35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Today’s pictures show a replica horse gin that stands at Magpie Mine in the Derbyshire Peak District. It is located at the same spot as the original which was used to raise lead ore from the mine workings.
More pictures from Magpie Mine incoming…
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 December 2025
Although, I think those building might not be a farm and actually house holiday rentals… But it looks like a farm, what with all the fields and animals and whatnot.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 December 2025
Right at the limit of the 28-300mm Tamron lens I was using.
I bought this lens as a good walkabout lens. It’s compact, quite light, has a good range of focal lengths, and the vibration reduction means handholding it is very easy. Unfortunately, despite the reviews, I found it to be a bit soft, particularly at the edges of the frame.
I wondered about putting up with it for the convenience but, after some umming and aahing, decided that image quality was important to me and so traded it in against a used Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 VR lens. This lens is considerably less convenient in a number of ways (weight and size, certainly), but I’m hoping it will live up to its reputation for being very sharp. If I pair it with my cheap, but very good 28-80mm lens, then I still have most of the focal length range (it was quite rare for me to go beyond 200mm with the Tamron).
I’m hoping to finish off a roll shot with the 70-200mm this weekend, and am keen to see the results.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 December 2025
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 December 2025
What a coincidence, eh? 🙂
Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kentmere 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4. 11.5 mins @ 20°
Taken 30 November 2025.
I’m not sure just how “classic” these two cars are, but they’re certainly old.
Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kentmere 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4. 11.5 mins @ 20°
Taken 30 November 2025.
I’ve noticed this pair of semi-detached houses before and the seems to be a definite droop as though both halves are sinking away from the centre. I wonder it the effect is replicated inside?
Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kentmere 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4. 11.5 mins @ 20°
Taken 30 November 2025.
I visited the Lincolnshire town of Gainsborough back at the end of November and shot a couple of rolls of film through my Bronica ETRSi. Things didn’t go to plan and I was beset by a number of problems.
The first roll I shot was some Lomography Color Negative 800. I shot the full roll without noticing any issues (at the time), before loading a roll of Kentmere 400, and it was then that the issues made themselves known. The first was a problem with my light meter, a Sekonic L308s. It was working ok and measuring the light, but I realised after a while that the reading were a little weird and discovered that, to my dismay, that I’d somehow put the meter into cine mode. I’ve no idea how I did this, and it took quite a bit of Googling to find out how to revert it back to stills metering. By this time I’d shot the whole roll of Lomo 800, plus half of the Kentmere, without knowing how long the meter had been out.
It was shortly afterwards that I realised the second, more significant problem… I’d got the dark-slide still inserted in the Bronica! Now, this shouldn’t be a problem as the camera shouldn’t fire if the dark-slide is present but somehow the camera had been firing away without a care in the world, wasting almost half the roll of Kentmere!
I rectified the issue by removing the dark-slide and shot the rest of the roll (correctly metered this time), but I wonder if there’s some sort of fault present (or if I’d managed to somehow bypass the safety feature by ham-fisted means).
The picture shared here today of a tree casting it’s shadow on the side of this house was taken twice, once to no avail because of the above problem, and then this second attempt. I’m glad I returned to the scene as it’s probably the best shot of the day.
Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kentmere 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4. 11.5 mins @ 20°
Taken 30 November 2025.
The last of the pictures from Ciutadella that I’ll post (although I might put out some of the digital shots I took at some point).
I’m quite fond of this one because of the placement of the figures; the man reclining on the bench; the couple looking at directions; the mannequin in the shop window; and, most of all, the bewigged individual watching us from the doorway.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 October 2025
I had a very pleasant time wandering around these narrow residential streets in Ciutadella, what my wife would call “backwhacks”- a word she uses to refer to places in towns that are off the beaten track, or warrens of narrow alleyways.
I’m not sure if backwhacks is local vernacular only used in Sheffield or something used everywhere. Despite having lived in Sheffield my entire life, it’s not a description I tended to use until I met her. It’s a good word though.
It was nice to find these streets almost completely empty of other pedestrians, and very few vehicles (assuming they would even fit!), perhaps as a result of it being the afternoon siesta time when I ambled up and down them. I really enjoy these types of location when I find them. It’s rare to find anything similar in the UK.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 October 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 