Stairs to the sky - Mamiya

Stairs to nowhere? Mamiya M645 1000s

My Mamiya M645 1000s

I am so happy about my Mamiya! I have loaded it with a second roll of Portra 400 and I´m ready to hunt new motives.

Mamiya M645 1000s + Sekor C 45mm f/2.8 45/2.8 and sunshade

Mamiya M645 1000s + Sekor C 150mm f/4 150/4

Mamiya M645 1000s + Sekor C 80mm f/1.9 80/1.9

Mamiya M645 1000s back and viewfinder stripe

Old Mamiya M645 1000s add from a Swedish magazine - a complete system

Tears of a birch tree

I really like my new 80mm f/1.9 lens! This is shot @ f/2.8 I think because that twig wasn´t still so a handheld shot at f1.9 was too difficult. This was the last frame in my first roll in´my new Mamiya  so I had to get a little focus right..

Mamiya M645 1000s - Sekor C 80mm f/1.9
Kodak Portra 400

Mamiya M645 - A long way...

Moving forward, slowly.. to better days to come.
I have heard a lot of different opinions about the Mamiya Sekor C 45mm but in my world it looks great but I have not tried it enought to praise it too much..

Mamiya M645 1000s + Sekor C 45mm f2.8

Single - mamiya M645 1000s

Yes, I am single again, after over 13 years in a relationship with a woman that I also share two children with. I can´t say I am happy about it, I have been very sad these last three weeks, she sees me more like a friend and have lost her feelings for me and I who thought things where ok..

Mamiya M645 1000s - Sekor C 80/1.9 - Kodak Portra 400

I made this self portrait on the first week because I wanted to express my feelings about being single. I´m alone, I´m cold and yet, I am free to do what I want..

Can´t say I´m looking forward to this new life and the forthcoming weeks/months but I guess things will get better and I guess there will be a day when I can feel happy again!
I love my children and that makes my days a little less difficult to live..


BTW.. looks like my new Mamiya works as it should, this is from the first "test-roll."

I´d like a Hasselblad 500CM again..someday

I had a great looking black Hasselblad 500CM but I never liked the lens I had for it. I had the Carl Zeiss Planar T* 100/3.5, a great lens I believe for studio and product shooting, really sharp at 1m distance but it was not a good allround lens. I should have tried to get the standard 80mm but I sold the camera and bought a Contax RTS II instead. I was also always scared to scratch my Hassy or something, it was in almost new condition, made in 1991. I would like to try a Hassy again someday, I really love the feel and the sound. Right now I will put my focus on my two new cameras, Pentax MX and Mamiya M645.

Here are a picture taken with that camera:

My son - Hasselblad 500CM

Miss you... - Yashica D

It´s about a year ago now that we decided not to keep him. He had been raised with a family of addicts and not been taken care of as he should have. We tried but he was too insecure and afraid of everything. I will always miss him, my dog Loke..

Yashica D - Loke

Sometimes life sucks - Yashica Mat 124

 

I am complaining, over a lot of stuff right now..I shouldn´t and I don´t think this tree is complaining, standing there through wind and rain and sunshine, with little birds as company, cold winters and blossom springs.. Life.. So wonderful and also painful. I should not complain, I should live and enjoy life. .

I have loaded my new Mamiya 645 with a roll of Portra 400, that is something I can look forward to, test-shooting my Mamiya. Have a nice day everyone!

 

But I agree with the words of my friend who said "Life continues. Water your tree and it will grow."

I was out test shooting my first roll in my new Mamiya today, it felt great! Can´t wait to see the results!



Yashica Mat 124
Kodak Ektar 100



 

My new Mamiya M645 1000s arrived today!

Ever since I was lucky to borrow my friends 1000s I have been wanting one for myself. That was last autumn and I couldn´t afford a new camera until now..

What a beauty! And she´s all mine! I bought her from Germany last week and now today she´s here in Sweden with me. It was a great deal in my opinion, a full kit including:

Mamiya M645 1000s body with cap
PD Prism, TTL metering with leather case
Waistlever finder
Two 120-film inserts
Sekor C 2,8/45mm with case, caps and sunshade
Sekor C 1,9/80mm with both caps
Sekor C 4/150mm with both caps
Three filters
Mamiya strap
Metal case, good for storage and travel



Mamiya M645 1000s with metal case

Mamiya M645 1000s + Mamiya Sekor C 80/1.9
 

Shooting film in the rain

 

I love rain, I even like to get wet in the rain (if I´m close to home). I think that there are too little pictures of rain and of course, it could be because most people don´t like to go out with their cameras on rainy days. But there are roofs and umbrellas and I think rainy pictures are awesome..

So, go out and shoot in the rain!






Rain on the station - Pentax MX - Kodak TX




Drop - Pentax MX - Kodak TX



New roads and new choices

Where will they lead us, all the roads that can be chosen? I have to make a turn in life, choose new roads but I wish I didn´t have to.. You can´t see what´s ahead of you but you may have a safe picture of what you think the future will look like. Then one day something happens that changes that pictures and suddenly that road is closed so you have to take another road..that can be scary. For me it is anyway..

This picture may not look that scary but it is a road at least. I did not take this road, I just took a picture of it with my Yashica-Mat 124 and Kodak Ektar.

Heading for new roads - Yashica-Mat 124

Yashica-Mat 124 - Kodak Ektar

Street photography with a film camera

I like to see pictures from the street but I´m not to sure I am very good at it myself. I have tried a few times, it takes a lot of guts! That´s probably why so many street shooters have a M Leica, they are very quiet and small cameras. Street photography needs a lot of practice, you need to frame, focus and a perfect timing to get the good shots and all that in next to no time. I believe a lot of snapshot photographers waste a lot of film but it may be worth it when you´ve captured a masterpiece. I´m not sure if this is the kind of photography I want to do but it is sure nice to try it sometimes. I am not yet really there when I dare to get up close to strangers but a picture like this, from behind is ok for me.



A train of thoughts - Pentax MX



TLR in the autumn

I just had to shoot this window of Klara Church in Stockholm! Early October 2012 and the sun was awake, perfect for a trip to Stockholm with a TLR and tri-pod.





Yashica-Mat 124 - Klara - Kodak Ektar

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/from_what_far_star/5712817201/" title="YASHICA MAT 124 TLR by whatfarstar, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2386/5712817201_a729529211.jpg" width="500" height="350" alt="YASHICA MAT 124 TLR"></a>

Grandparents

I like this picture. We were celebrating easter at my mothers place and my grandparents were there. I had a Contax RTS II back then, a beautiful black camera designed by Porsche and with four nice Carl Zeiss lenses. We took some fresh air on the balcony and I took a couple of quick shots of my grandparents there with my Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135m f/2.8. My RTS was loaded with Fuji Superia 200 and this picture was a 3rd price winner in the swedish Metro Photo Challenge, the people´s choice 2011 in the category "relationships". It felt nice that other people appreciated my picture and I felt it was also a little triumph for film photography!

Grandparents - Contax RTS II - Fuji Superia 200

Mamiya M645 1000s - The ultimate camera?

I had the opportunity last year to borrow a great looking Mamiya M645 1000s with Sekor 55/2.8 and 80/2.8 lenses. I fell in love! It was a joy to handle, so much like my old Hasselblad 500C/M but much smaller and not as heavy! I did like my Hasselblad very much too of course and maybe one day I´ll get a new..

But mosly, I have also been thinking a lot about getting a Mamiya M645 1000s for myself...could be the ultimate camera for sure!
So today I made up my mind and bought a lovely Mamiya M645 1000s from eBay. It is a great looker and comes with the Sekor 45/2.8 and 80/1.9 and 150/4. It even have the metered prism w. new battery, handstrap, filters, a few rolls of film, extra film insert and also aliminium case so it was a great deal and a great kit! The seller says the camera works perfect so I really hope it does! I can´t wait until it gets here, I´m very exited and happy!

Must say I love these old magazine ads!

Mamiya ad/ NG/  1977

I hope I will be able to show some pictures of my new Mamiya soon and also, pictures taken with it.

Expired film

I´m not very much into the expired film thing but maybe if I´d buy a Holga it would be fun. I have some rolls in the fridge, expired 2002-2006. I´m a little affraid to use it. I think it may ruin my pictures, I don´t know. I should load my Yashica-Mat 124 with another exp.160VC. I have at least 4 old rolls of that film left. Too bad Kodak doesn´t make 160VC anymore, it was my favourite color film.

 

This portrait here is made with a roll that expired 2002, I like the retro-effect in the colors.

 

 

Yashica-Mat 124 - Kodak Portra 160VC (exp.)

Frosty Mamiya mornings

This shot was taken last year. I know that cold autumn mornings and winter makes you want to stay inside but there is always something interesting to capture out there..grab your camera, grab your lens and get out there!

Frost - Mamiya M645 1000s

Into darker days

Autumn, and winder´s knocking on the door a few blocks away...we´re going towards darker days. But still we can enjoy a few more sunny autumn days and that is nice..This picture is taken on my lunchreak at work a couple of weeks ago.



Autumn leaves - Pentax MX

The rose

A portrait of my son. I guess this must be at f/1.7 because only his left eye is sharp. I scanned this, by mistake, as a negative color film. I later made it b/w in PS elements.

 

Pentax MX

Autumn in black and white

This shot was taken 7 October 2012..It was Sunday and my head was aching from the night before, but I was filled with enthusiasm and happiness over my new Pentax MX so I had a long walk, almost two hours with my new little friend.

This time I used Kodak BW400CN, a black and white film that needs to be processed like ordinary negative color film, in C41. This was because it is cheaper for me to get it developed. I have not yet started to do it myself, I think I´ll have to sooner or later.
Anyway, the results from this film is pretty good, I have not compared it to other films side by side in a competition or anything, better just to take it for what it is. I like to shoot and try different kind of films..



Pentax MX



The colors of autumn

Pentax MX - Autumn colors

Analog Photography

Just have to say that I love it! Nothing new..waiting for my roll of Kodak BW400CN to be developed. I went to a camera store today in Stockholm. They had those beautiful Zeiss Ikon Rangefindercameras there behind glass. I did not ask to touch them, I am not into rangefinders right now but I love the way they look, amazing little things. I had a little chat with the owner about different films, among them Kodak Tmax 3200 wich is soon just a memeory, think ´m gonna try that film before it is out of sale. But today I just bought a roll of Agfa APX 100, it was dirt cheap. I don´t really know if I need it right now but it can be handy next summer or on a sunny day. I will put it in the fridge.

Yashica-Mat 124 - Gotland mist

Olympus OM-1n



Earlier this year, before I bought my Pentax MX, I was looking for a small slr just as I was now. That time I happened to buy a beautiful black OM-1n. I was very happy with it and it was really a looker. I had been wanting one for quite some time and now I could afford one at a nice price. unfortunately the meter was faulty so I had to send it back to the seller. He offered me a chrome OM-1n but I wanted the black finish. I have always liked black cameras. 

 

 

Olympus OM-1n - Zuiko 50mm - kodak 400TX

 A friend of mine happened to have two OM-1n´s so I borrowed one from him a few weeks. I really liked the camera, it was small and light, easy to carry around for long walks and so on. I think I had decided to buy a new used copy for myself but I never did. I lacked inspiration and bought some watercolors, papers and brushes instead. I still had my medium format Yashica-mat 124 to shoot with when I felt inspired.



My dog - Olympus OM-1n - Zuiko 50/1.8

 It´s really nice to have a small slr in your bag, pocket or around the neck. And 36 frames is a lot of shots, for me anyway. I often only shoot a scene one time, only when I feel that I maybe didn´t get the right focus or something, then I can take another shot.



 What I really like about analog photography is that it makes my shooting slower, I must take some time to frame the object, make the right manual settings etc. Just feels great! Makes me think...

Olympus OM-1n - Mirror

That´s why I was looking once again for a small slr and this time I happened to find a perfect working Pentax MX. The MX and the OM-1 are very similar. Small, B-1/1000s and big bright vewfinders. Both have wonderful lenses and both are great!

Into the dephts

A picture today, also from my first roll ever in my new Pentax MX. Autumn bush with shallow depth of field, probably at f/1.7.

Pentax MX - 50mm - Superia

Just a Pentax MX picture

 

I will keep it simple today, just a picture from my very first roll of film that went through my new Pentax MX. Taken with the standard lens, SMC Pentax-M 50mm 1:1.7 and Fuji Superia 200.

 

 

 

 

Ivy - Pentax MX - SMC 50/1.7 - Superia 200

First MX roll developed!

Yes! This feels great! Today I went back to my local photo store to get my developed fuji-roll back and I was really happy to see some images on the negatives. That means there are no major errors in the camera body so I was really excited to get home and scan the film.

There has been quite some time since I scanned some film in my scanner so there were a lot of dust and stuff there even though I tried to blow away most of it. I have not tried to be super-artistic in these shots, it was more like a "test-roll" to see if the camera and light meter work as it should. And to my big joy, it did! Everything looks great, even though the pictures was not my best.

I have one shot that I really like from ths roll and I´m going to show it to you. I use a Canon CanoScan 9000F, which is some kind of amateur-scanner but it is ok for now because  can´t afford a better one..It makes some kind of weird lins over my pictures, hard to explain but it tsakes some time to fix in Photoshop Elements 8, that I use. Sometimes I can´t save the shot so I have to re-scan it until it get´s better..very annoying...

Ok, here´s the shot from my first roll of film in my newly aquired Pentax MX:





The fallen one, a autumn leaf - Pentax MX + SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7

While I´m waiting...

Today I shot the last frames on the  first roll in my new Pentax MX. I went to my local photo store to get it developed. The guy told me I could get the negatives back on Friday so I have to wait a few days, feels like I don´t want to wait, I would really like to see how my picturs turned out, if the lightmeter works and if there are any light leaks etc.. What can I do, time is all I´ve got so I guess waiting is ok. I feel that I would like to put a new roll of flm into my MX but I guess I will have to wait with that too. I could always polish a little more, that is always fun with new cameras..

Autumn Leaf - Yashica-Mat 124 - Kodak Portra 160VC

I bought a roll of Kodak BW400CN. I have tried this film once before with great results. The good thing about it is that it can be processed like a color film in C41, that is cheaper for me as I have not yet tried to develope my own B&W films, and I know I should... in the future maybe. =)

MX - A small crush!

Sometimes when I hold a new camera in my hands I fall in love, like when I bought my Hasselblad 500C/M, I felt like I was walking on clouds the first month, ok, that is another sad love story I won´t talk about right now but I can tell you that I have a small crush for my new compact SLR, -Pentax MX!

Pentax MX logo

It looks great and performs great. I have to say that I have yet to see the negatives before I can give myself "all in" but so far it have been great and a lot of joy! I do have to agree with a lot of reviews on the net that the shutter speed dial is a little difficult to deal with while I´m holding the camera at eye-level, you have to use two fingers to get a good grip around it..

Asahi Pentax logo

I know that the idea was to purchase a camera that was all mechanical, beautiful and small, so I could carry it with me all the time without it being a load but I have to admit that I am thinking about buying a winder for it.. The guy that sold me this MX had a winder and the grip felt really good in my big hands. Maybe it makes the camera more firm while shooting? And also, he had a right angle finder with magnifier. These two accessories would make my camera a little bigger but maybe it would be a help my photography. I´m not sure yet what to do but I´ll think about it.. I can always put those things on when I know I´ll go out and shoot an for my non-planned-shooting days I could carry my MX without those accessories.

Pentax MX viewfinder - My cat She-Ra through the window..

 

This picture is not the best, it is taken from the side, but it shows a little bit how big and bright the viewfinder is. Above the image you can see the f-number and to the right you can se the shutterspeed. When you have selected the right speed and f-number, the LED is green. If you are a half-stop wrong the indicator shines yellow and if you´re 1-stp off the LED metering is showing red.

SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7
 

I hope that I can post some pictures taken with the camera soon!

Pentax MX

So I did it.. I bought a nice little black Pentax MX today! It looks great and seems to work just fine. It have new batteries, Hoya 49mm UV filter and Hoya 49mm Lens hood and best of all, a 50mm f/1.7 SMC Pentax-M lens. I wanted the f1.4 lens but off course that one costs a little more so I´ll start with this lens.

I have loaded it with a roll of Fuji Superia 200 so now I´m ready to test this beauty and when/if I find the results good I´ll load my MX with some Tri-X!

Pentax MX + Pentax-M SMC 50/1.7

Remind me that I must give Darth his black gloves back, he´s starting to get really pissed!

Pentax MX 1976-1985. Produced by Asahi Optical Co, Japan.
The MX is all manual, fully mechanical construction, a true solid workhorse!
Pentax´s flagship pro-caliber 35mm SLR, until the introduction of the Pentax LX (1980-2001).
Pentax K-Mount. Mechanical shutter of the horizontal cloth type. Weight: 495g (1.09 lb) without lens. 1s-1/1000s + B. The Pentax MX have a 0.97× viewfinder, covering 95% of the field. 2 x 1.5V battery. 1/60 x sync speed.

I´ll get back when I´ve had the first roll developed!

Who am I?

I hope I will find my own favorite area in the visual arts but I guess it comes down to one sooner or later, it will form over time. Some may take pictures of anything and everything throughout life, as I do now, but I like artists that can put their own stamp on their pictures. When one sees immediately that there must be a certain photographer who took the picture. Like when you see a painting created by Monet and other great artists. Getting to a style in a particular field that characterizes the creator.



Lonely swan / Mamiya M645 1000s

But I like to shoot both people, nature, macro, landscape, etc. It might be a good idea to create small projects, as some do, which decides a particular idea that you're driving really hard for a while. I know there are many who do, for example "The100 strangers project."  I've been thinking a little on whether it would be something for me or not.

 




Stranger / Mamiya M645 1000s

But you could have any kind of projects, you just have to have a good idea. I do not think I need to have a special stamp today, right now I want to evolve and try different things but I hope to find my own style someday and maybe I have already taken a few steps on my way.

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A search for the perfect set of cameras

I´m looking for a small slr that I can carry with me all the time, to work and from work, when I´m walking with my dog or visit town. It should fit a small bag, one or two lenses and it should not be too heavy.

- A Leica or some other rangefinder should be perfect you might think but I have not entered that world yet..I´d like the option to get really close and I´m not sure if I´m a rf type of person...I do love the look of Canon P or Nikon S2 and Leica and have been thinking of trying some old, russian Contax or Leica copy..to see if it is anything for me.

So I was thinking af a small slr, and did try a friends Olympus OM-1 for a while and it was great, I even bought one but the lightmeter was broken soI returned it to the seller. I have been curious about the Nikon FM models and specially the FM2N. I´d like to try one someday, with Nikkor 50/1.4 but I have not found one yet at a good price when I have had the money.

So now I´m thinking of trying a Pentax MX. It is small, have a big nice viewfinder and takes all the Pentax-M and Pentax-K mount lenses. I am actually going to visit a guy tomorrow that have a big Pentax collection and perhaps I´ll buy one. But chances are I will get home with a big black Spotmatic instead, I can´t help that I am very weak for the sp´s, so beautiful and yet tank-like at the same time. I like the great range of M42 optics...maybe it´s too big and heavy, I don´t wan´t my everyday camera to be a load.. so we´ll see what happens...

Mamiya M645 1000s + Olympus OM-1

These two lovely cameras was borrowed from two different friends at the same time, I really liked them both very much and I feel that I must have a Mamiya M645 someday, just great joy to use!

A start

My analog photo journey started in 2008 when a friend of mine lended me his Yashica-A, a beautiful medium format TLR camera. I fell in love and have been interested in analog photography ever since.

I have learnt a lot during these few years yet it feels like my journey have just started. Only a few steps have been taken along this fantastic and exciting path. My cameras have been many and I still havn´t found the perfect set up and perhaps I never willI. Maybe that is part of this journey and something that makes it even more interesting.

I will try to keep this site alive as much as I can...



Mamiya M645 1000S