Bell & Howell /CannonHere is the new addition to my film cameras . 1961 Canon Canonet 19. The Canon Canonet 19 is a sleek retro looking camera with great lines and a non-cluttered look.  It was the first of the Canon Canonet line of cameras.  The Canonet line ran from 1961 through the mid-'70s and was the first attempt at making cameras for the everyday man that wasn't a professional photographer.  Up until this camera, Canon was making Leica copies with minor variations.  Canon wasn't the strong brand that it is today.  A rangefinder type camera, Canon had only made one SLR to this point.  Rangefinders were still king.  This camera is a 35mm film camera with an auto function (shutter priority) and a light meter with no battery!  It has a 45mm f1.9 lens and a leaf shutter, which makes this a quiet camera to use.  This camera is great for street photography and everyday photography with a bright and large viewfinder as rangefinders do.  As you can see by the Bell & Howell/Canon logo, Canon partnered with Bell & Howell to make this camera.  Bell & Howell was a motion picture camera maker based in the United States.  But make no mistake, this is all a Canon product.  This camera can be shot in manual, although the meter doesn't work when in manual so you would either have to use the Sunny 16 rule or an external meter.  Here are some of the features. _MSP9739

-35mm film and can shoot to ASA 200 in auto.  In 1961 ASAs didn't go very high.  But with a lens with a f1.9 aperture, shooting in room light at 1/60 isn't a problem.  In manual you can shoot any ASA you want.

-Slenium Photocell wraps around the lens element so any filter that is placed on the camera the photocell see's through it so no compensation is needed.  Also no battery is needed.

-The camera in auto will not let the shutter work if the exposure isn't right.  You can push on the shutter button but nothing happens.  So in auto you can't shoot under or over exposed.

-The viewfinder, like most rangefinders, is bright and large.  Since you're not looking through the lens, frame lines are drawn to show what will be in the frame.  Also the aperture setting is at the bottom of the viewfinder to let you know what aperture you're at.

_MSP9738 - Self-timer.  This camera has a self-timer that is about 7 sec long.

-The film advance lever is located at the bottom of the camera giving the top of the camera clean lines.  It's in an odd place, and Canon moved it to the traditional top of the camera in later models.

This camera was touted as the poor man's Leica and sold off of the shelves.  You can still find these in yard sales for a great price, and they are great lightweight walk around cameras.  These are the cameras that gave Canon its popularity from the common man.  Still getting used to mine, but so far I love it.  Right now it's a 57-year-old camera that still takes great photos and looks great doing it.  Get out and shoot!

Old Eyes I have started shooting film again. Why, you ask?  I began my photography obsession many years ago in the mid '70s, which is when I bought my first film SLR (Single Lens Reflex).  Of course, back then there was really no choice, just film.  So I shot like most teenagers do, taking pictures of friends, family, and events.  I always had my camera nearby.  I only knew enough about photography to get a good exposure, and that was about it.  As I grew older, joined the military, and got married, I started taking photos again and got a little more serious.  In the mid '80s I was shooting color slide film and developing it at home.  I did that for a while.  Later in the late '90s and early 2000s, I was shooting black-and-white film, developing and printing at home.  This was a big operation and labor intensive, especially when you make your one-and-only bathroom a darkroom.  When digital came out, I jumped on it full bore and set my trusty fully-manual SLR on the shelf, and that's where it has stayed for 15 years.  I had been shooting manual for so long I had to learn how to shoot aperture priority and shutter priority and all of the fancy stuff that cameras were doing.  It was like I was learning all over again how to shoot a camera.  I started with a point and shoot and worked my way to the biggest, baddest camera Nikon had to offer and all of the lenses to go with it.  I had to learn how to process my photographs in Lightroom and Photoshop.  Slowly, but surely, I started to go away from the big full frame cameras and started shooting mirrorless crop sensor cameras.  And I loved the way they felt in my hand, like 35mm SLRs did.  And I just love my mirrorless camera and lenses. IMG_1114

But something was missing.  I can't put my finger on it, but it was the sound that a mechanical camera makes.  The weight of the camera.  Rewinding the film.  The analog process I was missing.  I listened to a podcast called The Digital Story by Derrick Story, and he also has a blog The Analog Story.  I listened and started to get excited about film again.  I wanted to crank that crank and manually focus and turn dials that clicked.  I wanted to shoot film again.  I've heard that shooting film will make you a better digital photographer.  It will slow you down.  I don't want to go fully to film.  I will always be a digital photographer first, but I do want to shoot some film when the occasion suits.  How to go about it now in the digital age when film is kind of scarce?

First, I got my old trusty 35mm Pentax MX off of the shelf and cleaned it up well.  I had to replace the light seals that go around the door.  Those are the little felt or foam pieces that keep the light from ruining your film.  That was a chore.  It took me a couple of times before I got it right, but I did.  What about the light meter in the camera?  Was it any good?  The only way to find out was to get a roll of film, shoot it, and get it professionally developed.  I went to my local Walmart and guess what?  Film was on sale -- four rolls for five bucks!  So I bought 2 ,8 rolls of film.  I shot a roll of film in a couple of days and took it to Walgreens to get developed.  Well, things have changed in 15 years.  They have to send your film off, so it takes a week to get it back.  But not really because they don't give the negatives back.  You just get a CD with the scanned JPEGs on them.  All for 15 bucks!  I  was not a happy camper over the price.  But when I got my photos back, they were all correctly exposed!  So yay!  Light meter works and is accurate!  Now, I can't afford 15 bucks every time I shoot a roll of film, so I had to come up with a way that I could develop them myself.  I had never developed color negative film before, but I had done black and white and color slides.   I had all of the equipment.  I just had to get the chemicals and learn how.  So I did.  I developed my first roll of film, and it worked out great!  I had color negatives! 

                                                                                                   So now I have color negatives that I need to get scanned into my computer so _DSC0012-3 _DSC0012-Edit-2 I can get them into Lightroom and Photoshop and print.  But how?  I really don't have a scanner that can do a good job.  I don't want to spend any more than I have to.  So I decided to use my mirrorless camera to scan the negatives to get them into the computer.  I used my iPad with a white background to produce the light that shines through the negative.  I had an old film holder that I had from the black-and-white days to hold the film, and I used my Sony A6300 and an adapted Nikon 60mm macro lens that I have to focus manually.  I had the camera tethered to my laptop so I could look at the negative larger to make sure it was sharp.  And it worked!  I don't know If I'll keep using this system.  I would like something that autofocuses because my old eyes don't work like they used to.  But for now IMG_1118 this will do until I find a better way.

Now they're in the computer, but still a negative, so there was some processing that needed to be done.  The image needed to be inverted to make it a positive image. That could be done in Photoshop.  The colors also needed to be adjusted because negative film is made to be projected onto film paper, and the color cast are made for that.  The first couple of times I did all of this manually.  There are programs that will do this for you.  Of course they cost money, and I'm trying to do this on the cheap.  I did some research and found a free action that will color correct you photos in Photoshop.  It does a pretty good job, better that I was doing manually.  It's good enough now that I can live with it.  Later on I may want to upgrade to a software that does a better job.  So after I get everything into Lightroom, it's just like all my other photos.  I can go through my regular work flow and can publish to Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, or even print if I want.

It seems like a long process and it is.  But I really enjoy it.  Analog photography is like listening to LPs on a record player, maybe not as clear and it has pops and scratches.  But to me, that's what makes it great.  That's all for now.  Keep shooting!

Podcast In my current "real job" I do about an hour or so commute every day to and from work.  To occupy my time, I have listened to the radio, audio books, iPod, and all sorts of things to keep my mind working on these two boring hours a day.  I'm kind of slow to learn new things, and I have only found out and started listening to podcasts for about a year now.  I only listen to photography-related podcasts, and I do have some favorites that I will share with you later.  Photography podcasts are a great way to learn new things, photography news, tips and techniques, and learn from more experienced seasoned photographers. So for these two hours a day, I'm doing photography.  Maybe not taking photographs, but getting inspired to take photos or about new gear or to try a new technique.  So here are my favorites. Itunes podcast

1. The Digital Story Photography Podcast.  This Podcast is currently my favorite and has over 600 episodes that last about 30 minutes each. Derrick Story, a California-based photographer/Author/workshop instructor, covers a variety of different topics related to photography.  He also runs The Nimble Photographer and The Analog Story blogs.  He is truly a great storyteller and a pleasure to listen to. He is into lightweight gear and shoots Micro 4/3's cameras.  He is the one that got me back into film photography again.

2. The Landscape Photography Podcast.  This podcast is about landscape photography and is hosted by Nick Page, a Washington State based photographer and a young photographer that has become pretty famous in a short time.  He also has a YouTube channel where he will take you with him on his trips around the west coast and abroad on workshops shooting landscapes.  His podcasts are very informative and funny at times.  He does interviews with famous landscape photographers.  His photo editing tips and tricks with luminosity masks have helped me a lot.

3. Tripod.  If you like Nick Page, you will like this older podcast.  This podcast was done by Nick before he got his own show, and it is much like the landscape photographer podcast.

4.  Recompose Photography Podcast.  This is hosted by Juan Pons and Andy Williams, two very seasoned and famous landscape and wildlife photographers.  Based out of the Northeastern US, they conduct workshops all over the world.  They formerly ran the Alpha Mirrorless Podcast for the TWIP (This Week in Photo) network, which is also a great podcast.  They go over tips and tricks and gear.  Super podcast.

5. Photo Taco Podcast.  Hosted by Jeff Harman, a California-based photographer/instructor, this podcast covers a variety of subjects from backing up your photos to astro photography. Very informative. This is a part of the Master Photography Team.

So these are my top five podcast shows, and here is a list of good shows that you may also like. logopodcast

1. Master Photography Podcast.  This podcast has different topics from travel photography, portraits, landscape, street photography, and the business side of photography.

2.  Photography Tips from the Top Floor.  This is a podcast that originates from Europe and is very good.  It almost made my top five.

3.  The Candid Frame.  This podcast centers around interviews with famous and up-and-coming photographers.  This podcast has been around for years and is very interesting.

4.  This Week In Photo  Another well-established podcast with over 500 episodes. 

5. Picture This! This is a podcast by Chelsea and Tony Northrup.  Both photographers and instructors and very big on YouTube.  They usually have a different perspective of topics and are very funny.

These are abut 10 podcasts to listen to.  There are a lot more, but these are my current favorites.  Podcasts are good to listen to while you're doing house work or yard work or even editing photos.  They are a good source of info and keep your head in the photography game.  So try them and keep on shooting!