Film Photography - Agfa Karat IV First Shots

I guess the repair guy down in Namdaemun really knows his stuff. When I dropped this camera off the focus ring was stuck as if someone had super glued it. Who knows what else was wrong with it. But, for $80 USD it was delivered back to me as good as when it came of the assembly line back in the early 1950's.

The Agfa Karat IV is a 35mm film camera that features a Solinar 50mm f/2.8 strut-folding lens. They are relatively hard to find in the USA and when you do find one they are usually not in working condition. It's a heavy camera which feels solid in your hands. The rangefinder / viewfinder is relatively small and the film advance operates in the opposite direction compared to other cameras. It took a little getting used to but by the end of the day I kind of liked it! I really enjoy shooting film cameras not just because of the unique look of film photographs but also for the simple pleasure of operating the film advance. I like to hear the sound of the shutter, always different and unique to each camera.

I loaded it with a roll of cheap Kodak ISO 200 color film and took it to work one day. Lucky for me, it happened to be a day when I would get to fly around in a Blackhawk helicopter. Hard to believe that a camera that is more than 60 years old can still take quality images like these... I will definitely take this camera out again soon!

I Dropped My Leica M3, Besides That It Was a Great Day

Today was quite an eventful day. I was looking forward to picking up my Leica from the factory service center all week! I dropped it off to get a full service and cleaning, so that my vintage camera would shoot just like the day it came off the factory floor sometime back in 1956. I have heard that Leica's last a lifetime because they are so well-built, they are heavy duty and rugged and it's a good thing that they are built so well because about 3 minutes after I plunked down my $240,000 KRW (approx. $213 USD) the Leica somehow slipped off the hook on my shoulder camera strap and plummeted about 3 feet to the tile floor. The back plate flipped open from the force of the crash, thereby exposing the roll of Portra 400 I had just loaded in it.

Myself and 4 Leica employees let out with a collective ghasp. For the next few moments there was a suspense in the air rivaling the best edge-of-your-seat Hollywood blockbuster. Everyone was wondering if the Leica had any significant damage. One of the employees picked it up and put the back plate back on, he gave it a once over and handed it off to another employee who tested out the lens, aperture ring, focus ring, shutter, all the dials etc. The camera appeared to have come out of this heart-stopping event unscathed.

As for myself, my pulse was racing and I was battling a vicious anxiety over what had just happened. The employees were empathetic, after all, Leica cameras are royalty and I was in the Seoul castle of the Leica kingdom. They asked me to sit down and brought me a Vita 500 energy drink, quite popular here in Korea. We looked over the camera one more time and verified that it was ok.

Now, I won't really know for sure if it truly survived the fall unscathed until I get the roll of film back from the lab and have a look. Maybe the fall messed up the rangefinder, throwing off the focus, or perhaps the shutter speed are off? Who knows? My gut instinct tells me everything is just fine and dandy but stay tuned to see the photos from my first roll.

With that out of the way, I headed over (still feeling the anxiety) to Saeki (a popular camera store here in Chungmuro) to meet up with John Steele, an extremely talented local photographer and university professor who I envy for his adorable Boston Terrier, Holly. John just purchased his first Leica as well, also an M3. I've been meaning to meet up with him for a while and today seemed like as good a day as any. I shot him a Facebook message and invited him to meet me for lunch in Chungmuro, to which he agreed.

John did some shopping today too, picking up a pristine Pentax lens for his Pentax 67. After lunch John suggestion we shoot some photos, which I hadn't really planned on but what the heck? Might as well get through a roll of film on my Leica and drop it off same day. Heck, I just wanted to see if I could get through a roll without something catastrophic happening. Ugh.

Anyway, John took me over to the Namsangol Traditional Korean Hanok Village which is directly across the street from Chungmuro. For all the times I've been to Chungmuro, I can't believe I never knew this place existed. The Namsangol Village is a park at the base of Namsan Mountain/Seoul Tower, it features a walking path, ponds and the Seoul Millenium Time Capsule, as well as the traditional village itself. I definitely intend on going back.

I finished out my first roll of film on the Leica with no further incidents or fumblings, no inept repairmen exposing my film for no good reason, no Felix butterfingers dropping a 1300 dollar camera, just good times, great weather and a fun buddy shoot with John. Check out his web site http://www.johnsteelephoto.com/ and keep an eye out for his awesome dog Holly.

Two new friends, Felix' Leica M3 (left) and John's Leica M3 (right)

Oh yeah! Leica baby!

We weren't the only photographers out there today.

This girl was doing some product photography.

Here is my Leica M3 with Summicron 50mm f/2 Dual Range lens. The near focus goggles are attached. I ordered those separately. The near range goggles will allow you to focus accurately as close as 31 inches from your subject. Without the goggles the closest you can get is 3 and a half feet.

View of my Leica M3 from above, with near range goggles. She's showing her age on the outside, but on the inside she purrs like a kitten.

Leica M3 without the near range goggles mounted.

Leica M3 with Summicron 50mm f/2 DR lens

The mark of distinction... Leica

Model Shoot - Tyler's Tattoos

I met Tyler in an elevator of all places. Immediately, her natural beauty struck me, like a lightning bolt. I did a good job of picking my jaw up off the floor of that elevator before she noticed. "Cold calling" a girl with your photography business card has always been a low percentage proposition. However, I was quite pleased when I saw that my inbox included an email from Tyler expressing her interest in shooting with me.

Tyler wasn't able to make the model shoot that Turner and I did in Incheon but we did arrange for a late afternoon shoot a couple weeks later. Down along the riverside in Dongducheon, South Korea, there are a few good spots for shooting. Under the expressway there is some graffiti which makes for a good pairing with Tyler's piercings and tattoos.

I shot her with my Sony A7II fitted with the outstanding Zeiss Loxia 50mm lens. My second camera was the Sony A99 with the Sony 16mm f/2.8 fisheye lens and I even threw my Minolta X-700 35mm film camera around my neck for good measure.

I hope you're enjoying my photography. Please feel free to make a donation to help in my continued pursuit of my passion and art. Many thanks!

Sony A99 with Sony 16mm f/2.8 fisheye

Sony A7 II with Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2

Minolta X-700 with Minolta MD 50mm f/1.8

Me and my kit.

Turner even got in on the action.

First Shot - Hasselblad 503CW

One of the best parts about having a shooting buddy is that I've always got a photography subject close by, and really, I find great pleasure in photographing friends, especially friends who are photographers.

Turner is a good person, devoted family man and a passionate photographer.

It was Turner who reminded me of a critical step in film photography, which is to keep a notebook detailing camera settings and lighting conditions for each photo. This is an essential step, not dissimilar to zeroing a scope on a rifle. Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of not keeping notes on my first roll of film, so I can't even tell you what the settings were for this shot. All I know is that it was shot on expired AGFA APX ISO 100 black and white film.

The photo below is one of the first shots that I took with the Hasselblad 503CW and it is a promising sign. With time, knowledge and practice I am certain I will get some great results.

The next Episode of our Hey Don't Shoot YouTube show is about film photography, I should have it edited and posted by next weekend.

Check out Turner's photography at the following links:

https://www.facebook.com/turnerhuntphoto
http://turnerhuntphoto.smugmug.com/

"Turner" - Shot with Hasselblad 503CW

Hasselblad 503CW