Vintage Camera - Agfa Silette 1

I finally had a chance to go shooting with my recently acquired Agfa Silette 1. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the lens has nice characteristics. This is a basic 35mm film camera, with a few more controls than one expects on a lower end 35mm camera. An interesting feature of this camera is that it has a countdown film counter. This type of counter tells you how many frames are left, not how many frames you've shot. With a full range of controls, I used a small Gossen light meter to set the exposure.

Agfa Silette 1

Film: 35mm

Shutter Speeds: B, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125

Apertures: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11,f/16,f/22

Zone focussing. Minimum distance 3 ft.

Miscellaneous: No meter, hotshoe, countdown film counter (you must set it to the number of exposures in the roll when loading)

Lens: Color Agnar 45mm

The following photos were shot with Kodak Gold 200 (expired).

Vintage SX70 print

I made this Polaroid print in the late 1990's, with an SX70 camera and TimeZero film. The image was manipulated after heating the print a little bit. I have a renewed interest in my Polaroid cameras since the Impossible Project has started making film. I plan on posting some more of my old work as well as the new work that I am shooting with the new Color Shade and Silver Shade materials.

The New and Improved Holga 120N Camera

Last week I posted a new YouTube video on the Holga camera aperture defect, only to learn that Tokina, the manufacturer of Holga, has finally addressed and fixed this problem. I had read a rumor that all Holgas had been fixed before I shot the defect video, but when I went down to my local camera store and took a look at the Holgas there, they all showed the aperture defect.

Thanks to the folks who gave me the heads up and links to check on this.

I went out and found the newer Holgas sitting on the counter next to a few older model Holgas that still showed the defect. If you are in the market for one, I don't know how to tell if you are going to get a newer one or not. I am going to send a couple of inquiries off to my favorite online suppliers, and will let you know what I hear back.

I uploaded a new video on youtube.  Out of the Box - The New and Improved Holga 120N

A small production note. I am trying out a new video workflow, where I am recording the audio portion separately with a better microphone than the onboard microphone. It's more work to edit, but it eliminates much of the bad sound that comes from breathing on the camera while trying to show something in front of the camera.

Holga Photo from the China Trip - People's Park in Guangzhou

I took this photo in Guangzhou, China at the People's Park. We were walking around the outside of the park, looking for the entrance, when I looked down and saw a fitness area where several seniors were exercising. I had only moments to react, as the man in this photo finished his exercise and moved away moments after I tripped my shutter.

This was taken with a Holga 120N, using Tri-X film.

Holga Photo from the China Trip - Guangzhou Park Slide

This photo was taken in Guangzhou, China on Shamian Island in a park. The parks in China are well populated with young and older people and is a place where children play, parents sit and relax and passer-bys stop and eat their lunches. This photo was made with a Holga 120N, with Tri-X.