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”
Category Archives: Photography
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”
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”
Sue & Tony’s Wedding
At the weekend, I attended the wedding of one of the choir, Sue, and her husband Tony. Naturally, I took one of my cameras although with a professional photographer and his assistant getting pictures of the wedding party it seems that I took more photos of friends outside the church than of the happy coupleContinue reading “Sue & Tony’s Wedding”
Wide angle lenses – now with 4×5″
A while back I wrote a short article comparing wide angle lenses on various formats. This is a small update to include large format (4×5″), which I have recently bought into to overcome problems with super-wide lenses on 6×9 (or lack thereof) This diagram shows various common film formats, ranging from 4×5″ (large format viewContinue reading “Wide angle lenses – now with 4×5″”
Jonathan Gazeley 