Kensington Market, Minolta XE-7 loaded with Ilford Delta 400

 using either a Minolta MD 50f1.4 or a 35f2.8

First roll with a newly-acquired 1975'ish Minolta XE-7

As far as I can remember, it's been almost 20 years since I loaded 35 film on to a camera; even longer since I used B&W film. The chemically plastic smell of popping open a film canister brings back fond memories.

Shooting with film is not something that may be taken lightly. Film and processing, including scanning, is expensive. A 36-exp roll will set you back $0.60/shot. I set out to shoot no more than 2 frames per subject, budgeting to shoot up to 20 shots on this walk around Kensington Market. This is so different from shooting digital, with over 500 clicks for a similar outing.

I had to carefully choose my subject matter for suitability for B&W. The absence of colour means "focusing" on other aspects such as subject matter, textures, shapes, patterns, and the sum of all these: composition. Limiting myself to using 2 manual, prime (non-zooming) lenses: 28F2.8 and 50F1.4 meant I had to "zoom" with my feet. The fact that I only have 20 shots to use in a busy environment with lots of moving parts (this is not landscape photography)  meant that I had to be disciplined in my movement and quick to decide what was shot-worthy.

And one more thin:  I had to make an educated guess for the exposure setting, since I couldn't rely on the camera metering. The Minolta XE-7 is a manual focus camera and when it wasn't possible to bring the camera to my eye (so as not to spook the subject matter), I relied on the distance scale on the lens for focus; not an easy task when aiming for shallow depth of field.

For film, I used Ilford XP2: a chromogenic black and white film that is developed in colour C-41 chemistry. It has a wide-exposure latitude (more forgiving for exposure errors), and doesn't require traditional B&W processing. C-41 colour processing is readily available locally. I also used either a yellow or a light orange filter to increase scene contrast.

I find XP2 to be lower in contrastthan traditional B&W. My next roll will be Ilford HP5 developed with traditional B&W soups.

All things considered, it was a satisfying walk-around.
 

Sony Diaries #1020: Kensington Market on a Monday night

It is always a treat to meet up with whom I affectionally refer to as the "Old Guys". "Older Guys" would be a more accurate term. Jeff, Allan, and Robin (we were missing Mike) seem to be the only guys within a wider circle of older photographers who are interested in street photography, esp night photography. Jeff is currently a Sony guy (a99II) with a long history with Olympus 4/3rd, M4/3rd, and Panasonic. Jeff is living the retired life that I hope to have: traveling around in a trailer, taking pictures of places. Allan is a retired engineer with a dry sense of wit and humour. We share a common experience: he used to work  in a paediatrics hospital (as a Medical Engineer). Robin, I don't know too much about. I know he dotes on his grandkids, and dawdles on our walks; he takes his time but he doesn't waste time.

These informal meetups are equal parts eating/having coffee/talking and taking pictures. The taking pictures part is in turn equal parts talking about the pictures we just took and taking pictures. It doesn't take a math whiz to figure out that taking pictures is only 1/4 of the experience.

But that's okay, because like a meal where the conversation is the best part, photography is just a catalyst for the talking and the walking

Invariably, the talk is on gear: specifically M4/3 for Allan and Robin, Sony Alpha with Jeff and myself. If Mike were around, the talk would include Pentax and assorted exotic lenses (Mike is a walking encyclopedia on this subject).

 All the photos above were taken with a Sigma 24f1.8Macro on a Sony a7III.

All the photos below were taken with a $50 Minolta 50F1.7 on a Sony a7III, set on Auto ISO with a maximum of ISO12800.

I'd love to know what is on their minds.

fallen angel?

how cool (and rare) is this? 3 payphones in one spot.