heads out of one of my shots while holding the camera sideways!

It was actually quite bright that day - that last shot was 1/250 and in-between f/11 and f/8 (closer to f/8, I made the effort with this roll to take some notes!)

I was pretty surprised by this one actually... it was very dark inside this tunnel (could hardly see the markings on the camera's dials) and so it was somewhere around f/2.8 and either 1/15 or 1/8, but I think it was 1/8 looking in the daylight afterwards?

This is from the outside of the tunnel :

Here's another one from along the Bristol & Bath Railway Path :

 

[payasam]

Good lens, good film processing. Besides, you clearly know how to compose photos. The viewfinder is sort of accurate at great distances, but close up you must reframe knowing that some of the top and left edges will be cut off (when the camera is horizontal).

 

[fidget]

Congrat's on your new camera. The pics look good, good even exposure. You are off to a good start, I look forward to seeing more of your work. Maybe you will be tempted to dev your own B&W?

Dave..

 

[batterytypehah!]

I find the Zorki 4 has a terrible finder. Hopeless with glasses, which I wear, not very good without them. I haven't shot the camera yet but I know accurate framing will be next to impossible.

 

[konicaman]

Hi Kier

Nice to have you here. Great shots - keep up the good work!
The Leningrad is a great little meter - in day light - as you have discovered. I use mine a lot because of its small size and light weight. Shooting in low light, you'll need a Cds based meter (as opposed to the Leningrads selenium/solar cell). Some of the old Gossen meters can be found at reasonable prices. Most of them require the no longer available mercury cells, but Gossen has made a adapter for silver cells.

 

[burgosburgos]

Hi Kier,

Nice shots - very interesting for me in particular as not only do I also have a Zorki4k/J8 combo but I grew up in Saltford and Keynsham so recognise a lot of the places!

Finding the VF very tricky and have beheaded quite a few with it so far as well.

Cheers and good luck,

bb

 

[Kier]

Thanks again for everyones' kind input! Good for the confidence 🙂

I do plan to start developing at home when I get some money - paying so much and then waiting 7-10 days isn't very fun nor good for my wallet!
Are their any good resources to read up about it?

I'm looking into getting a cds meter on a budget as well - most of them seem to go for more than I paid for my camera!

I should be getting my second roll (HP5 again) back before Friday - had a little accident with this one that hopefully won't cause too much damage! Basically, when I was re-rewinding the film it seemed to have gotten stiff, and with my lack of experience I thought maybe it was done re-winding... and the horrible sight of opening the back and seeing the film still there shocked me so I closed it back quickly and re-wound what was left 🙁

How much damage would that usually cause? or is it something I'll have to wait and see? 🙁

I've got a roll of colour Ektar 100 to try next though!

How is the 4k and the lever-wind bb? I'd love to see some of your photos! Bristol seems like a nice place to shoot so far, but I'd love go further out with the Zorki!

 

[batterytypehah!]

I do plan to start developing at home when I get some money - paying so much and then waiting 7-10 days isn't very fun nor good for my wallet!
Are their any good resources to read up about it?

The Darkroom forum (or "Darkoom" as the sidebar persistently spells it...) right here is a good start. There's a lot of previous "I'm just getting into this" threads. Keep an eye out for developing tanks and such at flea markets, boot sales, whatever you call 'em over there 😀 but it's not a big investment even if you buy new. I wouldn't trust a used changing bag, though.

I should be getting my second roll (HP5 again) back before Friday - had a little accident with this one that hopefully won't cause too much damage! Basically, when I was re-rewinding the film it seemed to have gotten stiff, and with my lack of experience I thought maybe it was done re-winding... and the horrible sight of opening the back and seeing the film still there shocked me so I closed it back quickly and re-wound what was left 🙁

How much damage would that usually cause? or is it something I'll have to wait and see? 🙁

Well, the exposed part of the film is ruined, plain and simple. Obviously, the part inside the cartridge at that moment is safe. The part on the take-up spool could be salvageable, particularly a few windings down from the exposed surface. Don't hold your breath though, with 400 film the damage could reach down a bit.

 

[julio1fer]

Ilford has some documents in its Web site, www.ilfordphoto.com

Their B&W developing primer is quite useful. You have to get to page 8 before advertising ends, but it is a fair deal. Of course they refer to Ilford products all the time.

 

[wolves3012]

I'm looking into getting a cds meter on a budget as well - most of them seem to go for more than I paid for my camera!

Probably still cost you more than the camera but if you can find one in the UK I can recommend the Sverdlovsk 4. Not the quickest to use but very useful and a semi-spotmeter too. They rarely come up on fleabay in the UK, sadly. The Gossens have a good name, though they are not Russian!

By the way, welcome to RFF and keep up the work, nice shots in B&W. The ability to "see" in B&W is a struggle for me, I'm envious!

 

[burgosburgos]

Kier,

I've only ever had 35mm cameras with lever wind so I suppose I don't appreciate that part of the 4k. I'm currently suffering with a jammed shutter speed selector and a mystery light leak so its not getting a lot of action at present. Great fun to shoot with though and always attracts comment (sometimes complimentary too!!)

I'll post a few shots from my first couple of rolls when I get my scanner set up sorted. Unfortunately I left the Bristol area almost 20 years ago now but its a lovely city (Bath wrongly overshadows it in photogenic reputation) and I'd love my job to relocate me back there one day. Here's hoping...

Good luck - and get home developing asap - it completes the craft.

Cheers,
bb

 

[bobby_novatron]

Kier -- congrats on your Zorki! I agree with everyone else, nice photos for a "beginner"! You definitely have an eye for composition. Keep it up!

I also encourage you to get into your own B&W developing. It's ridiculously easy. Like you mentioned, why wait 7-10 days turnaround for your processing when you can do it at home in 30-40 minutes? The cost is also very reasonable to do it yourself.

There's lots of good info that people have already mentioned. You might also want to look at this site ... it's pretty basic, but it gives you a concise idea of what's involved:

http://chromogenic.net/develop

also, this is a great resource for developer / film combinations:

http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php

You select your film & developer from the left-side drop-down menus, then read the chart for temps & developing times.

Once you've got a good taste of doing B&W yourself, you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner.

Also, it's only a small step from B&W to do your own COLOUR (c-41) film at home! 🙂

 

[Kier]

Picked up my photos today, and the results aren't too bad I guess...
Judging from my memory of the shots I took, around 6 have been destroyed (section of the film is completely black), and just 1 photo had damage with a part of the shot being white :

Here are some that I quite liked though :

This one I've tried a crop:

This one is also a crop I've tried from the one below it:

And I think I have a couple that fit into the competition so I'll enter those into the gallery in a second 🙂

After my last post, I actually "won" a Jessops cds meter off ebay for a grand total of £5.90, which still has the original 1.35v mercury battery that seems to test good! I'll be using it with my next roll and see how they turn out.

Thanks for all the encouragement to develop at home - I'm definitely going to be at some point, I just have to sort my finances out as I'm currently income-less 🙁

One thing I've wondered about developing though, is that all the guides I've read don't mention temperatures at all, whereas the temperature surely changes developing times no? How would you control/monitor the temperature?

 

[batterytypehah!]

Great shots. My favorites are the crane and the uncropped version of the last one, actually.

One thing I've wondered about developing though, is that all the guides I've read don't mention temperatures at all, whereas the temperature surely changes developing times no? How would you control/monitor the temperature?

It matters a great deal, and should have been mentioned somewhere in what you read. For B&W the recommended temp is usually 20 C / 68 F. There are conversion tables such as this one http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php?doc=timetemp

Which is a good thing for our forum members in hotter climates. For people like you and me it's rarely a problem to get 20 C water from a tap.

 

[mindcircus]

One thing I've wondered about developing though, is that all the guides I've read don't mention temperatures at all, whereas the temperature surely changes developing times no? How would you control/monitor the temperature?

You are right, developing times depend on temperature. 20 Celsius degrees is the most common temperature, that's why it is usually not mentioned. You can find times either in the developer's datasheet or in http://www.digitaltruth.com/devchart.php. What is usually not obvious though is the agitation frequency.

You can monitor temperature using a thermometer 😉. You can find it easily and cheaply in photography shops that sell darkroom equipment. It should cost a couple of dollars as far as I remember.

In order to control temperature you can put warm/cold water in a bucket and put in it the bottle with your chemicals until they reach the desired value.

Edit: Sorry batterytypehah!, I didn't read your post.