5D
Ok, so yesterday it was kinda comical around here. There was the snow, of course. But as I looked out the window at the photographic possibilities, what hit me was a chaotic combination of opportunity and equipment, to wit:
- I had my Mamiya 645e in working order;
- I had just been reminded what a lovely film Ektar is, but all I had was 35mm, so I couldn’t use it in the Mamiya;
- I hadn’t really had much chance to use the F100 I bought last fall, but the roll of Ektar was shot with that camera, and that reminded me I wanted to use the F100 more often;
- Of course, there is the relatively 5D and all of its possibility.
So, I started hauling everything out. The F100 had a roll of HP5 loaded and half-shot. Thank goodness I had the ‘AA’ batteries for that body charged. I took it outside, took a incident reading (I don’t know the F100′s meter well enough to adjust a reflected reading from it with all the snow and glare) and fired off the remaining frames of HP5 (thinking all the while ‘gads, what a nice film camera the F100 is. Man, how it handles. Hmm, I gotta get a modern auto-focus lens for this baby . . .’ and on and on). With the HP5 finished, I then loaded a roll of Ektar in the F100. Check.
Oh, wait, the Bessa has a roll of HP5 half-shot in it, too. I’ll fire off the rest of those frames (‘ooh, how nice the snow will look with that Zeiss lens, wow . . .’). So with those frames finished as well, I then loaded Ektar in the Bessa. Check.
I grabbed the Mamiya and loaded PanF into it. Just so that I’d have a different POV with that camera, I put the 150mm f/3.5 on it, and went looking for specific mini-images to pull out of the whole with the telephoto. Quickly burned through a roll of PanF, loaded another. Now I’m working three cameras, mind.
Came inside at that point. The sky was still overcast. The kitchen table was strewn with bodies and lenses. Peg says “it looks like you took out every camera we own, dear.” She’s about right.
A couple hours pass, and the sun comes out, with the sky a brilliant blue, and the sun peeking through clouds to the West.
5D & 17-40 Zoom
I go back out with the 5D, the Bessa, and the F100. I shoot a bunch of images, looking for color this time. I go back in, grab the Mamiya, capture a bunch of close-ups of branches in b&w, go back in, take out the exposed roll and load Velvia 50, go back out. Get more images. The contrast between the blue of the sky, the warm late-afternoon sun and the white snow is striking. Expose the roll of Velvia 50 and go back in for the F100 and the Bessa. Grab the FTb, loaded with Tri-X and with the 28mm FD f/2 mounted. Shoot a couple images with that camera, but grab the 5D again for the color. The sky darkens and I go in.
Today comes and I go back out, finish the roll of Ektar in the Bessa and the roll of Ektar in the F100. Shoot the remaining Tri-X of ice cycles near the front door and then get the 5D and Peg’s macro lens, with which I capture the image at the top of this post.
After all that frenzy I realize that I have mis-placed the lens cap from the Mamiya 150 lens and also from the 28mm lens on the FTb.
Peg is laughing all the time. I really enjoyed myself, though, and I wouldn’t trade the chaos for anything in the world. Below is an image of me with the snow blower working my way up the driveway, captured by Peg on her 40D yesterday.
That snow blower is worth its weight in gold, I tell ya
Yezzz, that’s a whole lot of snow….. I’ll say, that was a happy trigger Saturday! Fun to read. You’ll find those caps when the snow melts away.
That does sound like a whole lot of fun. It will be nice to see the images that you develop later on, too. I took a couple of rolls of Kodak Tech Pan this weekend. I can’t wait to see the results. The film expired in 1999, but I’m sure that it’s still good some 10 years later.
That is a crazy amount of snow that you have there. That’s about 5 years worth of NC snow!!! I’m glad that you have the snow blower or you’d be one tired fella!
that top images of the icicle is just amazing. The composition, the depth of field. That’s digital???
My snow blower would require 3 passes, at least, for that snow.
I keep coming back to look at the snow image to remind myself you don’t have to shovel rain. Great story Chris I think we’ve all been there.
I like snow, but after looking at the bottom photo I’ve decided I don’t like snow that much.
Isn’t it wonderful to have so many choices of cameras and films with which to make photos. I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful results. The close-up of the melting icicle is outstanding.
Amen to that.
One of the things that attracted me to the 5D in the first place was many people talked about how its drawing had a kind of film-like quality. I have found it to be true.
Earl, thank you very much.
Is this the 5D? I do need to upgrade some of my gear.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/583953-REG/Canon_2764B003_EOS_5D_Mark_II.html
Kevin, that one you linked to is the NEW ‘Mk II’ version of the original camera body I bought used from Paul Maxim (thank you, Paul). That version, while wonderful and better in many ways, is just overkill for what I need now and was a little beyond my pocketbook at the time. The original 5D (now at least six years old) has held its value compared to other digital cameras of that ‘era’ because of the image quality, but can be had for about 1/2 what the Mk II costs. If you are seriously thinking of upgrading your equipment, give me a call and we can talk a bit about options.
Chris,
I’m only at the fantasizing stage. I would like something better than my 3Mp Pentax point and shoot and not quite the weight of my RolleiFlex SL35 or my Nikon FG.
When I am serious, you and I will speak and I will be much more focused in the photo store.