Lens and camera choice for a given situation when you're not sure.

Ah, these vexing issues. That's why I got myself this:

contaxzing2.jpg


This, plus a few rolls of ISO 400/800 film (and, if I insist on getting fancy, a pocket slave-flash), and I'm usually ready for those moment's-notice things, especially where and when dragging along something bigger might get me the evil eye.

In your case, I like Joe's idea best: slap something wide on your body of choice (I'd go with a 28), then slip a 50 in one jacket pocket, some film in another, and don't sweat anything else. RF lenses are small, unless you insist on crazy-silly-fast stuff like a 35 f/1.2. Go smaller and (slightly) slower, and you can pack that second lens without a lot of hoodoo.

Oh, yeah: we want pictures. Got that? 😀


- Barrett
 
Al Kaplan said:
Keith, have you tried developimg the Neopan in Dektol? Play around with developing at 85f in Dektol, then putting it in some 55f stop? You might not get "grain" but the reticulation should look cool.
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Cafenol gives interesting results ... I've developed 400 black and white with it previously and liked the way it worked with HP5. It boosted the grain and gave the images a very different look.
 
Keith,
I'm thinking the lights are out so it might be dimly lit. That presents two thoughts - (three actually).
An SLR viewfinder is not as good as the Bessa in poor light.
You need a fairly fast film - maybe boost HP5 to 800 if that's what you've got, or even Neopan 400 should get a bit grainy if pushed.
You need a fairly fast (and wide) lens.

I think I'd be packing my R4A, the 25/2.5 and the 40/1.4 that's usually on my R3A - or alternatively take the R3A with those lenses but put the supplementary 25mm viewfinder on it for the WA shots.

As for closeups, you can always enlarge a section of a negative but if the conditions are cramped then you'll need a 25 or 28mm. I don't think 35mm will cut it if my memories of old gaols (jails) are correct.
 
This is looking more promising ... my friend Adrian has just rung to let me know that after we get the formwork for the footings in place (which shouldn't take too long) they can't pour the concrete until 2pm that afternoon when the engineer arrives to sign a form saying it's all up to scratch!

Adrian has to go to a meeting in town for another potential project at around 11am and will be gone until about 1pm so I'll have a couple of hours too kill at the site and he's suggested I might be able to spend that time in prison ... so to speak! 😛

He's going to try and tee it up with the site supervisor for me when we get there tomorrow ... here's hoping! 🙂
 
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Dear Keith,

Sounds like good news!

I'd put an ultrawide on the camera -- 21, 18 or 15 -- with a 'standard' 35 in my pocket. As others say, how long does it take to change a lens?

Cheers,

R.
 
OM with 24 and a fast 50 in your pocket, plus several rolls of film. Push the film to 1600 if you have to - grain won't matter in that context. Have fun!
 
Hi all, I'm a long-time lurker and a first time poster.

First of all, I must say that I'm extremely jealous Keith! I go past the Boggo Road Prison everyday on the way to university and have always wondered what it would be like to go inside. I suspect it would have an incredible atmosphere inside, very eerie and a bit creepy - a perfect place to take some amazing pictures.

As for lens choices - I think a 50mm plus either a 24mm/28mm would make a good kit. Regardless of which lenses and camera you choose, I'm sure you'll have an incredible time!
 
Keith said:
There is currently an urban development going on around it with the usual yuppified trendy village theme happening 🙄
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Hey, that's my (future) workplace you're talking about Keith! 😛 All of us scientist types are getting moved out of Long Pocket and into Boggo Road where we belong... It won't be for over a year yet, but hardly anyone is keen on the move. Our present facilities are a little tired, but it's such a pleasant location... and most of us have our own rooms, even lowly technicians like me. Nothing but open-plan shared offices at the new joint.

Anyhow, sounds like you've got a great opportunity to get inside and poke around! I was there for a site meeting a year or so ago and skived off to have a look at the (outside) of the old section.

 
A couple of hours inside? That means you have time for a tripod.

Myself, I love/hate tripods. Cumbersome and a pita, but they do have a significant impact on the results. If you were to put the Hasselblad or even the Bronica on a tripod, and shoot 35mm handheld, ...

Can you imagine the large prints?
 
Wayno said:
Hey, that's my (future) workplace you're talking about Keith! 😛 All of us scientist types are getting moved out of Long Pocket and into Boggo Road where we belong... It won't be for over a year yet, but hardly anyone is keen on the move. Our present facilities are a little tired, but it's such a pleasant location... and most of us have our own rooms, even lowly technicians like me. Nothing but open-plan shared offices at the new joint.

Anyhow, sounds like you've got a great opportunity to get inside and poke around! I was there for a site meeting a year or so ago and skived off to have a look at the (outside) of the old section.

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That pic reminds me ... I read recently that when it was changed from a women's to a men's prison a long time ago, someone had to climb up a ladder and block out the 'WO' with morter! 😛
 
I think a solid option would be to load up the car boot with a few different groupings of kit, so you can choose on site depending on what situation you find yourself in. If you have loads of time and complete freedom of movement, go with the Hassy and a tripod. If you have a short amount of time but complete freedom of movement, go with something like your bessa and 35 1.2. If you have plenty of time but restricted movement, i would go with a wide angle on one body and a tele on the other, and if you are restricted in time and movement, I would consider a *shudder* fast zoom lens.
 
This was the day from hell ... I never want to spend a whole day at a major construction site again ... ever in my life! 😛

Everything that possibly could go wrong went wrong and to top it off at around midday I stepped backwards into a two meter deep foundation hole ... I thought I had broken my leg and almost passed out from the pain ... but no I'm just badly bruised luckily ... sheesh!

I managed to get into the prison some time later (briefly) and into one of the cell blocks for around ten minutes ... total! Two of the site construction workers trailed us in as they had asked the favour also but were a complete pain in the arse ... they had no appreciation at all of what I was trying to do and how little time I had to achieve it.

I only got off one roll of Neopan 400 with the OM-1 and Zuiko 35mm f2 and it was the right choice of lens ... I think (hope) I got at least a couple of gems in amongst the mayhem of trying to keep these clowns out of my shots and ignore their inane remarks!

And my leg hurts like hell! 🙁
 
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I recommend a p&s to accompany whatever you decide. I visited an especially grim prison (to get my car detailed a few times, and for business a few times) in Mississippi, called Parchman. It's possibly the worst penitentiary (also a workfarm) in the US, worse than Angola. People have been known to kill themselves upon being caught/accused/convicted of crimes in Mississippi just to not go to Parchman; there's a high percentage of the population that is HIV+, and it contains all the worst criminals in the state (and lesser criminals depending on circumstance). For example, my vet's son was a drinker, about 4 years older than me, and got drunk and crashed his car in the country and had a police scanner. Someone called it in and he heard it. It would've been his 3rd DUI, which in Mississippi means you're going to Parchman for a few years, which means bad things. He wrote a quick note apologizing to his family, and killed himself. Also all the murderers go there, all the rapists, pedophiles, etc.


Anyways, we used to work on all their inmates and I knew some of the security guards anyways, so I got to bring a camera inside, which is almost unheard of, and someone probably could've lost their job over it. I brought in an old Olympus autofocus point and shoot and shot maybe 2 rolls of film. It had an on body flash, I brought 400 speed film. When the lens wasn't fast enough, the flash worked. Would've been better with a better rig, but it worked.

They're also very good at detailing/repainting cars. They'll paint your car for something like $30 (you supply the paint). They work the hell out of those inmates.
 
Keith said:
Everything that possibly could go wrong went wrong and to top it off at around midday I stepped backwards into a two meter deep foundation hole ... I thought I had broken my leg and almost passed out from the pain ...
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That happened to me in Uzbekistan once when I was working in an archive that is situated in an old fortress on a hill. I stepped backwards and fell into a hole that was about five feet deep, it hurt, but nothing bad. A couple of days later I stumbled across the drawings from a 1930s archeological survey of the hill and found that the hole was actually a 40-meter-deep well, and that over the last decades people had thrown so much junk in it that it was now almost filled to the top.

Never been so grateful for other people's littering in my life.

Do get an X-ray of that leg, you may have a splinter fracture or a problem in the joint nevertheless.
 
Mephiloco said:
They're also very good at detailing/repainting cars. They'll paint your car for something like $30 (you supply the paint). They work the hell out of those inmates.
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I'm not sure if I'd want to save money by having my car repainted by people who I know are being worked the hell out of. Even less if I know that their conditions are such that they kill themselves rather than go there.
 
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