The analogue tale

This page is about analogue cameras and films. Read here what Gustave points his cameras at.

 

SLRs
Gustave takes his first pictures with a Petri TTL 55mm. He’s an art student, and photography is part of the academy curriculum. Soon he acquires a Pentax KX 24mm.

Both are single lens reflexes for 35mm film. Gustave uses black and white negative film: Plus X Pan (Kodak 5062), Tri X (Kodak 5063), Agfa 100, some brief excursions to Ilford HP4 and HP5. Mostly he uses the so-called ‘gray’ Agfapan APX400.

A deviation in the Pentax internal light meter is compensated by the ‘zilvold scale’, named after its inventor, housemate and photography student Rien Zilvold.

Gustave tests forced ISO values and development times. The aim is the impeccable negative. It should minimalize the time the photographer has to spend inside his darkroom.

Developed films are printed in strands of six on contact sheets for evaluation. Larger prints are made on baryte paper if it’s important, on A6 PE paper for less crucial uses.

Gustave did not date his 35mm archive. Photos with uncertain dates therefore have the [year] in brackets.

Diapositives
Soon Gustave turns to colour. He uses diapositive film, in search of the legendary Kodachrome colours (such as here), but he doesn’t limit himself to specific brands of film. There’s no darkroom work involved, as diapositives are processed externally. At home the images are cut and framed in anti-newton ring slide mounts and projected on a white wall or screen. He’s also interested in black and white diapositive film.

Pinholes
Next to the SLR Gustave uses a Tahbes Synchrona, a Dutch 6×6 camera from the early 1950s, and a ‘Banner’, a children’s toy camera that because of all light leaks that need to be taped with black tape is in fact a pinhole, for 4×4 film. As a gimmick there is a 4-lens camera for 35mm film that also needs a lot of black taping.

Polaroid
A Polaroid 100 Land and a Polaroid 636 are for inner circle use mainly.

Advanced Photo System
Towards the end of the analogue era, Gustave uses only colour. The SLRs make way for a Vectis25 APS camera by Minolta comprising a modest zoom lens. Its panorama option is what interests Gustave most. APS scans on this website are made from print, not from negative.