GEAR
Over the years I've had more gear than I care to mention, but currently the line up is as below, and SIGH! a few more cameras added.
Canon EOS 1Ds
This is my main body. A Professional camera of sheer excellence. I shoot in RAW, develop in Apple Aperture and give the files the Photoshop treatment they need, which is, generally, not much at all. All of my commercial work is undertaken with the EOS 1Ds. The colour and sharpness are simply supreme, far superior to the APS-C cropped sensor cameras. A3 prints are eye popping. A true Professional full-frame 35mm camera.
LENSES.
15-30mm f3.5
50mm f1.4
28-70mm f2.8 L
70-200mm f4 L
Canon Powershot S90
When I am hauling myself over Welsh mountains the last thing I want to do (sometimes) is to carry all my DSLR gear with me. The S90 actually delivers stunning 10MP pictures that are totally suitable for professional A3 printing. No, really, the sharpness and resolution is fantastic. Results are excellent all the way to ISO 800. Speed is impressive for a compact including RAW write speeds.
Canon Canonet QL17 GIII
This is a great camera. It has a good solid metal body a fast focusing rangefinder and a superb quality 40mm lens. I very much enjoy using this camera. The film advance is not as mechanically delightful as the M2 and the shutter makes this silly 'ping' should that seems to echo in the body. The in-lens leaf shutter gives very little vibration meaning you can hand hold down to a fifteenth or an eighth of a second. Really excellent results.
Leica M2 (1959)
I had to flog some gear, but, finally, I bought an M2. I love it. The smooth film advance, the solid feel, the bright rangefinder, easy to use with glasses and that wonderful shutter sound. Heaven. So superior to the Barnack cameras but many of the sentiments are the same.
Leica IIIc (1946)
I have wanted one of these cameras for years and when one was offered at a very good price, well, mine it became, and disapointed I am not. It came with a 1936 uncoated heavily scratched and slightly hazy f2 5cm Summar. It just had to be replaced and this was with the f2 5cm Summitar (1949). The venerable Summar still has its place, it's soft, it flares, and does it flare. Some would call it the Leica glow, and yes, the lens has character. It has low contrast (Hello photoshop), but, even so, the sharpness and resolution isn't that far behind the Canonet (below). I just love it. The IIIc is so tactile, the milled metal knobs, the satisfying weight, the feel in the hands, it's so right. It says shoot with me. Even the separate VF and RF is just brill. No light meter, no plastic, no battery, no electronics, no controlling micro computers. REAL PHOTOGRAPHY - YOU in control. It's slow, it forces you to THINK, to STOP, to ANTICIPATE. I just love it.
Zenit E and Fed 3/4/5
I was in a local tat shop and in the corner of my eye I happened to catch sight of a camera case. Intrigued I opened it and to my surprise it was a Zenit E. So, handing over the £6 I became its proud owner. I thought "A Russian camera, this just has to be crap". How wrong I was, how utterly surprised I was. It's actually very well made, very smooth in operation, not a Leica, no, but better than my Japanese cameras for sure. I then added a FED 3 which, surprisingly is even better - I really enjoy using the FED, its lens, the Industar 61 is pretty good too. I am now a Russian camera fan - good job they are inexpensive, just right for these credit crunched days. I recently added a Fed 4 and 5, a FED 2 next methinks.
Pentax LX
Probably the best 35mm camera Pentax have produced.
LENSES.
28mm f2.8
50mm f1.8
135mm f3.5
Olympus Trip 35
Fantastic little camera with a very sharp fixed 42mm f2.8 lens. High resolution results equal to an SLR. Fits in your big pockets too.
Busch Pressman D 5x4
A finely crafted American camera. I've been meaning to get this into action for some time. Made somewhere in the 1950s.
Rodinal
Patented in 1891, Rodinal yields great tone, good grain, is sharp and compensates contrast. Will push or pull a film two stops with ease - even on the same roll. I usually use Rodinal dilute 1:100 with 30 seconds agitation and leave to stand for two hours. The dilute solution quicky exhausts in the hightlights where there is a greater intensity of halides to reduce naturally holding back the highlights from over development. While in the shadows, where there is the least reaction, the solution gradually builds up detail.
Kodak HC-110
An excellent developer. I love it. Really excellent results, HC-110 seems to like my water better than Rodinal, this means more consistant results with less streaking and staining. Dilute at 1:120 with minimal agitation and twp hours pf stand development works well too.
Tanol
I have been using TANOL quite exclusively recently. An excellent tanning and staining film developer from Wolfgang Moersch in Germany. Good everything (grain, sharpness, compensation). I agitate for 30 secs, leave for 1hr inverting twice at the 30min mark. Great results with FP4+.
Prescysol
An excellent developer. I don't use this as often as I should. It makes great easy to print prints. Exactly as it says on the tin.
Film
I love using Fuji Neopan 400, Kodak Tri-X, Ilford FP4 and incresingly Ilford Delta. Of these I think FP4+ in Tanol and Delta in Rodinal are my favourites.
Paper
When it comes to making a paper print, which unfortunately is becoming an increasing rare occasion, I like to use Ilford Warm Tone RC and Fibre and Foma papers. The paper developer I have used for years is AGFA Neutol WA and Moersch chemistry when the Neutol is unavailable.
Other consumables
...and finally we come to Fix, Stop and the enlarger. In order it is Adofix, H20 and a Durst condenser enlarger with a Minolta Rokkor f2.8 enlarging lens. And not forgetting photoshop CS2, Pixelmator, Lightroom, Capture One, Wacom, Vuescan and my trusty Mac with OS 10.5.5 and a Sony Vaio that runs Ubuntu Linux. I mainly use the Vaio for wedding shoots. I also have to mention Linux Mint which I also enjoy using.
