View allAll Photos Tagged digitizing
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Leica M3 | Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/2 ZM | Tri-X 400
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From back of photo: "Age 19. Woodbury, 1924. High School Picture. Emma Campbell Gleeson. Daughter of Charles C. and Lydia E. Gleeson. Mother of Florence D. Burns, Ernestine Ann (Dolly) Renaud."
1924-I003
Emma Campbell Gleeson DeHart, 1904-1995
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Leica M6 | 28mm f2.8 Elmerit Digitized with Negative Lab Pro v2.1.2 28mm f2.8 Leica | Kodak TriX 400
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Yashika Mat 124 G | Kodak Tri X 400
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Ilford DDX
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Leica M6 | 28mm f2.8 Elmerit
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28mm f2.8 Leica | Kodak TriX 400
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Rodinal 1-50
On July 22, 2025, I went to the Abbey Notre-Dame-de-Dombes which is located about 30 km North to Lyon city, France, in the Dombes region between Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse. The Abbey is a former Trappist monastery located in Le Plantay.
The monastery was originally established by 44 monks from Aiguebelle Abbey in 1863. The importance of the abbey grew quickly, and it was successful in its intended purposes. During World War II the monks worked with the French Resistance and helped many people, especially Jews. There were many visits by the Gestapo; on 2 May 1944 two monks were executed, and others arrested. For the community's actions the abbey was awarded in 1946 the Legion of Honour and « Croix de Guerre 1939-1940 avec palmes ». In 2001, there were very few monks remaining, who asked the Chemin Neuf Community to come and replace them in their mission of prayer and welcoming visitors.
When I arrived after lunch, the gate was only half-open. As I left the abbey, I realized that it was actually closed to visitors on Tuesdays. However, no one said anything to me, and I was able to take pictures in the peace and quiet of the place.
I brought along with me my Rolleiflex 3.5F (1960-1964, see below for details) loaded with a FOMA ORTHO 400 orthochromatic black-and-white film. Orthochromatic films are not sensitized in the red. The film was exposed for its nominal 400 ISO. Light metering was done using a Minolta Autometer III equipped with a 10° finder for selective metering privileging the shadow areas or its opale dome for incident light integration.
View n° —: 1/500s f/16 focusing @ 10 m, Rollei RII UV (0) filter and Rollei RII shade hood.
Film side marks identification
Abbaye Notre-Dame-des-Dombes, July 22, 2025
Route de l’Abbaye
01330 Le Plantay, France
After the view #12 exposed, the film was fully rolled to the taking spool and was developed in a Paterson tank with a spiral adapted to the 120-format film with 500 mL of Adox Adonal developer (identical to the original Agfa Rodinal in its formula of 1891) prepared at the dilution 1+50 . The film was processed for 11 min at 20°C (FOMA recommends developing times from 10 to 12min at 20°C with a Rodinal R09 formula at dilution 1+50) with regular 10s-agitation every minute.
Digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) held on a Minolta vertical macro stative device and adapted to a Minolta MD Macro lens 1:3.5 f=50mm. The light source was a LED panel (approx. 4x5') CineStill Cine-lite fitted with film holder "Lobster" to maintain flat the 120-format film.
The RAW files obtained were inverted within the latest version of Adobe Lightroom 14 (14.4, June 2025) and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as print files with frame or the full size JPEG's possibly together with some documentary smartphone color pictures.
About the camera:
I got this stunning Rolleiflex 3.5F from a French artist near Paris, France. The camera came in it original box and leather bag with accessories and a reference book year 1955. The whole kit is in a remarkable state of conservation.
The Rolleiflex 3.5F is the model-3 that Rollei-Werke Franke & Heidecke produced in about 50.000 units in Germany from 1960 to 1965. The Rolleiflex originates from 1928 for the very first model and was produced still in a limited number until the years 2000’s. The 3.5F model 3 was available etheir with a Schneider-Kreuznak Xenotar taking lens or the Call Zeiss Planar 1:3.5 f=75mm as this camera. The Rolleiflex, that was a quality reference for many professional photographers in the 50’s for the medium-format 6X6 camera’s. Many worked both with the Leica M3 (starting from 1954) as small-format 24x36mm camera and the Rolleiflex for other appliances. The Rolleiflex remained one of the most iconic and trusted camera of all the times.
This specific 3.5F is labelled on the right side with nice badge made of enameled brass « T » « Telos » that was the exclusive first French importer of Rollei to France until 1972.
The Rolleiflex 3,5 F model 3 is equipped with the Synchro-Compur central shutter MXV CR00 with cone-wheel differential. The distance scale is only in meters here with automatic DOF indication. Serial number with ‘3,5F’ prefix on of top name shield.
I detailed the camera and accessories and studied carefully the user manual and the book to before familiar this beauty before waiting for a quiet moment to prepare for a test film. I did not trust the old leather original neck strap to carry this precious machine on the field to avoid the real risk to drop the camera. I ordered a new one from a manufacturer in China for a safe operation of the field.
19.10.2010 The Boston Phoenix.
"Digitize This! Jonathan Safran Foer's Crazy New Book"
thephoenix.com/BLOGS/pageviews/archive/2010/10/19/digitiz...
From back of photo: "Emma Campbell Gleeson (DeHart). Age 10 months. Daughter of Charles and Lydia Eastlack. Mother of Florence and Dolly."
190--I013
Emma Campbell Gleeson DeHart, 1904-1995
Edited Digitized Sky Survey 2 image of the widefield around the galaxy NGC 2525 (blurry blob near the center) where a supernova recently exploded. Color/processing variant.
Original caption: Pictured here is the region surrounding NGC 2525. Located nearly 70 million light-years from Earth, this galaxy is part of the constellation of Puppis in the southern hemisphere. Hubble has captured a series of images of NGC2525 as part of one of its major investigations; measuring the expansion rate of the Universe, which can help answer fundamental questions about our Universe’s very nature. ESA/Hubble has now published a unique time-lapse of this galaxy and it’s fading supernova. This view was created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
« Caborne » is the vernacular word used in the Lyon city region, France, to name ancient dry-stones huts that could found in the neighboring massif of the Monts d’Or. Dry-stones huts developed in France a lot at the 18th-19th centuries and are no as old as we could first think. This flourishing age is due to the encouragement of the French Kingdom to clear some forestal domains and later to the development of small vineyard and access to the private property for little farming. Those « cabornes » were constructed following empirical rules and know-how of « caborniers », masons and quarrymen. Quarries of limestone in the Monts d’Or are still visible and gave the materials of most of the buildings erected in Lyon in the past.
Today the « cabornes » attract visitors with their ingenuity and rustic charm, often integrated into hiking trails. They evoke a sense of nostalgia and connection to nature, reinforcing regional and cultural identity. Associations of volunteers are organizing initiatives to inventory, restore and rediscovered the ancestral technics of dry-stone construction. Dry-stone huts are also found in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Finland as temporary shelter for shepherds and their animals, permanent habitations for monks or agricultural workers, storage and cheese making, etc.
For additional explorations of these « cabornes », I decided to visit different trails starting from Giverdy in Saint-Didier-au-Monts-d’Or on September 1st, 2 and 6, 2025. On Sept. 1st, 2025 my walk was limited to the village of Saint-Fortunat, a small district of Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d’Or, due to heavy rains and stormy weather while the weather forecast predicted only « light rains ». The weather was very fair on Sept. 2 and 6.
I was equipped of my heavy Nikon F4 year 1989 (see below for details about the camera and the lens) fitted with an AF-Nikkor 2/35mm lens and loaded with a black-and-white Adox HR-50 36-exposure film. The film is called « super panchromatic » with an extended spectral sensitivity in the red to the near-IR band. It is said that, recently, HR-50 film was released under the Leica brand (Leica Monopan 50). Processing of these 50 ISO film with extra-fine grain developper, like Adox Atomal 49, gives interesting rendering, with of very smooth and rich tone range and a very high resolution. Both Scala 50 and HR-50 are coated on clear thin (0.1 mm) polyester teraphtalate (PET) basis with black and blue dies layers that dissolve in water for anti-halo properties.
The AF-Nikkor lens 1:2 f=35mm was equipped as indicated below with an Hoya HMC UV 52mm screw-on protective filter or a generic 52mm Yellow filter. A rectangular Minolta shade hood D54KC designed for the MC-Rokkor 1:2.8 f=35mm lens was used for the whole session. The light metering was done using the Nikon F4 through the lens (TTL) systems either in the matrix or the spot metering used in the "A" aperture-priority auto mode or the manual mode.
Documentary smartphone picture
Caborne de la Goye, September 6, 2025
69370 Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or
France
After completion at view Nr. 38, the film was rewound manually and processed using 400 mL of stock solution of Adox Atomal 49 developer for 8min30 at 20°C plus 1min to compensate the developper exhaustion after the fifth film processed.
Digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) fitted to a Minolta Auto Bellows III with the Minolta slide duplication accessory and Minolta Macro Bellow lens 1:3.5 f=50mm. The diffuse light source was a LED panel CineStill Cine-lite. The RAW files obtained were inverted within the latest version available of Adobe Lightroom Classic (version 14.5 of August 2025) and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as printer files with a frame or the full size JPEG's together with documentary smartphone color pictures taken during my walks.
About the camera and the lens:
Maybe it would have been better not to ask for this question: « what’s new do you have at the moment?» to my local photo store, because Christine grabbed underneath the counter, stating « I have that … » . What a beast ! A Nikon F4 in the exact state of the Nikon brochure year 1990, presented with the standard AF Nikkor 1:1.4 f=50mm. I was already hooked by the machine. After two days, I decided to buy it even with some little common issues found on early Nikon F4 (see below), fortunately not affecting the whole, numberous functions of this incredibly complex professional SLR of the year 1990’s.
Nikon F4 came to the market on September 1988 starting with the serial number 2.000.000. Fully manufactured in Japan (modules came from 3 different Nikon factories) the F4's were assembled in Mito, Ibaraki (North to Tokyo) Nikon plant (no more in the mother factory of Tokyo Oi like the Nikon’s F). When I lived in Tokyo in 1990-1991, Nikon F4 was the top-of-the-line of Nikon SLR camera’s. I saw it in particular in Shinjuku Bic Camera store when I bought there, in December 1990 my Nikonos V.
Nikon F4 incorporates many astonishing engineering features as the double vertical-travel curtain shutter capable of the 1/8000s. Compared to the Nikon F3, the F4 was an AF SLR operated by a CCD sensor (200 photo sites). The film is automatically loaded, advanced with to top speed of 5,7 frame/s !! With the MB-21 power grip (F4s version). The F4 is a very heavy camera (1.7kg with the AF Nikkor 1.4/50mm), incredibly tough and well constructed. This exemplary is devoid of any scratches or marks, and in a condition proving that it was not used for hard professional appliances, for those it was however intended. The camera has still it original Nikon neck strap, the original user manual in French. The lens is protected by a Cokin (Franc) Skylight 1A 52mm filter and the original Nikon front cap. The two small LCD displays (one on the F4 body, one in the DP-20 finder) are both affected by the classical syndrome of « bleeding ». Fortunately, all information could still be read. One says that 70% of the early Nikon F4 suffer from this problem but also found on other models.
According its serial number and the production rate of about 5000 units/month, this Nikon F4s was probably manufactured in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan in May 1989.
The camera was exported abroad thereafter attested by the presence of the golden oval little sticker("Passed" on the DP-20 viewfinder. In order to certify the quality production, two Japanese organizations, the Japan Camera Industry Institute (JCII) and the Japan Machinery Design Center (JMDC), joined forces to verify and mark the conformity of products for the foreign market. This is how, between the 1950s and 1980s, this famous little gold sticker was affixed, with the legendary "Passed", meaning that the device had been checked. Finally, when we say that the device had been checked, the production line had been checked because each device could not be checked individually.
____________
About the lens:
The AF-Nikkor 1:2 f=35mm lens is part of the kit around my Nikon F4 year 1989. The kit now includes 3 very classical AF-Nikkor lenses of the same period of the Nikon F4 camera body, including the standard 1.4/50mm, the 1.8/85mm and the 2/35mm. The choice of fixed-focal lenses instead of zooms was already in 1989 a bit old-fashioned. However many photographers preferred still the homogenous rendering of a photo series done with a single focal lens. Generally speaking, a 35mm focal is a charming moderate wide-angle, very easy to use and particularly adapted for architectural and street-photography.
The AF-Nikkor 1:2 f=35mm is not a rare lens. However, when looked on eBay there was not tens of them available in EU. I bought a good one form a Belgian seller at a normal price (180€). The lens is in very good mechanical and optical condition and came with the rear and front caps. I sourced the dedicated Nikon HN-3 shade hood separately for 10€ .
Video Management & Licensing Company to Enable Digital Access and Unlock new Value for Mountain West Video Heritage DENVER.
www.thoughtequity.com/info/2011/11/mountain-west-conferen...
Circa 1948 -- back country haute couture in Revelstoke BC, in Mt. Revelstoke National Park. My Mom on the right.
Library staff reviewing documents as part of a project to digitize a trove of Holocaust records, 2008.
As a second roll of black-and-white film with my new camera Pentax 17 (see below for the details about the camera), I loaded a 36- exposure Rollei Retro 80S cartridge and exposed the film for its nominal 80 ISO over several days from April 23 to 29, 2025 in Lyon city, France and surroundings.
The Pentax 17 was equipped with an Anti-UV or a Yellow x2 40.5mm Hoya HMC filter as indicated below . For the camera transportation, I used a small camera bag ThinkTank « Mirrorless Mover 5 » that was well protecting the camera from possibly damaging vibrations when using my bicycle.
The expositions were automatically metered by the camera system using the « P » program modes with, or without, flash. For very bright scenes the exposition was corrected by +0.3 to +1EV to compensate the biais induced (and reversely -0.3 to 0.7 EV for very dark scenes to objects). Since 80 ISO is not in the ISO scale of the Pentax 17 (we can select only 100 or 50), I used the 100 ISO value plus 0.3EV on the correction dial, giving the correct exposure value for the Rollei 80S. The Pentax 117 light sensors are being the filter and the filter is then automatically compensated.
The Rollei Retro 80S (that is an Agfa Aviphot film) black-and-white film is a super-panchromatic film further sensitized in the red up to the near infra-red (760nm) film for technical, industrial and aerial photography, giving in particular valuable contrasts differentiating many different varieties of vegetation and reducing the atmospheric haze as well. The red is however much more bright than a regular panchromatic film. The film is coated on a clear polyester teraphtalate (PET) base with anti-scratch and anti-halation layers that dissolve in the developer during the chemical processing of the film.
Yellow x2 filter
Parc de la Cerisaie - Villa Gillet, April 29 2025
69004 Lyon
France.
After completion (74 frames), the film was processed using Adox Adonal developer at 1+50 dilution for 14min at 20°C.
Single-frame digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) fitted to a Minolta Auto Bellows III with the Minolta slide duplication accessory and Minolta Macro Bellow lens 1:3.5 f=50mm at approximate reproduction ratio of 1:2. The diffuse light source was a LED panel CineStill Cine-lite.
The RAW files obtained were inverted within the latest version available of Adobe Lightroom Classic (version 14.3) and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as printer files with a frame or the full size JPEG's together with some documentary smartphone color pictures.
About the camera :
Since last Christmas 2024, it was on display in the middle of « reusable » cheap camera’s in the window of my local photography store. But this camera is not cheap and sold at 10-times the price of those « reusable » film camera’s. The Pentax 17 is a novel film camera released by Pentax (a brand belonging to Ricoh Imaging, Japan) in June 2024.
The history of « Pentax » name is still something worth to mention. After the WWII, in Dresden (that was heavily destroyed by the bombing of Feb. 13-15, 1945), Germany, The Zeiss Ikon company could not produce anymore the legendary original Contax (a high-reputation professional range-finder 35mm released in 30’s) camera that was taken by Russia and transferred to Kiev, Ukraine, in the USSR. However the brand name Contax survived and the German engineers designed something completely new within several years : the Contax S (S for « Spiegel mirror reflex ») that integrated a pentaprism for a full redressed reflex viewer observation. Zeiss Ikon Dresden registered to new trademarks derived from the words « Pentaprism » and « Contax » that were « Pentax » and « Pentacon ». If Pentacon became the new name of the company in Dresden, the trademark Pentax was bought by Asahi Optical Company in Japan, and became a formidable industrial and commercial success. Asahi Pentax, then Pentax alone, produced amazing quality camera’s including the legendary « Spotmatic » (a 35mm SLR) and stunning medium-format camera’s heavily used by professional photographers. Many of these camera’s of the past century are still operative and appreciated by film photography enthusiast’s.
Production of film camera’s vanished progressively in the mid 2000’s, as digital camera’s became of better quality and finally of generalized appliances in photography. The Pentax 17 was introduced to the market in June 2024, it was a big surprise for all the film photography lovers. Seeing a newly engineered brand-new film camera was a sort of renaissance of the film photography today of a growing interest worldwide.
The camera is a « half-frame » format on the traditional double-perforated 35mm film giving 17x24mm photograms. This format was not as popular as to classical 24x36mm (full-frame) format of most of the 35mm camera’s. However famous and quality half-frame camera’s were produced in the past including, the long series of Olympus Pen for example. Then, the Pentax 17 immediately attracted the attention of experimented film photographers and camera collectors, probably more than the officially targeted customers of the younger generations. Less than a year after, the future of the Pentax 17 and the film photography project of Pentax is questioned today. The chef-engineer who conducted the project in Ricoh company recently left and the marketing of Pentax 17 is now a question.
This finally decided me to buy an exemplary from my local shop and to discover this strange machine. The camera is of course guaranteed, even with a there-year extension after the camera registration on the Pentax website. The whole ergonomic is clearly derived from classical past 35mm camera’s with a fully mechanical film advance and rewind, a collimated Albada viewer, no digital display at all, only levers, barrels, crank and wheels… However inside is a automatic electronic exposure system with flash, the focusing is manual but the electronic mechanism moves the whole optical group with a micro motor.
The lens is a Cooke triplet 1:3.5 f=25mm equivalent to a 37mm of a 24x36mm format. The Cooke triplet is a photographic lens designed and patented in 1893 by Dennis Taylor who was employed as chief engineer by T. Cooke & Sons of York. It was the first lens system that allowed the elimination of most of the optical distortion or aberration at the outer edge of the image. It likely for this reason that the lens is unscripted curiously « Traditional » on the front lens ring… It is known that a Cooke triplet lens could give surprisingly good results with only three separated optical elements. The Cooke Triplet is still widely used in inexpensive cameras, including variations using aspheric elements, particularly in cell-phone cameras. The Cooke triplet consists of three separated lenses positioned at the finite distance. It is often considered that the triplet is one of the most important discoveries in the field of photographic objectives
The lens receives 40.5mm diameter thread filters that I use for my Zorki / Leningrad lenses Jupiter-8 2/50mm, Jupiter-11 4/135mm and Jupiter-12 2.8/35mm. The metal shade hood Minolta D42KA could mounted on the filter but I have to check is there is vignette induced.
The camera size is close to the original dimensions of a thread-mount Leica (called also the original Barnack Leica) which are, in a way, a sort of « Gold » size in the 35mm camera’s. I compared with my Zorki 1D year 1954 that is a straight reproduction of the Leica Iic. The upper deck of Pentax 17 is designed very clearly as a classical 35mm and we even find the original logo of Asahi Optical Company. The rewind crank is also a revival of past design seen on old Pentax SLR as my year-1971 Spotmatic SP in this seres of pictures.
The Pentax 17 is very light (about 300g) compared to those old ancestors that weight easily the double or the triple. It is then an effortless camera to carry. The Pentax 17 fits in the small ThinkTank bag (called « Mirorless Mover 5 ») that I recently bought to safely carry a film back of my Hasselblad or my Bronica 6X6 camera’s. In this tiny bag, the camera is protected for the element and vibrations due to cycling for instance.
Reference
analoguewonderland.co.uk/blogs/film-photography-blog/pent...
Key features and specifications
* Half-frame image capture (17 x 24mm)
* 37mm (equiv.) FOV F3.5 lens
* Zone focusing system with 6 zones
* Circular leaf shutter (F3.5-16)
* Built-in flash (6m/20ft at ISO100)
* Optical tunnel viewfinder with frame lines
* Exposure from 1/350 sec to 4 sec (+ Bulb)
* Supports films from ISO 50 to ISO 3200
Specifically the lens has:
1. HD coating, which maintains high performance of the lens, by using this PENTAX multi-coating. This also enables high contrast and high definition right to the edges.
2. SP coating (Super Protect) which helps to repel water and oil from the lens.
The fact that the focusing on the Pentax 17 is electronic i.e. the lens only moves when you half-press the shutter gives me faith that autofocus was already considered in the R&D stage.
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Yashika Mat 124 G | Kodak Tri X 400
Digitized with Epson V550 + Negative Lab Pro v2.1.0 | Lomography
Ilford DDX
Digitized with Negative Lab Pro v2.1.2
Leica M6 | 28mm f2.8 Elmerit
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28mm f2.8 Leica | Kodak TriX 400
Digitized with Epson V550 + Negative Lab Pro v2.1.2 | Lomography
Rodinal 1-50
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Leica M6 | Leica 35mm f/2.0 SUMMICRON-M Aspherical | Ilford HP5 400
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Leica M3 | Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/2 ZM | Tri-X 400
Digitized with Epson Vuescan V550 + Negative Lab Pro v2.1.2 | Lomography
Ilford DDX
Digitized with Negative Lab Pro v2.1.0
Mamiya RB67 | Kodak TriX 400
Digitized with Epson v550 + Negative Lab Pro v2.1.2 | Lomography
Slides my mom had which I have cheater-digitized; I shot the slides with my dslr while they were on the slide viewer. I don't know where this was taken, and the year is probably about 1965, 67 or 68.
Test film of my FOCAsport Model-1 year 1955, a 35mm French camera produced by O.P.L. (Optique et Précision de Levallois) is its factory of Châteaudun, France.
The FOCAsport camera was loaded according the user manual with a FOMAPAN 200 36-exposure film exposed for 160 ISO when used with a FOCA AUV filter (coefficient. x1, no correction) or 80 ISO to compensate (when used) the absorption of a FOCA Yellow filter x2,5, fitted to the lens with a FOCA metal shade hood.
I used a Minolta Autometer III with a 10° finder for selective light measurements privileging the shadow areas.
AUV filter
"La Vogue des Marrons" * Boulevard de la Croix Rousse, November 9, 2023
69004 Lyon
France
After complete exposure, the film was processed using Tetenal Ultrafin Liquid developper at dilution 1+20 and 20°C for 7min30. The film was then digitized using a Sony A7 body fitted to a Minolta Slide Duplicator installed on a Minolta Auto Bellows III with a lens Minolta Bellow Macro Rokkor 50mm f/3.5. The RAW files obtained were processed without intermediate files in LR and edited to the final jpeg pictures.
All views of the film are presented in the dedicated album either in the printed framed versions and unframed full-size jpeg plus some documentary smartphone color pictures.
About the camera :
Due to a large promotion in Europe of the Kodachrome film by Kodak (Kodak-Pathé in France) a large market was opened to quality but more affordable camera's than the top-of-the-line FOCA camera's with their curtain Leica-type shutter. In 1955 O.P.L. released the first FOCAsport with a build quality equivalent to the FOCA but with a more affordable 3-element fixed lens NEOPLAR 1:3.5 f=4,5cm with zone focusing, a central leaf shutter ATOS II (ATOS was a French company) with 2 leaves limiting a bit the shortest exposition time to 1/300s up to the second plus the B pose. Focusing is obtained by moving the front lens only.
The FOCAsport, ancestor of compact 35mm camera's, were very popular. A bit more than 300.000 FOCAsport's were produced until 1965 in 12 different versions. They were also sold tax-free in many military stores for soldiers of the French Army, in France, occupied Germany and oversea's.
The camera was found from a French eBay dealer for less than 30€ including the delivery, the plain leather ever-ready FOCA bag is in a pristine condition and full operating camera functions.
*About "La Vogue des Marrons":
La Vogue des Marrons is a traditional Lyon funfair and a major event in Croix-Rousse district, from October to mid-November. Installed every year for about a month, it is the latest fashion of the year, and extends over a good part of the Boulevard de la Croix-Rousse, the entire Place de la Croix-Rousse and Place des Tapis, and blocks the exit from the rue Terme tunnel. This is a perfect occasion to taste the first grilled chestnuts of the year there.
Born more than 150 years ago, it has become a Lyon tradition alongside the food market, traboules or authentic bistros.
From back of photo: "Emma Campbell Gleeson DeHart. Daughter of Charles C. and Lydia Eastlack Gleeson. Mother of Florence Lydia DeHart Burns and Ernestine Ann (Dolly) DeHart Renaud. Taken November 1933 (age 29). Near 4th wedding anniversary (December 28)."
Emma Campbell Gleeson DeHart, 1904-1995
This is the test film of my recently acquired Praktica IV camera. For the test, I choose the normal lens of my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic that fits perfectly to the Praktica. The lens can be used in its "Auto" mode. The diaphragm is stopped down automatically to the selected aperture value by pressing the shutter release.
The Praktica camera was loaded with a 36-exposure Fomapan Creative 200 and exposed for 160 ISO. Expositions were determined using a Minolta Autometer III with a 10° finder for selective measurements privileging the shadow areas. The weather was relatively clear (15h-16h30) giving typical exposures of 1/100s at f/8.I tested here the "high-speed" values 1/50s, 1/100s, 1/200s and 1/500s. I used the regular protective Skylight 49mm filter and the original Asahi shade hood specifically designed for the lens.
Place Colbert, February 2, 2024
69001 Lyon
France
After exposure, the film was processed using Adox Adonal (= Agfa Rodinal) developer at dilution 1+25, 20°C for 5min.
The film was then digitized using a Sony A7 body adapted to a Minolta Auto Bellows III and a Minolta Slide Duplicator using a lens Minolta Bellow Macro Rokkor 50mm f/3.5 at a reproduction ratio of 1:1. The reproduced RAW files obtained were processed in LR prior the the final JPEG editions.
All views of the film are presented in the dedicated album either in the printing framed versions and unframed full-size jpeg accompanied by some documentary smartphone Vivio Y76 color pictures.
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About the camera :
I got the camera body Praktica IV and a set of related KDH Leipzig accessories from an eBay seller near Paris, France.. The whole arrived to me on January, 31, 2024, in Lyon, France.
The Praktica IV was designed by the prestigious KW (Kamera Werk Niedersedlitz) German company in Dresden on the basis of their previous Praktica FX SLR camera's. The camera was produced first under the KW name starting from June 1959 then in the Kombinat VEB Pentacon after the merge of the company in 1960.
166.800 Praktica IV and V (6 models) were produced until January 1966. Praktica IV essentially incorporates a condenser focusing screen plus a pentaprism. Due to the Praktica FX architecture the Pentaprism looks protruding from the camera body with an unusual style. It fits lenses with M42x1 mount and the mirror has no automatic return. The shutter is made of two horizontal curtains of rubberized fabric giving 1/500s to 1/2s plus B in two registers of slow speeds (1/2s to 1/10s) and high speeds (1/25s to 1/500s). The film is advanced coupled to the shutter cocking using either the right upper button or the rapid lever underneath the body.
The Praktica IV handles the "Auto" M42 lenses with the lever for automatic iris closing upon the release. Sequentially, when pressing the shutter release button, the diaphragm closes to the indicated value, the mirror is lift-off and finally the shutter is erased at the given value. If a non-auto (manual closing) M42 is used the pushing lever could be cancelled (declutched) moving a small red button to the right in the mirror chamber.
The camera camera came without lens but with a body cap and the original ever-ready leather bag with et "Ernermann tower" Pentacon logo. This model is likely the second Praktica IV essentially the same as the initial KW one with a different front plate. The camera was likely art of a collection and is completely preserved without use marks.
The KDH Leipzig (Kurt-Dieter Huffziger Foto- und Kinozubehör) accessories set included:
-A panoramic tripod head
-A set of three extension tubes M42x1)
- A big aluminum shade hood (screw-on 49mm) for wide-angle lens.
- A M42x1 metal body cap in its original box.
- An accessory shoe fitting the the Praktica IV eye piece.
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About the lens :
For the test film I equipped the Praktica IV with a normal lens from Asahi Optical Company (originally (旭光学工業株式会社, Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō Kabushiki-Gaisha) Super-Takumar 1:1.8 f=55mm (screwing M42 mount). The lens came with my ASAHI PENTAX Spomatic SP (acquired in July 2022) camera produced in Japan from 1964 to 1971.