Darron, Author at Milly's Cameras

Posted on 11/10/201912/05/2023 by Darron — 5 Comments

Which Frame Window to Use for 6×4.5 and 6×9 with an Ensign Selfix 320

The Ensign Selfix 320 is a popular medium format folding camera that can be used to take both 6×4.5 and 6×9 cm photographs. However, some users are unsure which frame window to use for each format. This post will provide a clear and concise answer to this question. The photo below illustrates where to advance film for each format, 6×4.5 and 6x9cm

How to load film into an Ensign 320 Medium Format Folding Camera

To use the Ensign Selfix 320 in 6×4.5 cm format, place the loose frame mask into the film chamber. After loading film into the camera, simply advance until the number 1 is in the left frame window, then after taking the picture advance the number 1 to the right frame window, repeating the same for all 12 numbers. To use the camera in 6×9 cm format, remove frame mask, if in place, line up the film numbers in the right frame window only.

It is important to note that it is very easy to make double exposures with the Ensign Selfix 320. To avoid this, be sure to advance the film after each exposure. You can do this by turning the film advance lever located on the right side of the camera.

The Ensign Selfix 320 is a great camera for both beginners and experienced photographers. It is easy to use and produces high-quality images. If you are looking for a medium format folding camera, the Ensign Selfix 320 is a great option.

Black and white photograph of the Porsche Dealership in Cosham by Darron Barnes

I hope this post has been helpful. If you have any further questions about the Ensign Selfix 320, please feel free to contact me, or leave a reply below.

For more information about the Ensign Selfix 320, please visit the Camera Wiki website. This website provides a comprehensive overview of the camera, including its history, specifications, and user discussions. Camera Wiki website – Ensign Selfix 320

Posted on 19/04/201922/11/2019 by Darron — 1 Comment

A Panoramic Medium Format Camera Is Born – F.A.C II

Last month I made a post about the recovering of a Minolta Autocord by Lee Lira from Australia. The post can be found here: Link to Lee’s Minolta Autocord post. Since posting, Lee’s been busy making by hand a Panoramic Medium Format Camera. When he told me that he intended to do this, I replied that it would be great to see what could be obtained from such a camera. His returning email had an attachment from his Mark I camera.

Wow! What a camera! Lee built the Mark I camera using a 1959 Schneider Symmar 135mm f/5.6/235mm f/12. lens. FFD was initially set at 131mm, which is great for distance shots. Though after a few experiments Lee moved this forward to 133mm to achieve a bit of hyper focal. A huge improvement he tells me. Take a look at that scan above. I’m sure like me you will find yourself totally agreeing with him.

The bits & bobs came from a Horseman 6X9 Press back & a Graflex viewfinder. Lee did have to play around with homemade masks. These took a bit of time until he had them nailed.

Moving on to the FAC Mark II, I watched in awe the speedy development of this camera, the pace that Lee works is lightning fast indeed. Going by the emails, I roughly worked it out to be around 4 weeks from start to finish. This was not including planing or the purchasing of parts. The body of the Mark II is handmade and beautifully sculptured from 19mm Redgum hardwood, “extremely hardwood” Lee tells me.

All glued and screwed, my love of woodwork is just a hobby, Lee tells me. And I think you will agree, it’s something he executes well. So much so, that I plan to ask him if he would like to undertake a small commission.

The lens for the Mark II is a 1985 Schneider Super Angulon 90mm f8 in a Copal shutter, giving an image circle of 197mm. This will allow an impressive 6X14 format using 120 roll film. Wow!

The first test results from the camera in my opinion were very good, but Lee did say he noticed a small amount of flare and the lens needed slightly adjusting to achieve better focusing.

With the help of my camera flock material and film camera light seal foam flare was eliminated. Lee with his keen eye for detail and determination adjusted the lens to achieve the desired focal placement of the lens, the results certainly speak for themselves.

All photos in this post remain the copyrights of Lee Lira and should not be used without his consent.

To see more great photo’s from this camera and Lee; www.facebook.com/foundmelbourne

Posted on 18/09/201322/11/2019 by Darron — Leave a comment

Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SP Test Roll Review

I recently bought this film camera to replace my beloved Canon FTb QL. The FTb decided to stop working and the rewind mechanism slipping. I decided it was best to replace it and fix the FTb at a later date once I had more time. I used my FTb mostly with M42 lenses via the Canon P adapter and as I don’t have a huge collection of Canon FD glass, I decided it best to go for a Pentax Spotmatic as a replacement.

I was looking for a Pentax Spotmatic F but then this very tidy Pentax SP caught my eye. Already serviced, all speeds checked and adjusted where needed, I just could not resist it. I bought it a week before the Gosporteers Auto Show, the same show that I did a test review of the Fujica ST605 twelve months ago. I thought what a great show to test the camera out at, and maybe I should do these reviews every year.

The Pentax Spotmatic SP is the same size than the Canon but oddly it’s body weighs slightly less. One thing you notice straight away is the Pentax has no flash hot-shoe, this is not a problem as there is an adapter that just slots over the eye window and plugs into the sync sockets on the front of the body. Let’s not compare too much technical differences, as there aren’t a great deal, but lets look at how the camera felt and performed in comparison. Loading film is different and I have to say I prefer the simplicity of Pentax over, Canon’s “has it grabbed the film” Quick Load system.

With my beloved Fomapan 200 loaded in the camera and my Carl Zeiss 50mm Pancolar attached, off I went looking for vehicles to photograph. The camera felt nice to hold and I especially liked the way it felt robust like a tank.

The meter gets some getting use to, there is a switch on the side of lens housing that one has to press to activate it. This switch also stops down the aperture when using the lens in Auto mode. I like the idea of having both functions on one switch but I found myself thumbing around looking for the switch while framing my shot. Aside from getting use to the placement of the switch, the camera is very easy to use and I really could not fault it in any big way.

Unlike, when using a M42 adapter, where sometimes the lens unscrews when focusing, this never happened once with the Spotmatic. I did kind of expect it to, as the 50mm Pancolar has developed a stiff focus ring of late. This I realised straight away because it annoys me so much when it happens, especially when your time has passed with that would be great shot, if only you weren’t faffing around with the lens.

If I had to sum up the two cameras, I think I would say that the Canon is the slightly easier camera to use. This is simply because the meter and stop down button on the Canon is activated by pushing the self timer arm towards the lens housing. To me this seems such a natural place to have it and is easier to find when framing a shot. That said I do like the build of the Pentax SP, it is a very solid camera and I feel it will go on working for many years to come. For me this makes this camera a keeper!

Test Roll;

Fomapan 200
Rated @ 160

Develop details;

d-23 1:3
21c
17 minutes
Agitation first 30 seconds then once every minute

Lens used;

Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm 1:8

Posted on 03/09/201326/07/2022 by Darron — Leave a comment

Minolta Autocord Red Leather Custom Covers

Milly’s cameras are always pleased to receive feedback from customers and when Lee from Australia got in touch with us, we were delighted with his results. So much so, that we decided, with his permission to make this post about his restoration.

Lee tells us, being my 1st ever covering I found it a bit challenging. Unlike the Rolleiflex that has real leather that comes off in one piece. The Minolta TLR covers are delicate and well glued in random places. To overcome this problem I removed all the old crispy leatherette with a bamboo barbecue stick and then proceeded to clean the old glue with lighter fluid.

Working to a PDF print out of a template for the covers and using a rubbing technique with paper and pencil I was able to make paper cut outs. Using a set of vernier calipers I was able to make slight adjustments until I was happy with the fit. I didn’t want to make a mistake working with the leather as this would be irreversible and making paper templates first seemed the best way to go, especially without having the original covers to work from.

Once I was completely happy I moved on to using the newly made templates for cutting the leather. I started by sticking double sided adhesive tape on the back of the paper templates to stop them from moving while I cut. The tools I used for cutting were a combination of fine tip scalpel and a pair of fine tip scissors. The film back holes were made with multi belt hole cutters and for the circles I used a draft compass with a rotating wheel adjuster that locks in place with a super fine needle point. I had to customise the compass by replacing the drawing lead with a stainless steel needle for wool sewing, this I sharpened to a razor to use for the cutter. As I envisaged this worked well and made light work of the job in hand.

The next thing that needed attention was the back door, the black paintwork was scuffed and damaged in places. So before placing the new covers I resprayed it.
Once dried the covers were stuck in place and then the job of resembling the camera took place.

Lee tells us that his Minolta Autocord needed some TLC and was in need of being brought back to life, we think he has certainly achieved his goals and it looks stunning in red leather, well done Lee! For anyone interested the red leather and other colours can be purchased from here.

Below is taken from McKeown’s Price Guide To Antique & Classic Cameras 1996-97
“There are 24 different models of Minolta 6X6 TLRs. Any internal or external change is considered to be a new model of that camera. All use either 120 or 220 rollfilm and have f3.5/75mm lenses. The shutters are Konan, Citizen, Sekosha, and Optiper.”

Lee’s camera is the non-metered Autocord RA model that was produced around 1958 for the export market.

The Autocord was Minolta’s equivalent of the Rolliecord, and in some respects was better than the Rolleicord. The infamous Rokkor lens is said to be that bit better than the Zeiss Tessar found on Rolleicord’s, with that in mind I leave you with two sample images taken by Lee with his lovely restored Minolta TLR.

Photos in this post remains the copyrights of Lee Lira and should not be used without contacting him first.

Posted on 11/08/201329/04/2020 by Darron — 2 Comments

Kodak D-23 Developer

Recently I have been experimenting with mixing my own developers, something that should be done with great care I might add.

My intentions were to find a better developing partner for Fomapan 200, (35mm format). I had up until a few weeks back been using Kodak D-76, and while I had great results with other films I felt it didn’t quite work with Fomapan 200. My negatives looked very flat, with little contrast. So much so that I even played with developing times and dilutions, but I just could not achieve what I was looking for. What I was trying to achieve was a more contrasty image that held detail in the highlights and shadows. As most of my photographs are scanned and used online, I could of quite easily manipulate them digitally. Unfortunately this for me was not the answer as it defeats the whole object of shooting with film in the first place. I find that this method also degrades the quality of the end image. After much reading and experimentation it seems I had discovered the Holy Grail of developers, that being Kodak D-23. This developer was introduced by Kodak in 1944 and is obviously no longer produced by them, which has been the case for some decades. So mixing it oneself is the only way to go.

Using D-23 stock solution in ratios of 1:1 dilution of water, I found it to produce a fine grain negative with very little fog and soft contrast with deep blacks in the shadows. This for me was OK but I still wanted a bit more contrast, so I then tried D-23 with a 1:3 dilution of water. Obviously development times are longer but the results achieved were just what I wanted. Nice and contrasty, with not too much grain, yet still an image with sharpness and detail in the highlights and shadows.

So what is D-23 chemically? Well surprisingly there is only 2 compounds which make up the developer, Sodium Sulphite the preservative and accelerator for the developing agent and Metol the developing agent. The formula is as follows and should be mixed in the order shown;

500ml water
Metol 7.5 g
Sodium Sulphite (anhydrous) 100 g
Water to make up to 1 Litre

It’s recommended that the developer be used as a one shot, throwing it away after developing. Though mixing at 1:3 means that it is very economical. So economical in fact, that it will happily develop 13 rolls of 35mm, and because of the high content of Sodium Sulphite it keeps in stock solution for a month or more.

What more could one possible ask for in a developer?