Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast #37: Speed Bumps in the Dark(room)

Shutter Brother Kevin here.

Three weeks - three shows! What's going on here? I don't know, either, but I am going to do all I can to keep it up and make a new show each week until the end of the year. This week's show features an update on my journey into large format photography, and my attempt to make 4x5 contact prints at home in my small bathroom (one bedroom/one bath). Being able to make contact prints at home was one of the main reasons I wanted to try large format photography in the first place. My ideas on how to accomplish this were based on a video produced by large format photographer and YouTuber Mat Marrash, in which he makes contact prints in a darkroom using a bare bulb as the light source instead of an enlarger. His results looked so easy and good that I thought, "Piece of cake!" When I tried it, however, all I ran into were speed bumps in the dark. In the end, I gave up, because it just wasn't as fun when paper is being wasted and no usable prints are being made. "Now I know why darkrooms are dark," I said to myself as I transitioned my homemade darkroom back into a bathroom and put away my useless homemade contact printing frame. While I will continue to develop film at home, I will continue to make my prints in our community darkroom. And, no, this is not the end of my large format journey. I haven't even tried to make an enlargement of one of my 4x5 negatives, yet, and I am really looking forward to doing that.

My curtain worked just fine . . . 

 . . . but this small bathroom does not make a good
darkroom . . 

. . . and that crappy homemade contact
printing frame is going down the toilet.

In other news, our 2021 Photowalk with Wayne Setser is less that three weeks away, and I am getting really excited. If you haven't listened to show #36 yet, I highly recommend that you give it a listen and here Wayne and I discuss all the reasons why you should participate if you can. Saturday, December 11, is going to be quite a morning of photography and fun, and it all starts at 9:00 am EST at Laurel Snow State Natural Area near Dayton, Tennessee. We will meet in the parking lot first, then Wayne will show us one of his favorites places to photograph (you can see some of his Laurel Show work by going to his Flickr page here). When we are finished with the photowalk, we will gather at Monkeytown Brewing in Dayton for lunch and fellowship. You can see the Facebook event page here.

Finally, since this is Thanksgiving week in the USA, I reflect on all the photography-related things for which I am grateful, and there are plenty. I think that it is always a good idea to count your blessings and give thanks. Oh, and you are on my list!

Please drop us a line at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com and consider following us on Instagram and Facebook at @UJCPodcast. And as always, please subscribe to the podcast, so that you won't miss a show!

Thank you listeners, and Happy Shooting!

Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast #36: All About a Photowalk with Wayne and Kevin!

Show #36 of the Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast is here, and so is Wayne Setser. He joins Shutter Brother Kevin for a nice discussion of the Uncle Jonesy's Cameras and Safelight District Community Darkroom 2021 Photowalk. It's going to be a morning of photography and fun, and you can get all the details by listening to this show.

The photowalk is being held at the Laurel Snow State Natural Area near Dayton, Tennessee. It's Waynes favorite place to photograph, and you can see some of his amazing large format photography on his Flickr page by clicking here. Be sure to check his Laurel Snow album for a preview of the photographic opportunities to be found at Laurel Snow.

You can view the 2021 Photowalk Facebook Event Page here.

As always, we love getting emails from our listeners, so drop us a line or even a voice memo at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com.

Happy Shooting, and see you at the 2021 Photowalk!

Uncle Jonesy’s Cameras Podcast #35: Let’s Have a Photowalk (Take Two)

The Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast is back with show #35, and do we have some news for you! We are very pleased to announce our 2021 Photowalk with Wayne Setser. We tried to do this photowalk in March of 2020, but you know what happened to most of 2020. However, this event is back and will be held on Saturday, December 11, 2021, at the Laurel Snow State Natural Area near Dayton, Tennessee. There is no fee, just a morning of photography and fun. You don't want to miss this!

You can see the Facebook event page for the photowalk here.

You can see Wayne Setser's work on Flickr here. Be sure to look at his Laurel Snow album for a preview of what to expect at the 2021 Photowalk.

For the second half of the show, Kevin discusses his recent foray into the world of large format photography. It's been quite a journey so far, and it's far from over.

As always, you can email us at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com, and we'd love to hear from you. 

Happy Shooting!

Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast #34: Keep Your Camera Happy - Get It Serviced!

The Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast is back with a show about an important part of film photography. We may not want to think about it, and we certainly do not like spending the money for it, but the fact of the matter is that our cameras have to be serviced if we want them to keep on making the photographs we love. 

A recent check of my collection of cameras reveals a sobering fact:  They all are vintage, which is a nice way of saying "old." Not a single one of my film cameras are less than twenty-five years old. My Rolleicord Va was made the year I was born (believe me, it's old!) And my newly-acquired Leica iiia, the oldest camera I own, is seventy-five years old. Should I really be surprised that the first roll I shot with it was mostly ruined by shutter problems?

Ugh! Shutter cupping. Time for a CLA (Clean-Lubricate-Adjuct)

Fortunately, most of the problems our vintage cameras have can be corrected with servicing by a qualified professional camera technician. We may be reluctant to spend $100 on a camera we bought for $50, and someone will always say, "you can just replace it instead of getting it fixed." However, with a finite inventory of film cameras in the world, and a growing number of film photographers, we will need every film camera we can get to meet the demand. Since we paid a fraction of the original price for our film cameras (in most cases), why not spend some cash on getting?keeping them in top condition, so that we can obtain the best results from them that they are capable of. I think it's worth the money, and the more we can do to keep our limited number of qualified camera technicians in business, the better.

One of the few good frame from the first roll from my Leica iiia.
This camera, like most of my cameras, is definitely worth repairing.

 I found out (in a bad way) that there are some camera repairs that are best left to a professional. Nevertheless, I have been successful in replacing seals and mirror bumpers in several of my SLRs. Additionally, I have used specialized tools to repair bent filter rings and clean haze and fungus in lenses. Fortunately, YouTube is an indispensable help in "amateur" camera repair. One of the best of these the Fix Old Cameras channel, which has been very helpful to me. I highly recommend it.

With my limited repair skills (and the right tools,)
 I was able to clean my Industar 22 50mm f3.5 lens . . . 

 . . . and get some very nice results from it!

My bent filter ring repair tool . . .

. . . and a scanner wrench like this is essential for 
repairing most old cameras.

We here at Uncle Jonesy's Cameras love to hear from our listeners, so in our last segment, I read some very nice emails from three of our listeners. You, too can email us at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com (you can even send us a voice memo to play on the air. You also can find us on Facebook and Instagram (@ujcpodcast).

Thanks for listening, and Happy Shooting!

Here is a list of camera technicians with whom I have had positive experiences. Due to a brain freeze while recording the podcast, I forgot to mention Oleg Khalyavin, who performed an amazing job putting my Zorki 4 back into top condition. I put Youxin Ye on the list, because that is where my Leica iiia is headed for repair. I will report back on my experience.

Garry's Camera Repair:  http://www.garryscamera.com

Chicago Camera Specialists:  https://www.chicagocameraspecialists.com

YYeCamera (Youxin Ye):  http://www.yyecamera.com

Mark Hama:  http://www.markhama.com

Oleg Khalyavin Photocameras (all things Russian cameras):  http://okvintagecamera.com

Lens filter ring repair tool

Spanner wrench

Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast #33: Purple Pleasures, Leica Treasures, and Improvement Measures

Let's get some purple pictures!

Shutter Brother Kevin here, and I'm back with a brand new show. I begin the show with review of Lomography's Lomochrome Purple XR film. Lomochrome Purple XR is a color negative film that is inspirited by a rare color infrared slide film form Kodak called Ektachrome EIR, which goes by the popular name, "Aerochrome." Because Aerochrome is no longer made, and the remaining stock is highly valued by art photographers, Lomography produced Lomochrome Purple, which mimics Aerochrome's dreamy psychedelic color shifts. "Color-Blind Kevin" appreciates that many art-minded film photographers love what it does, but it just may not be my cup of tea (you can see some of my photographs with this roll here.)

Lomochrome Purple XR makes
everything groovy!

Next, I tell a tale that is every film photographer's dream:  Finding a precious camera treasure at a flea market. Once upon a time I owned a Leica ilia, but it was stolen in a home break-in. However, on a recent visit to a parking lot flea market day at a local antique store, I was amazed to find an actual Leica iiia in great shape. The seller quoted me a fair price, and now that camera has a new home!

My flea market Leica.

Finally, we all want to be better photographers, so what is the one thing we all could do to accomplish that? Find out in our latest challenge.

As always, Kelley and I love hearing from our listeners. So, send us an email at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com or go to either our Facebook or Instagram page and leave a comment. 

Happy Shooting!

"7 Reasons You Should Own a Leica Thread Mount Camera" by Hamish Gill

Please Purple Me: My Date with Lomochrome Purple XR

Over a year ago I was gifted a roll of Lomography's Lomochrome Purple XR film in 35mm format. Lomochrome Purple XR is what I call a ‘special effects” film, There are other films like this, dubblefilm being one example. There is an element of unpredictability with films like these, and my feelings of uncertainty were the cause of me waiting so long to shoot the roll. However, since I have been photographing flowers a lot lately, I figured that the time to give Lomochrome Purple a test drive.

Lomochrome Purple is a film that is inspired by a legendary film made by Eastman Kodak called Ektachrome Infrared EIR, commonly called Aerochrome. Ektachrome Infrared EIR was a false color transparency film that was sensitive to both visible light and infrared light, and it was used primarily by the government for arial surveillance in the detection of criminal activity in highly vegetated areas. More recently, photographs have used the Aerochrome to create color images that can be described as ‘psychedelic” with wild color shifts involving purple and pink, among other colors. Production of Aerochrome ceased on 2011, and today the film is quite rare and expensive. Now that we are in the throws of the resurgence of film photography there are a lot of photographers who have demanded that Kodak bring Aerochrome back, to no avail so far.

Enter Lomography's Lomochrome Purple XR, a color negative film formulated to mimic the psychedelic color shifts of Aerochrome without actually being an infrared film. Greens and reds are converted to various shade of purple, blue, and pink, with occasional yellows and reds appearing as well. At least that is what the bulk of my search told me. In truth, I had no idea how to shoot this film. Even the ISO is confusing. The box says the film can be shot as 100-400 ISO. So which is it? Generally speaking, I am a “box speed” photographer. And what about lighting? Does Lomochrome Purple XR like full sun or shade? 

One other concern I had is that I am quite afflicted with red/green color blindness. So I wondered if I would even notice, much less appreciate the results of Lomochrome Purple XR. 

It was a bright sunny day when I loaded my Minolta Maxxum 600si with Lomochrome Purple XR, and my wife and I drove to Gibbs Gardens, a private botanical garden that is open to the public. I reasoned that the fields of colorful flowers and full sun would be a good opportunity to put Lomochrome Purple to the test. Uncertain what ISO I should choose, I initially dialed in ISO 400. However, after about six frames, and for reasons I can’t explain, I moved the ISO to 200 and continued shooting. A few days later we were camping by a lake, and I shot frames as the sun set over the water. By weeks end, I finished the roll at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, a vintage train station that has been converted to a hotel and entertainment complex. 

Shortly afterward, I developed the roll with my C-41 kit, scanned the negatives, and looked over the resulting images. Initially, I thought the images looked as if they had been shot outdoors on slide film balanced for indoor (tungsten) light. Nearly everything had a bluish cast to it. Of course, I knew that what I was seeing was likely shades of purple, but since my color blindness renders nearly all purples as shades of blue. However, with the help of my wife (who’s had perfect color vision), I began to see shades of pink and lavender mixed in with the occasional red, orange, and even yellow. I found that I actually liked some of the images!

I do have four overall observations:

1. Subjects with multiple colors gave more pleasing results.

2. Lomochrome Purple XR is quite contrasty, and on sunny days the sky will get blown out.

3. Changing the ISO from 400 to 200 after six frames seemed to have no effect exposure nor the special effects of the film.

4. In lower light like near sunset, the images look almost devoid of color altogether.

Will I shoot Lomochrome Purple XR again? Probably not. But that’s not to say that you wouldn’t like it. It simply doesn’t fit into my current workflow, given my color blindness and the fact that I like to pre-visualize a photo and control as many variables as I can to get the intended result. However, if I were shooting for a project for which dramatic color shifts would be appropriate (like an album cover, for example), I certainly would put it to good use.  But for now, this first date with Lomochrome Purple XR is as far as we are going to get.

Uncle Jonesy's Cameras Podcast #32: A Converstation with Mario Piper

Todays UJC show features a conversation with photographer and podcaster Mario Piper. I first became aware of Mario's photography when I discovered his podcast, Gen-X Photography, and I am delighted to have him on the show. Over the course of our hour-long conversation, Mario relates how he first became interested in photography and began using digital cameras before finding his photographic voice with film photography. Unable to contain his excitement over what he was learning and experiencing along the way, Mario began putting his thoughts into a podcast that I have enjoyed very much. Through his use of expired film, he has produced intriguing images that have an "other-worldly" beauty and expression. Since we all are on a journey regarding our photography, I think you will quite enjoy our talk, and you will want to check out his work as well.

You can find Mario on Instagram at @mariopiper and also on Flickr here.

As always, we would love to hear from our beloved listeners, and you can reach us at unclejonesyscameras@gmail.com (text and voice memos are welcome). Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages as well.

Here are some of Mario's favorite photographs, all made with his Minolta SR-T101 and a variety of Minolta Rokkor lenses. The captions are his.

Lomochrome Metropolis, double exposure, C41. Probably my favorite photo I’ve taken on film thus far.

Kodak 2254 ISO 1.6. Standard C41.

Kodacolor X, expired early 1970’s. Was to be developed in C22 chemicals.
I used stand developing in C41 chemicals for 50 minutes at 68º F.

Kodak 2254. A walk in the woods. Developed standard C41.

Kodak 2254, double exposure including my cat. Developed standard C41.