A Few HP5+ Shots

[ajroder]

I got my hands on a cheap 35mm film camera (Vivitar XC-3) to go with my small M42 lens collection. I put a roll of Illford HP5+ in it to get a taste of the good ol' days. Unlike most of you, I didn't start shooting seriously until well into the digital era, so this was my first real experience with film photography.

I quite enjoyed the experience. With only 36 shots, I found myself really slowing down and picking my shots, and I love the grainy texture of these shots. Unfortunately, the digital light meter in the camera seems to be a bit off. The majority of my shots were about a stop overexposed, so I had to adjust the scans in Lightroom a bit. I have a couple more rolls of film standing by that I'll definitely be using.

These were mostly just for fun, but C&C is more than welcome!


Pictures of People Taking Pictures... by ajroder, on Flickr


State Fair Ferris Wheel by ajroder, on Flickr


Horse at the State Fair by ajroder, on Flickr


Tiger Hotel by ajroder, on Flickr

 

[limr]

Can you override the auto exposure? My Olympus 35RC also has a wonky meter and also overexposes in bright conditions (it's better in low light) and I'll sometimes see what it suggests, then pop it into manual and adjust. But HP5 is fairly forgiving and you can certainly regain a lot in post.

The pictures look really nice. I like the Ferris wheel a lot. I like the horse one too, though I would have liked that burst of light to be either a bit farther away from the horse's face, or just not as bright. But I like contrasty shots, so the burst overall is fairly minor for me.

What lens have you got on it? That's some funky, swirly bokeh in the first shot. Cool.

 

[ajroder]

Can you override the auto exposure? My Olympus 35RC also has a wonky meter and also overexposes in bright conditions (it's better in low light) and I'll sometimes see what it suggests, then pop it into manual and adjust. But HP5 is fairly forgiving and you can certainly regain a lot in post.

The pictures look really nice. I like the Ferris wheel a lot. I like the horse one too, though I would have liked that burst of light to be either a bit farther away from the horse's face, or just not as bright. But I like contrasty shots, so the burst overall is fairly minor for me.

What lens have you got on it? That's some funky, swirly bokeh in the first shot. Cool.

The camera is full manual with a light meter that lets you know when you shot is "exposed" properly. They're notoriously inaccurate, and mine seems to be off by a stop. No big deal, just something I'll keep in mind going forward.

Thanks! The swirly bokeh and the hotel shot (#1 and #4) are on a Helios 44-4m 58mm f/2. The other two shots are a Rikenon 50mm 1.4 with a yellow filter.

 

[timor]

Light meter in this camera is not a digital one . It's a regular, analog one, just instead of needle there are diodes to indicate over or under exposure. Considering, that you shot all this pictures here against strong points of light like sky and flood lights, it doesn't look too bad. In this kind of situations you should compensate by adding some exposure, 1/2 or even a full stop. Yes, you have some lose of detail and the skin of the girl in #1 is too dark. BTW is she shooting Praktica ? (Like from MTL series ?)

 

[ajroder]

Light meter in this camera is not a digital one . It's a regular, analog one, just instead of needle there are diodes to indicate over or under exposure. Considering, that you shot all this pictures here against strong points of light like sky and flood lights, it doesn't look too bad. In this kind of situations you should compensate by adding some exposure, 1/2 or even a full stop. Yes, you have some lose of detail and the skin of the girl in #1 is too dark. BTW is she shooting Praktica ? (Like from MTL series ?)

I see.

She is! A Pracktica PLC2. Unfortunately it died on that outing. The cock seems to be jammed and the shutter won't release. I don't suppose you know anything about Praktica repairs?

 

[timor]

No, sorry, I don't know much about repairs. It might be a jammed sprocket or stuck link. Did the release button work ? Were you able to rewind the film ?

 

[ajroder]

The release was jammed. The film rewownd, but the camera was jammed almost immediately afterwards.

 

[timor]

Maybe you can unscrew the bottom plate, take a look and maybe add some lubrication. I am right now "fighting" with Pentacon 1.8/50 which aperture blades once close once not and it looks to me like old lubricant which became too thick.