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‘New Cameras’ Category

  1. Studio Session :: Self

    February 28, 2010 by cat

    This week I ended up in the studio on recommendation of one of my tutor. To get comfortable about going into the studio before taking other people in there for a project I’m currently doing for my degree.

    I was given the choice of two cameras, a Fuji 6×9 (which I used in first year) and a Mamiya RB67. I thought I’d play with something I’d yet to have time with so chose the Mamiya with a 120 back.

    The exercise started with me shooting a film with my eyes closed.

    By the end of the exercise I had my eyes open and trying to pose – you would not believe how hard I find it to pose in front of a camera!

    The lighting was setup in this way so that it would not distract from the simplicity of the photographs themselves.

    The aim of the session was to get me to look at simple lighting akin to David Bailey, Sally Man and Richard Avedon to try to open up the possibilities of a series of portraits I’m currently shooting. I may have more from this set (I’ve got photographs of two other people too and if they will let me post them I’ll share them with you lot!).


  2. Shinies – 10-20mm Sigma, Canon 85mm and Canon EOS 50E

    September 26, 2008 by cat


    Canon EOS 50E
    “Canon EOS 50E (film body) with BP-50 battery pack. Bought for £50 from Cash Converters on September 19th 2008. Lens 50mm f/1.8 (auto-focus, plastic fantastic) bought last year sometime.” Caption from gallery


    Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 and Canon 85mm f1.8
    Both beautiful lenses – really fallen for the Sigma, lets pray it doesn’t do what the last one did!

    You can see the test/sample images I’ve take with the Sigma and Canon. The EOS 50E test images will happen next week when I have chance to develop the rolls!


  3. Back to the daily grind!

    September 26, 2008 by cat

    This week I started back at Manchester Metropolitan University.  I am officially a second year!  With that means that my student loan has come through.

    Do you know what that means boys and girls?? Shopping time!  I’ve bought myself two new lenses – Canon 85mm f1.8 USM and the Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6.  I also bought a new camera body, Canon EOS 50E, one beautiful film body!  Yes, a automagic film body, but it works nicely along side the digital body.  Sadly, I haven’t been able to get the lithium batteries that the 50E requires, but I do have the battery pack to go with it which takes AA batteries instead!  Not to forget about the ordered things that have still to come though the mail – sensor cleaner, filters for the lenses (don’t forget to get your UV filters to protect the front element!) and a few other odds and sods for the camera bag.

    This does, however, mean that my dear Epson R340 printer is being dicky. The yellow printing head is clogged and has been quite rapidly not printing things right for a couple of weeks. Kian is working his technical genius on it to help me out (I really don’t want to buy another printer for another 6months or so – when this one hits 3years old I was planning on replacing it…). Annoyingly, Epson feel that it is time to replace my printer and offer no way of repairing it – only replacing with an all-in-one unit (further down the scale then the R340, but *slightly* cheaper!).

    Things that are happening at uni – part of our education this term is that we must enter 2 photographic awards/competitions/contests, one of them being the Nikon Discovery Awards. There are a few people that don’t like the idea, but I’m not too sure that their reasons are that logical – the work, if chosen by our tutors, *might* have a chance of winning a place at an exhibition and having their work printed and publicised by Nikon and the British Journal of Photography.  As it is, the brief for it is so broad that I don’t feel restricted by it in anyway!  Its getting us ready for next term where we *must* put on a public exhibition.  So, on top of the Nikon Discovery Awards I need to choose another photographic competition to enter before Christmas.  Got a couple in mind.

    Still debating going to the fencing competition this weekend – its the Manchester Cadet.  I’ve not been around the fencing scene since last December – got the next lenses and camera I want to try out.  We Shall See.


  4. Balda test

    April 14, 2008 by cat


    Palace Hotel

    Balda test roll from March 3rd 2008.

    This is a beautiful little pop-lens tin camera. I bought it for £5 from a charity through eBay. It takes 120 film and has a set shutter and two aperture settings. It is basically a metal version of the Holga, made in the 1950s!