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
So, the big, scary carousel-thing is back in Sheffield at present (it’s been there for a few weeks, in fact). I took a few photos on a disposable Ilford XP2 camera, but this isn’t one of those – although, by coincidence, it’s also on XP2. It’s slightly tricky to get an appealing composition without bits of building creeping into the edges of the frame, and I ended up focussing on just the top of the ride when the pasengers were at the very top. Even then I’ve cropped this in a little.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford XP2.
Taken on 29 March 2019
A benefit of having a camera on you at all times is that you can grab a photo whenever one presents itself to you, as I did with this little scene that caught my eye while out walking a few weeks back.
As a point of interest, the phrase “being driven round the bend” comes from the layout of the grounds of old mental hospitals and asylums, which would not have a direct line of sight to the road they were accessed from. Therefore, a person being taken for admittance would be “driven round the bend” to get to the facility
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford XP2.
Taken on 31 March 2019
Ah, the good old British car-boot sale. What beats getting up at 6:30am on a misty Sunday morning on the off-chance that someone is selling a Leica for a quid?
I didn’t get a Leica on this occasion (as I haven’t on all the occasions I’ve ever been to a car-boot sale, oddly enough), but I bought a Vivitar V635 with 28-70mm and 80-200mm lenses, and an Olympus OM-10 with a Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 for the princely sum of £12.
The Zuiko lens was faulty, so that went on eBay for spares / repairs and I got enough for it to cover my initial £12 outlay. The Vivitar was tested and, while it worked perfectly well and was in great condition, the lenses weren’t as sharp as others I already own for other systems, so that is being sold off too. I replaced the light seals in the OM-10 and finished a roll of Agfa Vista Plus 200 in it the other day, so should get the results back from that test roll this week. If all is well, I might keep hold of that as a spare body to complement my OM-1.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford XP2.
Taken on 7 April 2019
Taken on a pre-work walk last week where I noticed the nice s-curve in the footpath through the marsh.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 400.
Taken on 28 March 2019
Or is it “lead-in” lines? Or does it matter, both seem to be correct anyway?
This was taken while out on a walk about a year ago and has just been re-scanned on my Plustek 8100. The colours look far better and much more natural now, as does the sharpness of the image (albeit the focus is more on the barley than the distant pylons).
Anyway, it’s quite a nice image, I think.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Agfa Vista Plus 200.
Taken in April 2018 (I think!)
I was attracted to this store-front by the clock and managed to get a nice and contrasty photograph out of it. The little Sure Shot has done its usual good work providing a nice, sharp result.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 14 March 2019
