A bit more than a week ago, i bought a rather cheap Zenit E Olympic edition off eBay. It arrived in the mail today and I loaded it with the first film I found, an Ilford HP5, and went for a spin at an old school building.
The lighting conditions were a bit demanding, so I decided to go for pushing one step to 800 ISO, and shooting at shallow apertures, to really play with that amazing Bokeh of the Helios 44, f2 lens that followed the camera.
I decided to develop in my favourite solution, Kodak HC110 1+31, and at slighgly above 20 degrees water, I used 9 minutes 15 seconds.
I got a little surprise when the negatives came out of the tank. Some frames were immensely overexposed, while others were close to perfect. I used the same light meter app, and followed it carefully, so all frames shloud theoretically be equally over or underexposed. I’ll fiddle a bit more with it and familiarise myself with it. Maybe the main issue is the photographer not the camera.
All in all, I am very satisfied with the results from this adventure, and I cannot wait for the next adventure with this little, Russian friend. The Bokeh and sharpness from the Helios 44, combined with the sturdy feel of the camera inspires me.
I also really love the look of HP5 at 800!
Still cannot remember what this is!
«Photograph not only what you see but also what you feel.» – Ansel Adams
Cheap Camera Adventures 