After a weekend of crappy weather, Monday was a complete opposite. Kirk Lau and I couldn’t resist on the amazing weather and took our Grapflex Speed Graphics to the Shanghai Bund for some night photography. Knowing how bad the reciprocity of the Shanghai 4×5 film, we decided to give it a go away. I was armed with only two lenses, the Fujinon 65mm f5.6 SWD and a Leica Dimaron 150mm f2.8. I only took 4 slides of Shanghai 100iso 4×5 film in two film holders. Here is a shot taken with my RX100 II on my shot.
Large format photo session at the Shanghai bund.
Let’s see how the photo will do. I am stand developing them with Kodak HC110.
In the early morning, I arrived at the TaiO dock. The tranquility was a good change from the busy norm. Taken with Graflex Speed Graphic + Fujinon 65mm f5.6 SWD lens + Kodak TXP. Developed in Rodinal 1:100 stand. Scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
Casual dinner at Le Moment in Soho, Central, Hong Kong. Bob the owner is always on top of his wine collection. Through his introduction of his food and wine collection, you can feel his enthusiasm, passion and energy (which in my opinion is lacking in most restaurants in Hong Kong).
Here is a shot of the pencil sketch on the wall at Le Moment. Taken with Canon 5D3 + Sigma 35mm f1.4 lens. At 35mm wide open, you can see very noticeable vignetting at the corners.
Le Moment. At the top it reads, “Je deja passe un bons moment”, I have to disagree because I think the best is yet to come.
It was a sunny day during Gordon, Vicky and Cailey’s photo shoot. Ever since I got my Zeiss Ikonta B 532/16, I have been neglecting my Seagull TLR. Here are a couple of shots from the shoot, Seagull 4A-103 TLR + Shanghai GP3 film. Developed stand, Rodinal 1:100 for 1.25 hours, inversion first two minutes, then one turn every 30 minutes. Fixed with Kodak Rapid Fix, scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
Looking cute!Cailey hiding behind mom. There is a very 1960s feel to this photo!
Honestly, not too happy with the grain size, perhaps it’s time to go back to D76! Always hit and miss with these shanghai film.
Taken with Mamiya Universal + 50mm f6.3 lens + 6×7 film back. Developed Rodinal 1:65 stand 2 hours. First two minutes agitation, then one flip at 1 hour mark. Fixed with Kodak rapid fix. Scanned with Epson Perfection V700.
The result was not bad at all, this photo taken on Peel St. Central, Hong Kong.
On a recent trip to Hanoi, I took along grandpa and grandson Zeiss on that trip.
Grandpa and grandson zeiss
Grandpa Zeiss is a pre-war Super Ikonta B 532/16, equipped with a Zeiss Opton T f2.8 lens which was top of the line at the time. Grandson zeiss is a newly acquired Sony RX100 II, equipped with a Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T f1.8 lens.
Let’s see how they perform. The 70 year-old grandpa that I acquired in a flea market in NYC years ago performed solidly with Ilford XP2 Super.
Super Ikonta B with Ilford XP2 SuperSuper Ikonta B with Ilford XP2 Super
The Zeiss lens was super sharp as shown in the photos above. The first generation rangefinder is difficult to focus in low light conditions. For portraits, the dof at f2.8 is so narrow that a sharp eye is a must. Corner sharpness is not particularly good at f2.8 but for a classic portrait, the face or faces are usually in the center anyway. Down to f4 and above, the lens is sharp as a pin. The size of the camera is also quite small (for a medium format folder) and bringing it around was easy. The only complaint about this camera is the film advance system that limits only 11 shots per roll (rather than 12). This is fixed in the later version.
The newly acquired Sony RX100 II is a powerful little machine. Practically no noise at ISO3200 and a large aperture of f1.8, this little camera can handle most situations. This camera reminded me that taking photos should be easy (just like my 5d) and you can concentrate on composition rather than metering, focus etc. I particularly like the High Contrast Mono mode (HC BW) which I have taken the photos below with that.
Street scene in Hanoi with Sony RX100 IIBar scene with Sony RX100 II
