First Roll Hot off the Zorki

[Adam-T]

I had my test Roll developed today From the Zorki 4Ab - I made a fundemental mistake of not pushing enough leader into the spool, the result was that it went way past 35 on the counter - I opened it up (in a darkish room) and saw that it had actually caught somewhere in the middle of the shoot. result - about 10 usable pics, the rest were dead frames which had never been exposed and whited out / fogged due to me opening it .
:bang: .

It was an out of date roll of ASA400 KOdak C41 B&W (I bought a box for emergencies years ago) so no biggie.. I scanned the prints on my crappy Canon LIDE-30 flatbed and have to say that I really like the almost timetravel shots which have resulted - they look as if they were shot in the 1930s !! Who needs a Tardis? . Just shoot an old area of town and make sure there are no Signposts or modern lamp posts in the way

I have the rest of the box of this film and I`m going to have fun shooting "Old" pics with it ;-) I`ve made sure with the next roll that I`ve wound it firmly on the spool before putting the back on even though I`ll lose about 5 frames.. here are a couple of examples - I used my Sekonic L308B flash meter in Ambient mode as my Weston 5 is long since lost ..

You`d not believe these were shot TODAY !! the fogging down the left of the first one is due to the back removal, it was the last usable shot

 

[f8&go]

Time-travel is right, beautiful.

 

[reagan]

Fun, ain't it! Congrats. Shots look good to me; lots better than my first out of the box. Yeah, and I still fumble film leader sometimes. I've dropped my take up spool so many times, I need to put it on a leash. Keep shootin' and enjoy!

 

[Adam-T]

Thanks Folks - I`ll have to use a better method of scanning now that I`ve got it loaded properly (I sold my Minolta Filmscanner in 2002 when I went 100% Digital in my JOb) .. At least my Sekonic Flash meter seems to be doing a good job of mimicking a vintage Weston ;-) and is a lot easier to use (Dial in a Shutter speed and it`ll give you the aperture needed, easy to work out from there) ..

The only weirdies I was coming up against was that I was shooting regularily between 30th sec and 60th - of course, due to 30th being the Sync speed, it`s right across the Dial on the Z4 and 60th is the slowest speed before the "Red Zone" slow shutter speed mech on the dial so can be tricky to select accurately - no probs though, hit it every time..

The Z4 makes as much noise as my F3 (which also has a cloth shutter but also a mirror), nothing like the light metallic click of an R-D1 or Bessa, it`s certainly a very satisfying camera to use, the wind knob wasn`t an issue, neither was the much slammed Zorki Rewind knob.. I`m going to enjoy this..

I`m sure that with "Normal" film (Such as Fuji Superia) the results will be pretty "Boring" and be the same as would have been shot with an F5, F100 or 1V (Or other fancy Press`n`go "Digital" 35mm Film SLR) so I`ll stick to B&W, there`s something magic about it for sure, even with this weird C41 Kodak stock, I used the F3 with Delta when I wanted to shoot B&W anyway but that Technology packed Modern 25yr old Gizmo isn`t near as much fun as the FSU (though pretty idiot proof ;-) .... You can tell that I`ve not used film in anger for years and only shoot Chrome (in the F3) when clients ask for it for slide presentations.

IT`ll really be fun when the "Green Day" Zorki-C Festival I just won on E-Bay arrives, loading film into that old world Bottom loader will be a trial, that`s for sure (nothing like loading an M6 where you don`t have to cut the leader)

 

[Screwy]

Nice looking shots Adam , I have the same problem loading the spool on the 3M , I now take out the spool and make sure the hook on the spool engages one of the frame holes and then load the spool and film ,end of problem 😉 .


You just need a Rondinax 35U now and some dev/fix and your sorted 😀


Paul

 

[oscroft]

At least my Sekonic Flash meter seems to be doing a good job of mimicking a vintage Weston ;-)

I use a Leningrad 8 with my FSU cameras. It works really well (and is surprisingly accurate), seems appropriate, and I love being completely batteryless. And I think it only cost me about £6.

I have the same problem loading the spool on the 3M

I have a similar but different problem with my 3M - the film starts slipping and comes off the sprockets about half way through a roll, so I only get about 18 shots. I suspect the take-up spool is working loose, but I'm not sure what to do about it (other then switch to 24-exp rolls in it ;-)

 

[Adam-T]

Paul - I had an Agfa Daylight developing tank years ago, it was given away but did an excellent Job at the time.. I did the "Rolls out" loading this time ;-) can`t see any problems arising now 🙂 .. Thanks for the comments on the shots - the film is probably a bit "soft" as it`s way out of date too (as well as it`s no proper B&W) but it kinda adds to the vintage look of the pics 😉

How old is the Leningrad Alan?. I`m wary about buying old selenium meters due to the timebomb nature of the Cells.

 

[Xmas]

Adam

Like the shots, you could try a lens hood and yellow filter too.

Noel

 

[Ash]

Very nice shots. I find sometimes a few photo's come out looking like they came from a camera's year of manufacture and it's startling.

 

[oscroft]

How old is the Leningrad Alan?. I`m wary about buying old selenium meters due to the timebomb nature of the Cells.

I'm not sure how old it is, but I think it's a relatively new one. I bought several things from one of the Ukrainian sellers on eBay, including 2 meters - the Leningrad 8 and a Leningrad 2 (and an Industar 61 L/D), figuring that if one of them worked well I'd be happy (he'd advertised them both as "accuracy not guaranteed" and they were cheap). The 2 responds to light but is not accurate, but the 8 is spot on. I was lucky, but that is the gamble you have to take with these old selenium meters.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I'm not sure how old it is, but I think it's a relatively new one. I bought several things from one of the Ukrainian sellers on eBay, including 2 meters - the Leningrad 8 and a Leningrad 2 (and an Industar 61 L/D), figuring that if one of them worked well I'd be happy (he'd advertised them both as "accuracy not guaranteed" and they were cheap). The 2 responds to light but is not accurate, but the 8 is spot on. I was lucky, but that is the gamble you have to take with these old selenium meters.

Buy 'em cheap, crack them apart and clean the contacts if they're not accurate. From what I understand, many just suffer from low current due to dirty contacts. (Speaking of selenium cells in general.)

 

[Adam-T]

If I see a leningrad, I`ll give one a go but the L308B seems to be doing the trick 🙂 ..

Thanks for the kind words Noel and Ash - I`ll have a look about for a yellow filter but I want to try my 28mm CV on it as well as the 90 now I have a Helios finder which sorta covers both (Squint around for 28mm / 85 close to 90 ;-) .. I took the same shot with a Fuji F11 and it`s not the same by any stretch of the imagination even when converted to B&W, it just looks like a photo of the houses taken in 2006 as would if I shot it IN B&W with the RD1 even using the J8 lens ..

I guess it`s the crappy out of date C41 process Kodak B&W film which is doing it but I like the results, another angle of Photography.. I`m halfway through my Second Roll now so we`ll see how that comes out

 

[Xmas]

Adam

Yellow filter might make it look too modern, ortho film from past burnt out the sky even more, than the red sensitive Kodak you are using.

Hood will reduce flare and up the contrast which again may make it look modern, but it is useful in some circumstances, with older lens production standards.

If the bug bites you can process your own, changing bag, plastic tank, ortho film, roll camera, serpia toning, whatever you want.

Enjoy and dont overspend.

Noel

 

[oscroft]

If I see a leningrad, I`ll give one a go

Just noticed MrCad has a Leningrad 4 for £8...
http://www.mrcad.co.uk/shop/product.php?productid=11027&cat=393&page=1

 

[Adam-T]

Thanks Alan - I`ll take a look at that Meter 🙂 .. Noel, I think I`ll keep away from things which will make the images look like they were shot with the R-D1 and converted to B&W - It`s easier doing it with the Actual R-D1 ;-) .. Thanks anyway