framelines

www.framelines.net | By completely switching to analog photography for 1 year I would like to explore what photography used to be.

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Plaubel Makina 670

This one is going to be a special one: I have had this camera for a while and I wanted to wait and use it for a longer time before writing a review about it. In the last months, I have taken less and less pictures in 35mm format and switched to medium-format photography due to the increase in resolution and detail that comes with a larger film size. Nevertheless, I still wanted a camera that is easy to carry around. The solution? A medium-format folding camera that shoots in a 6x7 aspect ratio - the Plaubel Makina 670. Instead of a solid lens, it has a foldable lens element that expands for focusing. 

Sample gallery

When going to a workshop in Milan earlier this year, I got the chance to test the camera out a bit for the first time. I took some rolls of Ilford HP5, Kodak Porta, and Fuji Pro 400H and shot some frames in all kinds of different scenarios - indoors, outdoors in the snow, overcast, in direct sunlight, shadows, etc. - to find out how the lens would perform. Find some selected images below.

From that point on, I have been continuously using it for the past 6 months and the more I use it, the more I like it. I just love the ergonomics - very simplistic - and it has everything that I am looking for in a camera. You can feel the quality when you pick it up. It's just built to perform! 

Cons

Limited to one lens (80mm f2.8)

Servicing might be a bit expensive, but can still be done at Plaubel GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany

High price (it might be worth looking into the older generation called Plaubel Makina 67)

Pros

Compact design due to the folding mechanism

6x7 medium format cameras don't really come any smaller then this

High quality optics, beautiful bokeh rendering with aperture wide open at f2.8

Great for traveling

Very well-built 

Bottom Line

This camera will most certainly be a keeper. Never did I take pictures with a 6x7 aspect ratio before, and it definitely changed how I take pictures in a positive way. It combines the compactness of rangefinder cameras with the unbeatable image quality of a medium-format camera. Right now it is my main camera - and it's a very sexy camera indeed.

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Late Summer in Portugal on EKTAR 100

This summer it was finally time to go to one of my favourite countries in Europe again: Portugal. I feel like I have deserved this one week break after working more or less continuously on several projects since Easter. Naturally, I took my camera and a couple of rolls of medium format Kodak Ektar 100 and boarded the plane to Lisbon. 

Immediately after landing childhood memories kept pooping up. I have been to this country more than 10 times starting when I was still in elementary school. The humid air with a slight note of sea salt generates a unique smell that I will probably always recognise. It is the perfect place for me to come back to and unwind. The beaches with rough coast lines and fine grain sand are staggering - not to forget the clean and crystal clear water warmed by the Atlantic Gulf Stream. So it is not a big surprise that I spend most of my days lying on the beach and reading a fiction novel. 

Of course in between swimming, tanning, eating and sleeping I also had enough time to explore the surrounding areas and take pictures on my favourite film for sunny days: Kodak Ektar 100. It offers a greater contrast than other negative films and makes the colours pop out - while not being overly saturated like slide films. The grain is incredibly small which gives extreme resolution especially in medium format. Find a few selected shots above.

Now I am back to the UK and autumn has already arrived - Winter is coming and.I can't wait to be back to Lisbon in May next year.

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Studio Photography

The last couple of weeks have been very exciting for me in terms of photography. I got new equipment - including a flash setup that allows me to finally do studio photography. Like in all areas of my life, I have always been a person that likes things to be simple. For me, minimalism allows me to concentrate on the important things and tweak them to perfection. Everything that I have fulfills a purpose, and if I do not use something for too long, I get rid of it. I have never really been a collector; I could never see the point why you would collect something that you cannot use. Early in my childhood, my parents encouraged me to start a stamp collection and bought about 100 of them to get me started, and I ended up with a decent number - but I was never passionate about it. Like most kids in my school, I had a phase in which I would collect Pokemon cards and would trade them with my friends. Again, in the end it was more a tool for social engagement than something that would bring me joy.

I discovered quite quickly that the possession of objects does not make me happy. Instead, I thrive on using high-quality tools and objects that allow me to create something new.

If you know me well, you wouldn't be surprised that my bedroom is an empty room with one bed and exactly one piece of furniture to store my clothes in. It serves two purposes for me: to sleep and to get dressed. And that's about it. I am a big fan of simplifying and abstracting things. This ability to abstract things and see the essence is probably what also brought me into science. Highly-complicated processes are simplified until an often ridiculously plain model remains that explains 99% of the process. That's what fascinates me most. We humans tend to over-complicate things, when in the end everything, is extremely simple. 

So for me, studio photography setups also need to be simple. It means a single-colored background (a white wall does the job) and a single flash - in my case, a battery powered Profoto B1X that I can easily carry around. The only thing left to do is to diffuse the light as much as possible. A big umbrella transforms your single flash into a giant soft box. A schematic of this setup is shown below:

Some people use at least two light sources for studio photography, but I do not see the point. In my opinion, all you need is one if you understand what you are doing and can master it. Especially, if you shoot film like I do, you have to think really carefully in advance. You cannot check your camera for results, but only see the look after your session is over. Having fewer degrees of freedom with only one flash helps you to estimate what you will get in the end. Find some of my first studio shots below and on my 'Studio Photography' page.

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Zeiss Super Ikonta III

I have been exclusively shooting 35mm film for about a year now - mainly because this film size allows for a very compact and lightweight camera design. Every day, I could easily carry a camera with me so I would never miss a shot again whenever I saw one.

Nevertheless, I felt the need to change things up a bit. I often looked back at my previous experience with shooting medium format film on a Hasselblad in 6x6 format. Not only does a larger film give you higher resolution images after scanning, but also it does a different aspect ratio of your shot - square on a Hasselblad - and makes you think differently about choosing your composition. While for myself I noticed that I would naturally aim for composition that satisfies the golden ratio when shooting on a 35mm 2:3 aspect ratio camera, a square ratio makes my pictures often more centralised and symmetric.

So my question was the following: Is there a camera that is compact and would still enable me to shoot on medium format in a square aspect ratio? The answer is yes, it is the Zeiss Super Ikonta III.

It is a folding camera and was built from 1956 to 1960 by Zeiss in Stuttgart, Germany. This particular model was the last version that was produced and has all sorts of improvements compared to its predecessors, including a coupled rangefinder which allows easy focussing. The film advance mechanism has protection against double exposures and it comes with a 75mm f3.5 lens. It is completely mechanical and can go to shutter speeds down to 1/500 sec, which was very fast 60 years ago. The only thing it does not have compared to more modern cameras is an internal light meter. I was lucky enough to find one of these cameras in excellent condition for a good price on eBay. You can't really find anything cheaper in the medium format regime! I tried not to expect too much in terms of image quality and decided to just see how the camera would perform. Therefore, I took it on my trip to Valencia in March this year to test it out. And the results just stunned me:

Of course it was kind of clear to me that in analog photography, the film determines the look of your images - in this case, one of my favourite color films Kodak Portra 400 - but what I did not expect is that the lens would handle the lighting so well. It just renders beautiful, sufficiently sharp images that look very natural without any visible chromatic aberrations (color fringes). A few lens flares are visible, but you even get those on some really expensive modern lenses. I preferred this look even to some of the pictures that I took with my Leica M6 + Zeiss 35mm f2 lens. It is just not as clinically sharp, but has a very natural look that captures the atmosphere really well. I added a few more pictures below so you can have a look and judge for yourself.

Sample Gallery

So what do I think about this camera altogether?

Cons

rangefinder viewer does not look particularly bright (especially if you are used to Leica cameras)

Not framelines - so you can't exactly tell what the composition will look like

Overlap of the frames if your 120 roll film has thin paper backing (can be solved by advancing the film a bit further than the indicated line in the loading process)

  Pros

compact size and very lightweight for a medium format camera due to the folding mechanism

rangefinder design lets you easily focus

surprisingly sharp images

beautiful soft lens rendering which is not as sharp in the corners as a modern lens but very  pleasent to the eye

unbeatable price for a fully functioning medium format camera with good optics

Bottom Line

I can recommend this camera to everyone who wants to get started with medium format photography, as well as more experienced photographers who are looking for a lightweight travel and everyday camera. As they come at a quite low price, try one out and judge for yourself - there is nothing to lose.

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A Shadow Story on Instant Film

It has been a while since the last post, but now I am back. The last couple of weeks were a bit intense. Like all first-year PhD students in Cambridge I had to hand in a report summarising everything I did in the past 9 months. This meant that I had to limit my photographic activity to a bare minimum of only taking a couple of instant pictures. No time for development and scanning until today!

Nevertheless, this limitation allowed me to learn something new. Instead of focussing on the looks and quality of the photos, I had to rather think about a concept that I want to bring across. I came up with the following series of images called "Shadows":

Summer in the UK is finally here - I guess I have waited long enough now. Apart from warm temperatures, a desire to eat ice cream and crowded streets, there is something else that you only get on sunny days: Shadows. Especially late in the afternoon they can be larger then the object itself. So I waited until the sun was low enough and wandered through the streets in Cambridge chasing shadows, which meant also chasing people. Apart from getting a few weird looks, people were generally very curious about what I was doing. I was limited to 8 monochrome instant pictures and arranged them in a consistent storyline, as shown above. 

In the next couple of weeks I can finally pick up my medium-format film camera again. I will be going back to Munich for a wedding and to see some friends. So there are plenty of things to fill the hole, that the absence of report-writing has left in my daily routine. I am excited for a great summer ahead! 

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Choosing the right BW film (ISO 400)

Photography started in black and white (BW) - so of course this I where I have to start. I am going all the way back to the roots. When I was first looking for BW film online I was frankly overwhelmed. Ignorant me that has never taken a BW analog photo before thought that there is exactly on type of BW film - maybe a few different colour films with different looks but certainly only on BW film. I could have not been more wrong. So instead of just getting an order ready I had to do a bit of research to find out which film might be the one that is best suited for my purposes.

Kodak Tri-X 400

So the first film I ever used is also probably the one with the oldest recipe and therefore has the most classy look: The Kodak Tri-X 400. I was lucky enough to try this film in medium format on my dads camera (Hasselblad 503CM) on a trip to NY back in 2015. It has the classic grain structure (quite big compared to more modern films) and a very high contrast. If you nail the exposure you will get stunning results but this film is not very forgiving. Especially in high contrast situations there is just to much contrast, which is nearly impossible to remove after scanning in post processing. Nevertheless you get a unique look that works particularly well for cityscapes on overcast days. Also in general I would rather use this film in a medium format camera. In a 35mm camera the film is just a bit to grainy for my taste. 

Ilford HP5 400

The next ISO 400 BW film with the same classic grain structure that I just have to mention here is the Ilford HP5 400. It is still a very classy film with a less contrasty look. And that is what makes this film so special. For me it is just the perfect BW film if you scan it anyway, because post processing allows you to add in extra contrast before potential printing. Especially on reasonable cheap flatbed scanners like the EPSON V550 low contrast negatives are much easier to scan. Also this film is super forgiving and your exposure does not have to be perfect to give great results. This has become my go to film because it is so versatile. It produces great skin tones in Portraits and can be used for all high contrast scenes in general.

Kodak T-Max 400

This is one of the more modern films. It comes with a so called T-grain structure, which basically just means that the grain is much smaller compared the older Tri-X and HP5 emulsions. Therefore even on a smaller film size like 35mm the film has an amazing resolution. The only reason why I would not choose the film is because it looks very modern and could almost be a digital photograph. Also it is not quite as forgiving as HP5 and I would therefore rather use it for high resolution studio photography with artificial lighting. But again, it all comes down to your personal preference. 

These are pretty much the most common ISO 400 Black and White films. I will be sticking with Ilford HP5 400 in the near future. A comparison of slower ISO 100 films will come very soon. Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday night and stay tuned for more.

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The decisive moment - learning from Henry Cartier-Bresson

The first 4 weeks of the framelines project went quite good so far. I guess posting pictures on Instagram and letting people like them is one of the most common ways nowadays to get feedback on your work. Back in the days when photography started things were a bit different.  There is one photographer from the past who really sticks out. It is Henri Cartier-Bresson. He started out with painting and drawing and that is also how he interpreted photography.  He did not see himself as someone who is using photography for documenting but rather as someone who you would call a surrealist photographer. He wanted to be an observer only waiting for he decisive moment -  the moment in which he would take the perfect picture. Probably he was the founder of street photography and his philosphie continues until now.

"You have to be like a cat, not disturb, and tiptoes - always on tiptoes. [...] and when you study at thing [it] does not behave the same way as when it is not studied."  -- Henri Cartier-Bresson

I frequently wish I was only nearly as patient as he was when taking pictures. He just seemed to be enjoying himself - totally calm, staying for 2h hours in the same spot in a big city, waiting for the right light or the right person to walk by until he finally releases the shutter. And thats it - one picture at a time - or sometimes no picture if the decisive moment did not happen.

I would definitely consider him as one of my role models. Even more so after I found out that he was also student in Cambridge - the same place that I am currently in. He studied literature and English - not quite Physics as I do - but still he was composing his pictures in a very structured and mathematical way which is appealing to me.

"The greatest joy for me is geometry."  -- Henri Cartier-Bresson

In his lifetime from 1908 to 2004 he gathered an incredible portfolio from countries all over the world - a selection of which is shown in the inspirational video below. The voiceover is by Henri Cartier-Bresson himself. I can really recommend checking it out and letting him inspire you the same way he did inspire me to be more observed of the surrounding when taking my camera for a walk.

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Hello analog camera - Canon AE-1 Program

It is time for my first analog camera. To be honest I have had this camera for nearly a year now. It was one of these coincidences that seem to steer your life into certain directions without you even noticing. An old schoolfriend of mine who I almost lost contact with gave it to me last July.  He moved with his parents to Shanghai for a couple of years during high school but came back to Munich to study civil engineering and now architecture. So when we met again he remembered that he still had his dads old film camera in his possession - the Canon AE-1 Program. Since he rarely ever used it and knew that I am into photography he just handed it over to me. Who knew that I would use this camera so frequently in the future.

It used to sit on my desk, looking at me patiently and waiting to get picked up. But there is a problem. Believe me, it is not the camera, it is properly working, nails every exposure, comes with two great lenses, the 35mm and 50mm Canon FD and is loaded with Kodak TriX 400, the most classy looking BW film that you could possibly buy. It is me - I am picking it up and it feels familiar but also different at the same time. Does it remind me of my previous 5D Mk II? Yes it does. Do I miss the 5D Mk II? Maybe. I am not the most emotional person. At least from the outside people would rather describe me as stoical. I rarely burst out in anger or sadness - showing feelings to other people is probably not one of my strengths. But I do have them and can sometimes be surprised by them especially when I do not acknowledge them. Did I think switching to analog would be easy? Yes I did. Do feel the same way now? Maybe. It is time to do something about it, there is no way round. So how do you establish a bond to your new camera. Exactly, you take it with you on a wedding. And that is exactly what I did. Ordering a few film rolls - check. Ironing a white shirt - check. Getting the suit and the shoes ready - check. Quick online shop to dress my camera up with a nice leather strap - check. And hey, the straps colour even matches my shoes.

Showing off the new camera to my friends at the wedding went pretty smooth. Only once I heard one of my really good undergrad friends saying: "Man, you change your cameras like you change girlfriends!". Embarrassing and totally not true... I enjoyed my time with the AE-1 a lot. It is just a great camera to start film photography with. It's one of the first highly automated analog cameras that Canon made and what impressed me most was probably the massive viewfinder. Believe me when I say it is huge - even bigger then in Canons more recent flagships the 1D-X and 5D Mk IV. While at the same time the camera itself is so much more compact. Why do you not do this anymore Canon? Maybe the whole autofocus mechanism just takes up to much space. I like the AE-1 - a lot. But if it will stay more than just a fling after a long digital decade. Only time can tell.

My view on the Canon AE-1 Program:

Cons

it is manual focus, so this it not the camera you would want to use for sport photography 

the shutter is fairly loud, so sneaky street photography can also be hard sometimes (or discrete shots in churches at weddings)

Pros

Great large viewfinder

Cheap price on ebay

Is automated, so people who do not know how aperture, ISO and exposure time work together can still get decent shots

Has everything you need in a camera

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On top of the mountain. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #negativefb #filmphotography #analogphotography #photography #pictureoftheday #landscape #landscapephotography #italy #alps #film #fujifilm #velvia #50 #leica #m6 (at Merano, Italy)

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Best coffee in town. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #35mm #negativefb #leica #m6 #filmphotography #analogphotography #portraitphotography #portraitsociety #portrait #film #trix #bw #coffee #photooftheday #photography (at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

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Perfecting the action man pose. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #filmphotography #analogphotography #negativefb #portrait #portraitsociety #portraitphotography #people #mediumformat #6x7 #film #fujifilm #pro400h (at Alagna Valsesia)

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Beach life. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #negativefb #filmphotography #analogphotography #people #beach #sea #photography #film #portra #160 #leica #m6 (at Zadar Stari Grad)

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Wedding time. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #negativefb #filmphotography #analogphotography #bw #photography #wedding #car #portrait #reportage #film #kodak #trix (at Ulm, Germany)

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On the empty streets of cambridge. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #photography #photooftheday #filmphotography #analogphotography #negativefb #bw #filmcamera #portrait #portraitsociety #film #kodak #trix (at Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)

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This is the hostel we stayed in in Valencia - great location surrounded by restaurants. #framelines #project #filmisnotdead #negativefb #leicam6 #filmphotography #analogphotography #photography #happyeaster #photooftheday #film #portra (at Valencia)

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Goodbye digital camera.

First of all, happy Easter to all of you. While I am celebrating the festivities with my family and friends in Munich, committing to my framelines project had its first major consequences. It meant saying goodbye to an old friend that traveled with me to many different places - from the beaches of Australia to the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada - from small untouched island on the Philippines to the restless city of New York - from steaming heat in Singapore to frosty glaciers in the Austrian alps - just to name a few.

I am by no means a person that holds on to material things - quite the contrary. I am one of these weird people who actually enjoys getting rid of stuff to clear the mind from time to time. But with with this camera it feels different, dear Canon 5D Mk II. You served me well when taking pictures at weddings and in the studio, when making image films for clients and capturing impressions while traveling. You have probably seen more aspects of my life between 2009 and now than many of my closest friends. So naturally, this is not an easy step for me to take but it has to happen nevertheless.

I have never been a particularly enthusiastic reader, but still a few books got me hooked when I was a child. Apart from Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl and other fantasy novel there is one series of books that probably influenced me the most - Harry Potter. I was eagerly waiting for the next book to be released every summer and sometimes there was nothing that I wished more then being friends with these awesome teenagers called Harry, Ron and Hermine. I dreamt of being able to live in a castle like Hogwarts and see magic happening around me. Looking at most decision that I made in my past I can say that this dream has at least subconsciously influenced my way. Coming originally from Germany I am now a PhD student in Cambridge, UK. Probably no place on earth comes closer to Hogwarts then this. And so I was sitting there with my Canon 5D Mk II in my hands and there is one particular quote that comes to my mind.

"There will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right."  -- Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling)

I am not a very eloquent person but in my dreams I am quite the opposite - holding speeches in front of crowds who listen to me eagerly trying to read the words from my lips before the sound reaches their ears. But obviously in reality things could not be more different, I am a person that you would probably describe as an introvert if you meet me for the first time. So please don't judge me for a least getting a bit poetic here: Today is the day when I say the final goodbye. Today is the day I pass you on to a new owner. Today is the day we have to go separate ways. While you continue being an almost state-of-art photography tool I will have to leave you behind as I am going on an adventure. An adventure to explore the root of photography, before digital sensors changed the way we take pictures.

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Aiming for higher symmetry. #framelines #filmisnotdead #project #filmphotography #analogphotography #negativefb #film #portraitphotography #portra #160 #photography #happyeaster #leicam6 (at Llotja de la Seda)