The Shutter Brothers are in the studio - and so is Wayne's new camera, an 35mm rangefinder at that. And why would Wayne, a dedicated large format photographer, want a such a small camera? It’s simple. There will come a day when it may not be possible to carry around an heavy backpack full of large format gear, and a small 35mm camera will become Wayne's primary photographic tool. And what a tool it is! The Canon VI-L is as impressive a 35mm meter-less mechanical shutter rangefinder camera we've ever seen. It has all the features Wayne wants, plus a few that we've not seen on any other camera (like dial-switchable viewfinder fame lines). With a solid build quality, could it be a better camera than any LTM Leica? Or even a Leica M? Listen and find out.
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| The Canon VI-L with Canon 50mm f1.4 and 35mm f2 lenses. |
Meanwhile, Kevin is back from his amazing Alaskan cruise with six and a half rolls of exposed film. The cruise itself exceeded all his expectations, and Kevin is mulling over the opportunity to put down his post-cruise reflections in book form (kudos to the entire 1300 member crew of the good ship Celebrity Edge). But what about the photography? Kevin chose two Minolta Maxim autofocus SLR bodies, a 7000 and a XTsi, and Minolta AF three lenses, a 28mm f2.8, a 50mm f2.8 macro, and a 70-210mm f4 zoom (the famous Beercan). To avoid having his film scanned at airport security, he had it shipped from the Film Photography Store directly to his hotel in Seattle, and after the cruise was over, he shipped it from Seattle back to Chattanooga. Listen for a report on how his two SLR cameras and three lenses performed on the 2000 mile journey.
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| Two cameras, three lenses . . . |
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| . . . and one bag. Total weight - seven pounds. |
Next, the Shutter Bros read some listener questions about focus loupes and stand development, the latter of which serves as a chance to discuss Wayne's updated Caffenol CL formula. Both Wayne and Kevin have used it with 4x5 sheet film with excellent results, but would it work with roll film?
Believe it or not, Wayne's Leica-busting Canon VI-L isn't the smallest format camera Wayne had been testing out lately. How about a subminiature twin lens reflex spy camera! The Goerz Minicord is one of the most unique cameras we've ever seen. It's a subminiature twin lens reflex camera that uses double perforated 16mm film. It’s mechanical shutter and 25mm f2 lens makes 10x10mm images that have more than decent sharpness and contrast. Also, because the f2 lens and the 16mm film size translates to a focal length of about 75mm on a 35mm camera, you get a short telephoto effect on every shot, which can be very useful for candid photography. The build quality is excellent, and the controls are cleverly placed. And speaking of clever ideas, Goerz made a compact enlarger that uses the Minicord as both the negative holder and the enlarger lens. You can read a review of the Minicord by the esteemed Mike Eckman here.
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| The Goerz Minicord. The 35mm cassette is shown for size comparison. |
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| 10x10mm negatives sure look small when compared with a 4x5 inch sheet . . . |
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| . . . but the images are sharp with good contrast! |
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| After you develop the film, you can make prints with this compact enlarger. |
Fiinally, Wayne and Kevin preview our 3rd Annual Photowalk with the Shutter Brothers, which is going to happen on Saturday, October 26, at Fort Southwest Point near Kingston, Tennessee. The city of Kingston will be celebrating its 225th birthday with period military reenactments, and the photography opportunities will be numerous and rich. No matter what kind of camera you bring, you will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make interesting photographs, as well as connect with other photographers. The Living History Reenactment Weekend is a three day event, but our photowalk happens on Saturday. The complete schedule is below. We hope to see you there.
As always, our show notes can be found at www.unclejonesyscameras.logspot.com.
Happy Photography!
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