Tag Archives: pentax

Using old film stock in a Pentax P30

The beauty of using 35mm film cameras and film is not  knowing what you have taken a picture of straight away – the final image is a process of design, skill and chance. The chance element is the big buzz for me and by throwing using out of date film (13 years) into the mix makes photography suddenly more interesting.

Fly Spider Nasturtium by 35mm_photographs

Taken using a Pentax P30 35mm camera using ‘old stock’ (March 2000) Agfacolor HDC 200. July 2012.

The Pentax P30 is an SLR and uses manual focus lenses with the K-mount bayonet fitting. I shot a roll of film on an old Pentax P30. The results were not as satisfying as those taken with the Pentax SP500. … Continue reading

Agfacolor was the name of a series of color film products made by Agfa of Germany. The first Agfacolor, introduced in 1932, was a film-based version of their Agfa-Farbenplatte (Agfa color plate) a “screen plate” product similar to the French Autochrome.

After World War II, the Agfacolor brand was applied to several varieties of color negative film for still photography.

HDC plus 200 was a fine general-purpose film, with decent colour saturation, fine grain and sharp.

Agfacolor. (2012, May 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:32, July 21, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agfacolor&oldid=492411945

35mm film is far more fun than digital

These images taken of Woolacombe were done using  a Pentax SP1000 35mm camera. This camera was my father’s, who bought it from new in the 1970s. All Pentax Spotmatics (SP) use the M42 screw-thread lens mount. The lenses are focused at maximum aperture to give a bright viewfinder image for focusing, then a switch at the side stops the lens down and switches on the metering to enable the exposure to be set prior to shutter release.

I’m really getting into lens flare which is usually caused by a very bright light source, either affecting the image or shining into the lens, which produces a haze. I also like the slightly over cooked vintage feel of these images, scrathes, dust, and fibre strands -35mm film is far more fun than digital.

Ilfracombe Harbour

The image above was taken in Ilfracombe – June 2012

Pentax Spotmatic – SP500

I have just bought and received via eBay a Pentax SP500 camera. I  put a new battery into it and the internal light meter worked straight away. Unlike the Pentax K1000 you need to switch the light meter on using a sliding switch on the front of the body.

I cleaned it up a little bit and checked the lens – which was clean and bright, no scratches or blurs.

The film is loaded and I have begun clicking away…

Pentax cameras of this era came with fantastic standard lenses. The one I purchased came with an original Takumar 1:2/55mm lens, a great lens that is flexible and precise. Takumar is the name that Asahi Optical gave to its lenses, which they used on Asahi Pentax cameras. These lenses were named after the Japanese-American portrait painter, Takuma Kajiwara.

When the first Pentax Spotmatic was introduced to the public at the 1960 PHOTOKINA, photographic fair, in Cologne, Germany, it attracted the instant and close attention of photographers and photographic engineers alike.

The model range included the original Spotmatic, Spotmatic II and IIa, Spotmatic F, plus the SP500 and SP1000. There was also the Pentax SL, which was identical to the Spotmatic except that it did not have the built-in light meter.

Photograph self portrait 1974

This was taken with a 35mm Pentax SLR in 1974 and manipulated in the darkroom in Stourbridge College of Art and Design. This reminds me of the simple pleasures I had messing about with making images – it is a shame I have become cynical.

There are millions of ‘Art’ viewpoints; some take a position of extreme difficulty or resistance. This position questions everything and is unforgiving. The principal is that artists should look beyond the superficiality of life and expose the core. They should also look at the superficiality of Art and culture and rip and tear at the flesh of its own conception, rejecting Metaphor, Romanticism etc. etc. By implementing such self imposed draconian measures you may be left with a purity of ideas but that leaves little to create or live for.

QUALIFICATIONS:
Postgraduate Certificate from Wolverhampton University in Painting
BA(hons) degree from Exeter College of Art and Design in Printmaking

EDUCATION:
2004-2006 Bristol University
2002-2003 Wolverhampton University
1976–1979 Exeter College of Art & Design
1974-1976 Stourbridge College of Art & Design

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