Terao
Kiloran
Now that I'm finally set up to develop my own B&W I'm going to use this camera a fair bit for purely sentimental reasons (its my father's). Didn't have his to hand this week so used another body - shutter seemed a little off (esp. slow speeds), no idea how aligned the rangefinder was, so I just dove in with some Neopan 1600.
The lens used was the standard Color-Solinar 50mm f/2.8, and the lighting necessitated using it wide open. I ended up pushing the Neopan in development about a stop (lots of variables though as I had no idea how accurate the speeds were). Most of these were nominally shot @ 1/30th.
I'm pleased with how it performs - my father's slides indicate that a good one has an accurate shutter and that the lens is sharp but I was interested to see how it performed with modern film stock.
Here are two shots to compare:
This is taken with the Canon 50mm f/1.2 @ ISO200 on my R-D1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiloran/1419562232/in/set-72157602109405038/
And this was with the Ambi: (overexposed but rescued in post)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiloran/1424435762/
Here's another with the Ambi in low light, just had curves adjustment and de-spotting in post:
Overall I'm pleased with how the Ambi performs, particularly so far out of its comfort zone as it is in these shots. I'm sure its engineers never imagined the possibility of ISO1600 film and 4000dpi film scanners.
It handles really nicely, shutter release is basically a softie already, and it sits nicely in my hands - very easy to hand-hold when out of its ever-ready case.
Expect to see more from me with this camera, I feel its a bit of a sleeping giant. I know the Head Bartender and several others wax lyrical over it but it doesn't seem to get used much by people here. Given that you can pick up a complete outfit for about $150 (35,50,90, & 130mm lenses) its almost the Contax G series of the '50s - a dead proprietary mount that happens to have some pretty good lenses available for next to nothing.
The lens used was the standard Color-Solinar 50mm f/2.8, and the lighting necessitated using it wide open. I ended up pushing the Neopan in development about a stop (lots of variables though as I had no idea how accurate the speeds were). Most of these were nominally shot @ 1/30th.
I'm pleased with how it performs - my father's slides indicate that a good one has an accurate shutter and that the lens is sharp but I was interested to see how it performed with modern film stock.
Here are two shots to compare:
This is taken with the Canon 50mm f/1.2 @ ISO200 on my R-D1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiloran/1419562232/in/set-72157602109405038/
And this was with the Ambi: (overexposed but rescued in post)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiloran/1424435762/
Here's another with the Ambi in low light, just had curves adjustment and de-spotting in post:
Overall I'm pleased with how the Ambi performs, particularly so far out of its comfort zone as it is in these shots. I'm sure its engineers never imagined the possibility of ISO1600 film and 4000dpi film scanners.
It handles really nicely, shutter release is basically a softie already, and it sits nicely in my hands - very easy to hand-hold when out of its ever-ready case.
Expect to see more from me with this camera, I feel its a bit of a sleeping giant. I know the Head Bartender and several others wax lyrical over it but it doesn't seem to get used much by people here. Given that you can pick up a complete outfit for about $150 (35,50,90, & 130mm lenses) its almost the Contax G series of the '50s - a dead proprietary mount that happens to have some pretty good lenses available for next to nothing.
Vince Lupo
Whatever
Yikes -- those are sharp shots! I also have an Ambi-Silette with the 35, 50 and 90mm lenses, but it's been at the repair shop for 7 months and haven't even had a chance to use it since it was purchased. Now that I've seen your shots, I can't wait....thanks for sharing!
R
rpsawin
Guest
Wow...what's not to like? Nice shots.
Bob
Bob