Who Needs Control . . Test a New Camera and Film Stock at the Same Time!

As you know, whenever any kind of test is given to determine the level of performance of an object, or person, or anything else, there is the element known as “control.”  Control is the pre-determined standard that the subject of a performance test must measure up to in order to meet a certain level of performance.  When this principal is applied to the testing of new film stocks, one level of control would be to use a camera that is familiar to the user, and where its level of performance is already known.  However, as usual, I have blown the concept of “control” completely out of the water by testing a new film stock , and a new camera (that is . . new to me) at the same time!

I recently acquired a Petri 1.9 Color Corrected Super rangefinder.  Though I love using rangefinders, I have never come across this, or any other camera made by Petri.  They were a Japanese camera manufacturer that started out in 1954 making 35mm rangefinder cameras in the general spirit of Leicas.  The quality of those early cameras was pretty good.  Later on, as the company began making SLR’s and other rangefinder models, the quality would suffer, and the Petri name would be associated accordingly.  The Petri 1.9 Color Corrected Super falls in to the earlier category, making its appearance in 1958. This smart looking rangefinder camera is equipped with a 45mm 1.9 “color corrected” lens (a marketing reference to highlight the fact that the lens elements are coated), and a leaf shutter that ranges from 1/500 to 1 second, plus B.  Other features include a cold accessory shoe, PC connection, parallax correction viewfinder with green rangefinder patch, and a self-timer.  Upon holding it in my hands, I was immediately impressed with the build quality of this camera.  The film advance worked smoothly, the exposure controls were easy to operate, and the Copal leaf shutter was very quiet.  The viewfinder was bright, and the rangefinder patch was easy to see.  I couldn’t wait to shoot with this camera, so I decided to use it to test a new film shock.  Who needs control, right?

The new film stock is the Kosmo Foto Mono 100.  My brother Kevin had given me a couple of rolls of this black and white film for Christmas, so I thought I’d put this Petri 1.9 (which I had just received back from having it serviced) to good use.  Immediately I was impressed with the packaging.  Its cool design was a nice change from the traditional packaging that we have seen for decades.  As far as the film goes, I was already aware of two things.  I knew that this film stock was actually rebranded Fomapan 100.  I also knew that it had received some less-than-stellar reviews.  But it was free film, so on a rare sunny weekend here in northwest Georgia, I decided to test both the Petri and the Kosmo Foto Mono 100.  I began with a visit to a local flea market.  Shooting this film at box speed, and using sunny 16 for my metering, I wandered through the many rolls of tables filled with merchandise and clicked away.  Since I test cameras here often, folks at this flea market are used to seeing me making photos.  The Petri operated fine and the shutter was quiet as a mouse.  It does take a bit of getting used to focusing the lens, especially if you shoot SLR’s most of the time, however, the rangefinder patch with its green background was easy to see.  I finished up my test with a photo walk in downtown Dalton.  My wife and I recently moved to a little town north of Dalton called Varnell, so it was good to have some time to walk around Dalton’s historic downtown area.  I always seem to be a little less noticeable to others when shooting with a rangefinder than with a big and noisy SLR, so it was nice to shoot with this camera as I moved around the downtown area. 

I processed the Mono 100 using D-76 diluted 1:1 at 68 degrees for 8 minutes and 45 seconds.  Again, I was impressed from the moment the film came off the reel.  The negatives had a good look to them, and the development time seemed to be right on the mark. It was when I prepared to scan the negatives that I began to see a future for more use of this film stock.  These negatives lay perfectly flat in my scanner's film holder.  This is such a huge plus, since my favorite b&w film, Kodak Tri X 400 requires me to take the extra step of winding the film backwards after processing to reduce the extreme cupping that becomes such an annoyance when trying to scan the negatives.  Seeing my images on the monitor after the scanning process drove in the winning run.  These pictures were nice and sharp with a bit warmer tone and less contrast than my other favorite b&w film, Eastman XX 5222.  The film’s latitude seems to be wide (or I’m getting really good at using sunny 16!). Even though I had heard others complain about the grain, I was very pleased with what I saw in my images. 

In a time when the release of a new film stock is a rare occurrence, I am excited to see Kosmo Foto get into the film marketing business, even if the film is rebranded from another manufacturer.  This practice has actually gone on for a long time in the film industry, so it shouldn’t be a turn off.  The way I see it, If this is what it takes to bring new film stocks to the public’s attention, then I am all for it, especially with a new generation of film photographers who might be attracted to innovative promotional techniques and eye catching packaging.  Of course, it certainly helps that the film stock is of an acceptable quality, and I certainly think this Mono 100 meets that qualification. 

So there you have it.  If you come across a Petri 1.9 Super rangefinder camera at your favorite flea market or thrift store that is in good shape and for the right price, I certainly recommend giving it a try, especially if this your first foray into shooting with 35m rangefinder cameras.  And while your at it, consider giving this Kosmo Foto Mono 100 a try as well.  This could be your next favorite black and white film.

Now go get some pictures.

UJC #8: Dancing the Sous Vide Slide(s) & Exploring the Kosmo(s)

The Shutter Brothers are back with episode #8 with lots of fun and information about film photography, so load your camera and hop on board. First, Kevin talks about how a sous vide stick is a game changer for developing both C-41 (color negative film) and E-6 (color slide film). Your local grocery store (ALDI) may have one for sale, but you can always get one from the Film Photography Store.

Next, Kelley shares his happy experience with his Petri rangefinder and Kosmo Foto Mono B&W film. This film is the product of Stephen Dowling's Kosmo Foto website and brand. Kelley's review is very favorable, and you can get some of this film here (US) and here (Europe).

Finally, the Brothers read some listener letters and talk about the chances of Kodak bringing back more films in 2019, particularly Plus-X Pan 125.

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Happy Shooting!

Cooking Up Some E-6

By Kevin Lane

When I got my first quality camera in 1980 (Minolta XG-1), I immediately began shooting slide film. It was an easy call, as Uncle Jonesy shot slide film exclusively, and old fashioned slide shows were THE way we viewed photos. It was very social; a bunch of friends would come over, there would be food, and we would fire up the projector and turn off the lights. As the years went by, I just kept on shooting slide film, mostly Kodachrome. When I got married and the kids came along, I documented it all on slides, and now I have hundreds of them in my closet.

Then Kodachrome went away, film in general became harder to find and process, and I made the move to digital. You all know about how I have returned to film photography in the last two years, shooting color and B&W negative film. But lurking in my freezer were five rolls of Fuji Sensia 100 slide film, which had expired in 2008. Having become quite comfortable developing my own color negative film with a Unicolor C-41 kit from the Film Photography Project Store, I thought it was time to try out Unicolor's E-6 kit for slide film. The process is nearly the same, the main difference being the addition of a 2nd developing chemical and washing steps after each developing stage. In the washing stages, the water should be at or near the developers' temperature of 100º F.

My first attempt at E-6 back in the summer was a fail because I misread the directions and had my temps too high. My second attempt a few weeks ago went better, but trying to keep the temps at specified levels for all the chemistry and washings was not easy. When I looked at the film, I really couldn't be assured that I had done it correctly. Some colors did not look right.

Then came my sous vide unit. In case you don't know (and I didn't until a few months ago), sous vide (French for "under vacuum" is a cooking method whereby meat is cooked while sealed in a bag and submerged under heated water. A sous vide stick heats and circulates the water, so that the meat is cooked slowly but uniformly. The stick can be set to a specified temperature and time. Photography hobbyists have been using a sous vide stick to heat developing chemistry to the proper temperature and keep it there until it is used.

1st developer is in the tank;
2nd developer is ready and 100º F

When a separate thermometer is used to measure the chemistry temps, you can determine just where to set the sous vide stick temperature to get the chemistry up to the correct temp. Using the sous vide stick this way takes away a lot of the guesswork and worry and helps enforce a uniformity and consistency in a developing workflow, and uniformity and consistency are the keys to getting better results.

Back in October I shot a roll of my expired Fuji Sensia in my Minolta X-700. The photos were mainly around the Chattanooga and eastern Tennessee area. Then in December I found my sous vide stick at ALDI for only $49.99 and took the plunge. I filled a plastic waste can with water, put my chemistry bottles and the sous vide stick in, set the temperature and let it do it's thing. I found that my chemistry gets to the needed 100º F when the sous vide is set to around 108º F, but room temperature and plastic vs. metal or glass bottles may change that for you. You have to experiment. Once I found it, though, I did not have to worry about my temps. And as for the washings, I would fill up my gallon pitcher with tap water, measuring the temp as it came out of the spout. I figured that temperature is not as critical for the water as it is for the chemistry, and the results back me up.

Nothing beats seeing slide film when it
comes out of the tank!

Speaking of results, here are some shots from the roll. If this is the result that I can expect from developing slide film at home, then I will be shooting a lot more of it in 2019, namely Kodak's newly released Ektachrome.

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UJC #7: Goals, Gifts, and Gear (and Happy New Year!)

The Shutter Brothers (Kelley and Kevin Lane) are back with our best show yet (at least we think so!) We start the new year by discussing our photography goals for 2019, and we would love to hear about yours. Next, we answer a great listener question about how we choose what camera(s) to shoot on a given day. Our answers are quite different from each other which came as a bit of a surprise to us. If you have a lot of cameras, we would love to hear from you about how you choose a camera to shoot. Finally, we reveal our Mystery Christmas Gift Cameras. Independently, we each bought a camera to give as a gift to each other for Christmas, so now we discuss our experiences in shooting them.

Kelley's Minolta H-Matic

Kelley received a handsome Minolta Hi-Matic AF2, and autofocus and auto exposure point and shoot with a great lens, while Kevin got a Zorki 1c, which is an early 1950's Russian copy of a Leica II rangefinder. It was a merry Christmas indeed!

You can find our podcast on You can find the show on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, and all of your favorite directories, and we really hope that you will click the "Subscribe" button. That way, you won't miss any future shows. Most importantly, we would greatly welcome your feedback in the way of comments, suggestions, questions, tips, tricks, etc. You can email us at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com. You can even record a voice memo on your smart phone and send email it to us to play on the show. We also have a Facebook page at @UJCPodcast. You can leave comments and questions by commenting on our posts there.

We would love for Uncle Jonesy's Cameras to become a community of film photographers, all sharing with each other and encouraging each other to keep shooting.

Happy Shooting! (and Happy New Year!)