Original Lensbaby

Hi everybody!

I got a roll of film developed for the first time in months and months. It feels amazing! I thought I'd have more time for hobbies after I finished my degree but working full time was kind of all-encompassing. I quit my day job so I'm just doing IATSE trainee work right now, which so far is working out. I'm still making enough to live off of (about the same, actually, when you average it over the time I'm not working as well) and I have some spare time to devote to the things I love. I finally have time to be 23!

Anyhoo, this roll of film was largely dedicated to testing out an original Lensbaby that I picked up at the Vancouver Camera Show and Swap Meet. It was $35... which I think is a pretty good deal. I didn't shop around but the new ones with all the digs are a few hundred, which is still really cheap for a lens but a big chunk to drop on something if you're not sure you're going to use it very much. They had it in a few mounts, but no Nikon or Canon so I got one with the PK mount, but it works out because I have this Pentax Z-50P that I wanted to try out, too.

Lensbabies were invented after the digital revolution. Their mucky operating style might be better with digital cameras where you can just delete the bad ones, but it's also fun with film because it's always fun with film. Ha!

But seriously, I think the soft plastic lens looks good with film. My T2i is pretty harsh with highlights and the like, so film is more forgiving with a weird exposure. This is good to keep in mind since the aperture on these lenses is kind of a bother to change. I shot a bunch with a 2.8 aperture plate, and then got stuck and had to change to a 5.6 because I was in pretty bright conditions. Some people recommend that you just leave in a 5.6 or 8 because the focus will be easier to nail and you won't have to fish out the plates as often. I say: do whatever you want! But be prepared to have your hands full changing those things when you're outside. Best to have a surface or a buddy to put stuff down on.

My verdict on the Lensbaby thing is: I'm glad I didn't drop a few hundred dollars on a newer model, because it really is just kind of a novelty and I don't think I'll use it very much. It might be nice to have one with an EF mount to use it on my T2i for video, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I've seen Lensbabies used a few times on TV shows and they can make it very cool but again, it's just for a couple of shots, and for very specific reasons. $300 is a lot for me, so I'll just stick with my $35 number.

The Pentax Z-50P, on the other hand, is a pretty nice film SLR, of course depending on what you want. It's pretty straight-forward & bare bones, but it has everything I need: manual mode or a shutter or aperture priority mode, and autofocus which is nice sometimes. It does have an annoying beep even when you're in manual focus mode to let you know that your picture's in focus, which is kind of a good feature but it just really pissed me off. You can turn this off but I didn't have my manual with me and it wasn't an obvious fix, so there ya go. I'll turn it off next time and then it should be problem free!

Photo time!

The best picture of Sky that I might ever take. That is one angry cat.

Taken on 800 ISO Superia, in East Van!

xoxoxo
CWB

Pentax SP1000

Hello, friends!

This week's dusty friend is the Pentax SP1000. This one was given to me by my fiancé's father, although I think it was primarily his mother's. There's a cute and mysterious sticker on the bottom of some orange and purple shapes.

The SP1000 was produced between '73 and '76 and was a cheaper version of the Spotmatic. It has manual exposure control, with a maximum shutter speed of 1/1000 sec (hence the name... the earlier SP500 had a max of 1/500). The centerweighted meter has a switch, which is resourceful unless you forget to switch it off. The batteries for this baby were Mercury based so no more of those... although of course there are always ways around that. And, of course, it has the old school M42 mount.

There isn't much that sets this camera apart from other SLRs. The Spotmatic was the solid go-to Pentax model before the K1000 was released, but this budget version doesn't have a self-timer. It would be a great student camera, except that the batteries are hard to get, and K-mount lenses are a lot easier to find as well. I guess this is one camera that will just be lost in time...

That being said... It's not a bad camera! When this was given to me there was an ancient roll of film in it, so here are a couple of shots featuring the love of my life.

xoxoxo
-C

Well, that's it! School and work are officially kicking my butt and Dusty Shutter, which started as a summer project, will have to be put on the backburner.

Here is what I plan to do:

Instead of trying to provide a thorough guide to a camera or an insightful look into photography itself every week, I'll do one of those or just share some photos I've taken. This will help me stay on top of the weekly schedule while hopefully offering something worthwhile to the worldwide web.

Enjoy!!

Taken with a Pentax K1000.
Velvia 100 and Ilford XP2 Super 400.

Pentax K1000

Hello camera fans! This week's camera is the ever so popular Pentax K1000, or, as my classmate calls it, "the tank". And well it deserves that name...

This camera was introduced in the mid 70s and was produced for a whopping 21 years! Granted, newer models were produced in China instead of Japan, and with some cheaper plastic parts instead of the super durable metal construction that earned it its aforementioned nickname.

It remains to this day a favourite for photography students. I'm not totally sure why, although I have my own reasons for loving it, so I can hazard a few guesses.

Besides the sturdy design and widely compatible lens mount, this lovely piece of equipment is delightfully easy to use. It's 100% manual (which is how I like it, if you haven't noticed!) with TTL, centre-weighted metering. It has shutter speeds from 1 to 1/1000 sec as well as the B setting and... a self-timer! So, basically it has everything I could ever want from an SLR on top of its being very user-friendly.

I should talk about the K mount for a sec here... I think the K1000 was the first really popular Pentax camera with the K mount, as most of their previously popular models were equipped with the screw mount instead. I also think that at the time of the K1000's emergence, the screw mount was maybe more useful. Since then, though, tons and tons of lenses with the K mount have been made, and even new manual lenses with the K mount are still compatible with the K1000. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, you can't really go wrong with this camera.

That being said, I don't know what to write except that I've had nothing but positive experiences with the K1000 and it takes lovely photos.

My model, along with 2 additional lenses and a flash, was a gift from a very sweet guy I know through the UBC Film Society, who got it as a gift as well. I have no doubt that when my nieces grow up, or when I have kids of my own, this camera will still be functioning perfectly, so I can't wait to share it with them too!

Now, the photos...
The first two were taken with Fujichrome Sensia 100 colour reversal film, and the last one was taken with Ilford XP2 Super 400 negative film. Both rolls were expired.

Featuring Alec, Fanny on set (et Fanny, si tu veux pas que cette photo reste ici je peux la supprimer... mais j'aime ton visage) and Vancouver's best cheesecake!

Also, Matt Denton says everything I haven't said about this camera.

Besos,
Caity