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by Kevin Lane
Welcome to the show notes for UJC Podcast #82. I will never be able to fully express my gratitude to you listeners for taking the time to download and listen to our show. And now that you made the extra effort to check out our show notes, I am overjoyed indeed. You are truly super fans!
The first part of our show features me discussing my obsession with the Debonair 120 medium format camera from the Film Photography Store. I've been happy owner of one for about seven years. I am not really able to explain why I would want to use a cheap plastic 'toy' camera for something that might become an 'art' project. Is it because I am highly impressionable by other photographers, or is it because I highly value the element of fun. It's probably a combination of both that has motivated me to load up my Debonair 120 Plastic Filmtastic camera and head out in search of decrepit decaying business signs. Here is the best explanation I can offer.
I took only one camera and only black and white film with me on my recent first time visit to southern California, only to be pleasantly surprised by the abundance of color - the colorfully flowering plants, shrubs, and even trees (the jacaranda trees were amazing!) as well as the brightly colored bungalows and and sSpanish colonial architecture. I had told myself that my iPhone would be adequate for color photography (and I did take a few pictures with it), but I soon regretted not taking a second camera. I could have shot a lot of color film on this trip.
It soon occurred to me that a really good compact camera would be the perfect camera for this type of photography, and that's when I began thinking of the newly released Pentax 17 35mm half frame camera. It has uto exposure, a sharp glass lens, and seven-two shots per roll, and it's small enough to fit in a jacket pocket or a small bag. Sounds like a perfect travel camera to me.
Honestly, I could not see a place in my bag for the Pentax 17 when is was first announced. However, thanks to the work of a certain Andrew Bartrum, I became quite intrigued by what it can do. Andrew enjoys using the camera to make prints from two images in a single 35mm full frame. The two images are related somehow and serve to tell a story. In other words, a diptych. The two half frames are vertical format-wise, and that's how the camera is set up to shoot. Andrew's photography with this camera never ceases to amazing me. However, at $500, the camera is not cheap. and honestly, my Minolta AF2 with its compact size, autofocus, auto exposure, and sharp glass lens would have been a perfect choice for my California trip. I only losing the half frame option, so no diptychs.
Then I remembered Wayne talking about his newly acquired Fuji GS645, a medium format camera that makes 6x4.5cm vertical format frames (you can hear Wayne discuss this camera on UJC show #81). He half-jokingly remarked that it could be his 'half frame medium format camera.' And that got me thinking about my Debonair 120, which also makes vertical 6x4.5cm frames on medium format film (about the only thing it as in common with the Fuji GS645). So I found some negatives that I had shot with the Debonair and laid them on the back of a 4x6 inch postcard print and found that I could contact print three frames on it. Never mind a diptych; I could make triptychs!
To follow through on a proof of concept, I cut a mask out of black card stock. The rectangular opening in the mask was large enough for three 6x4.5 negative frames to show. Then I went to the darkroom and made some test prints of my decaying business signs images. You can see by the prints below that the concept actually works fine. I will reshoot the images with a little more care regarding composition and lighting, but tis little piece of photographic plastic gets the job done.
You can see the cool things Andrew Bartrum's really cool diptych work with his Pentax 17 half frame camera by visiting his Instagram page at @warboyssnapper.
Much of the rest of our UJC Podcast #82 is all about listener feedback, and there were some really good questions and suggestions from our faithful listeners. One of them involved testing to see if your darkroom's safelight is really safe. As he has done with countless other aspects of film photography, Gregory Davis presents a precise method of testing your safelight You can see his YouTube video here.
Finally, a group of fellow film photography podcasters are getting together for a photowalk in my hometown of Chattanooga on Saturday and Sunday, August 9-10, and you are invited to join us!. You can find all the details here.
As always, we love hearing from our listeners. You can email us at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram and leave your feedback there.
Happy Photography!
