Rollei 35 - one year

Nice photos on your blog. There was a time when I lusted for a Rollei 35. I never found one at a price I was willing to pay considering what other equipment I have.

However, I always marvel at people on RFF who decide to do a 1 camera or 1 camera/1 lens for a year project. I would feel stiffled without more choice. Especially since I have worked so diligently to increase my stable. However, recently I have realized I need to be more simple in my gear use. I enjoy carrying my Olympus XA. It often goes on trips where I want a camera, but not a lot of gear. But there are times when I want to carry a folder MF or 9x12 LF. I just don't have the whatever it takes to commit to a project like that.

Still, I applaud you and look forward to seeing more of your results.
 
Really enjoying the fruits of your year long project thus far. While I don't visit your blog, I have been a subscriber to your feed, and look forward to seeing your posts.

I have a Rollei 35T, and it really is a great little shooter. I'm not comfortable shooting it wider than f8 though, and suspect some prolonged exposure would do wonders for my scale focussing skills.

It is good to challenge ourselves, and I feel the same about scale focussing now as I did about meterless cameras previously, yet oddly the Rollei 35 is the only one of my remaining 4/ 5 cameras that has a meter now.
 
At the end of your shooting year, Zeno, I hope you put together a 12-shot album with one photo from each month. That will require some tough editing based on what I have seen so far ... :)
 
oftheherd said:
Nice photos on your blog. There was a time when I lusted for a Rollei 35. I never found one at a price I was willing to pay considering what other equipment I have.

However, I always marvel at people on RFF who decide to do a 1 camera or 1 camera/1 lens for a year project. I would feel stiffled without more choice. Especially since I have worked so diligently to increase my stable. However, recently I have realized I need to be more simple in my gear use. I enjoy carrying my Olympus XA. It often goes on trips where I want a camera, but not a lot of gear. But there are times when I want to carry a folder MF or 9x12 LF. I just don't have the whatever it takes to commit to a project like that.

Still, I applaud you and look forward to seeing more of your results.
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The crazy thing is that I bought the Rollei only because of GAS! I saw it in the window of the only photoshop in my hometown who has still used cameras. Then I wanted to know more about it and bought a book about Heinz Waaske, the man who constructed the Rollei, a real genius in mechanics!

The XA/XA4 or the Minox 35 GT were other cameras I thought of for this project, but then I decided to do this without meter or batteries. (A dream camera for such a project would be the original PEN, but to get one here in Germany is nearly impossible)
I had shot digital for some weeks before starting and was so bored of the process (or the not-existing-process) that B&W/self developing was the only choice.
The risk to have nothing after one year? Well, I´m an amateur; I can do whatever I want (photographically).
The limitation in gear forces me to think and the shutter/aperture/distance ritual has something of a martial art (cum grano salis!).

Damien, for the coming dark months I plan to increase my skills in focusing the Rollei wide open!

Paul, editing after one year of shooting is cruel!
 
Fantastic idea this. And I love the signature quote in barnwulf's post on page 1:"Basically, I no longer work for anything but the sensation I have while working." Giacometti. So choosing a sexy camera is indeed an important part of this. This also is reflected in your reference to the non-existent process with digital, which while easily debatable nevertheless holds a worthwhile truth as well. Are poets often photographers? We might not know. Bruce Chatwin's refined photographic output was a surprise to many of his friends apparently. I love the history and the manuals you've included on your blog site.
 
Thank you Richard.
In an interview Ralph Gibson said that he imagines the process of the reaction between the exposed parts on the film and the developer. Diane Arbus thought that a easy to use camera would make her pictures worse. Sally Mann uses wet plates.
Many say film is dead, but the net is full of advices for complicated, expensive ancient photographic processes.
It seems as if man has as much joy in doing a process (of whatever kind) as in the final result. Digital has a process too, but if that process fits your needs is completely dependant of your personality. So using different processes can only be stated as a fact, never used to make statements of quality, technically or personally.

The journey is the reward, so play on your way!
 
pschauss said:
Since we are talking about Polypan-F has anyone come to any conclusions about the origins of this film?
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Today I received a email from lumiere-shop:

„Der Hersteller ist Ilford Emulsion Pan F. Polypan ist ein Kopierfilm für Kinofilme. Deshalb ein klarer reißfester Träger und in 3 Minuten fixiert.“
Translated:
The manufacturer is Ilford emulsion Pan F. Polypan is a copying film for motion picture films. Therefore a clear tearproof base and a 3 minute fixer-time.

So it seems as if the PanF rumour is true, only the base is clear polyester.
 
I happened upon this thread by chance (luck?) and looked at the photos on your blog. I must say it was inspiring to see such wonderful results!

As for scale focus - I was never any good at it. For a while I used the Olympus XA2/3 cameras. Many rolls passed through the cameras. A lot of less than stellar results came out of the experiment but also a few that actually made it into an exhibition. The limitations of the camera helped me see new things. But then again I had a meter and used HP5. :)
 
I just looked at the website you linked, lumiere shop. It seems that 90m of bulk film are sold for 22€… is this for real?
 
This is great news. I'm going to Australia for some time in a few months, and this might be just the right film for summer.
 
Astonishing, interesting and surprising shots you took. Where do you see the advantages of your stand developing method? I think I wouldn't have the patience to wait so long.
 
Requin, thank you!
I am a very messy lab worker. The stand developing has (for me) the following advantages:
•spare time
•no need to tilt the tank in regular intervals
•no chance to agitate the film too often, too few, too hard, too quick, ...
•high dilution, lower cost
•one developing method for all films I use
 
Hi Petronius,

somewhere in your posts I read you tried using polypan with 50 - 800 ISO. What were the developing times according to this different ISO/ASA? What about the quality, if you're not using 50 ISO? Want to tell you I'm checking your blog often - the pix are really stunning, you must spend a lot of time taking so much pictures every day. Hats off! Thanks in advance.
 
The experiments with higher ISO were not done by stand developing. The normal process for this was Rodinal 1+50, agitated three times every minute, developing time up to 35 minutes. I must confess that I gave up the experiments. The quality was not great at all. I simply expose by guess and trust in the latitude of the Polypan.
I don´t spend much time in shooting, mostly it´s done on and from my way to work or on a walk with my son on a Sunday afternoon. The dates in my blog show the day when the roll was finished/developed, the shots are normally taken over a longer period. Thanks for your interest in my project!
 
petronius,

i got possession of a SE and I am having a hard time with scale focus, as compared to the XA. Do you have any pointers on estimating distances ?
eg. Do you use "number of foot steps" to estimate distance ?
or shoot only at 5.6f + fast film ?

thanks
 
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