Steve Maniscalco Photography

Savoy

Do you love toy cameras? Do you yearn for crappy, low resolution photos? Do you like carrying cute red plastic things in public? Boy, do I have a camera for you!

Meet the Savoy.

 

Functionally, the Savoy is a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye. It's small, plastic, has a single shutter speed and aperture, and it takes 620 film.  Actually, it's not quite accurate to say it is equivalent to a Brownie because brownies were better made. 

On the plus side of the Savoy...it's got that cute retro 60's thing going like nobody's business. On the down side...well, it takes pretty crappy pictures. Of course, crappy isn't always a bad thing. Heck, I know folks who spend a great deal of time and energy in photoshop making their perfect digital images look like they were taken with a crappy old toy camera.  With the Savoy, you can skip the manipulation and get right to the bad image.

 

Living right up to the image quality is the handling. Man, that's about as squinty a little viewfinder as I've ever seen!  As a bonus, the shutter won't fire if you don't mash down on it pretty decisively. 

 

Of course, you're dealing with a red window for the roll film. That doesn't bother me, since I have many other cameras with red windows. You do however have to spool your 120 film on to two 620 spindles before you can shoot, as the camera will not take a 120 roll on either side of the film path. You have to love a camera to put yourself through that extra trouble.

So, what kind of results can you expect? 

 

Let's just say you won't be burdened by an overly sharp image.

 
 
 I think I could take a q-tip to the plastic lens and maybe improve things a bit. On the other hand, if this picture from the old 620 roll I found in the camera is any indication, it never was a great one for clear images.

 
 In any case, if this sort of thing is to your tastes, drop me a line. I can be persuaded to part with it pretty cheaply. I'm just not likely to use it and I refuse to accumulate shelf queens.

(This post is repeated as a permanent reference page under my Cameras link).

Jenny's Valor

Roadside memorials, or "Descansos" remain one of my favorite subjects.  Keeping the Instax camera and a couple of diopters with me, I can stop when I come across a memorial and see the results right away. Instant gratification, kinda like digital...except I really like it.

 

 

 

Every memorial tells a story, but the story is almost never complete. The visitor is left to wonder about the life and death of the person memorialized and about those left behind.

Hopefully, the images I come away with convey those same feelings.

Fuji Instax 200, Instax film

Point and Shoot Fun

Life's been keeping my busy in non photo related ways lately (the nerve!). I have managed to run a single roll through the new/old Olympus Stylus Epic.  I love having one of these cameras around. It fits nicely in a pocket and the results are quite good.

The camera came with 5 rolls of Arista film. I have to say, so far I'm not impressed. The 100 iso roll I shot did not scan well.

In any case, here are two from that roll.

The view from my sunroof.

In an alley next to one of my favorite eateries.

Gear and Twitter

A "What's going on post."

I received a Kiev 60 from the Ukraine the other day.  It looks to be perfectly functional and I'm looking forward to getting a roll of film through it.  On the down side, this is the older version where the TTL prism needs an adapter to take available batteries...so, I'm now waiting for another little package from the Ukraine. 

Info on Russian medium format cameras abounds on the Internet and I doubt I'l have anything really new to add...but that won't stop me.  So, after I get some pictures taken of and with it, I'll post something here on my full impressions.

My last point and shoot film camera died some time ago.  It was the excellent Olympus Stylus Epic II.  I find myself missing it, so I'm on the look out for a replacement.  I thought I might try a Fuji Tiara, but the one I'm following is likely to go for more money than I'll pay for a camera that I tend to dangle out of the car window as I drive.  I missed a shot at a zoom version of the Tiara that went cheap.  I'd rather have the 28mm prime version, but it looks to be 3 or 4 times as expensive.  Maybe I'll end up with another Epic.

I've discovered Twitter.  So far, I think it's a good thing.  The hardest part has been finding people with actual photo related content to follow.  I don't mind the occasional tweet on what they're having for breakfast or where they are going today, but I do wish they'd  leave out the political content.  I've dropped 2 people putting out a point of view that angers me too much to subject myself to.  

If you twitter, you can follow me here.  I might brag over my first cup of espresso in the morning, but overall, I'll try to keep it photography related.

Misc.

I received the Gran View 4x5 the other day.  It is just as advertised and in good shape.  My first impressions confirm what I was able to find out about the camera before I bought it.

• Focusing is a bit crude.  It'll take some trial and error to set up infinity on it when I finally get a lens mounted.  Worse, I'm not sure how stable the set up will be.  I'm afraid it may drift in adjustment.

• The lens mount is copal 1 sized and all the 75mm lenses I find are mounted in copal 0!  I'm going to have to make some kind of aluminum donut to size the mount down.

• The flocking in the focusing cone is loose and starting to fall off.  The focusing screen showed a great deal of flocking debris.  Worse, the debris will get on the film.  I'll have to remove that flocking and replace it with flat black paint.

• The handle is awkward, but I found good hand holding methods for horizontal and vertical shots.

• It looks like I can manage several degrees of rise and fall in the vertical orientation.  That may come in handy.

• I like the accessory shoes.  The locking screws are a great touch.  I've dropped more than a few viewfinders off of loose shoes and it's a terrible feeling.

I also received my first rolls of Ektar 100 in 120.  I've got a roll loaded right now in my Iskra.  Now to find something colorful to point at.  I'm thinking that the Balda, loaded with black and white and the Iskra, loaded with Ektar, will be my new carry gear.

I sold off a VC Meter II (shoe mounted meter) that I was not using and a double accessory shoe.  Both went quickly on Rangefinderforum.com. The accessory shoe in particular was in great demand.  They're no longer made and I'm pretty sure I asked/got about half of what I should have.  I still have an old 6x9 roll film adapter for 4x5 cameras I need to get rid of.  Selling off these toys is getting me close to enough cash to buy the 75mm lens needed to complete the Gran View.

Drive By Shooting

In my endless pursuit of "something different," and of taking pictures without actually spending any time at it, I've taken drastic measures.  Drive By Shootings are a product of that desperation.

The basic method is to hold a camera in my left hand, stick it out of the car window, point and shoot.  As you can imagine, this poses a few unique challenges.  A suitable camera for this sort of work must be small, inexpensive and have a good wrist strap.  Small is important, because you need to be able to hold it in any number of positions and still trip the shutter.  Inexpensive is good because accidents happen.  The wrist strap is essential unless you want to hit the car behind you with a small inexpensive camera.

My choice for this work is the wonderful Olympus Stylus Epic.  The model with the fixed 35mm f2.8 is perfect.  The lens is excellent and it really is just about the perfect glove box film camera.  Load it with your favorite 400 iso film.  (My much loved Hexar AF would do a great job for this application as well, I'm just not willing to risk getting bugs in its grill.)

Although it should not be necessary, I feel I must mention that taking drive by pictures while actually driving carries a bit of risk.  You may want to keep at least one hand on the wheel and look at the road every once in a while...what the heck.

If you're careful and practice a bit, drive by shooting may just save your commute from being a total waste of time.

This reminds me...my Stylus Epic died on my a few months ago after years of dedicated service.  I need to cruise that auction site and find another bargain example.