Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
I went for a walk last weekend to test the Z135 (which I posted about a couple of days back). I wandered through a part of the city that I’ve never really explored on a loop out and back from the town centre. It was mostly residential streets and I took photos of a few houses that I passed that I felt had an interesting look to them. Here’s one of them.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 27 April 2019
Another photo from the Sure Shot Z135, this time of people enjoying that most traditional of British takeaways, a delicious portion of fish and chips.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 27 April 2019
Last week I decided to test out the Canon Sure Shot Z135 that my dad gave me (along with a few other compacts) a couple of years ago. I’d only shot the camera once before, mostly because there was a part used roll of film in the camera and I was keen to see what was on it (it was some photos of aircraft at the RAF Waddington airshow from about fifteen years ago). ALthough I really liked the airplane images, my results were pretty average, although that was mainly down to my slightly insipid choice of subject matter rather than the camera. As a result, it has lain unused in a drawer since then.
However, as I’ve had very nice results from my Sure Shot Telemax, I decided I’d give the Z135 a proper test rung with some fresh film to see how it stood up. The outcome was good – it produced a whole roll of nice images, not all standout compositions, but technically decent. The lens is sharp, although with some noticeable softness right in the corners, though this may change at different focal lengths (I shot mostly at it’s fully wide setting). The zoom is smooth and allows you to choose any point through the full range (as opposed to my Telemax, which just has a wide and zoom setting and nothing inbetween).
The camera also has a bunch of other modes (although how many of these I’ll use, I’m not sure), but also lets itself down with an annoying auto-flash setting. This can be disabled by means of a tiny button under a flap on the rear of the camera, but it’s a pain to have to do it each time you power up the camera lest you accidentally flash strangers in the face in a Bruce Gilden style when attempting inconspicuous street candids.
I’ve got a couple of trips coming up this year and I’m thinking of taking this (or the Telemax) as my 35mm option, It won’t have the flexibility of an SLR, but it’ll be a lot more convenient while still being able to deliver nice results.
Here are a trio of shots from the test roll.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 27 April 2019
A quickie post today, with a shot of a tyre swing that I walked past recently.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 27 April 2019
Another photo from a recent trip to Manchester. The meeting I was attending finished earlier than expected so I had an hour or so to kill while waiting for the train I had a ticket for. So I went for a walk. I’d taken the Zeiss on the trip for two reasons: Firstly, I’d just had it CLA’d and wanted to test it out if I got the chance, and; Secondly, it folds down to almost pocket size, which is a wonderful feature in a medium format camera when you need to travel light.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 23 April 2019
Well, sort of…
On a recent visit to Manchester I arrived at Manchester Picadilly station to find a series of boards displaying the winning entries for the most recent Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.
There were some beautiful and striking images on show and I took a couple of photographs of people looking at them – this one from the balcony overlooking the ticket-hall area.
I’ve cropped it from the square original due to a winding error (I didn’t wind it on enough and got two slightly overlapping frames).
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford Delta 400.
Taken on 23 April 2019
The Old Nag’s Head pub in Edale marks the starting point of The Pennine Way, a 268 mile long trail running all the way to the Scottish Borders where it ends at Kirk Yetholm. It was officially opened in April 1965 and traverses many areas of upland landscapes including the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Northern Pennines and the Cheviot Hills (crossing Hadrian’s Wall along the way).
Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 26 April 2019
This picture was originally a much nicer (in my opinion, at least) square composition with the wall arcing up through the shot. Or it would have been had I not gottem my finger in the way of the lens, resulting in my having to reduce it to a 6 x 4.5 ratio crop.
It’s kinda frustrating as I almost never get my fingers in the frame – occasionally I’ve had shots where an errant gust of wind has blown the camera strap into the shot just as I pressed the shutter, but my fingers are generally immune to the breeze. Oh well, I still like the result, even if it could have been better.
Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 26 April 2019
This somewhat dillapidated farm building is marked on the map as “Hollins”. Although the sun was already rising quite high in the sky by the time I took this, there was still plenty of side-light and contrast and it’s probably my favourite shot from this roll. It’s been cropped to remove a section of largely featureless sky.
Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 26 April 2019
A gate on the footpath I took when heading back towards Edale a couple of weeks back. I believe the peak you can see at the far left background is The Nab on the south-eastern edge of Kinder Scout.
Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 26 April 2019
Steel City Snapper photography 