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Ian Bramham's Photoblog
Using old film cameras can be a lot of fun!
I was lucky enough to be given this one recently by a very kind relative who wasn't using it any more!
It's a 1950s fold-away medium format Zeiss Ikon Nettar. It's the 518/16 which is one of the later models with double exposure prevention and red warning in the viewfinder. I think this particular model is the Signal Nettar Ipms made some time between April 1953 and Jan 1959. It has the f4.5 75mm Novar-Anastigmat lens and a Gauthier Prontor SVS shutter.
For those of you who haven't tried it yet, medium fornat film is quite a bit bigger than the more common 35mm but is still readily available at most high street camera shops. Because the negative is bigger it produces better results. This particular model of camera takes square images 6cm x 6cm.
With the lens folded away into the body the camera is surprsingly small and will fit in the pocket of my jeans. Its also very light in weight.
The viewfinder is tiny and very primitive and you have to guess distance for focusing and set it manually on the lens or use hyperfocal markings on the lens. To get around this I bought a small secondhand rangefinder for a few pounds which fits on the accessory shoe on top of the camera....I use the rangefinder to measure distance and set the lens accordingly.
A separate light meter is needed for accurate exposure but I can use my iphone app or my digital camera.
I've now taken a few rolls of film with it and I'll show you some of the results over the next few days.
Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
@Hans ter Horst: Thanks Hans....no, I didn't develop the negatives myself. I don't have the necessary equipment although I've done it for pinhole photos that I took on photo paper rather than film. I hope you like the results. I'll post the first photo tomorrow.
@Andrew: Thanks for letting me know about the Michael Kenna article Andrew. I'll get a copy of the mag.
@Ian Smith: It is exciting to try new things isn't it! I was pleasantly surprised at how well the images came out from this camera.
@Marie LC: Thanks Marie!
@Ralph Jones: Hi Ralph, I've wanted to have a try with a Holga for a while now but I doubt I'll go as far as buying one for myself. In my foolishness I thought the photos from this Zeiss Ikon might be 'Holgaish' as it's such a simple and small camera but, in actual fact, the image quality when I got things right was every bit as good as my D700 (maybe better in some instances?). I'll post a photo from it tomorrow which shows it at its best.
I know it's not really the same but my iphone camera has some great apps if I want to play around with the Holga look. Here's an example of an iphone photo using the instagram app. All processed and uploaded to the web from the phone (no computer) http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianbramham/5577754622/sizes/o/in/photostream/
@Photographs by M.E.: Thanks!
@Oleg: Thanks Oleg!
NIKON D700
1/15 second
F/11.0
ISO 500
35 mm (35mm equiv.)
