Analogous start of the year

For me, 2024 began on New Year's Eve. My love and I were sitting comfortably with the neighbors. We talked about various interesting topics over delicious gin when suddenly a Yashica T4 appeared on the table. The last time I had it was in 2019 Ethiopia and Oslo an analog camera in hand. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to expose film with the legendary Yashica T4. I ran back to our apartment. I quickly dug out of the cardboard box that had been ignored for years and found a film. He pulled out a Fuji Super HG 1600. The opened outer packaging stated that the film should best be developed before the end of 1997.

Surprising neighbors

I knew I had to push the film hard to have any chance of getting usable results. But no one knew how to set this up on a Yashica T4. Manual intervention in the automatic exposure system was obviously not important for the manufacturer Kyocera at the time of its release in 1990 for a point-and-shoot. That's why I was hoping that the flash and the high ISO number would save something. Does not have it. Below is an unflashed picture, but the rest didn't look any better. “Nice retro flair,” commented the neighbor in a friendly manner.

However, the analog photo virus was revived for me. I felt like taking analogue photos again. A few interesting things happened in this relatively young year.

Old stuff from the electric bay

So I first dug out my Hasselblad 2000 FC/M, which I had only swapped for a 500 because I really wanted to take photos with the 110mm f/2 Planar. I did that last time 2019 in Oman. However, this is a very special lens. I adopted the traffic planners' motto and convinced myself that “one more lens will fix it” will save everything. So I started looking for something with a wider angle. I found a 60mm f/4 optic online at my trusted dealer in Hamburg. In the electronics bay I checked whether the price was realistic - and my eye fell on a Distagon 50mm f/2.8 from Lübeck for the same price. This lens does not fit on a Hasselblad 500 series and therefore fits exactly into my prey scheme. I quickly grabbed it and two days later had 1250 grams of round glass in my hand. Maybe I should have done some research beforehand.

But seriously – results like these make up for the lugging.

The focus is on the upper part of the wheel and the chainring is already out of focus. The sunlight on the Elphi shows a beautiful bokeh. The colors are a bit off because the Fuji Pro 160NS used should have been developed in 2018 at the latest. Yes, the cardboard box I mentioned actually contained films that are no longer manufactured.

Oh yes, if you are interested in why the bike can stand so freely here: Shadowstand is the solution. There is nothing retouched in the above image.

Distagon 50mm f/2.8

Briefly about the optics - 50mm f/2.8 sounds so unspectacular, but medium format is not a 27mm picture. If we ignore the different image ratios, the focal length and aperture roughly correspond to a 1.5mm f/56 lens on a “full format” camera. Yes, analog medium format at 56×907 mm is a decent size for Hasselblad and cannot be compared with its digital counterpart. For comparison, the sensor of the currently hyped Hasselblad 43,8X “only” measures 32,9 x XNUMX mm.

Enough technical drivel - here are a few more pictures with the Hassi and the 50mm Distagon or the 110mm Planar with an expired Ektrar 100, Fuji Pro 160NS or Portra 160.

Despite its shortness, the year still has more surprises in store.

Old things from the camera cabinet

Looking for my remote shutter release for the Hassi, I reached to the back of my photo cabinet and discovered my old Nikon Ti35. I actually thought it was defective, but it just needed a new battery. Coincidentally, I had recently bought a double pack of these for my old Sekonic light meter and thus had a fresh one. Once again it is confirmed: having is better than needing.

I bought the Nikon in 2016 because it is not only beautiful with its analog displays, but also very easy to use. In my opinion, the better point-and-shoot compared to a Yashica. I have no idea why the Yashica is so hyped. With the Nikon Ti35, for example, it is very easy to influence the automatic exposure. In my memory, despite the beauty of the camera, I didn't get great results. After picking up the first film, I have to correct myself. A portrait – which had of course long since expired – was used here.

Conclusion

I'm enjoying analogue photography again and I bought fresh film even though I still have expired film in the fridge.