Jonathan

Lucky waving cats

For ages, I’ve wanted to paint a pair of Chinese lucky waving cats the same colours as my cats. This weekend I finally got around to doing so – and these are the results 🙂 Lou Lou isn’t keen on her lucky waving cat. Mittens keeps trying to kill hers.

Converting a De Vere 54 condenser enlarger to diffusion

I recently picked up a De Vere 54 enlarger for a bargain price. It’s a 1950s machine, designed to take 5×4″ negatives. In order to use the light most efficiently when making large prints, the enlarger is fitted with a condenser to give parallel illumination to the negative. However, the flip side of a condenserContinue reading “Converting a De Vere 54 condenser enlarger to diffusion”

Cambridge revisited

It’s been a while since I last posted some pictures instead of writing a technical article. Fortunately, here are some pictures I took in Cambridge this weekend while visiting my brother, Edmund. Being a Cambridge undergrad, he’s quite busy and wasn’t able to meet us right away. When we arrived in the town, we satContinue reading “Cambridge revisited”

Camera database

This is going to be a long article about photography and databases. Mostly databases, and in particular how to model certain photographic entities in a relational database. If you’re not interested in databases, stop reading now! I have quite a collection of cameras and lenses and I wanted to track as much information as possibleContinue reading “Camera database”

First autoguided exposure

I’ve been amassing the components of my astrophotography rig over time. Before Christmas I got hold of a guide scope and I attempted to rig up a modified webcam as a guide camera. This wasn’t too successful so recently I bought a dedicated but inexpensive guide camera. After a brief experiment in my back gardenContinue reading “First autoguided exposure”

New toys!

This week has been a bonanza for new toys, with five new cameras and some darkroom goodies. Here’s the round-up. The first camera I purchased – a large format Horseman 45HD. This is to improve my landscape and architectural photography by increasing the field of view from my current Horseman 980. Some time soon I’llContinue reading “New toys!”

Mec 16

Released 1958 This unusual camera was donated to my collection. It takes negatives on double-perforated 16mm film – the same type as used for cine cameras. It has full manual controls – aperture, shutter speed and focus, all set by small dials on the top plate. The viewfinder pulls out from the left hand side.Continue reading “Mec 16”

Agfa Click-II

Released 1959 This is a simple camera, basically a box camera in all but shape. It has a slow, fixed-focus lens, a single-speed shutter and three selectable apertures. These are three holes of different sizes punched in a sheet of metal, rather than a continuously variable diaphragm. At a glance Lens Fixed Achromat 72.5mm f/8.8Continue reading “Agfa Click-II”

Kodak Ektra 22

Released 1978 This is a cheap and cheerful 110-format sub-miniature camera. Fixed aperture, three-speed shutter set by a switch with weather symbols. My copy was donated to my collection and came in excellent condition in original box, with some flash bulbs. At a glance Lens Fixed Kodar 25mm f/9.5 Film 110 Focus Fixed Meter None

Horseman 45HD

The Horseman 45HD is my first “modern” large format camera. It is remarkably similar to the medium format Horseman 980 that I already own. I use view cameras widely for landscape and architectural photography, but was struggling to find a lens wide enough on medium format. Enter the 45HD – it takes all the sameContinue reading “Horseman 45HD”