First MF camera and two samples
I have been making photos since I was 12, when I borrowed the Nikkormat EL of a family friend for my first visit to Canada. Soon after I bought, with a lot off savings and help from family, an Olympus OM-2n. Later it was stolen, and I replaced it with an Olympus OM-4. I gradually accumulated a winder, 28mm, 80-210mm Tamron zoom, T32 flash, but one day while visiting Denmark, I traded the lot on a whim, for an ancient '66 500C with a chrome 80/2.8, a waist-level finder and a 12 back. I bought a Gossen Profisix, and went shooting. I was reasonably active while at university, due to the presence of a darkroom and a nice way to school, but after university I stopped using it for a long time, due to the increasing difficulty of getting film developed well, and the cost too.
I went on a long hiatus from film with digital, from Nikon 990 to Sony 828 to Canon 5D to Leica M8, but recently I wanted a second system for higher quality, slower shooting, so picked up a Contax 645 system, with a few lenses. When I received my 110mm f/2 FE lens (with adapter), old memories sprung forth, and I will get a body for it, and go shooting film again, this time developing it myself, hopefully, and scanning on an Epson V750 (which I still need to get), or perhaps a Nikon 9000, if I find one for a decent price.
I still have the 500C, and can't get myself to part with it. It stands close to my desk, next to my Leica M6, and I love looking at and handling these two cameras. The Leica M8 is also nice, but not as nice, although the results are of course excellent. The Contax 645 is also nice, but another step down, and I don't find myself picking it up just to play with it, like I do with the film cameras. Some soul went missing somewhere along the line.
These two (very poor) scans are from my university days. I hope that with a decent scanner, I will be able to get larger, more detailed scans out of them, and others. The second image is one of my very favorite personal images. I don't have a larger size at the moment. They are prints scanned on a cheap flatbed scanner.
. . .