I now have a contact for reasonable slide film processing in Cape Town (thanks to @goodweatherforducks). I have a plan for this beasty. I brought a couple of lenses from the Pentax 67 as well, with an adapter. Once a droolworthy piece of pro kit, the Pentax 645N is now seen as a “beginner’s” medium format camera (probably mostly because of its ’80s styling more than anything). It’s a brilliant camera and great fun to use.
I’ve always wanted one of these pancake 40mm lenses to turn my trusty little camera of 25 years into a proper compact when the mood strikes me. And this one looks and feels almost unused.
The Behemoth. Slightly ironically I just wrote about how I’ve come to appreciate really small cameras (link in bio). But here I am trying to photograph wildlife with a medium format film camera. Despite being a couple of decades old now, the 400mm f4 with 1.4x extender is the best medium format telephoto currently in existence - and it’s in perfect condition. The camera is… less so. But, to quote Han Solo, “She may not look like much, kid. But she’s got it where it counts.
Hers ’n his. All ready to roll. Two of the most elegant cameras to emerge from the genius of 20th C Japanese engineering. On the right is my Pentax MX, available from 1976 - my birth year - which I’ve used since 1993 and has been all over the world with me. On the left the Olympus OM4 which came out in 1983. It’s an electronic marvel compared to the all mechanical MX. I got it for @withoutaleaf to document #setlife . ...
While I’m going through some ancient pics, this is one I’ve always been fond of. Scanned a bit small. I used a clunky old Takumar 400mm lens and my old Pentax MX with Tri-X film. I’m still interested in making wildlife pics with B&W, though it’s not as original an idea as it was back in 2002 or whenever.
Guerrilla DSLR photography. I’m going to photograph the birds that land on the phone line behind our house using this 10 year old Nikon D200 and this 40 odd year old Pentax / Takumar 400mm lens that’s been butchered to fit. Watch this space.
Here’s a throwback to the flowers many years ago. 2006 actually. Taken on my little Pentax MX with Fuji Velvia slide film. A great day out with @rhodentette and @midnight_knox.