Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Minox 35 GT test photos

Just finished the first roll of Kodak MAX 400 GC film on Minox 35 GT and developed from local lab. All negatives were scanned with Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

One of the benefits of scanning the negatives with good film scanner (especially Nikon Coolscan) is that I can shoot with my expired films now. Expired film normally will produces fade or off colors with more grains present. However, the Nikon Coolscan & Nikon Scan4 can fix these problems and produce the great result.

Red Corvette - sunny day in the morning, f16 1/500s 5m

Green Lotus - overcast day in the evening, f4(may be) shutter(unknown) under exposed

I met this man and his guide dog occasionally on Lougheed Town Centre skytrain station in the morning. It's an overcast day and lightning was limited. So, I set to the widest aperture and the closest focus distance. Shot at my lap level without looking through viewfinder. Just a quick snap and then the train approached in next few seconds. Normally, an ordinary lens with aperture wide opened should produces soft focus at the edges & corners, and also has shallow DOF(depth of field). But I'm impressed with this Minox 35 GT f2.8 performance. Better than my expectation.
Guide dog - overcast day in the morning, f2.8 0.9m shutter(unknown)

The following photos had been taken on the same day of my previous post of the Stanley Cup Final Game 5, including the above green Lotus sport car. This crowd photo was shot with hand held in the air. 
Stanley Cup Final Game 5 - overcast day in the evening, f5.6 HF(hyper focal) shutter(unknown)

Okay, we have covered the cars, animal, people, now let's see the buildings.
Building #1 - overcast day in the evening, f11 infinity shutter(unknown) BL set(back lit)

Waterfront Station - overcast day in the evening, f11 infinity shutter(unknown) BL set(back lit)

How sharp is the lens? And how does it handle the flash photography? The following photo was taken on the first few frames of the roll with the Nikon SB-E auto flash, and it's the sharpest shot among the whole roll. This flash is too strong for close distance photography. The photo is a bit over exposed but I adjusted it and cropped to about 50% of the original shot.
 Puffy bears - indoor night time, f4 1.5m Nikon SB-E flash shutter(unknown)

How sharp again? The following photos were zoomed in 100% from original frame.
 Left male bear foot

Right female bear foot


Before making any comment on this mini camera, I have to take more test shots again on the field and on different subjects.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

2011 Stanley Cup Final - Game 7

So sad ..... Canucks loss.

I went to the fan zone again on game 7. Walked along Georgia Street, crowd already packed at Richards Street. Squeezed through the crowd and took this photo at Homer Street where two guys were sitting on the traffic lights. Time: 6:04pm
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 100mm ISO400 f5.6 1/1250s

First warning, no security check and no fence off. Crossed Homer Street and continued to squeeze through the crowd but stuck just after few steps. Went to the far left and passed half way in front of Canada Post building. Stuck again, went backward and took a detour to Homer Street, Dunsmuir Street and entered the fan zone from Hamilton Street. Second warning, no security check and no fence off too, except fence on the east side. Tried to squeeze into the crowd again but I couldn't get near the big screen. So, had to back off and stood outside the fence area. These guys climbed up to the roof of the side entrance of Canada Post for better view of the big screen. Time: 6:17pm
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 112mm ISO640 f5.6 1/320s

This is where I entered from. Time: 6:25pm
Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G at 18mm ISO640 f5.6 1/320s +1.7EV

The place I stood was at the side and behind the big screen. All people stood behind the fence can not see the big screen. But some of us looked at the reflection on the windows of the building across the street. It's better than seeing nothing at all. Time: 6:45pm
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 200mm ISO640 f2.8 1/640s

Do you see the 360 degree camera in this photo? Time: 6:47pm
Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G at 18mm ISO640 f5.6 1/320s +1.7EV

Here's the close up. It's in pentagon shape and consists of 6 lenses; 5 lenses in horizontal and one in vertical(on the top). You may find more info here and some clips here.
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 200mm ISO640 f2.8 1/1000s

The blue man climbed up to the traffic light post. Time: 7:08pm

Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at ISO640 f2.8 1/5000s +1.0EV

Some fans start to leave the area before the game ends and few guys from the crowd start to throw battles to the big screen(see red circle on the top left corner). Third warning, one glass bottle landed few feet away on my left and a piece of broken glass hit my shoe. Luckily the force was mild because of my distance between the big screen. Time: 7:46pm
Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G at 18mm ISO640 f5.6 1/250s +2.0EV


Forth warning, detected the first smoke in front of Canada Post building. Time: 7:47pm
Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G at 18mm ISO640 f5.6 1/400s +2.3EV

Nikon D70s, Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G at 18mm ISO640 f5.6 1/200s +2.3EV

This Canucks fan was so sad and emotional. Cried with tears on eyes. All shutter bugs rushed to took this sensation moment. Time: 7:49pm

Fifth warning, detected the second smoke at the same spot. Time: 7:51pm

Another man comforted him and he still couldn't hold the tears in his eyes. Time: 7:52pm

Later, he talked to me briefly and I put my hand on his shoulder for the support. He must be one of the die heart Canucks fans. I guess he was praying that Canucks will win next year. Time: 7:53pm
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 86mm ISO640 f2.8 1/640s

He's still sad and disappointed.
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 80mm ISO640 f2.8 1/200s

Time to leave before it's too late, because I sensed the riot could be happen in any second. And I was right. When I was few blocks away from the fan zone at Cambie @ Pender, looking back and saw black smoke in the sky. At least 3 helicopters were surrounding the area. Time: 8:01pm


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

2011 Stanley Cup Final - Game 6

This time, I went to the fan zone at Hamilton @ Robson Street. Had to pass through the security check again before I enter. They only checked on people who carried hand bags, back packs or any kind of bags.
Fan zone at Hamilton Street.
Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO400 f8 1/100s +0.7EV 

CBC building.
Nikkor AF-S ED 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G at 135mm ISO800 f5 1/100s +0.3EV

First goal at Georgia St @ Hamilton St.
Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO800 f5.6 1/200s +0.7EV

Second goal? May be...
Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO800 f5.6 1/320s +0.7EV


Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO800 f5.6 1/200s +0.7EV

Oh, no! It's a rebound!
Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO800 f5.6 1/200s +0.7EV

All photos were taken with Nikon D70s.

Monday, June 13, 2011

2011 Stanley Cup Final - Game 5

This lady and her pet was watching on the big screen at Canada Place during the second period.
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 185mm ISO200 f5.6 1/320s

Right after the second period, I went to the fan zone at Homer @ Robson Street, next to the Vancouver Public Library but missed the great moment of the winning goal.  However, took a few pictures seconds after that moment. I took this picture while the security guards was checking on my back pack.
Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S ED 80-200mm f2.8D at 86mm ISO400 f5.6 1/125s
 
Moment of Stanley Cup Final game 5 ends at one of the corner of CBC fans zone, 1 - 0 Canucks. June 10, 2011 7:53pm - Game ended at the 15th second of this video.
 


This was taken minutes after the winning game on Georgia Street. Original frame, no cropping. I always shoot with my camera held up in the air with the widest zoom range of the lens. This one is the best coverage among the several shots. My advice: shoot lots at different angles and you will know approximately which angle to aim or hold your camera.
Nikon D70s, Sigma 20-40mm f2.8D EX DG at 20mm ISO800 f4 1/320s +0.7EV

This video was taken at the intersection of Granville St. and Dunsmuir St. Time: 8:22pm.


One more to go, Canucks!

Monday, June 06, 2011

Water Geyser


This photo was taken shortly after 7:00pm on May 6th, 2011 when I got off the bus. The fire hydrant was knocked off and unleashed geyser as high as the lamp post. I never seen such a big & tall geyser. It's just spectacular! The red hydrant was laying next to the bench off the bus stop while a fire fighter was looking at it. See local news here.

Taken with my daily carrying Nikon D70s and Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135mm f3.5-5.6G. Aperture priority, f5.6, 1/125s, Spot metering, +1EV, adding D-lighting later with Nikon Capture NX2.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Another treasure hunt - Minox 35 GT

Just bought this Minox 35 GT mini film camera at a local thrift store yesterday. Made in Germany. Plastic housing with some metal construction inside. Optic is just like new and seems good quality. It's clean and in excellent condition.

The original PX27 mercury cell is obsoleted. So, I put in 4 x LR44 button cells to try it out. 6V vs 5.6V, seems okay and I'm loading in an old ISO400 color film to test. Will post the test photos after finished the roll & developing.

I searched through my gears and found two mini flashes; both fit quite well on the Minox 35GT. Which flash do you like?

Front view

Front view with cover opened

With Nippon manual flash

With Nikon SB-E auto flash

Top view without hot shoe cover


Top view with front cover opened

Bottom view