35MM

My summer journal 2021

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Inspired by those of you that manage to do an entire 365, meaning one photo a day for a year, I’m now doing a similar project over the summer. I have done this once before. That time it was one camera, one lens, one film (Leica M7, 50 summicron, Tri-X). This time it’s a mix of both film and digital but still in black & white. It’s something poetic about that with suits my style for this project. What do I photograph? It could be just a certain light, a detail in my surroundings or something else that summons up the day I had.

The gear I’m using this summer is still the Leica M7, 50mm summicron V4, Tri-X metered for the shadows and pushed one stop in development. Scanned by Carmencita Film Lab on the Fuji Frontier 3000. On the digital side I’m using the Fujifilm X-pro2. A camera I just got and that really helps me in getting the imagery I want. It’s almost as simple to use as the M7. I turn off the LCD screen and focus manually. Initially I used the X-pro1. A lighter camera, which I like, but with inferior evf. So that made me upgrade. But still the pro1 is a great camera in many ways. The lens is the phenomenal Mitakon speedmaster 35mm 0.95. About a 50 1.4 in 35mm terms and has a really nice micro contrast and 3D separation. Bokeh? Melting :)

For post processing I use Mastin Labs Kodak Everyday Original and the Tri-X preset. Just two clicks, one for the preset and one for “All soft”. Then maybe adjust the exposure a bit. That’s it. Another favourite among presets are Rebecca Lily presets. I use her SET V for b&w.

Working like this gets me the consistency I’m after with my photography. I can work seamless between film and digital and enjoy both worlds. I will do the entire post after the summer when all is developed. But I will update images to this post as we go along.

 
 

Film & digital in Rhodes, Greece

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Again, we made it out on a family trip. This time to sunny Greece and the isle of Rhodes. One week of sun and fun, and also some travel photography. I decided to bring the Leica Q and the M7, paired with the Nokton 50mm 1.5. My favourite color film is Kodak Portra 400 so I brought a few rolls of that. But also some TMAX 100 for the black and whites. Inspired by Joe Scholz and his beautiful images from travelling to Algarve. 

Using the M7 in Dubai left me to desire a ND filter for those sunny b&w's. I got a 49mm for the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5. It reduces the light with 3 stops and made me able to shoot wide open, or nearly so, in almost any light. Super handy and I love the results. These two cameras made it in to my favourite Ona leather Bowery, along with some film and a light meter (that I never used). And of course a cloth and some lens cleaning. The front of my lens often gets smudges on it on summer holidays. 

Let's just say one thing; I love my M7. Everything about it. The size is small and perfect. The handling is great. It looks amazing (that shouldn't make a difference perhaps, but it does to me). When travelling with my family I stick the exposure compensation on the back to +1. Having to focus manually takes the little time I have to get all things right, in order to get the shot. If I were to meter and shoot in all manual the moments with these small kids would be lost. Sometimes, when I'm out and about on my own, I can take the time to meter the scene and set the camera in full manual mode. But I see that it really works with aperture priority and exposure compensation, so that's fine for me. Call me lazy ;) 

One downside to shooting film for me is not knowing if you nail the shot. That's something I have to learn and live with. With digital I take a few in continuous mode and I'm good. But I enjoy both the process and results of shooting film more than digital so that's a trade off I'm willing to do. Another downside is that you have to choose between loading color or black and white film. To get the timing right with where you are and with what you are shooting. That happened to me twice on this trip. I had TMAX 100 loaded when going in to the old town. There I wanted color. One solution to this could be to shoot all color and then change it to b&w in post. But I don't really like that, so that's not an option.  

The Leica Q files are again edited with Rebecca Lily's Pro Set IV. They just match the Leica files so good that they blow the presets competition out of the water. A true match to my film images. For me both digital and film has it's place in my workflow. The 28mm 1.7 Summilux lens is really something! I've come to love my 28/50mm combo when I'm away on holiday. I've always struggled a bit with the 35mm focal length. And I think 24mm is too wide for my taste. In this post you will see a mix of images. The 28mm being digital and the 50mm being on film.  

Rhodes was lovely. We stayed in a family resort in Kallithea, that was perfect for us travelling with small children. 

These images were taken with Leica Q and Leica M7/Voigtlander Nokton 50mm 1.5. Scanned by Carmencita Film Lab.