Portraits shot with classic cameras

the above was shot with a 127mm ektar @ 5.6

one more

Just last week I developed some portraits (informal) taken with my Rolleiflex 2.8E. This photo luckily captured the lil goomers in a quiet moment.

From my first roll through my Yashica Electro GSN:

And one more, taken by my 9 year old daughter. She really likes the Rolleiflex viewscreen. She didn't have much to work with as far as the subject....

i had the crown mounted on a camera flip bracket on a tripod, camera on its side, flash flipped up straight, after focusing on the gg,I attached my film back, closed the lens, she then moved &*^&%$^@#, after several minutes, I got the shot : )

Nice pics!

Taken last week...

From my first rolls with the Yashica 124.

Cool shot jared

Taken last week at the Mounted Cowboy Shooting Match. Balda Baldax 6x4.5 w/2.8 tessar, Fortepan.

Here is another. This little girl could ride AND shoot. Ikonta model A w/3.5 Novar, Centuria pro 400.

With Meyer Oreston 50mm on Exakta in Window light; and, they did not pose!

Here is a stereo shot with two 6.5x9 Zeiss Maximars on Arrista 100 sheet film.

cool pics everyone, here is another of mine

The film was Ektachrome 200. Scanned recently. Here is another from the same Camera & film.

I dont think the film was dried well when i scanned it. 2x3 crown@5/6

thats a very nice image Subbarayan

Amazing portraits gentlemen. Cliff, I can direct view the stereogram-it looks very dimensional and cool! Once we get these old beasts cranked up, we've got the best shots on all of Photo.net.

Thanks John! It was a rare lighting occasion in Milwaukee, WI, with the snow reflecting the light from out the window. That kid is today a mother of two and is a Doctor in Trauma/emergency Care and is an accomplished Classical Indian dancer!

Susan and I at a local blues concert on our anniversary. I blew the exposure but Susan likes it cause it's one of the rare times I've smiled for the camera.

Great portrait Russ, my son loves the old cameras too, what lens does your rollei have?, i just bought an old rolleicord with the xenar lens, i havent gotten it yet, supposed to get it this week. looking forward to trying it out, nice image lionel, i hate having my picture made, but i love taking them. cool little camera urs was taken with, i just bought a retina 1a about a week ago, great cameras

Thanks Russ, The stereo shot was actually posed, but like John's subject that got bored, mine turned. Try setting up two 2x3 cameras, both focused correctly, both lens shifts set correct for stereo, both shutters set, both apertures set, both verticle shifts set to perfectly align the horizontal plane, and leveled, pull both dark slides and use a dual cable release. It's not an easy feat to get a good pair. I think when I shot this I was looking at the bubble levels, and she turned to talk to someone right then. I took alot of pictures that day and also 24 stereo shots. Old cameras ROCK !

Thanks John for this post, I love posts like this that we get to see the results from so many great old cameras. Hopefully some poeple might see these and decide to tryout an old film camera and throw their camera phone away.

Yashica D TLR Agfa APX100

OK, I need help. I'd like to add an image on this post but I can't figure out how to upload. Where is the upload function for simple posts on the threads?

Thanks for the help!!!!!!!

A cropped image I shot at the Santa Fe event in Roermond (the Netherlands) with my Leica IIIa and a 90mm Elmar lens. The Elmar is a brilliant Portrait lens in my opinion. If I recall the film is either ADOX 100 ART or 125 CHS.

<center> <img src="(link); </center>

Full-size: http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/SF0022.jpg

Uncropped: http://www.flibweb.nl/flibweb/cpg143/albums/userpics/10001/normal_SF0028.jpg

I've got a few more of these re-enactment pictures and portraits, but I'll save those for another topic :-)

Regards, Rick

Great...img HTML tags appear not to be working. At least the other two links work.

My apologies

Tim, you have to enter some message and hit the confirm button then [only then] a window box comes up asking if you want to post a message, then Browse for file, etc. It is a bit of South Paw!

Sorry!, it should read "if you want add a picture file"; my apologies!

From this thread:

KW Pilot Super, Ennatar 7.5cm f/4.5, Neopan 400, red filter

I could post 1000 photos from my OM1, or 35RC... but I'll play by the rules with this one and stay pre-1970. This is from a Minolta SR-3 with the 55mm f/1.8 lens and I think I used a Minolta 2X tele on it. Kodak Portra 160NC:

Arista 100 at EI 160 in Diafine. Kiev Jupiter 50mm f/2.0. I believe it's the Jupiter 3...

50mm Carl Zeiss Planar f/2.0 on Zeiss Contarex Bullseye.Plus-X 125 in Cachet AB

Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar T f/3.5 wide open with Superia 1600 on Contax IIa color dial.

Great Images guys, threads like these are alot of fun, Cliff just to let you know, me using my 127ektar as a portrait lens was your idea, do you remember when we talked about that a while back? yes my subject got very bored, the 2nd shot i took of her, she wasnt even looking at me at all, she did though think the camera was cool looking : ))

Some of these are great, some merely snapshots... But the most interesting thing about the ones that work, are how the qualities of the film, lens and processing all add to the soul of the images. They all have a unique fingerprint which you just dont get out of digital camera these days, which at best can be consistent, but at worst just plain homogeneous.

Nice shot Rick! the first scanner I had did the same thing, at first I thought it was a processing issue, i took it back and ended up buying an epson, i like the v700 except for the extremely cheap film holders.

Hey guys, this is the most active thread on PN. : )) CLASSICS RULE!!

John, Your Ektar looks great. Very nice photos, ... Britney has that body language going on that says " Are you done yet? " but at least the second one she cracked a smile. As long as they think these cameras look cool, some of them will want to know how to do it. Keep it up. Hopefully you can find a willing kid to teach. Once one kid is doing it, their friends will want to also. Maybe if more kids started using film, Kodak would keep their production home in the U.S. At least we need to keep the import film market strong enough that it doesn't vanish.

Beautiful Classic potraits! Best thread for a while.

Kerkko K.

John, I guess to the kids, we are just some old farts playing with our old cameras. I'll bet Britney would look different if a good looking guy, her age, was doteing over her, telling her how pretty she was, and that he wanted to get the picture just right. She would be glowing then.

yes Cliff you are right, actually she is my son's girlfriend, he was standing on the sidelines, she was looking at him when i took the 2nd shot, he was like "come on dad hurry up", i said "hey this isnt a cell phone im dealing with here" "it takes time to make art" : ))

I decided I'd recreate Diane Arbus's equipment for this one. Rolleicord IV with xenotaur lens, potato masher flash on L bracket, Classic-pan film (anyone know it it's still made? Used to get it from J&C. I'm running out).

What a wonderful set of images.I know a bloke,he's very old now, did his apprenticeship at Zeiss before the war. He insists that the best lens Zeiss ever made was the 3.5 Tessar. Nothing will sway him.Bonifaz's picture goes a long way to proving the old man's opinion.

Two weeks ago, I taught a 4-H photography camp, 3 days long, my youngest was 8 and the oldest was 11, I had my old camera collection layed on a couple of folding tables, the kids eyes were wide with amazement, they had never saw anything like it. we talked about shutters and lenses, normal, wide angle, telephoto and zoom. great photographers from the past like weston and adams, small, medium and large formats, they looked at large format negatives through a loupe, and were amazed at the detail they could see.they learned about metering with a handheld meter and placing values, On the 3rd day we went on a field trip where they split up into pairs, one would have the camera while the other would meter the scene, and they would take turns like that. It was one of the most rewarding 3 days i think i have ever had. when we got back to the class room, i told them that i had really had a good time teaching the class and i asked if there were any questions before we left, hands flew up everywhere, i called on a 9 year old, he asked "Mr. Golden, where can I get one of these?"

John,

I admire your efforts at the 4H class. Unfortunately our society has been taught all about self worth, self love and a bunch of junk like that, and if they would only stop thinking of themselves for a moment and spend some time like you did, with those kids, this world would be much different. The kids would have something to do other than get into trouble, some direction. It has turned into a mad rush world, all about self. The result is stress, ulsers, and overall bad health, and not much reguard for the other guy. So my hats off to you John.

A grab shot with a 1953 edition Agfa Record III. Not really a camera for quick shot, especially when you didn't bring a meter.

A similar shot with a FED 2d and its collapsible FED 50 wide open. This time with a light meter.

John, Kudos and thanks for raising this thread. Cliff, your sentiments raise the level of this thread. I recall that when I Iearnt taking pictures with the Fed 2 that my brother brought from Ukraine I had no access to a meter. For long years I just followed the gray scales and the instructions that came with the film. I rarely had a blank frame or an over-exposed one. All my blanks and bad ones happened after I lost the Fed and got into the TTL habit. I chucked it and went back to the Exakta and hand held meter for reference. Things improved a great deal. I guess that there is a lesson in it for the learners. Best regards.

here's one from my dad's old polaroid

Yashicamat. Verichrome Pan, probably D-76 1:1. Shot in the early 1970's. My whole 70's folder is full of Yashicamat and Nikon Ftn portraits.

and another

This one looks like it could have been taken in the 70s, but it's from June of this year

I'm pretty sure I've posted these before, from my Mockba 5, both are candids, though:

For that 60's "LOOK" - Argus C3 (Fujifilm 400) Shot Wide Open :

try again --

Thanks, Subbarayan.

I'll see if I can figure this out. I never have understood why web designers have to hide so much of how to make a site work.

This is a portrait of one of my daughters, taken with a relatively modern Cambo SCX but using a 1940's Wollensak Veritar portrait lens, one of my favorite optics. It is a variable soft focus that goes from quite soft, to pretty darn sharp as you stop down by only a few steps. Made using a Calumet C-2 roll film holder and tmax 100.

Thanks, Subbarayan.

I'll see if I can figure this out.

This is a portrait of one of my daughters, taken with a relatively modern Cambo SCX but using a 1940's Wollensak Veritar portrait lens, one of my favorite optics. It is a variable soft focus that goes from quite soft, to pretty darn sharp as you stop down by only a few steps. Made using a Calumet C-2 roll film holder and tmax 100.

Doug, if that's the 70's then that must be a ray-gun that guy is holding. ;)

I really like the look of Russ' and Bonifaz' images. Great development, scanning, etc.

My Dad - unposed, although I asked him to hold still :-)

This is a super post! I don't exactly know when my camera was mfg., but it's a Canon FTB 35mm. all metal body. I shoot mostly with a 135mm fixed lens. The film varies, but mostly fugi 100 or 200.

What a great thread, sorry I didn't catch it earlier. here is my sister and brother in law. taken couple of months ago with Leica IIIC, Summitar 2/ 50mm collapsible, Kodak Tri-X, developed D-76, 1:1. tripod used.

Here are three I can contribute. All three shot with my 1938 Speed Graphic 4x5, Tri-x film in Tmax dev, mostly wide open at f/4.7. I love old cameras, and just last week added a great Agfa 6x9 folder to the working collection.

- CJ

and....

One more. Apologies for scanning difficulties.

- CJ

Seeing we're bashing scanners, here's my daughter Andrea.

Hanimex 35SL (rebranded Chinon CS), daylight film, tungsten lighting, Pentacon 1.8/50, 1/30 sec. can't remember the f/stop.

Mihai, Lovely lighting and tones on your Sister & Brother in-law picture. Those micro-tones make the picture very subtle just as in Spanish Flamenco tunes!

Tim Ludwig, that is a lovely picture. Those old time lenses were designed for both sharpness and tones, I guess. I find that in some Meyer lenses too. Oh! the web designers leave something in there so they can get a second call from the client! That is their way of ensuring additional business! My electrician and plumber do that always. Regards, sp

Try one last time : Argus C3 shot wide open -

Soeren, your DAD's picture is very impressive. I don't think you need to suggest that he stand still. He would be so well composed in any position. Reminds me a lot of Ernest Hemingway and Ansel Adams! That is a compliment. DAD's persona comes out of the picture! Regards.

Self portrait with my wonderfully restored (by Jurgen Kreckel) Agfa Isolette III on Kodak BW400CN.

Ok this time with a photo!

That is truly excellent work with a 1938 Speed Graphic.

Rob,

You have a beautiful Daughter. Get lots of pictures while you can! The boy are going to drag her away sometime sooner than you wish. Hopefully not too far away though.

Agfa Optima IIs

All the images are great, just want to thank everyone for all the posts. This is the best forum on PN. Also thanks guys for the nice words. Truly many the images posted on this thread in the last 24 hours I would consider real works of art and not just snaps, happy shooting everyone.

oops

What a wonderful thread John. Adding my contribution as well:

Mother

Minolta SR-7 w/ Rokkor-X 1.4MC, 1/250s at F/2 on Agfa Optima 100

The problem with these photographs is they have no digital manipulation. None are supersaturated or unsharpened or curves yoyoed. Where's the Gaussian blur or textures? What good are they anyway? A fauxtograph isn't any good these days unless you've PS'd on it.

Stunning Ralf!

"The problem with these photographs is they have no digital manipulation"

So, what! Does a photo have to be shot digitally, processed digitally to be good? Is that what this world has become? It has to be the digital way or no way?

Jack - I think Don was was being saracastic :-).

John - thanks for the comments. Love that photo. Took it last week.

Ralf, you're probably right about Don. Sorry, Don. It's just that I've seen,(and I'm not against Digital), that there are some people who seem to feel that digital is everything and film users just don't get it. As if film users have to defend their use of film. I mentioned in an earlier post about seeing a website where Sandy King just had a 20x24 ULF camera made. And, one person posted,"Is that what film users have to do to justify using film?"

Heres one shot with Fujica ST705 and 85mm Takumar.

Thanks very much, Andrew.

Just for good measure, here's a test shot from my "new" 1935-ish Agfa 6x9 folder.

- CJ

Oops, trying again.

- CJ

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/69/222200149_6778f34d95.jpg[/img] FKD plate camera. Ilford glass plate. Ilford MG FB

Kowa

This topic is really taking off!
Some wonderful portraits, everyone

Hey Jack, I know what you mean about Don's post, i had to read it a time or two. . I thought at first, "now is that sarcasm or are we being insulted" : )), These images are just great, Here is another

I thought i had another on this computer, but these i have on t his computer were shot with my RB, ole well, if anyone has anymore post em, : ))

Pentax SP 1000 and Takumar 105 f2.8 - 200 ASA Kodak film I think

Agfa Isolette III w/ 3.5 Solinar. Ilford HP5 in PMK Pyro.

Im just in awe of these photographs, each one has a story and each one is a one of a kind that can never be captured again, I found a picture of my grandmother who passed on a few years ago at the age of 96, in the photo i saw of her she was 13 years old. she was always old to me ever since i could remember, but i know she wasnt always old, and that photograph proves it, its the only one of her as a child, a true one of a kind. makes me wonder what camera it may have been shot with and who the photographer was.

John! you need to get your bottle of Wine or Champagne ready! You are only a handful short of 100 responses! Congrats!

Another one from the Rolleiflex 2.8E. Studio lights, Ektachrome 64T and a very still pose.

OK, here's the portrait. Photo.net's new php software hiccups with larger image files. But at least the size has been upped to 700 pixels wide.

Ikonta 520 w/ f4.5 7cm Novar Fortepan 100

Not only do I have to worry about her being whisked away by the boys, I have to worry that she'll take the wheel... Zeiss Ikonta 520/2

At least it's not a pilots license where she could fly away and really cover some ground.

Civil War reenactor awaiting her soldiers return from the war. Taken with a 1932 Goldi and 127 film.

Oh, I've got one a bit similar, a bit more edwardian/victorian...well ...a woman in period dress at least
Not really a portrait though, and I have posted it before.....


Kodak Retina II (Model 142) and ADOX 100 ART

No Girls, That's not your Daddy coming home, He was killed in battle. Taken with 1926 Glass Plate Camera.

Great Edwardian portrait Rick. She could be waiting for her husband to come home from Flanders in 1915. Cool Civil War shots too Cliff. Using old cameras captures the zeitgeist of a period. This summer I'm shooting a 1920s style Cabinet of Dr. Caligari silent film using B&W Super 8. Old cameras are fun!

Another one.

a photo from a not quite "classic" camera. It is a classic, but maybe not an antique yet.

Here is one shot with my favorite portrait camera, a 1931 RB Graflex Ser. B 3x4, Kodak 6-3/8-in. lens using XP2 in a 6x9 rollfilm holder:

Sorry, I made a mistake (my first upload). Try again:

Third try:

Well, I posted one earlier from my Yashica, now its time for one from my Spotmatic. An ex-girlfriend, shot with 55mm/f1.8 Super Takumar. Kirt, I really like the one of the baby in the shopping cart, a priceless expression.

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex Super [img]http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7592786[/img]

Zeiss Ikon Contavlex Super (2nd time) http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=7592786

Those last couple from Rick and Cliff are awesome.

Here is another with the old glass plate camera. actually part of a stereo pair.

Try Again

Sorry about that big file. When it didn't go the first time, when I resent it I clicked the wrong one that wasn't scaled.

Just got home from work, WOW! 120 responses, still most active thread on PN two days in a row. thanks again guys for all your posts, these images are awsome. : )) folks in the other forums are probably wondering, "what in the world is going on over there" hehe

One last portrait before the boys go to war.

Those glass plate shots are marvelous. I've had some WW1 glass plate negatives in my hands a few years ago at an event in Passchendale. It's a shame I did not buy them.

Thanks all for posting some more wonderful portraits :)

Really nice photos on this topic. Here is one portrait made with Zenit122+Helios58mm f2.0

Awesome thread!

I'll add one to the long list. The scan sucks but we've all heard that before;)

Sorry, here's the photo.

Rick,

Although these were taken with glass plate cameras, they are not glass plate negatives. Making up dry plates is not fun for me anymore, so I use sheet film in sheaths. And glass plates are heavy to carry around, unless you are setting up a booth.

Now, wet plate is another story, very fast, and I love that too, but these cameras are not made for wet plate. The problem with wet plate and all that fooling around with the chemicals and darktent, is that people don't have the money to spend with them, so other than demonstrations, it is not worth the effort. By the time you spend the money on GAS to get there and back, mix up a batch of chemicals that don't last too long, and pay for a booth to set up , you end up losing money for people to say "that's so cool" as they keep on walking by. People very rarely spend money at these events, other than on cotton candy, mini doughnuts, or some kind of greasy sub for lunch. They usually go to these events for something to do with the family that won't cost much.

The photos I sell are usually sold much later, through word of mouth or on the website advertised through the groups newsletters, the cards I pass out, and such. So I end up only spending a few bucks on an entry ticket, wander around the croud, and take pictures, and hand out cards to those who look interested in the old cameras. I don't bother setting up at any of them anymore. Just sell the pictures later.

Agfa Isolette III with 3.5/75 Solinar Ilford HP5 Plus in PMK Pyro

My son Ian, who turned 22 a week ago, shot on Kodak color print film (probably 200 ASA) with an Olympus Pen F and Zuiko 50-90 zoom, probably set to the longest focal length. The Pen F is a half-frame, for those who aren't familiar with it.

Mr. Rosener, where do you get your Super 8 film stock? And do you know if the same place offers the double-run 8mm film cartridges? I have a Bell & Howell 414 PD that I'd love to run some film through, if only I could find some.

Ah, Thanks for explaining Cliff,

I've only done one event where I was paid to take pictures of members of the public in and on military vehicles and selling them the photos for a small fee. I didn't like doing it much, because I was pretty much confined to one location and didn't get to take pictures of all the other cool stuff that was around (It was at the Veteran Parade in Wageningen (NL)). Also I was shooting film and not the Polaroids I had planned to be shooting (that pack of film arrived 3 weeks too late d'oh) so I had a lot of hassle with getting the right photos to the right addresses afterwards.



A dear friend who passed away last December
Leica IIIa & 90mm Elmar, I'd have to look up the film.

My mona lisa, taken with a really old large format camera, 18 x 24 cm.

Rolleicord Vb, Ilford PAN F 50 http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1438/592157923_411a9ffe6e.jpg

My uncle Gustav taken when he was 92. He lived to be 103.

This one with Nikon FM and 90mm Tamron

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the great posts. : ))

My Kids .. Leica M3 50 mm Summicron Ilford Pan F 50

Again thanks for sharing some wonderful portraits!

Not sure if I've posted this one before in another topic on Photo.net


Leica IIIa & 90mm Elmar, Spector 200 Color (desaturated in PS)

And here's one I just shot with a 1956 EXA and Steinheil Cassaron 40mm lens.