Hi all and glad to have found this corner of the internet where it seems as though others share some of the same passions I do. I’ll share some of my journey, kinda motivated I suppose by the joy I’ve felt recently for getting back into an old favorite hobby. Maybe you’ll find some parallels you can relate to.
Growing up in the Midwest in the 60’s and 70’s, I took an interest in photography when I ran into some of my dad’s old darkroom equipment. What? You can develop and print your own pictures? Who knew? Spent some of my summer employment money on a Pentax K1000, which I used throughout high school and college – high school yearbook, college photography courses, even did a couple of weddings for people who couldn’t afford a professional photographer. A year out of college I got married, and the day before the wedding someone broke into my car and stole the Pentax. So went into the honeymoon with only my wife’s Canon Sure Shot, but picked up a duty free Canon T50 during our honeymoon. I have to admit, though, that it was hard to tell much difference in our pictures when we got back home – that damn Sure Shot was a decent little camera.
Jobs, kids, and family life put the photo hobby into the back seat. My wife became the family photographer, though I upgraded here to a Yashica T4 at some point. As my three kids got older and all got into school, I decided to pick back up again and get more into the darkroom side of things, blacking out a corner of our basement storage room that had a drain – no running water, so had to work from gallon jugs. Found a bargain used Beseler 67 XL for an enlarger. Upgraded my T50 to a Canon T90. Ultimately I was kinda disappointed – just didn’t seem like I could go any bigger than 8x10… the negatives just wouldn’t support it. In digging around for how to get past this I discovered Medium Format. And there was this new thing called eBay that made finding used equipment pretty easy. Did some research and took a gamble on a Yashicamat 124G.
Wow, first roll, I was absolutely blown away by the negatives this old camera produced. Immediately upgraded the darkroom to include a Jobo CPE2 with lift and so I could do color processing. Also started acquiring other old medium format cameras… - Mamiya Press, Mamiya C330, a Moskva 5, and eventually a Hasselbald 500CM. Sold the T90 on ebay. I began taking some of these old cameras on family vacations and was having a ball with photography again. I even got some studio lights and backdrops for family and friends portraits. Eventually bit the bullet and bought a brand new Fuji 645zi which I could operate very fast (auto focus/exposure, powered zoom), and was a better fit for family vacation photography.
Then 2006 happened. I had just stuck my toe in digital with a Canon 10d, but more for convenience when I knew I was going to need digital copies of an image (e.g. website, graphics art, etc). I had also picked up a Nikon Coolscan 8000 at some point, but that was a slow process, and you had to deal with dust, etc. The Canon 10d was faster. My parents 50th anniversary was in 2006, and I did their portraits with the Hasselblad. On a lark, I also shot some with the Canon 10D. I did some 11x14’s for them, and really couldn’t tell the difference between the analog Hassy and the digital print from the Canon 10D I ordered from Mpix. But the biggest issue was I could retouch the digital with Photoshop so easily – I ended up using the image from the Canon 10D, and started paying a lot more attention to the digital world and what it could do. The darkroom and all those cool old cameras went on the shelf. And so then next 10 or 15 years went like that.
Flash forward to 2018, being an empty nester and doing more travelling for fun, I started reminiscing about the old days when I used to haul these old cameras around when we traveled. Did some research and picked up “the perfect medium format traveler” camera - a Perkeo folder, to take on an Alaskan cruise. Had some issues with the Perkeo… just didn’t really enjoy using it. Anyway, shot a few rolls of black and white and then they sat around waiting for me to get motivated to put a darkroom together again. Years went buy, and, for whatever reason, I wanted to give it another go this year and a trip to Asheville, NC and picked up a Super Fujica Six folder, which I enjoyed much more than the Perkeo. Then when we got home, I was finally motivated to process the rolls from both trips. I figured the best process for me was developing (black and white), then cross over to digital for post processing using the Nikon Coolscan 8000 (which, of course, was a project unto itself to get up and running again). Very happy with the results, though they do seem slightly niche, one dimensional (the wife calls them artsy). I don’t really plan to try and do my own wet prints at this point, though I still have the enlarger and equipment to do it. Maybe I’ll do one or two and just see what I remember. Developing the black and white film with the Jobo has been a breeze and quite enjoyable.
So currently… I’ve started to cycle back through the old cameras, running a roll through them and seeing what their issues are. I’ve acquired a couple of new cameras – a Minolta Autocord and a Kodak Medalist I. Both need work, so have had discussions with the popular repair guys often mentioned for these - they’re both backlogged, so it’ll be awhile. Super excited about getting the Medalist going. My Yashicamat lives at my vacation home, so the Autocord was just so I’d have a TLR in both of our houses. I’d say I may like the Autocord as much or more than the Yashicamat.
I like the Hassy more than I remember. The biggest surprise so far is how good the Moskva 5 is – I think I more or less collected it so I’d have a folder, and didn’t use it much back in the day. Had I known it was this good, I think I might have skipped the Perkeo and Super Fujica-6. I don’t know though… those 6x9 negs just eat through film.
Not surprisingly, I’ve been saddened by the cost and lack of availability of film and chemicals. I used to get all my stuff from Calumet, which i understand doesn’t exist anymore. For now, for my return analog journey, I’ve settled on Black and White TMAX 400 processed with D-76 1:1 in the Jobo. I’ve had good luck using some twenty year old BW Verichrome Pan that I had and am still working my way through. Because of the cost and availability, I don’t really plan on doing color film at this point – I have a nice Canon R5 for color, and so much of what I do in color (event and product photography) needs to be digital anyway (film is probably just too much work). So digital for work and analog for fun.
For grins, here’s a couple pix from the folders, first from the Perkeo... TMAX-400:
And then from the Super Fujica 6… Ilford HP-5 400
Lastly from the Moskva 5… twenty year old Verichrome Pan 120...
FYI - I do my post processing in Lightroom - cropping, overall exposure/highlights/shadows, couple of dodges and burns, vignetting, make sure I've got some pure blacks and pure whites, and then split toning of selenium, gold, and sepia.
Growing up in the Midwest in the 60’s and 70’s, I took an interest in photography when I ran into some of my dad’s old darkroom equipment. What? You can develop and print your own pictures? Who knew? Spent some of my summer employment money on a Pentax K1000, which I used throughout high school and college – high school yearbook, college photography courses, even did a couple of weddings for people who couldn’t afford a professional photographer. A year out of college I got married, and the day before the wedding someone broke into my car and stole the Pentax. So went into the honeymoon with only my wife’s Canon Sure Shot, but picked up a duty free Canon T50 during our honeymoon. I have to admit, though, that it was hard to tell much difference in our pictures when we got back home – that damn Sure Shot was a decent little camera.
Jobs, kids, and family life put the photo hobby into the back seat. My wife became the family photographer, though I upgraded here to a Yashica T4 at some point. As my three kids got older and all got into school, I decided to pick back up again and get more into the darkroom side of things, blacking out a corner of our basement storage room that had a drain – no running water, so had to work from gallon jugs. Found a bargain used Beseler 67 XL for an enlarger. Upgraded my T50 to a Canon T90. Ultimately I was kinda disappointed – just didn’t seem like I could go any bigger than 8x10… the negatives just wouldn’t support it. In digging around for how to get past this I discovered Medium Format. And there was this new thing called eBay that made finding used equipment pretty easy. Did some research and took a gamble on a Yashicamat 124G.
Wow, first roll, I was absolutely blown away by the negatives this old camera produced. Immediately upgraded the darkroom to include a Jobo CPE2 with lift and so I could do color processing. Also started acquiring other old medium format cameras… - Mamiya Press, Mamiya C330, a Moskva 5, and eventually a Hasselbald 500CM. Sold the T90 on ebay. I began taking some of these old cameras on family vacations and was having a ball with photography again. I even got some studio lights and backdrops for family and friends portraits. Eventually bit the bullet and bought a brand new Fuji 645zi which I could operate very fast (auto focus/exposure, powered zoom), and was a better fit for family vacation photography.
Then 2006 happened. I had just stuck my toe in digital with a Canon 10d, but more for convenience when I knew I was going to need digital copies of an image (e.g. website, graphics art, etc). I had also picked up a Nikon Coolscan 8000 at some point, but that was a slow process, and you had to deal with dust, etc. The Canon 10d was faster. My parents 50th anniversary was in 2006, and I did their portraits with the Hasselblad. On a lark, I also shot some with the Canon 10D. I did some 11x14’s for them, and really couldn’t tell the difference between the analog Hassy and the digital print from the Canon 10D I ordered from Mpix. But the biggest issue was I could retouch the digital with Photoshop so easily – I ended up using the image from the Canon 10D, and started paying a lot more attention to the digital world and what it could do. The darkroom and all those cool old cameras went on the shelf. And so then next 10 or 15 years went like that.
Flash forward to 2018, being an empty nester and doing more travelling for fun, I started reminiscing about the old days when I used to haul these old cameras around when we traveled. Did some research and picked up “the perfect medium format traveler” camera - a Perkeo folder, to take on an Alaskan cruise. Had some issues with the Perkeo… just didn’t really enjoy using it. Anyway, shot a few rolls of black and white and then they sat around waiting for me to get motivated to put a darkroom together again. Years went buy, and, for whatever reason, I wanted to give it another go this year and a trip to Asheville, NC and picked up a Super Fujica Six folder, which I enjoyed much more than the Perkeo. Then when we got home, I was finally motivated to process the rolls from both trips. I figured the best process for me was developing (black and white), then cross over to digital for post processing using the Nikon Coolscan 8000 (which, of course, was a project unto itself to get up and running again). Very happy with the results, though they do seem slightly niche, one dimensional (the wife calls them artsy). I don’t really plan to try and do my own wet prints at this point, though I still have the enlarger and equipment to do it. Maybe I’ll do one or two and just see what I remember. Developing the black and white film with the Jobo has been a breeze and quite enjoyable.
So currently… I’ve started to cycle back through the old cameras, running a roll through them and seeing what their issues are. I’ve acquired a couple of new cameras – a Minolta Autocord and a Kodak Medalist I. Both need work, so have had discussions with the popular repair guys often mentioned for these - they’re both backlogged, so it’ll be awhile. Super excited about getting the Medalist going. My Yashicamat lives at my vacation home, so the Autocord was just so I’d have a TLR in both of our houses. I’d say I may like the Autocord as much or more than the Yashicamat.
I like the Hassy more than I remember. The biggest surprise so far is how good the Moskva 5 is – I think I more or less collected it so I’d have a folder, and didn’t use it much back in the day. Had I known it was this good, I think I might have skipped the Perkeo and Super Fujica-6. I don’t know though… those 6x9 negs just eat through film.
Not surprisingly, I’ve been saddened by the cost and lack of availability of film and chemicals. I used to get all my stuff from Calumet, which i understand doesn’t exist anymore. For now, for my return analog journey, I’ve settled on Black and White TMAX 400 processed with D-76 1:1 in the Jobo. I’ve had good luck using some twenty year old BW Verichrome Pan that I had and am still working my way through. Because of the cost and availability, I don’t really plan on doing color film at this point – I have a nice Canon R5 for color, and so much of what I do in color (event and product photography) needs to be digital anyway (film is probably just too much work). So digital for work and analog for fun.
For grins, here’s a couple pix from the folders, first from the Perkeo... TMAX-400:
And then from the Super Fujica 6… Ilford HP-5 400
Lastly from the Moskva 5… twenty year old Verichrome Pan 120...
FYI - I do my post processing in Lightroom - cropping, overall exposure/highlights/shadows, couple of dodges and burns, vignetting, make sure I've got some pure blacks and pure whites, and then split toning of selenium, gold, and sepia.
