The Adventures of BP, Jr.
Something a little different for #FilmFriday today. I'd like to introduce a new camera that I picked up as a "project" camera. Amanda and I stopped at an antique dealer when we were back in Illinois for Mother's Day. When I saw this old Busch Pressman Model C 2¼x3¼ press camera, I was smitten.
While 4x5 press cameras like the Graflex Graphics get a lot of love and are seen as an intro into the large format world (indeed a 4x5 Crown Graphic was my first large format camera), their 2x3 brethren don't get much love. The large format crowd looks down on them as "medium format" cameras and the medium format crowd doesn't have a clue what to do with them. Alas, they are a forgotten class of camera.
Of course, I've always been drawn to quirky things. As such, the camera came home with me despite the fact that I really, really don't need another camera in my arsenal (quite the opposite in fact). Chalk it up to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), I guess.
The camera is functional but is going to need some love. I'm kind of looking forward to that, though. I'm hoping to turn this into a running series and document both the work I do *on* the camera as well as the work I do *with* the camera. In a slightly cheesy bit of anthropomorphism, I've decided to give the camera a name. I'm not terribly clever when it comes to naming things, so "Busch Pressman" got shortened to "BP" and since it's the 2x3 "baby" press cam, "BP, Jr." seemed appropriate.
First things first. I needed a documentary shot to kick the whole journey off. So I got out the strobes and got a portrait of BP, Jr. Since the camera needs a lot of work, I went low key so as not to show *too* many of the current flaws. You can still see how sad the leatherette is, so that will need to be replaced sometime down the line.
I have both some 2¼x3¼ film holders and an "Adapt a Roll 620" roll film holder coming for the camera this week. Once I have those in hand, BP, Jr. will officially be operational, if a little limited (the shutter could use some love).
That will do it for today. Stay tuned for more adventures of BP, Jr.!
Strobist Info: Nikon D600 with Ai'ed Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 at ISO 100, 1/160th and f8. Nikon SB-26 with a homemade grid spot from D600 right at 1/4 power and Nikon SB-24 with 1/4 CTO gel and small soft box behind and left of of the Press camera at 1/16 power for a warm background glow. Speedlights triggered with cheap Yongnuo wireless triggers.
The Adventures of BP, Jr.
Something a little different for #FilmFriday today. I'd like to introduce a new camera that I picked up as a "project" camera. Amanda and I stopped at an antique dealer when we were back in Illinois for Mother's Day. When I saw this old Busch Pressman Model C 2¼x3¼ press camera, I was smitten.
While 4x5 press cameras like the Graflex Graphics get a lot of love and are seen as an intro into the large format world (indeed a 4x5 Crown Graphic was my first large format camera), their 2x3 brethren don't get much love. The large format crowd looks down on them as "medium format" cameras and the medium format crowd doesn't have a clue what to do with them. Alas, they are a forgotten class of camera.
Of course, I've always been drawn to quirky things. As such, the camera came home with me despite the fact that I really, really don't need another camera in my arsenal (quite the opposite in fact). Chalk it up to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome), I guess.
The camera is functional but is going to need some love. I'm kind of looking forward to that, though. I'm hoping to turn this into a running series and document both the work I do *on* the camera as well as the work I do *with* the camera. In a slightly cheesy bit of anthropomorphism, I've decided to give the camera a name. I'm not terribly clever when it comes to naming things, so "Busch Pressman" got shortened to "BP" and since it's the 2x3 "baby" press cam, "BP, Jr." seemed appropriate.
First things first. I needed a documentary shot to kick the whole journey off. So I got out the strobes and got a portrait of BP, Jr. Since the camera needs a lot of work, I went low key so as not to show *too* many of the current flaws. You can still see how sad the leatherette is, so that will need to be replaced sometime down the line.
I have both some 2¼x3¼ film holders and an "Adapt a Roll 620" roll film holder coming for the camera this week. Once I have those in hand, BP, Jr. will officially be operational, if a little limited (the shutter could use some love).
That will do it for today. Stay tuned for more adventures of BP, Jr.!
Strobist Info: Nikon D600 with Ai'ed Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 at ISO 100, 1/160th and f8. Nikon SB-26 with a homemade grid spot from D600 right at 1/4 power and Nikon SB-24 with 1/4 CTO gel and small soft box behind and left of of the Press camera at 1/16 power for a warm background glow. Speedlights triggered with cheap Yongnuo wireless triggers.