#harmanphoenix — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #harmanphoenix, aggregated by home.social.
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These two shots were taken in full sunlight during a hike in the Swiss Alps. The saturation and grain are quite intense but I feel like this gives the pictures an interesting vibe.
📸 Nikon F100
🎞️ Harman Phoenix II
🧪 Optik Oldschool (Düsseldorf, Germany)
📠 Camera Scan (Fujifilm X-T30 II + FILMOMAT SmartConvert)
🗓️ October 20252/2
#analogphotography #filmphotography #believeinfilm #filmisnotdead #nikonf100 #phoenix2 #harman #harmanphoenix #photography #basel #Filmomat #SmartConvert
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I am absolutely impressed by my first roll of Harman Phoenix II ! This is a mystical morning shot I took on my way to work.
1/2📸 Nikon F100
🎞️ Harman Phoenix II
🧪 Optik Oldschool (Düsseldorf, Germany)
📠 Camera Scan (Fujifilm X-T30 II + FILMOMAT SmartConvert)
🗓️ October 2025#analogphotography #filmphotography #believeinfilm #filmisnotdead #nikonf100 #phoenix2 #harman #harmanphoenix #photography #basel #Filmomat #SmartConvert
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Some recent shadow self portraits 👤
Taken in #mataró, #calella, #mataró again and #berlin with a #canonae1program + #kodakvision3500T, #ricohgr3x + my own edits, #olympusxa2 + #kentmere200 and the canon again + #harmanphoenix (the second). Which one is your favorite?
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Just loaded my first roll of #HarmanPhoenix 1 in 120 into my Fujica #GS645S. I bought a 120 roll of Phoenix 2 and intended to buy a roll of 120 #HarmanRed as well, but apparently put the wrong thing in the basket! Set the EI at roughly 125 (hard to see on the GS645S) as light is a bit subdued, and added a UV filter. Already finished a roll of 135 Phoenix 2. I'll maybe finish a roll of some other C41 in the LX so I've got 3 to send off (shares the postage!).
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The #FrugalFilmProject, July 2025: The One Where We Tried To Expose Both Sides
This month I thought it would be fun to try something different with the Golden Wonder (a.k.a the Welta Penti II, half-frame Rapid camera). EBS photography, or Expose Both Sides, is exactly what it sounds like. First exposing a film normally in the camera — with the emulsion side facing the subject — but then reversing the film, reloading that into the camera, and exposing the whole film again — this time with the emulsion side facing away from the subject.
There are a few factors that need to be borne in mind when conducting EBS photography, like slightly underexposing each side so that the multiple exposures balance out to give a ‘properly exposed’ film, and deciding whether its important to you if the frames on each side are lined up or not. I loaded the Golden Wonder with a canister of Harman Phoenix, but this time I inserted a little bit of film into the take-up canister and marked the position of the film gate on the film. By doing this I hoped that I could line up the frames when I exposed the other side of the film. I reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to ‘1’.
We took the camera to Barra, where I took photographs around the beach, and later finished the roll in Oliveira do Bairro. When metering the exposures I tried to underexpose the film slightly by taking each image 1-stop under the suggested reading from the Camera Meter app. Once the film was exposed, it was time to turn it over and reload it back into the Golden Wonder. Inside the dark bag I fed the previously exposed film into another Rapid canister, but this time I fed it backwards, as if for redscaling, with the emulsion side facing outwards.
Once loaded into the canister, I pulled a bit of film out of the canister until I could see the gate markings that I made for the first exposure. I marked the emulsion side of the film with the markings in the same position and loaded the canisters into the camera so the film was in the same position. I then reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to number ‘1’. By doing this, I hoped that the frames on each side were lined up.
I took the Golden Wonder on a walk around Águas Boas, a nearby village, and photographed walls, trees and various textures. When taking the photos I held the camera upside down so that the orientation of the images on the both sides would be in the same direction. On completion, the film was taken to Forever Blue in Aveiro and scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
On return from the lab, looking at the negatives one thing was immediately apparent: the frames weren’t lined up. In fact they were almost precisely 50% off, so there was a big band down the centre of the first exposure which was the ‘between frames’ unexposed part of the film of the second exposure. Also, the ‘redscaled’ second exposure was well overexposed compared to the first exposure, so most of the details of the first exposure were completely lost. I had tried to underexpose the second exposure by going 1-stop unter the exposure, but clearly it didn’t work.
A couple of the images came out really well, and I was pleased there was some success, but most of them were an unintelligible mess. At the end of the roll, there were a few more redscale images, and these came out really well. I’m definitely going to try some EBS with Rapid films again, though, but next time I might use a different camera to the Golden Wonder. Still, it’s now challenging me to get the frames lined up.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.
#HarmanPhoenix #Agfa #AgfaRapid #Cassette #EBS #ExposeBothSides #FrugalFilmProject #HalfFrame #Penti2 #Rapid #RapidFilm #Redscale #Welta
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The #FrugalFilmProject, July 2025: The One Where We Tried To Expose Both Sides
This month I thought it would be fun to try something different with the Golden Wonder (a.k.a the Welta Penti II, half-frame Rapid camera). EBS photography, or Expose Both Sides, is exactly what it sounds like. First exposing a film normally in the camera — with the emulsion side facing the subject — but then reversing the film, reloading that into the camera, and exposing the whole film again — this time with the emulsion side facing away from the subject.
There are a few factors that need to be borne in mind when conducting EBS photography, like slightly underexposing each side so that the multiple exposures balance out to give a ‘properly exposed’ film, and deciding whether its important to you if the frames on each side are lined up or not. I loaded the Golden Wonder with a canister of Harman Phoenix, but this time I inserted a little bit of film into the take-up canister and marked the position of the film gate on the film. By doing this I hoped that I could line up the frames when I exposed the other side of the film. I reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to ‘1’.
We took the camera to Barra, where I took photographs around the beach, and later finished the roll in Oliveira do Bairro. When metering the exposures I tried to underexpose the film slightly by taking each image 1-stop under the suggested reading from the Camera Meter app. Once the film was exposed, it was time to turn it over and reload it back into the Golden Wonder. Inside the dark bag I fed the previously exposed film into another Rapid canister, but this time I fed it backwards, as if for redscaling, with the emulsion side facing outwards.
Once loaded into the canister, I pulled a bit of film out of the canister until I could see the gate markings that I made for the first exposure. I marked the emulsion side of the film with the markings in the same position and loaded the canisters into the camera so the film was in the same position. I then reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to number ‘1’. By doing this, I hoped that the frames on each side were lined up.
I took the Golden Wonder on a walk around Águas Boas, a nearby village, and photographed walls, trees and various textures. When taking the photos I held the camera upside down so that the orientation of the images on the both sides would be in the same direction. On completion, the film was taken to Forever Blue in Aveiro and scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
On return from the lab, looking at the negatives one thing was immediately apparent: the frames weren’t lined up. In fact they were almost precisely 50% off, so there was a big band down the centre of the first exposure which was the ‘between frames’ unexposed part of the film of the second exposure. Also, the ‘redscaled’ second exposure was well overexposed compared to the first exposure, so most of the details of the first exposure were completely lost. I had tried to underexpose the second exposure by going 1-stop unter the exposure, but clearly it didn’t work.
A couple of the images came out really well, and I was pleased there was some success, but most of them were an unintelligible mess. At the end of the roll, there were a few more redscale images, and these came out really well. I’m definitely going to try some EBS with Rapid films again, though, but next time I might use a different camera to the Golden Wonder. Still, it’s now challenging me to get the frames lined up.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.
#HarmanPhoenix #Agfa #AgfaRapid #Cassette #EBS #ExposeBothSides #FrugalFilmProject #HalfFrame #Penti2 #Rapid #RapidFilm #Redscale #Welta
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The #FrugalFilmProject, July 2025: The One Where We Tried To Expose Both Sides
This month I thought it would be fun to try something different with the Golden Wonder (a.k.a the Welta Penti II, half-frame Rapid camera). EBS photography, or Expose Both Sides, is exactly what it sounds like. First exposing a film normally in the camera — with the emulsion side facing the subject — but then reversing the film, reloading that into the camera, and exposing the whole film again — this time with the emulsion side facing away from the subject.
There are a few factors that need to be borne in mind when conducting EBS photography, like slightly underexposing each side so that the multiple exposures balance out to give a ‘properly exposed’ film, and deciding whether its important to you if the frames on each side are lined up or not. I loaded the Golden Wonder with a canister of Harman Phoenix, but this time I inserted a little bit of film into the take-up canister and marked the position of the film gate on the film. By doing this I hoped that I could line up the frames when I exposed the other side of the film. I reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to ‘1’.
We took the camera to Barra, where I took photographs around the beach, and later finished the roll in Oliveira do Bairro. When metering the exposures I tried to underexpose the film slightly by taking each image 1-stop under the suggested reading from the Camera Meter app. Once the film was exposed, it was time to turn it over and reload it back into the Golden Wonder. Inside the dark bag I fed the previously exposed film into another Rapid canister, but this time I fed it backwards, as if for redscaling, with the emulsion side facing outwards.
Once loaded into the canister, I pulled a bit of film out of the canister until I could see the gate markings that I made for the first exposure. I marked the emulsion side of the film with the markings in the same position and loaded the canisters into the camera so the film was in the same position. I then reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to number ‘1’. By doing this, I hoped that the frames on each side were lined up.
I took the Golden Wonder on a walk around Águas Boas, a nearby village, and photographed walls, trees and various textures. When taking the photos I held the camera upside down so that the orientation of the images on the both sides would be in the same direction. On completion, the film was taken to Forever Blue in Aveiro and scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
On return from the lab, looking at the negatives one thing was immediately apparent: the frames weren’t lined up. In fact they were almost precisely 50% off, so there was a big band down the centre of the first exposure which was the ‘between frames’ unexposed part of the film of the second exposure. Also, the ‘redscaled’ second exposure was well overexposed compared to the first exposure, so most of the details of the first exposure were completely lost. I had tried to underexpose the second exposure by going 1-stop unter the exposure, but clearly it didn’t work.
A couple of the images came out really well, and I was pleased there was some success, but most of them were an unintelligible mess. At the end of the roll, there were a few more redscale images, and these came out really well. I’m definitely going to try some EBS with Rapid films again, though, but next time I might use a different camera to the Golden Wonder. Still, it’s now challenging me to get the frames lined up.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.
#HarmanPhoenix #Agfa #AgfaRapid #Cassette #EBS #ExposeBothSides #FrugalFilmProject #HalfFrame #Penti2 #Rapid #RapidFilm #Redscale #Welta
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The #FrugalFilmProject, July 2025: The One Where We Tried To Expose Both Sides
This month I thought it would be fun to try something different with the Golden Wonder (a.k.a the Welta Penti II, half-frame Rapid camera). EBS photography, or Expose Both Sides, is exactly what it sounds like. First exposing a film normally in the camera — with the emulsion side facing the subject — but then reversing the film, reloading that into the camera, and exposing the whole film again — this time with the emulsion side facing away from the subject.
There are a few factors that need to be borne in mind when conducting EBS photography, like slightly underexposing each side so that the multiple exposures balance out to give a ‘properly exposed’ film, and deciding whether its important to you if the frames on each side are lined up or not. I loaded the Golden Wonder with a canister of Harman Phoenix, but this time I inserted a little bit of film into the take-up canister and marked the position of the film gate on the film. By doing this I hoped that I could line up the frames when I exposed the other side of the film. I reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to ‘1’.
We took the camera to Barra, where I took photographs around the beach, and later finished the roll in Oliveira do Bairro. When metering the exposures I tried to underexpose the film slightly by taking each image 1-stop under the suggested reading from the Camera Meter app. Once the film was exposed, it was time to turn it over and reload it back into the Golden Wonder. Inside the dark bag I fed the previously exposed film into another Rapid canister, but this time I fed it backwards, as if for redscaling, with the emulsion side facing outwards.
Once loaded into the canister, I pulled a bit of film out of the canister until I could see the gate markings that I made for the first exposure. I marked the emulsion side of the film with the markings in the same position and loaded the canisters into the camera so the film was in the same position. I then reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to number ‘1’. By doing this, I hoped that the frames on each side were lined up.
I took the Golden Wonder on a walk around Águas Boas, a nearby village, and photographed walls, trees and various textures. When taking the photos I held the camera upside down so that the orientation of the images on the both sides would be in the same direction. On completion, the film was taken to Forever Blue in Aveiro and scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
On return from the lab, looking at the negatives one thing was immediately apparent: the frames weren’t lined up. In fact they were almost precisely 50% off, so there was a big band down the centre of the first exposure which was the ‘between frames’ unexposed part of the film of the second exposure. Also, the ‘redscaled’ second exposure was well overexposed compared to the first exposure, so most of the details of the first exposure were completely lost. I had tried to underexpose the second exposure by going 1-stop unter the exposure, but clearly it didn’t work.
A couple of the images came out really well, and I was pleased there was some success, but most of them were an unintelligible mess. At the end of the roll, there were a few more redscale images, and these came out really well. I’m definitely going to try some EBS with Rapid films again, though, but next time I might use a different camera to the Golden Wonder. Still, it’s now challenging me to get the frames lined up.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.
#HarmanPhoenix #Agfa #AgfaRapid #Cassette #EBS #ExposeBothSides #FrugalFilmProject #HalfFrame #Penti2 #Rapid #RapidFilm #Redscale #Welta
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The #FrugalFilmProject, July 2025: The One Where We Tried To Expose Both Sides
This month I thought it would be fun to try something different with the Golden Wonder (a.k.a the Welta Penti II, half-frame Rapid camera). EBS photography, or Expose Both Sides, is exactly what it sounds like. First exposing a film normally in the camera — with the emulsion side facing the subject — but then reversing the film, reloading that into the camera, and exposing the whole film again — this time with the emulsion side facing away from the subject.
There are a few factors that need to be borne in mind when conducting EBS photography, like slightly underexposing each side so that the multiple exposures balance out to give a ‘properly exposed’ film, and deciding whether its important to you if the frames on each side are lined up or not. I loaded the Golden Wonder with a canister of Harman Phoenix, but this time I inserted a little bit of film into the take-up canister and marked the position of the film gate on the film. By doing this I hoped that I could line up the frames when I exposed the other side of the film. I reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to ‘1’.
We took the camera to Barra, where I took photographs around the beach, and later finished the roll in Oliveira do Bairro. When metering the exposures I tried to underexpose the film slightly by taking each image 1-stop under the suggested reading from the Camera Meter app. Once the film was exposed, it was time to turn it over and reload it back into the Golden Wonder. Inside the dark bag I fed the previously exposed film into another Rapid canister, but this time I fed it backwards, as if for redscaling, with the emulsion side facing outwards.
Once loaded into the canister, I pulled a bit of film out of the canister until I could see the gate markings that I made for the first exposure. I marked the emulsion side of the film with the markings in the same position and loaded the canisters into the camera so the film was in the same position. I then reset the frame counter to zero, closed the camera, and fired off two shots to take the counter to number ‘1’. By doing this, I hoped that the frames on each side were lined up.
I took the Golden Wonder on a walk around Águas Boas, a nearby village, and photographed walls, trees and various textures. When taking the photos I held the camera upside down so that the orientation of the images on the both sides would be in the same direction. On completion, the film was taken to Forever Blue in Aveiro and scanned at home with an Epson Perfection v750 Pro flat bed scanner and Epson Scan software. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
On return from the lab, looking at the negatives one thing was immediately apparent: the frames weren’t lined up. In fact they were almost precisely 50% off, so there was a big band down the centre of the first exposure which was the ‘between frames’ unexposed part of the film of the second exposure. Also, the ‘redscaled’ second exposure was well overexposed compared to the first exposure, so most of the details of the first exposure were completely lost. I had tried to underexpose the second exposure by going 1-stop unter the exposure, but clearly it didn’t work.
A couple of the images came out really well, and I was pleased there was some success, but most of them were an unintelligible mess. At the end of the roll, there were a few more redscale images, and these came out really well. I’m definitely going to try some EBS with Rapid films again, though, but next time I might use a different camera to the Golden Wonder. Still, it’s now challenging me to get the frames lined up.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow the ‘Snapshot’ WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline.
#HarmanPhoenix #Agfa #AgfaRapid #Cassette #EBS #ExposeBothSides #FrugalFilmProject #HalfFrame #Penti2 #Rapid #RapidFilm #Redscale #Welta
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Harman Phoenix II is a Brand-New Color 35mm and 120 Film Stock https://petapixel.com/2025/07/16/harman-phoenix-ii-is-a-brand-new-color-35mm-and-120-film-stock/ #harmanphoenixii #harmanphoenix #colorfilm #newfilm #Analog #analog #harman #News #film #c41
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Further and Further Down the Rabbit Hole: The Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid
Every time I say to myself, ‘I have enough cameras now,’ somehow another one always seems to grab my attention. I wasn’t looking for another Rapid camera, but then a Voigtländer Vitoret D popped up during a random browse on eBay, something, ‘Inspired by your recent search ‘. It was reasonably priced, and with several days to go before the auction came to an end no-one had made any bids. I added it to my watchlist and left it alone, popping in to see what was happening from time to time.
With a few hours to go before the end of the auction there were still no bids for this Rapid camera. I had checked the reviews of the seller already, which were positive, and the condition of the camera was described as, ‘beautiful, fully functional condition (tested) with only minor signs of wear’. With this in mind, I put in a minimum bid, and waited until the auction was closed. There were no further bids, and the Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid was mine.
The Vitoret D is a manual focus camera made by Voigtländer and introduced c.1962. There is a ‘normal’ 35mm version, but my model is the Rapid version that uses Agfa Rapid film canisters. It has a rounded body, which dates it to before 1966, when a modified model was released with squarer body corners. It comes with a 40mm f2.8 Color-Lanthar lens, with apertures between f2.8 and f22, and a Prontor 300 leaf shutter, with speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/300s (+ B).
According to the description, the ‘optics are clean, with no dust, fungus, or fungus residue. The shutter speeds run smoothly and even at long exposures. The leather trim is not worn.’ So it should be in good condition. The Vitoret D Rapid has an uncoupled selenium cell in a window to the right of the lens, and you can see the suggested exposure reading on a little window on the top of the camera, where in a normal camera the rewind knob might be. I’m not sure if this works properly but I can use the camera meter app and set the camera manually.
On its arrival, I could see that the Vitoret D was in lovely cosmetic condition, with few signs of use and a lovely clear lens. However, on checking the shutter speeds and apertures, although the faster speeds of 1/125s and 1/300s sounded fine, the slower speeds of 1/60s, 1/30s, and B, lagged terribly. This is something I will raise with the seller. The apertures were fine, though.
Naturally, I was keen to see how the camera performed, so I loaded the Vitoret D with a canister of Harman Phoenix and set off for a walk ‘around the block’. For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 160, which is the speed I normally use with Harman Phoenix. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Phoenix kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. However, there were also a lot of light leaks, and in some instances the image was more light leak than subject. Despite these faults, I really like the camera, and will certainly try it out again. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #VitoretRapidD #Voigtländer
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Further and Further Down the Rabbit Hole: The Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid
Every time I say to myself, ‘I have enough cameras now,’ somehow another one always seems to grab my attention. I wasn’t looking for another Rapid camera, but then a Voigtländer Vitoret D popped up during a random browse on eBay, something, ‘Inspired by your recent search ‘. It was reasonably priced, and with several days to go before the auction came to an end no-one had made any bids. I added it to my watchlist and left it alone, popping in to see what was happening from time to time.
With a few hours to go before the end of the auction there were still no bids for this Rapid camera. I had checked the reviews of the seller already, which were positive, and the condition of the camera was described as, ‘beautiful, fully functional condition (tested) with only minor signs of wear’. With this in mind, I put in a minimum bid, and waited until the auction was closed. There were no further bids, and the Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid was mine.
The Vitoret D is a manual focus camera made by Voigtländer and introduced c.1962. There is a ‘normal’ 35mm version, but my model is the Rapid version that uses Agfa Rapid film canisters. It has a rounded body, which dates it to before 1966, when a modified model was released with squarer body corners. It comes with a 40mm f2.8 Color-Lanthar lens, with apertures between f2.8 and f22, and a Prontor 300 leaf shutter, with speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/300s (+ B).
According to the description, the ‘optics are clean, with no dust, fungus, or fungus residue. The shutter speeds run smoothly and even at long exposures. The leather trim is not worn.’ So it should be in good condition. The Vitoret D Rapid has an uncoupled selenium cell in a window to the right of the lens, and you can see the suggested exposure reading on a little window on the top of the camera, where in a normal camera the rewind knob might be. I’m not sure if this works properly but I can use the camera meter app and set the camera manually.
On its arrival, I could see that the Vitoret D was in lovely cosmetic condition, with few signs of use and a lovely clear lens. However, on checking the shutter speeds and apertures, although the faster speeds of 1/125s and 1/300s sounded fine, the slower speeds of 1/60s, 1/30s, and B, lagged terribly. This is something I will raise with the seller. The apertures were fine, though.
Naturally, I was keen to see how the camera performed, so I loaded the Vitoret D with a canister of Harman Phoenix and set off for a walk ‘around the block’. For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 160, which is the speed I normally use with Harman Phoenix. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Phoenix kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. However, there were also a lot of light leaks, and in some instances the image was more light leak than subject. Despite these faults, I really like the camera, and will certainly try it out again. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #VitoretRapidD #Voigtländer
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Further and Further Down the Rabbit Hole: The Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid
Every time I say to myself, ‘I have enough cameras now,’ somehow another one always seems to grab my attention. I wasn’t looking for another Rapid camera, but then a Voigtländer Vitoret D popped up during a random browse on eBay, something, ‘Inspired by your recent search ‘. It was reasonably priced, and with several days to go before the auction came to an end no-one had made any bids. I added it to my watchlist and left it alone, popping in to see what was happening from time to time.
With a few hours to go before the end of the auction there were still no bids for this Rapid camera. I had checked the reviews of the seller already, which were positive, and the condition of the camera was described as, ‘beautiful, fully functional condition (tested) with only minor signs of wear’. With this in mind, I put in a minimum bid, and waited until the auction was closed. There were no further bids, and the Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid was mine.
The Vitoret D is a manual focus camera made by Voigtländer and introduced c.1962. There is a ‘normal’ 35mm version, but my model is the Rapid version that uses Agfa Rapid film canisters. It has a rounded body, which dates it to before 1966, when a modified model was released with squarer body corners. It comes with a 40mm f2.8 Color-Lanthar lens, with apertures between f2.8 and f22, and a Prontor 300 leaf shutter, with speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/300s (+ B).
According to the description, the ‘optics are clean, with no dust, fungus, or fungus residue. The shutter speeds run smoothly and even at long exposures. The leather trim is not worn.’ So it should be in good condition. The Vitoret D Rapid has an uncoupled selenium cell in a window to the right of the lens, and you can see the suggested exposure reading on a little window on the top of the camera, where in a normal camera the rewind knob might be. I’m not sure if this works properly but I can use the camera meter app and set the camera manually.
On its arrival, I could see that the Vitoret D was in lovely cosmetic condition, with few signs of use and a lovely clear lens. However, on checking the shutter speeds and apertures, although the faster speeds of 1/125s and 1/300s sounded fine, the slower speeds of 1/60s, 1/30s, and B, lagged terribly. This is something I will raise with the seller. The apertures were fine, though.
Naturally, I was keen to see how the camera performed, so I loaded the Vitoret D with a canister of Harman Phoenix and set off for a walk ‘around the block’. For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 160, which is the speed I normally use with Harman Phoenix. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Phoenix kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. However, there were also a lot of light leaks, and in some instances the image was more light leak than subject. Despite these faults, I really like the camera, and will certainly try it out again. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #VitoretRapidD #Voigtländer
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Further and Further Down the Rabbit Hole: The Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid
Every time I say to myself, ‘I have enough cameras now,’ somehow another one always seems to grab my attention. I wasn’t looking for another Rapid camera, but then a Voigtländer Vitoret D popped up during a random browse on eBay, something, ‘Inspired by your recent search ‘. It was reasonably priced, and with several days to go before the auction came to an end no-one had made any bids. I added it to my watchlist and left it alone, popping in to see what was happening from time to time.
With a few hours to go before the end of the auction there were still no bids for this Rapid camera. I had checked the reviews of the seller already, which were positive, and the condition of the camera was described as, ‘beautiful, fully functional condition (tested) with only minor signs of wear’. With this in mind, I put in a minimum bid, and waited until the auction was closed. There were no further bids, and the Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid was mine.
The Vitoret D is a manual focus camera made by Voigtländer and introduced c.1962. There is a ‘normal’ 35mm version, but my model is the Rapid version that uses Agfa Rapid film canisters. It has a rounded body, which dates it to before 1966, when a modified model was released with squarer body corners. It comes with a 40mm f2.8 Color-Lanthar lens, with apertures between f2.8 and f22, and a Prontor 300 leaf shutter, with speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/300s (+ B).
According to the description, the ‘optics are clean, with no dust, fungus, or fungus residue. The shutter speeds run smoothly and even at long exposures. The leather trim is not worn.’ So it should be in good condition. The Vitoret D Rapid has an uncoupled selenium cell in a window to the right of the lens, and you can see the suggested exposure reading on a little window on the top of the camera, where in a normal camera the rewind knob might be. I’m not sure if this works properly but I can use the camera meter app and set the camera manually.
On its arrival, I could see that the Vitoret D was in lovely cosmetic condition, with few signs of use and a lovely clear lens. However, on checking the shutter speeds and apertures, although the faster speeds of 1/125s and 1/300s sounded fine, the slower speeds of 1/60s, 1/30s, and B, lagged terribly. This is something I will raise with the seller. The apertures were fine, though.
Naturally, I was keen to see how the camera performed, so I loaded the Vitoret D with a canister of Harman Phoenix and set off for a walk ‘around the block’. For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 160, which is the speed I normally use with Harman Phoenix. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Phoenix kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. However, there were also a lot of light leaks, and in some instances the image was more light leak than subject. Despite these faults, I really like the camera, and will certainly try it out again. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #VitoretRapidD #Voigtländer
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Further and Further Down the Rabbit Hole: The Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid
Every time I say to myself, ‘I have enough cameras now,’ somehow another one always seems to grab my attention. I wasn’t looking for another Rapid camera, but then a Voigtländer Vitoret D popped up during a random browse on eBay, something, ‘Inspired by your recent search ‘. It was reasonably priced, and with several days to go before the auction came to an end no-one had made any bids. I added it to my watchlist and left it alone, popping in to see what was happening from time to time.
With a few hours to go before the end of the auction there were still no bids for this Rapid camera. I had checked the reviews of the seller already, which were positive, and the condition of the camera was described as, ‘beautiful, fully functional condition (tested) with only minor signs of wear’. With this in mind, I put in a minimum bid, and waited until the auction was closed. There were no further bids, and the Voigtländer Vitoret D Rapid was mine.
The Vitoret D is a manual focus camera made by Voigtländer and introduced c.1962. There is a ‘normal’ 35mm version, but my model is the Rapid version that uses Agfa Rapid film canisters. It has a rounded body, which dates it to before 1966, when a modified model was released with squarer body corners. It comes with a 40mm f2.8 Color-Lanthar lens, with apertures between f2.8 and f22, and a Prontor 300 leaf shutter, with speeds of 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s and 1/300s (+ B).
According to the description, the ‘optics are clean, with no dust, fungus, or fungus residue. The shutter speeds run smoothly and even at long exposures. The leather trim is not worn.’ So it should be in good condition. The Vitoret D Rapid has an uncoupled selenium cell in a window to the right of the lens, and you can see the suggested exposure reading on a little window on the top of the camera, where in a normal camera the rewind knob might be. I’m not sure if this works properly but I can use the camera meter app and set the camera manually.
On its arrival, I could see that the Vitoret D was in lovely cosmetic condition, with few signs of use and a lovely clear lens. However, on checking the shutter speeds and apertures, although the faster speeds of 1/125s and 1/300s sounded fine, the slower speeds of 1/60s, 1/30s, and B, lagged terribly. This is something I will raise with the seller. The apertures were fine, though.
Naturally, I was keen to see how the camera performed, so I loaded the Vitoret D with a canister of Harman Phoenix and set off for a walk ‘around the block’. For exposure I used the Camera Meter app and rated the film at ISO 160, which is the speed I normally use with Harman Phoenix. In the event, the exposure was fine. Harman Phoenix kept its high contrast tonality, and some of the images came out really well. However, there were also a lot of light leaks, and in some instances the image was more light leak than subject. Despite these faults, I really like the camera, and will certainly try it out again. I’ve posted the whole roll in an album on my Flickr, light leaks and all, if you want to see the rest of the images.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #VitoretRapidD #Voigtländer
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The Agfa Karat worked a treat! OK, the lens was full of haze, but the actual images weren't half bad ...
#AgfaRapid #Karat #HarmanPhoenix -
The Agfa Karat worked a treat! OK, the lens was full of haze, but the actual images weren't half bad ...
#AgfaRapid #Karat #HarmanPhoenix -
The Agfa Karat worked a treat! OK, the lens was full of haze, but the actual images weren't half bad ...
#AgfaRapid #Karat #HarmanPhoenix -
The Agfa Karat worked a treat! OK, the lens was full of haze, but the actual images weren't half bad ...
#AgfaRapid #Karat #HarmanPhoenix -
The Agfa Karat worked a treat! OK, the lens was full of haze, but the actual images weren't half bad ...
#AgfaRapid #Karat #HarmanPhoenix -
I like to think this macro photograph of mine came out really well as enlargement (this one is 12x18).
Shot on Harman Phoenix 200 35mm film through a 50mm lens on a macro extension tube.
If you're interested, you can find my photos here: www.markallardwill.com/merchandise
#Photography #FilmPhotography #Film #35mm #35mmFilm #MacroPhotography #HarmanPhoenix #Photographer #MarkAllardWill
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Decanted some Harman Phoenix 35mm film into a couple of Rapid canisters this morning in anticipation of good weather on Tuesday. Loaded one of the canisters into the 1940s Agfa Karat.
#HarmanPhoenix #AgfaRapid -
Decanted some Harman Phoenix 35mm film into a couple of Rapid canisters this morning in anticipation of good weather on Tuesday. Loaded one of the canisters into the 1940s Agfa Karat.
#HarmanPhoenix #AgfaRapid -
Decanted some Harman Phoenix 35mm film into a couple of Rapid canisters this morning in anticipation of good weather on Tuesday. Loaded one of the canisters into the 1940s Agfa Karat.
#HarmanPhoenix #AgfaRapid -
Decanted some Harman Phoenix 35mm film into a couple of Rapid canisters this morning in anticipation of good weather on Tuesday. Loaded one of the canisters into the 1940s Agfa Karat.
#HarmanPhoenix #AgfaRapid -
Decanted some Harman Phoenix 35mm film into a couple of Rapid canisters this morning in anticipation of good weather on Tuesday. Loaded one of the canisters into the 1940s Agfa Karat.
#HarmanPhoenix #AgfaRapid -
A brief interlude: The Agfa Silette Rapid F
From 1953 until 1974 Agfa released a family of 35mm cameras known as the Silette series. A basic manual focus viewfinder camera, these came in various forms and with different features. In the early 1960s, Agfa released a Rapid film version in competition with Kodak’s introduction of instamatic film. In fact, they released three Rapid versions, the Silette Rapid I, the Rapid L, and the Rapid F.
All three Rapid cameras had the same characteristics as their 35mm counterparts, but instead of a cold shoe for an external flash, the Rapid F (and Silette F) had a small translucent window and a flip up lid into which a flash bulbs could be plugged. The flash bulb was powered by a Pertrix No. 74 battery, but otherwise the camera was wholly mechanical. The Agfa Rapid F has a 45mm f2.8 Agnar lens and a Parator shutter with speeds of 1/30s – 1/250s (plus B and a synchro flash speed, but I’m not sure what this is). It has a four leaf iris, with apertures from f2.8 – f22.
Being a Rapid camera, the top of the camera is plain with the wind on lever on the bottom left of the camera. One wind of this will push the film one frame from the full Rapid canister on the left to the empty canister on the right.
On the bottom of the camera is a tripod screw and the film counter, which counts down from 12 to one. When the count reaches 1, the shutter is disabled and you can only wind on to finish the film. The position of the ratchets that catch the film sprockets to move the film suggests that a leader of about 40mm of film is left outside the canister.
My particular model, the Agfa Silette Rapid F, was picked up for 20€ from the Not Passed category of the Kamerastore website. Although it has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, the only thing that was wrong with this camera was that the little translucent window for the flashgun was missing. Otherwise, it was perfectly sound.
The aperture selection, shutter speed selection, and zone focusing is all set on the lens assembly. Selecting the shutter speed and aperture is quite straightforward, but the focusing confused mess for a second. On the focusing ring, at the top and bottom are two arrows. Rotating the lens moves little icons on the top of the lens, a church and a mountain for infinity, a group of people for middle distance, and two heads for portrait/close up. At the same time, at the bottom of the focusing ring are shown distances in metres and feet. Choosing the right symbol, or setting the distance, should give reasonably close focus.
As I have several Rapid canisters filled with Harman Phoenix film for the Frugal Film Project, I took one of these to use with the Agfa Silette Rapid F. Loading the Rapid F was simple enough, just a question of making sure the wind-on ratchets lined up with the sprockets of the film and slowly advancing the film so that it fed into the empty canister. Then close the back of the camera and shoot two frames until the counter was at zero.
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I took the Rapid F to Águas Boas. I took a range of images, long distance, middle distance, and close-up using the symbols on the lens and also the distance markers. To measure the exposure I used an app called Camera Meter. After exposing the film, I decanted the 35mm back into a 35mm cassette and took it to the lab.
The first thing to say about this camera is that it’s a really nice camera to use. All the movements are smooth, and a single wind of the lever moves the film from one frame to the next. The only thing that confused me early on was the focusing with the symbols. But even that became intuitive after a while. I was a little unsure whether the film was feeding properly into the empty canister, but there’s a different ‘feel’ to the wind on lever when film is present in the film gate and when it is not. I noticed that with the Lomo Smena SL, too.
The images came out really well, although with the high contrast Harman Phoenix emulsion some of the highlights were really blown out. I’ll put that down to my faulty exposure reading rather than the camera. One the whole I was really happy with how the Agfa Silette Rapid F performed, and it’s certainly earned its place as a backup camera to the Welta Penti II ‘Golden Wonder’ and the Lomo Smena SL.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#Agfa #AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #Silette
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A brief interlude: The Agfa Silette Rapid F
From 1953 until 1974 Agfa released a family of 35mm cameras known as the Silette series. A basic manual focus viewfinder camera, these came in various forms and with different features. In the early 1960s, Agfa released a Rapid film version in competition with Kodak’s introduction of instamatic film. In fact, they released three Rapid versions, the Silette Rapid I, the Rapid L, and the Rapid F.
All three Rapid cameras had the same characteristics as their 35mm counterparts, but instead of a cold shoe for an external flash, the Rapid F (and Silette F) had a small translucent window and a flip up lid into which a flash bulbs could be plugged. The flash bulb was powered by a Pertrix No. 74 battery, but otherwise the camera was wholly mechanical. The Agfa Rapid F has a 45mm f2.8 Agnar lens and a Parator shutter with speeds of 1/30s – 1/250s (plus B and a synchro flash speed, but I’m not sure what this is). It has a four leaf iris, with apertures from f2.8 – f22.
Being a Rapid camera, the top of the camera is plain with the wind on lever on the bottom left of the camera. One wind of this will push the film one frame from the full Rapid canister on the left to the empty canister on the right.
On the bottom of the camera is a tripod screw and the film counter, which counts down from 12 to one. When the count reaches 1, the shutter is disabled and you can only wind on to finish the film. The position of the ratchets that catch the film sprockets to move the film suggests that a leader of about 40mm of film is left outside the canister.
My particular model, the Agfa Silette Rapid F, was picked up for 20€ from the Not Passed category of the Kamerastore website. Although it has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, the only thing that was wrong with this camera was that the little translucent window for the flashgun was missing. Otherwise, it was perfectly sound.
The aperture selection, shutter speed selection, and zone focusing is all set on the lens assembly. Selecting the shutter speed and aperture is quite straightforward, but the focusing confused mess for a second. On the focusing ring, at the top and bottom are two arrows. Rotating the lens moves little icons on the top of the lens, a church and a mountain for infinity, a group of people for middle distance, and two heads for portrait/close up. At the same time, at the bottom of the focusing ring are shown distances in metres and feet. Choosing the right symbol, or setting the distance, should give reasonably close focus.
As I have several Rapid canisters filled with Harman Phoenix film for the Frugal Film Project, I took one of these to use with the Agfa Silette Rapid F. Loading the Rapid F was simple enough, just a question of making sure the wind-on ratchets lined up with the sprockets of the film and slowly advancing the film so that it fed into the empty canister. Then close the back of the camera and shoot two frames until the counter was at zero.
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I took the Rapid F to Águas Boas. I took a range of images, long distance, middle distance, and close-up using the symbols on the lens and also the distance markers. To measure the exposure I used an app called Camera Meter. After exposing the film, I decanted the 35mm back into a 35mm cassette and took it to the lab.
The first thing to say about this camera is that it’s a really nice camera to use. All the movements are smooth, and a single wind of the lever moves the film from one frame to the next. The only thing that confused me early on was the focusing with the symbols. But even that became intuitive after a while. I was a little unsure whether the film was feeding properly into the empty canister, but there’s a different ‘feel’ to the wind on lever when film is present in the film gate and when it is not. I noticed that with the Lomo Smena SL, too.
The images came out really well, although with the high contrast Harman Phoenix emulsion some of the highlights were really blown out. I’ll put that down to my faulty exposure reading rather than the camera. One the whole I was really happy with how the Agfa Silette Rapid F performed, and it’s certainly earned its place as a backup camera to the Welta Penti II ‘Golden Wonder’ and the Lomo Smena SL.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#Agfa #AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #Silette
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A brief interlude: The Agfa Silette Rapid F
From 1953 until 1974 Agfa released a family of 35mm cameras known as the Silette series. A basic manual focus viewfinder camera, these came in various forms and with different features. In the early 1960s, Agfa released a Rapid film version in competition with Kodak’s introduction of instamatic film. In fact, they released three Rapid versions, the Silette Rapid I, the Rapid L, and the Rapid F.
All three Rapid cameras had the same characteristics as their 35mm counterparts, but instead of a cold shoe for an external flash, the Rapid F (and Silette F) had a small translucent window and a flip up lid into which a flash bulbs could be plugged. The flash bulb was powered by a Pertrix No. 74 battery, but otherwise the camera was wholly mechanical. The Agfa Rapid F has a 45mm f2.8 Agnar lens and a Parator shutter with speeds of 1/30s – 1/250s (plus B and a synchro flash speed, but I’m not sure what this is). It has a four leaf iris, with apertures from f2.8 – f22.
Being a Rapid camera, the top of the camera is plain with the wind on lever on the bottom left of the camera. One wind of this will push the film one frame from the full Rapid canister on the left to the empty canister on the right.
On the bottom of the camera is a tripod screw and the film counter, which counts down from 12 to one. When the count reaches 1, the shutter is disabled and you can only wind on to finish the film. The position of the ratchets that catch the film sprockets to move the film suggests that a leader of about 40mm of film is left outside the canister.
My particular model, the Agfa Silette Rapid F, was picked up for 20€ from the Not Passed category of the Kamerastore website. Although it has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, the only thing that was wrong with this camera was that the little translucent window for the flashgun was missing. Otherwise, it was perfectly sound.
The aperture selection, shutter speed selection, and zone focusing is all set on the lens assembly. Selecting the shutter speed and aperture is quite straightforward, but the focusing confused mess for a second. On the focusing ring, at the top and bottom are two arrows. Rotating the lens moves little icons on the top of the lens, a church and a mountain for infinity, a group of people for middle distance, and two heads for portrait/close up. At the same time, at the bottom of the focusing ring are shown distances in metres and feet. Choosing the right symbol, or setting the distance, should give reasonably close focus.
As I have several Rapid canisters filled with Harman Phoenix film for the Frugal Film Project, I took one of these to use with the Agfa Silette Rapid F. Loading the Rapid F was simple enough, just a question of making sure the wind-on ratchets lined up with the sprockets of the film and slowly advancing the film so that it fed into the empty canister. Then close the back of the camera and shoot two frames until the counter was at zero.
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I took the Rapid F to Águas Boas. I took a range of images, long distance, middle distance, and close-up using the symbols on the lens and also the distance markers. To measure the exposure I used an app called Camera Meter. After exposing the film, I decanted the 35mm back into a 35mm cassette and took it to the lab.
The first thing to say about this camera is that it’s a really nice camera to use. All the movements are smooth, and a single wind of the lever moves the film from one frame to the next. The only thing that confused me early on was the focusing with the symbols. But even that became intuitive after a while. I was a little unsure whether the film was feeding properly into the empty canister, but there’s a different ‘feel’ to the wind on lever when film is present in the film gate and when it is not. I noticed that with the Lomo Smena SL, too.
The images came out really well, although with the high contrast Harman Phoenix emulsion some of the highlights were really blown out. I’ll put that down to my faulty exposure reading rather than the camera. One the whole I was really happy with how the Agfa Silette Rapid F performed, and it’s certainly earned its place as a backup camera to the Welta Penti II ‘Golden Wonder’ and the Lomo Smena SL.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#Agfa #AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #Silette
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A brief interlude: The Agfa Silette Rapid F
From 1953 until 1974 Agfa released a family of 35mm cameras known as the Silette series. A basic manual focus viewfinder camera, these came in various forms and with different features. In the early 1960s, Agfa released a Rapid film version in competition with Kodak’s introduction of instamatic film. In fact, they released three Rapid versions, the Silette Rapid I, the Rapid L, and the Rapid F.
All three Rapid cameras had the same characteristics as their 35mm counterparts, but instead of a cold shoe for an external flash, the Rapid F (and Silette F) had a small translucent window and a flip up lid into which a flash bulbs could be plugged. The flash bulb was powered by a Pertrix No. 74 battery, but otherwise the camera was wholly mechanical. The Agfa Rapid F has a 45mm f2.8 Agnar lens and a Parator shutter with speeds of 1/30s – 1/250s (plus B and a synchro flash speed, but I’m not sure what this is). It has a four leaf iris, with apertures from f2.8 – f22.
Being a Rapid camera, the top of the camera is plain with the wind on lever on the bottom left of the camera. One wind of this will push the film one frame from the full Rapid canister on the left to the empty canister on the right.
On the bottom of the camera is a tripod screw and the film counter, which counts down from 12 to one. When the count reaches 1, the shutter is disabled and you can only wind on to finish the film. The position of the ratchets that catch the film sprockets to move the film suggests that a leader of about 40mm of film is left outside the canister.
My particular model, the Agfa Silette Rapid F, was picked up for 20€ from the Not Passed category of the Kamerastore website. Although it has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, the only thing that was wrong with this camera was that the little translucent window for the flashgun was missing. Otherwise, it was perfectly sound.
The aperture selection, shutter speed selection, and zone focusing is all set on the lens assembly. Selecting the shutter speed and aperture is quite straightforward, but the focusing confused mess for a second. On the focusing ring, at the top and bottom are two arrows. Rotating the lens moves little icons on the top of the lens, a church and a mountain for infinity, a group of people for middle distance, and two heads for portrait/close up. At the same time, at the bottom of the focusing ring are shown distances in metres and feet. Choosing the right symbol, or setting the distance, should give reasonably close focus.
As I have several Rapid canisters filled with Harman Phoenix film for the Frugal Film Project, I took one of these to use with the Agfa Silette Rapid F. Loading the Rapid F was simple enough, just a question of making sure the wind-on ratchets lined up with the sprockets of the film and slowly advancing the film so that it fed into the empty canister. Then close the back of the camera and shoot two frames until the counter was at zero.
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I took the Rapid F to Águas Boas. I took a range of images, long distance, middle distance, and close-up using the symbols on the lens and also the distance markers. To measure the exposure I used an app called Camera Meter. After exposing the film, I decanted the 35mm back into a 35mm cassette and took it to the lab.
The first thing to say about this camera is that it’s a really nice camera to use. All the movements are smooth, and a single wind of the lever moves the film from one frame to the next. The only thing that confused me early on was the focusing with the symbols. But even that became intuitive after a while. I was a little unsure whether the film was feeding properly into the empty canister, but there’s a different ‘feel’ to the wind on lever when film is present in the film gate and when it is not. I noticed that with the Lomo Smena SL, too.
The images came out really well, although with the high contrast Harman Phoenix emulsion some of the highlights were really blown out. I’ll put that down to my faulty exposure reading rather than the camera. One the whole I was really happy with how the Agfa Silette Rapid F performed, and it’s certainly earned its place as a backup camera to the Welta Penti II ‘Golden Wonder’ and the Lomo Smena SL.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#Agfa #AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #Silette
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A brief interlude: The Agfa Silette Rapid F
From 1953 until 1974 Agfa released a family of 35mm cameras known as the Silette series. A basic manual focus viewfinder camera, these came in various forms and with different features. In the early 1960s, Agfa released a Rapid film version in competition with Kodak’s introduction of instamatic film. In fact, they released three Rapid versions, the Silette Rapid I, the Rapid L, and the Rapid F.
All three Rapid cameras had the same characteristics as their 35mm counterparts, but instead of a cold shoe for an external flash, the Rapid F (and Silette F) had a small translucent window and a flip up lid into which a flash bulbs could be plugged. The flash bulb was powered by a Pertrix No. 74 battery, but otherwise the camera was wholly mechanical. The Agfa Rapid F has a 45mm f2.8 Agnar lens and a Parator shutter with speeds of 1/30s – 1/250s (plus B and a synchro flash speed, but I’m not sure what this is). It has a four leaf iris, with apertures from f2.8 – f22.
Being a Rapid camera, the top of the camera is plain with the wind on lever on the bottom left of the camera. One wind of this will push the film one frame from the full Rapid canister on the left to the empty canister on the right.
On the bottom of the camera is a tripod screw and the film counter, which counts down from 12 to one. When the count reaches 1, the shutter is disabled and you can only wind on to finish the film. The position of the ratchets that catch the film sprockets to move the film suggests that a leader of about 40mm of film is left outside the canister.
My particular model, the Agfa Silette Rapid F, was picked up for 20€ from the Not Passed category of the Kamerastore website. Although it has ‘flaws that will affect typical use’, the only thing that was wrong with this camera was that the little translucent window for the flashgun was missing. Otherwise, it was perfectly sound.
The aperture selection, shutter speed selection, and zone focusing is all set on the lens assembly. Selecting the shutter speed and aperture is quite straightforward, but the focusing confused mess for a second. On the focusing ring, at the top and bottom are two arrows. Rotating the lens moves little icons on the top of the lens, a church and a mountain for infinity, a group of people for middle distance, and two heads for portrait/close up. At the same time, at the bottom of the focusing ring are shown distances in metres and feet. Choosing the right symbol, or setting the distance, should give reasonably close focus.
As I have several Rapid canisters filled with Harman Phoenix film for the Frugal Film Project, I took one of these to use with the Agfa Silette Rapid F. Loading the Rapid F was simple enough, just a question of making sure the wind-on ratchets lined up with the sprockets of the film and slowly advancing the film so that it fed into the empty canister. Then close the back of the camera and shoot two frames until the counter was at zero.
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I took the Rapid F to Águas Boas. I took a range of images, long distance, middle distance, and close-up using the symbols on the lens and also the distance markers. To measure the exposure I used an app called Camera Meter. After exposing the film, I decanted the 35mm back into a 35mm cassette and took it to the lab.
The first thing to say about this camera is that it’s a really nice camera to use. All the movements are smooth, and a single wind of the lever moves the film from one frame to the next. The only thing that confused me early on was the focusing with the symbols. But even that became intuitive after a while. I was a little unsure whether the film was feeding properly into the empty canister, but there’s a different ‘feel’ to the wind on lever when film is present in the film gate and when it is not. I noticed that with the Lomo Smena SL, too.
The images came out really well, although with the high contrast Harman Phoenix emulsion some of the highlights were really blown out. I’ll put that down to my faulty exposure reading rather than the camera. One the whole I was really happy with how the Agfa Silette Rapid F performed, and it’s certainly earned its place as a backup camera to the Welta Penti II ‘Golden Wonder’ and the Lomo Smena SL.
If you are on Mastodon, you can now follow this blog directly. Just go to Mastodon and follow my WordPress account at @keithdevereux.wordpress.com. All new posts will be automatically updated to your timeline on Mastodon.
#Agfa #AgfaRapid #Canister #Experimental #HarmanPhoenix #Rapid #RapidFilm #Silette
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Wahey! Some of my film photography has been chosen for a spotlight at the photo counter of the London Drugs on 8th Street in Saskatoon.
If any of my fellow film shooters are curious, the shots featured were shot on Harman Phoenix. If you're in Saskatoon, the film is available at that very same London Drugs.
#Film #35mmFilm #Photography #FilmPhotography #Photo #HarmanPhoenix #YXE #Saskatoon #MarkAllardWill
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I just finished this snappy little video, showcasing some of the photography I captured on Harman Phoenix film stock during a recent trip to Arizona.
Join me on a journey called "Shooting on Phoenix in Phoenix"!
https://youtu.be/LaxEXj0kYbs?si=Tjfhb2jY9MmvDpIl
#Film #FilmPhotography #Photography #StreetPhotography #Phoenix #PhoenixAZ #PhoenixArizona #Tucson #TucsonArizona #TucsonAZ #HarmanPhoenix #MarkAllardWill