Leica IIIf in Antelope Canyon

[monemmer]

A couple of weeks ago we went on a road trip to northern Arizona, and finally, we got to see Antelope Canyon. I only took manual gear (a Leica IIIf with a Canon 50/1.8 and a Jupiter 12, and my Mamiya C220 outfit). Our guide commented "Hey, the dinosaurs are here".

Here are some shots that I took with the Leica with the Canon 50/.18 on Velvia 100:







See http://www.flickr.com/photos/wakingsky/sets/72157623391604177/ for some more shots and larger versions of the scans. I do not have a cable release for the IIIf, so the shots are not as tack sharp as I wished, since I had to hold down the shutter release with my finger for the whole exposure.

- Markus

(edited on 3/5/10, I uploaded better scans to flickr and this post was showing errors from flickr)

 

[brainwood]

wonderful shots. The first and second ones are fantastic exposure is spot on, I really like the blocked out shadow areas. That's one nice dinosaur you have there

 

[newspaperguy]

Great job. Were you estimating or using a meter?

(...and the inevitable question: what kind?)

 

[monemmer]

Great job. Were you estimating or using a meter?

(...and the inevitable question: what kind?)

Thanks! I am using a Gossen Luna Pro that I converted to silver oxide batteries. It can measure down to pretty low light values, just what one needs in Antelope Canyon. Since I could not really see my watch very well in the darker parts of the canyon, I counted off the seconds for the long exposures (one Mississippi, etc).

- Markus

 

[monemmer]

I should also say that a rangefinder is really not well suited for photographing in Antelope Canyon. In fact, it was a real pain to set up these shots, since the first two are with the camera on a tripod and pointing straight up. A TLR works a lot better in there, since you can easily see the viewfinder when the camera is pointed upward.

This was the first time shooting slide film with my IIIf, and I am quite happy with the results. Mostly, the exposures were pretty much spot on. In some cases I wished I had the spot metering attachment for the Luna Pro.

 

[bigeye]

I apologize, but I burst out laughing as I scrolled through your shots. You might as well have said, "taken with my 110 Instamatic." Primeval, man.

They are great shots on their own, that they were made by a dinosaur makes them that much more a success.

- Charlie

 

[wolves3012]

Stunning shots, especially the second! Regarding the exposure, surely a meter won't be that much help in such low light? Reciprocity failure is a certainty. I've tried near-dark with transparency film before and bracketed for safety. There was little difference between (say) 15 and 30 seconds.

 

[monemmer]

Stunning shots, especially the second! Regarding the exposure, surely a meter won't be that much help in such low light? Reciprocity failure is a certainty. I've tried near-dark with transparency film before and bracketed for safety. There was little difference between (say) 15 and 30 seconds.

Thanks!

As to reciprocity failure, according to the datasheet for Fuji Velvia 100, there is none if the exposure time is less or equal one minute. All my exposures were in the 15 to 30 second range, so I did not take reciprocity into account.

I took a lot more pictures on 120 format slide film and bracketed. There was a small but noticeable difference between the different bracketed shots which were about 1/2 stop different. In Antelope Canyon you basically trade some more blown out highlights for a marginal decrease in density in the darker areas.

 

[monemmer]

I apologize, but I burst out laughing as I scrolled through your shots. You might as well have said, "taken with my 110 Instamatic." Primeval, man.

They are great shots on their own, that they were made by a dinosaur makes them that much more a success.

- Charlie

If I had just known that they make Velvia in 110 format 🙂

 

[charjohncarter]

Wonderful, another vote for slide film and in particular Velvia. It makes me want to load some in my IIIf. Looks like a difficult metering situation, tell us. Was it just reflective metering, it looks like that is all you could do?

 

[monemmer]

Looks like a difficult metering situation, tell us. Was it just reflective metering, it looks like that is all you could do?

Yes, I just took a reflective reading. The hard part was then reading that off the meter. It helped that my Canon 50/1.8 is the chrome version which made it easier to set the aperture. Looking at the slide directly on my light box with a loupe, I seem to have managed not to blow out the highlights, although you cannot quite see that in the scans.

It was very gratifying to get these slides back in the mail. Shooting B&W is one thing, but getting slide film exposed o.k. with 60 year old camera is another.

 

[Steve M.]

Perfect. Just beautiful.

 

[beyond]

Beautiful shots there.

 

[David Murphy]

Very, very nice - vintage, but powerful gear in the right hands (yours)