Random Film - Adox CHS 50 ART

The next film I'm going to discuss in my "Random Camera/Random Film" series is an emulsion from Germany.  Adox was founded in 1860 and touts itself as the world's first photochemical factory.  They produced two films that were dubbed the "German Wonderfilms;" they were the KB14 and KB17.  In fact, those films are still produced today and are known as Adox CHS 25 and Adox CHS 50.  It just so happens that I've shot a lot of the Adox CHS 50 film and that's what I'll be discussing today. 

Adox CHS 50 is a thin layer black and white film that produces the second finest grain from the Adox film line.  According to Adox's website, the film has a wider latitude than the CHS 25.  You can expose the shadows and also develop the highlights.  I wish I could provide an expert opinion on pushing, pulling, exposure and development of this film, but I have yet to dive into the world of home development.  My lab, Blue Moon Camera and Machine, have handled the processing of this film. 

I can tell you that I've shot six rolls of the Adox CHS 50 and I've been very pleased with the results, even in a few extremely low light environments.  My first impression of this film is that it has a wide tonal range and provides significantly less contrast than the black and white film I'm most familiar with - Kodak Tri-X 400.  It has a vintage look that's very pleasing on the eye, especially when used for portraits.  Adox CHS 50 was the first professional film that I used in my Hasselblad 500 c/m when I wandered around downtown Findlay, Ohio during the FPP Midwest Meet-Up earlier in the summer.  The films' grain structure was perfect for some of the urban decay/landscape images that I was after.  It was very forgiving for any exposure misreading I may have obtained since it was my first experience metering for myself.  Below are a few results from that first roll; notice the grain structure and the tonal range in the images.

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m

Lens:  150mm f/4
F/4 @ 1/125 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F4 @ 1/500 second

My second experiment with this film was for a project that I've not discussed at length.  I've simply previewed it on this blog, but it was a project that was a number of steps outside of my comfort zone.  Portraiture was the main focus of the project and the film performed extremely well.  Again, it provided a nice tonal range and it was well suited for the portraiture work.  The main flaw for me wasn't the film, but mastering the focus on my Hasselblad and it's 150mm lens.  In the sharpest images, the details were presented perfectly.  At the completion of this project, I had shot a total of 4 1/2 rolls of the Adox CHS 50.  Following the portraiture project, I had an impromptu visit to East Texas and decided to bring a roll of Adox and my Hasselblad to shoot.  I'll get to that shooting experience after the following images shot on the Adox CHS 50 ART for my portraiture project.

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F8 @ 1/60 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F8 @ 1/30 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F5.6 @ 1/60 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F4 @ 1/15 second

As I mentioned, I took a trip to East Texas and decided to bring the Hasselblad and a roll of Adox to take a few images of Gilmer and Fort Worth while I was there.  I shot about half of the roll in Gilmer, during a hot, sunny day.  The second half of the roll I shot at night in the historic stockyards of Fort Worth.  I wasn't worried about the Gilmer shots, but I was a little leery about how the film would perform at night with very little light.  It's a slow film, with an ISO of 50; so, I knew I would be mounting the Hasselblad on my tripod for long exposures.  The night shots weren't perfect, but they came out better than I expected.  When I have more time, I would like to test this film in additional night settings.  Below are a few results from the Texas trip.

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F16 @ 1/30 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F11 @ 1/60 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F16 @ 1/60

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F16 @ 1/60 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F4 @ 1 second

Camera:  Hasselblad 500 c/m
Lens:  150mm f4
F4 @ 2 seconds

The last roll of Adox that I shot was a roll of 35mm.  I shot this roll throughout the summer.  I started it at the FPP Midwest Meet Up, I continued it through my unnamed portraiture project, and I finished shooting it at various locations throughout Ohio.  The 35mm performed quite well, however, I did notice that it provided much more contrast than my rolls of 120.  Below are a few images of the 35mm Adox CHS 50 ART.

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
F4 @ 1/60 second

Camera:  Canon AE-1P

Lens:  50mm
F8 @ 1/250 second

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
F4 @ 1/500 second

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
F2 @ 1/500 second

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
Shot on Program Mode

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
F2 @ 1/30 second

Camera:  Canon AE-1P
Lens:  50mm
Shot on Program Mode

So, after six rolls of Adox CHS 50 ART, both 120 and 35mm, I would say that I can establish a pretty fair opinion of the film.  The film has a very smooth tonal range, composed of whites, blacks and a very large range of grays.  It has a vintage look and feel to it and it's well suited for both urban decay, urban landscapes and portraiture.  It wouldn't be the first film that I would grab for an outing of low light and night time shooting, but with a tripod and long exposures you can still achieve satisfying results.  It's low speed will also work well in vintage cameras with fixed shutter speeds, such as Kodak Brownie box cameras.  I will definitely be shooting more of this film in the future and I highly recommend testing it out.  For home developers and technical spec junkies, here's a link to the film's data sheet.  To learn more about Adox, check out their site here.

Random Film - Lomography Redscale 100

First, I would like to apologize for not keeping up with the new features of the blog that I planned on implementing awhile back.  I briefly discussed some photo news in one post, but I've yet to launch the photographer profile section.  I was busy with a few other things in my life at the time and I haven't been able to keep it as updated as I would like.  I still plan on launching that section and providing some additional photo news, I just don't have a timeline for it. 

I recently blogged about my trip to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.  In preparation for that trip, I had to finish shooting a number of started rolls in various cameras.  I recently finished all of those rolls and just received them back from processing.  My next few posts will be dedicated to talking about the film used, the cameras they were shot with and the images.  The first film that I'm going to discuss is Lomography Redscale 100.

When I purchased my Hasselblad 500 c/m, the only roll of film I currently had lying around to test it out was the redscale film.  Two items that are on opposite ends of the spectrum; one of the sharpest medium format cameras made and a film that is shot on the opposite side of the emulsion and sold by a company that embraces the flaws, light leaks, the imperfections and the accidents in analog photography. 

According to Lomography, the redscale film is the world's first preloaded and ready to shoot redscale film.  In fact, the redscale effect can actually be achieved by simply loading 35mm in a camera backwards.  The back of the film has a semi-transparent layer to protect the emulsion from extra light hitting it and when the film is flipped, shooting through this layer produces red, orange and yellow tones.  This effect is very similar to shooting through a red or orange filter with unpredictability thrown in.

The key word for this film is unpredictable, because that's exactly what shooting Lomography Redscale film is.  It's rated at a speed of 100 and I took it out on a very sunny day.  I was armed with the Hasselblad and a light meter.  I took my time setting up shots and tried to get the correct exposure.  When I received my processed film, I wasn't that happy with the final results.  They lacked the range of reds, oranges and yellows that i saw in the Lomography gallery.  Some of my shots were dark, bluish and green.  In addition to that, the film was prone to heavy scratches.  One roll wasn't enough to make a solid judgement, so I felt I needed to give the film another chance.  Below are a few examples of the Hasselblad red scale images.

Shot at F5.6 @ 1/60 second

Shot at F5.6 @ 1/250 second

Shot at F5.6 @ 1/125 second

The next time around, I decided to shoot redscale through my Holga.  I felt that I might get better results using a "lo-fi" camera with a "lo-fi" film.  This particular roll of film took awhile for me to finish up; I shot it in a number of different locations, but I tried to use it in as much light as possible.  The results were better this time around, but I still received dark and muddy results in a few of the frames.  In addition to that, there was an odd bluish-green fogging that appeared on the film during processing.  Now, I use a highly professional lab, so I don't chalk that up to the technicians that processed the film.  I think the film is highly unpredictable, which can be expected by basically shooting through its' backside. 

In my opinion, to achieve the best possible results from the film, one should shoot this film on a bright and sunny day and overexpose by about two stops to achieve the best possible tonal range the Lomography Redscale film has to offer.  It's an interesting film; one that I probably won't use too often.  When exposed properly, it produces a distinctive, enjoyable result.  Results that can be quite stunning.  But, if you're not into Lomography and unpredictable flaws, this film is not for you.  Here are a few images from the second roll of redscale that I shot on my Holga:

Hasselblad 500 c/m!

I've had a bad case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) this year.  It started in January when my wife purchased a Polaroid SX-70 for my birthday.  From there, I've accumulated numerous film cameras and I'm up to a total of 15 different makes and models.  Some of them I haven't even shot yet.  It's somewhat of an addiction.  When you began diving into the world of film photography, you become aware of so many combinations to achieve your artistic vision.  Cameras manufactured decades earlier are still relevant and in good condition.  Most of them are in perfect working order or may need a simple CLA, but film can still be purchased and wonderful images can be created; all at a fraction of the cost of shooting digitally. 

I'm in my infancy of using 120 medium format film; mostly shooting the roll film through my Lomography cameras, the Holga and the Diana F+.  I've had great results, but I've been wanting to upgrade to a professional medium format camera.  There are a number of great models out there, but there was just something about the iconic Hasselblad 500 c/m camera that I couldn't resist.  Hasselblad is a name that's synonymous with quality and the 500 c/m was a completely interchangeable machine.  The iconic box shape is not the only thing intriguing about this camera. It's truly a professional kit with a variety of interchangeable options.  In addition to the lenses, if you don't like the focusing screen, you can change it.  You don't like the viewfinder, change it; you want to switch from black and white film to color film mid roll, change it.  It's a highly flexible system that produces gorgeously sharp 6x6 "square" negatives.  So, after seeing some of the results on Flickr and reading about this camera and it's surprisingly cheap price point compared to today's digital standards, I just had to get one.  I saved some money and perused eBay until I found a great deal from Columbus Camera Group.  I couldn't resist and I ended up winning the auction. 

It arrived a couple days later and actually handling this camera in person is better than I expected.  It's well built; it's definitely not like holding a Holga in your hand.  The camera is very particular and there are functions that I simply wasn't used to.  A great deal of reading and researching was required before I could actually take this camera on a test run.  After getting a good handle on the basic functions of my new Hasselblad, I was ready to take it for a spin.  Unfortunately, for such a great camera, the only roll of film I had to run through it at the time was a roll of Lomography Red Scale.  Not the ideal roll, but at least I was going to go shooting with this new toy.  I had to pick up a few of my images that were hanging in the Gateway Arts Council Spring Fling Exhibit, so I thought I would swing by Tawawa Park afterwards and run that first roll through.  I spent a couple hours wandering down paths and setting up shots.  This was only the second time that I used a light meter and I had to get used to seeing the image reversed in the viewfinder.  Regardless, it was a good time and I really enjoyed using the camera.  The sound of shutter is magnificent and to hear it is simply enough to convince me to continue using the camera.  After a couple of hours, I had finished the roll of film and I sent it off to my lab for processing.  I received it back within a week and I was a little disappointed.  While my exposures were pretty close, my shots weren't great and I just didn't get anything of outstanding quality.  My negatives also came back heavily scratched.  I had a bit of a freak out moment and thought something was wrong with my A12 back.  I searched all over the Internet and found that Lomography Redscale film scratches easily.  I couldn't be 100 percent certain that my film back was functioning properly until I ran another roll through.  The FPP Midwest Meet Up was coming up in a few weeks, which made for the perfect opportunity to shoot the Hasselblad again.

This time I was armed with a roll of Adox 50 ISO black and white film.  After the photo walk portion of the meet up, I ventured back out alone to do some additional shooting.  I shot the entire roll, focusing mainly on urban and rural decay type shots.  The roll came back from my lab without scratching and I was happy with some of the results.  While I have a lot to learn and I still have to get used to this camera, I know I'm going to love it.  I have a project that I'm going to be working on in August and I'll be using the same Adox film and the Hasselblad to complete it.  If the results are as promising as I know they can be, I can't wait to share it with all of you.  In the mean time, check out a few images from my second roll.  Enjoy!

Holga + Medium Format Film = Love at First Shutter Click

Surprisingly, one of "my" wedding gifts was a Holga camera.  For those of you that don't know, a Holga is a plastic "toy" camera.  It's a very basic, "chunky" camera.  It was manufactured in Hong Kong in 1982; the term Holga is a European spin on "ho gwong," meaning "very bright."  The camera is as low tech as you can get; boasting a 60mm, f/8 plastic lens.  It has two apertures, f/8 and f/11 and shutter speeds of 1/125 and bulb (for long exposures).  It takes 120 roll film and negatives are produced in a 6x6 square, unless you use a smaller mask.

So, with it's extremely low-tech nature, why use a camera such as this?  Well, a few reasons.  First, film is fun.  Growing up, film was still the method of photography, but it was on its way out.  My parents had some very automatic 35mm cameras and I can remember having a Kodak 110 as a kid.  As I got older, photography was quickly moving into the digital realm and when I became very interested in it as an artistic medium, it was almost by default that I started with a digital camera.  In my three years of shooting, I've been exposed to a number of formats and processes that I've wanted to experiment with.  Film being one of them, as I've mentioned in my previous posts.  Honestly, I had never heard of 120 roll film; however, now that I've shot with it, I can tell you that it's great and I love it.  I love the square images that it produces.  They're much different than 35mm negatives and it's very satisfying to get them developed.  Also, I've shot three total rolls of 35mm and sometimes it's a long process to finish off a roll of 24-36 exposures.  With 120 film, you have 12-16 and it's a little less daunting. 

Is a Holga the only medium format camera?  Of course not!  There are so many medium format cameras; in fact there are amazing, expensive models that boast optics and results better than any digital camera on the market.  The beauty of the Holga is the sometimes unexpected and experimental results you can achieve.  A Holga can be prone to light leaks, creating interesting effects on the exposed emulsion.  The lens of a Holga has a sharp focus center, but the rest of the image is usually very soft.  Vignetting can also occur.  However, these are only a few interesting effects that can be achieved by using the Holga.  Holga's have been modified, they come in various models and the work from Holga's have also been shown in galleries around the world.  So, let this be a lesson that you don't need the sharpest, most expensive digital camera to have your work shown in a gallery.  A camera is simply a tool; photography is the vision of the artist and a camera is merely the means to achieve that vision.  So, I try to think outside the digital box and create what I want and how I want without confining myself to rules.  I could take the sharpest picture, perfectly exposed picture on the planet; however, it still might not measure up to an image that was taken with a pinhole camera.  It's about the artistic vision and that's where I'm trying to take my photography.  Feel free to comment and let me know if you think I'm moving that direction with my photography.

Enjoy my first Holga images; there will be many more in the future.  These images were taken with a Holga 120N camera and were shot on Kodak Plus-X 125 film.