Voigtlander Vitessa

[olroy2044]

Thank You Michael for allowing me to be the custodian of a nice piece of photo history! Even knowing that the camera needed some attention, I could not resist running a roll of film thru it ;D
I used C41 Kodak b&w 400 print film. I quickly realized this was not a good match for the camera, being about a stop too fast for bright sunlight.

Here is a shot taken in bright sun at f16 and 1/500 which is minimum exposure:


Here is a 105mm Howitzer guarding the front door of the
Veteran's Hall in Durham, a small town about 15 miles from my home. The light was a lot softer, allowing me to use a slower speed and larger aperture,


Lower light level yet, taken in the rain
Aircraft boneyard behind a hanger where surplus aircraft are converted to firebombers


Just as an aside, I'm not real happy with this film. This is what all the frames looked like before I hit the "make black and white" button on my photo editing software:

Did I do something wrong, or is this the nature of the film?

Roy

[Reiska]

Sharp and in spite of the "high key" contrasty pictures.
Could , that red colour be caused by an improper temperature?
That Chico region where you live might be hot. What is a main crop there? An orange?

[nikonbob]

Roy

I think you might have to try several places to find one that does a good job on Kodak BWCN, many have trouble with colour casts. Interesting though, your last sort of looks like an old hand tinted photo to me. BTW BWCN works well with filters meant for B&W film too. It also seems to do better when you over expose it by one stop. Should be a good film to bring out the best in that sharp shooting Vitessa of yours.

Bob

[olroy2044]

Could , that red colour be caused by an improper temperature?
That Chico region where you live might be hot. What is a main crop there? An orange?

I don't know what effect temp would have on this film, this being only the second roll I've ever used, but it does indeed get hot here. Temps were near 90 the day I shot those pics. Summer temps reach well into triple digits . A few oranges are still grown here, but the principle crops are rice and almonds (unless you count the illegal ones! Lots of ---"hemp")

Should be a good film to bring out the best in that sharp shooting Vitessa of yours.

I have access to a local Ilford dealer who is a dedicated film shooter himself, so I think I'll try a roll of Ilford.
I've also identified some issues which I think a good CLA would solve. Some of the shots in bright light have a definite area right in the center of the frame which is overexposed, and the high shutter speeds sound sluggish to me. Probably the "yak fat" lubricants from the immediate post-war era. I'm not as daring as Alex, so I'm eventually going to have a pro rebuild it for me--looks to intricate for me! In the meantime, I'll continue to use it. It's too nice just to leave on a shelf! Roy

[Andrew]

Apr 30, 2008 3:08:43 GMT -5 olroy2044 said:

Did I do something wrong, or is this the nature of the film?

Roy

Hello Roy,
i tend to go with the 'it is the nature of the film', coupled with your scanner. having said that all things being correct it should turn out 'black and white'

a couple of main reasons people use c41 b/w film is, one, it can be processed by labs in thier colour chemicals which offer quick turn around.

and two, because some people find it easier to scan and allows digital ice to be used to remove dust etc

it may be the lab that influenced the red hue (never know really because it was out of your control) but in theory it should of been correct. although if they printed it (i don't know if you scanned from print or neg) then thier is a good chance (100%)they printed on colour paper which will most often lead to colour hues (roll the dice depending on where you get them processed, particularly if say you have kodak film and they develope in Fuji chemical).

to be pure black and white it would need to be printed by traditional methods (presents its own problems tho with this film)...but in that case you may as well use proper b/w film. of course the c41 b/w film use 3 layers of red green and blue dye that are sensative to all colours but is meant to render the dye black ...i think kodak base colour is orange..so if you scanned it that may of shown up more easily with your scanner ..if you were to use this brand of film often you may need to set up your scanner differently ..'or' just hit the b/w button as you did!! sounds easy :-)...almost the same as changing a colour picture to b/w which is essentualy what one is doing when using c41 b/w film IMO

[olroy2044]

Thanks for the comments, Andrew, and a belated "Welcome Aboard!" I'm going to try some Ilford next, and also another lab, where I have gotten much better results with other films. I don't have a film scanner, so I have the negs scanned directly onto a cd. The lab I usually use always does a bang-up job, so I'm going to give them a shot at the C41 b/w. If I'm not happy with that, Ill get some dayload tanks and go back to real B/W and my own processing.--------That should be an adventure--haven't done it in over 30 years!

[Andrew]

not having a scanner does kinda throw a spanner in the works Roy for displaying on the net or inkjet printing at home eh! ya just gona have to get one hehe...an older one would do just fine for the net i am sure...

whatever works for each individual is fine of course, everyone has their own set of circumstances, and obviously having them placing on CD is more than convienent ,,,but i cant recomend enough to let the adventure begin LOL if you were so inclined and develope your own ,pretty dificult to muck up i think...i am sure it will come back to you. i used to be very adept at processing my own but kinda forgot and not so long ago started again, hoping it would all just come back...rolling my neg (120) on to the reel to begin with was a muddle as i am sure i used to use white patterson reels and now have jobo--they just dont feel the same in the dark so i had to fiddle around a bit but it is dead easy and easier each time after...the actual processing is completely srtaight forward and unless you lived next door to the lab and they rushed the film through for you it is much quicker and cheaper than sending to the lab...20-30 minutes from start to finish ,you save on petrol and dont have to find a parking space :-) ...if you dont process often then kodak powder chems are the way to go so they dont expire