I used my first roll of Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and got a good proportion of decent images, the rest being duds to varying degrees but I was able to learn something from each. The main lessons were that the dynamic range is even less than I expected so it's essential to find subjects with even lighting. The second major lesson was that deep shadows look awful - avoid! As I was actually paying for each shot (first time in nearly 20 years) I decided to get my money's worth by looking for very colourful subjects, so went to Portobello Road in London on a nice sunny day. The most colourful subjects in direct sun came out the best. I used an old 1960s Nikkormat with external meter which I haven't done for a very long time and I think I messed it up on a few but nobody's perfect. The first roll was at 200 but yesterday I took about half a second roll at 100. I want to finish it up in evening sunlight just to see how it behaves. With well lit subjects the grain is perfectly acceptable in my opinion, but gets increasingly grim with darker or shady areas which is why I think they need to be avoided. Overall it's a good first film from Harman, and they are perfectly open and honest about it being experimental so I think most people are willing to give them a bit of slack and support them in developing something better.

Extension tubes are not really the greatest option to get closer to the negative. A good, modern macro lens is always the better option. I recently upgraded my setup and got a hold of h to e 7artisans 60mm f2.8 macro and it is lovely! Also, another recent acquisition was a copy of negative lab pro. Sped up my workflow immensely and it’s always a hot key away in Lightroom. It’s wonderful even for black and white work. Finally one last upgrade that I would suggest, the lomography digitaliza plus. It’s quite expensive but it’s similar to the negative carrier you own. In that it acts as its own light source but there two key differences. For 35mm it has a dial that you use to roll the film into the next frame. Which has been handy for sure! It also takes medium format if you remove the 35mm adapter. It takes up to 6x7 negatives, which is a bit of a shame since I’d really like to photograph some 6x9 images some day.

I scan 8X11mm Minox subminiature negatives with a Fuji XE-1 and a Canon FD 50mm macro lens on extension tubes. I don’t bother with colour film, but I may give it a go as I’ve got a C41 developer kit.

Did you ever try Darktable for converting your scans? With the negadoctor module you can get a decent baseline to work from.

I shoot almost exclusively expired film mostly for the cost when I started over ten years ago but I enjoy the unpredictable color shifts. I do shoot a variety of non expired film now but I’ll occasionally find a good deal on expired

I'm torn on the Pentax, I've seen build quality complaints, but it's a beautiful camera, and I'd like to support the designer. This Kodak, on the other hand, is a no-brainer for the price.

Excelente, lo simple es hermoso: hermosa cámara (la madre de todas las compactas), simple diseño, resultados excelentes.

great time had, ive only shot runners going past my house in the local marathon, i need more practice with moving people. good knowing the good spots on the route. 👍

Both your efforts are great, the camera if a good quality, mi have a XA4. The film is truly garbagge. Canada

Hi!! I was wondering what film you used for that picture in the background of your video. It's the one that has the toll booths with the blue sky and clouds. Looks absolutely beautiful and I would love to recreate those colors myslef.

No, half frame is not the future for 35mm film photography! Although film is currently very expensive, prices are likely to fo fall in the long term. I'm reminded of the Kodak disk camera which they developed because of a spike in the price of silver. Each frame was tiny compared with 35mm so less silver was needed. The format didn't last long because 1. picture quality was really crap and 2. the price of silver dropped so much that 35mm film became affordable again

I bought 2 roles of this because they say it is saturated but your photos look flat and grainy. So maybe not saturated like Lomo said.

wait, you have markings in the UK telling people to keep 2m distance from another?

What a great concept - two photographers with the same camera/film in the same location. Great to see the difference in each choice of shot. The narrative and story-telling of the journey really adds to the purpose. Thanks both.

I enjoyed this too. Well done. Simple is best.

i'd rather buy old used Ricoh Auto Half SE2. these kodak cameras are very poor quality :(

I actually thinking about buy one ektar h35,half frame camera, getting more pictures out of my film,usually i use kodak ultramax 400/ 24 pictures, and kodak Gold 200/36 pictures.

Great video showing the capabilities of half frame photography without the new-camera hype. Always enjoy the relaxed walk-around style of your videos, Ed.

it's not really a new camera. there is already a new upgraded model H35N

Chapel-en-le Frith isn't the Capital of the Peak District because it's not in the Peak District. Bakewell is the only town in the Peak District so perhaps deserves the 'Capital' status a bit more? And I can't believe you went to Dove Holes and didn't visit the 4000 year old henge monument slap bang in the middle sitting incongruously next to a housing estate and sports field. Otherwise a thumbs up.

Thank you, i must admit to having an urgency to get out and shoot either film or digital. if i don't manage i get withdrawal symptoms. spent a few hours shooting near three 35mm films and some digital last week at Castle combe. good to see you back on you tube

Looking forward to the next vlog

Yes. The importance of being on the right spot at the right time when the lightning/weather conditions are ideal for a great picture. Those images you took looked great. Mist and fog are one of my favourite elements in photographs. I had once an idea to take pictures at my grandparents' farm at dawn. I had to look perfect spots for each picture beforehand because at the dawn sunlight was perfect only for very short time. If I remember right the lightning was perfect less than half hour. And then opportunity for that morning was gone. So at the morning process was very fast spaced. I basically was running with camera and tripod to get about ten shots for each morning. But it was well worth it.

Hello. New subcriber here from Finland. This was such a refreshing vlog. Sometimes using more simple and restricted camera opens mind to creativity. Maybe I should put fresh roll in my Olympus Trip 35 and go out an make some art.😉👍

Great shots.

A great reminder from Ed that sometimes, there’s a lot of value in keeping things as simple as possible. The results are just as satisfying.

I had always wanted a Zenit camera in my youth and decades later finally purchased one. I did find one locally for $20. I must say that my experience was similar to yours. The first few shots were lost due to shutter jamming, but as I got through the roll, I was able to take some quality photos. Once I got the end of the roll, the shutter advance pulled the film out of the canister, and I had to go into my dark room and recover the film manually. Not a big deal, but it had to be done quickly. I tend to believe that there is a "warm up" period for the camera. In addition, I really ONLY on the counter, not the shutter advance to determine the end of the roll.

It looks like you’re changing the shutter speed before cocking the lever in the video. With old Soviet cameras, that’s a HUGE no-no. That introduces some issues with the tension and allows the shutter to skip around and eventually break. It’s much pricier to fix than it is to just get a new Zenit, so if you’re dead set on trying these things out, I would absolutely look into getting another camera body.

Why on Earth would you need instructions?

Hello. I have a pair of Zenit B cameras I bought in 1970 and '72. The first one I bought New with the Helios-44 f2/58 lens and the second was a second-hand body with a new Jupiter-11 f4/135 lens. I kept the original camera loaded with Ilford FP4 and the second camera with Kodachrome Colour Slide. Both are still going strong, with the second camera having a new shutter blind thirty years ago. It took a little while to get used to having to open and close the Iris manually, but I soon developed a technique of holding the camera body with my Right hand and the Lens was focused with the Left hand. The Iris was closed and opened by the Little Finger of my Left hand. Light Meter was Weston Master 2, but I first started with the Johnson & Johnson Pocket Calculator, which gave you the months of the year and the times of day, plus weather conditions. You turned an inner dial which aligned two pointers and that gave you your settings. After a few months, I was able to commit those parameters to memory, so I just looked at the sky, the time of day and the item I was photographing and took the picture. The Light meter I used for taking readings when in shade, or under difficult light conditions. Back then, I was doing a lot of Camera Club photography and won many competitions. Regrettably, health issues no longer permit me to carry my cameras everywhere with me, but I do occasionally get the urge to take pictures, although finding film and somewhere to process it is becoming very difficult, since all the 'Kodak B' companies closed down and printing firms are non-existent. Russ. UK.

I use exactly the same setup with amazing results. The only difference is my camera is the cannon 700d. I've compared my results to slides which were scanned using Kodak Photocd in the past with the same slides using the above technique and with a bit of Photoshoping I can obtain a very similar result. I was going to buy a film scanner , but my setup cost me less than £30. Lightbox £8, extension tubes £13 and a remote trigger release for the canon £6.

The lady who photographed our wedding back in 1982 used a Zenit, we were looking amused in every photograph, principally because we were laughing at the camera shutter sounding as though it had fallen out of the bottom of the camera 😂

Quite interesting. I found a disposable Kodak camera, which had been sitting for around 25 years, and developed the film and the results were quite good. The Vietnamese film lab in Australia said no good no good when they first saw the film canister and I said develop develop. I think it depends on the film and also the storage conditions.

Don't give up liked the vid.

Great guide to the mysteries of bracketing for both film and digital.

I find it somehow funny that these shots made 10+ years ago aren't shots from 1940-1960, but from the time i vividly remember, but they look so archive! Like 10 years ago there was 1080 on KZbin and my mind cant comprehend that it's the same time period. And amazing job, ofc

Wow. I would have never tried this. But good to know. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for posting this informative test - I’ve been holding off shooting Phoenix until there’s more user information on choice of iso. As ever, appreciate the crafting of these videos.

I'm sorry! I like Ilford film and chemicals. Not this film. No! The grain is awful. Please read this, some lenses cause grain! It's true. I shot a portrait in studio. Used same roll in 2 cameras. The Leica-M with 135mm and Spotmatic also 135mm lens. Identical exposure! The Super Takumar in Spotmatic, was way grainier. It's an easy test! So your Zoom lens may cause grain, but it's a horrible film. (A Dutch photographer of great technical ability agreed with me, on grain).

Interesting vlog, thank you. Iam at the moment testing expired b&w films. My oldest one is going to be 24 yrs old. Any experience or advice on shooting expired films ?

Thank you for this bonus vlog Ed, well informative. Just the right amount of Information.

Brilliant video-thanks for making and sharing!

Brilliant ❤ could you explain about bracketing, how and why. In a vlog.

This was really helpful and something that not many other creators have really covered. Based on your production and presentation quality, I was genuinely surprised that this is not a well-established channel

Thank you for this! I was 'up North' for some time in July 2023 and passed through here changing buses (after an exploration ride). I had NO idea this was going on nearby even after lingering to observe the action on the busy road out front the shopping centre. Some GREAT shots and I learned a few things too! From a fellow photog and transport nut across the pond; much enjoyed this mini-doc/story. 📸🎞👌🙏👍🚍🚧😲🧐🤓😎 -JC 🇨🇦

Fabulous way to celebrate your own favourite shots from a season, especially with the voiceover narrative.

I carry a Minox B at all times.

I find, personally, that b&w works when there’s a subject structure to the photograph, and colour works when it’s colour that’s the subject of the photo. Hope that made sense.

Not a bot enjoying this one.

Often wondered how this was done, great vlog and different