Rollei 35 - one year

[petronius]

Red dot cameras can be addictive!

I never thought of that! It makes me proud - I own three!

 

[manusrayus]

red dot !good joke

 

[AgentX]

I can't believe I actually said "indexical nature of photography" in this thread. Must have been my inner 3d year university student speaking out from within.

But I am glad I came back to link to your photos again.

 

[john neal]

Neo,

My compliments on another classic - first one from roll 142 - did you have to work that one as hard as the "glowing road" shot?

BTW - first results from my T are not impressive. Shot a roll of Kodak 5222, but way over exposed (and over developed, but that's another story). I'm trying again....

 

[petronius]

Thank you John; the negative came out right from the scanner. Better estimated exposure, I presume.

Keep on shooting, test different films, my system wasn´t right from the start.
Maybe you find that it is not a camera for you, or not for now, I had my Rollei more than a year before really falling in love with it!

Another story:
Today I came home from a buisness trip with five exposed rolls and two unexposed rolls. I managed to develop the unexposed rolls first! I had every exposed film clearly marked, but took them out of the boxes while talking with my wife and cut the ends round without looking clearly; another developing session tomorrow!

 

[bigeye]

Zeno, I love this one...

Reminds me of a French rendering of film noire -- Melville or Clouzot.

Or, "Annie Hall"

 

[petronius]

Half a year of my Rollei 35 project was over on Sunday.
There were some dark days in January, when the light seemed to be gone forever and I went to work in the dark and came back in the dark and the weekends were filled with heavy snowfall.

Just at the beginning of the new year I bought a Lumix G1 with adapters for my nikon and M39 lenses. It´s not easy to have this camera standing on the shelf and go out to shoot some 1/8-f3,5-pictures, but up to this moment I did only some indoor test shots.

Since the end of January there was even some sunshine and that gave me a new kick, so I´m sure the rest of the year will pass as quick as the first half.

 

[paulfish4570]

Zeno, i think some more "testing" would be in order. we do not have to know about it ... 🙂

 

[luiman]

I just found this thread: too late to discover this beautiful photos and great blog from Petronius!
I'd like to try the Polypan, but I saw that it sells only in 90 meters rolls. I have only 30 m. loader. Could I cut the bulk in three to four pieces to put the film in the loader, without doing damage?
Thanks for informations.

 

[petronius]

Thank you for the kind words about my blog!
In a german forum I read about cutting the 90m roll to fit in a 30m loader. I have no experience with this, because I roll the film from the 90m-roll onto the spools in the dark.

 

[luiman]

Thanks for reporting your experience and linking to the site.
I'd try to roll the film directly in the dark, but I don't feel safe. I will try first to cut the roll.
Good luck with Rollei and Polypan!

 

[Daan]

I'm also using polypan and at first i was reloading the film on to an old spool so i could use it in my 30m bulk loader, but my negatives had lots of tiny spots of emulsion missing. I've switched to rolling the films in the dark directly into the cartridges and the spots are gone.

 

[luiman]

Thanks for the suggestion about the problem of scratches and spots on the film. T
he best solution seems to directly load in the dark, but I doubt the (approximate) length of the film...

 

[Timestep]

Best of luck. It's a great camera. I used one for years as a backup.
I find it wonderful for "Street Photography" in that it is non-threatening, especially in tourist towns. Tri-X at f/16, and a great viewfinder.

 

[petronius]

Thanks for the suggestion about the problem of scratches and spots on the film. T
he best solution seems to directly load in the dark, but I doubt the (approximate) length of the film...

You can get a feeling for the right length very quickly. There are not always 36 frames on a roll, but most of my rolls contain between 30 and 40 frames. That´s close enough for me.

One tip: The polypan is easily damaged by light coming through the cartridge´s slot, because of the clear polyester base. I store the loaded cartridges in dark canisters, load the camera in the shadow and fire four initial frames after loading to avoid light stripes on the first frame.

 

[luiman]

Petronius, thanks again for the tips! Based on what you say, I try to load directly into the cartridge so I can gain experience with it. Anyway, I guess that the first films will be attempts, both for loading and for the development, even though I've seen you've also given valuable tips on the development. Now I just have to order a 90 m roll and starting work ...
__________________

 

[Requin]

Hi Petronius,

I can't find your rollei 35 /polypan blog anymore. Your pictures were so interesting. Where are they now?

requin

 

[roadmouse]

Nice project. Rollei 35 is a great little camera!

 

[shadowfox]

Hi Petronius,

I can't find your rollei 35 /polypan blog anymore. Your pictures were so interesting. Where are they now?

requin

http://rollei35andpolypanf.blogspot.com/

 

[Requin]

Hi shadowfox,

thanks a lot!

requin