"Empty"
Fed 3B, I-61 (52mm f2.8), Ilford XP2 I looked through a door of a building in the Presidio and saw a vast empty space lit up by the morning sun shining through the windows.
The door's window had a metal diamond grate on it, so I had to positioned the lens in the middle of one of the small opening and hoped for the best. This is a RF camera, so I couldn't see what the lens was seeing.
I originally purchased this Fed3B a while back, but I didn't have a chance to shoot a roll of film through it until now. I discovered to my dismay that even though it looked pristine, the shutter had a small pinhole in it that could be seen when the shutter was cocked. I emailed the Ukrainian Ebay seller of this camera and explained the situation. In response, he sent me a small vial of black paint that is specifically for repairing shutter holes. I tried it a few days ago, and voila!, it worked. It's a temporary fix, but I'm happy if I can get some use out of the camera before it needs a new shutter curtain.
So, I wanted to tell you that if you want to try this camera, please don't hesitate to let me know, and we'll arrange it. It's back to the basics: no meter, manual focusing via rangefinder, but this model does have a film advance lever (unlike my other FSU cameras that have a knob winder).
--Warren
Revised:
posted by Warren T. at 6:42 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
Nice shot. I like the perspective plus I like the loneliness of the scene. I have mixed feelings about the left side of the photo. It adds contrast to the right side, but at the same time it keeps pulling my eye over.
Eric
Eric,
Thanks for your comment. I understand what you're saying about the brightness of the left side maybe being too strong or being extraneous to the scene. On the other hand, maybe it balances/contrasts the darker unlit right side, and it adds to the emptiness and spatiousness of the space.
How would you crop this one?
(This image shows the full frame as scanned).
--WT
I don't think I'd crop it as I like the the composition. I'd probably just burn the left side some. That's it.
Eric
Thanks for the suggestion. I did a little more work on the image. I added the revised version, and I like it better than the original.
--WT
Nice work. I find that my eye is no longer pulled over to the left. I like the look. It reminds me of an old photo just like the one of the person at Crissy Field.
Eric
Maybe by using these ancient rangefinder cameras of the former Soviet Union causes one to get sucked into a temporal vortex that automatically produces vintage looking photos :).
--WT
Maybe. It may be the way the camera takes pix. I like it. It's different and you don't see that kind of quality often.
Eric
Very nice shadow play, Warren. And of course, I can't help but admire that you took it with one of our Glorious Soviet Cameras!
FED 3B was the very first camera I bought from eBay - it started my Soviet RF collection. I used to think of it as a "Poor Man's M3" ;-)
Warren,
Wow, I just realized how much my "8 0'Clock Shadow" photo looks like this one! I saw yours several days ago, I must have had it in the back of my mind when I saw that scene in Balto earlier this week.
I call this a case of "channelling Warren" ;-)
Hi Steve,
Yeah! When I first saw your "8 o'clock shadow" shot, I was struck by the similarity too!
--Warren
Steve,
Remember, we did this a few months ago with a couple of fence pictures that we posted at almost the exact same time. Spooky :).
--Warren
Found it. go to the March 2006 archives. You'll see that we both posted fence pictures, 11 minutes apart. It was great. :)
--Warren
Oh yeah - the "WWWD" photo! Did it again ;-)
It's like the Vulcan mind meld... "my mind to your mind, my photos to your photos..."
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