Tag Analog Photography

Florence… 1986

Chris and Carol 7 Comments
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Nothing says Florence like the Cathedral of Florence. Canon F-1 with FD 24mm f/2.8 lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25.

In presenting a short series of images of Florence (one of the most beautiful of all cities in Italy), it’s a tough call on which images to include. In Pisa, it has to be the most famous bell tower in the world. I imagine for Rome I would choose the Coliseum – Colosseum or the Vatican. Since there’s so much beauty, history, art and architecture at every turn in Florence it’s nearly impossible to choose the one to use first. My visit to the Tuscony Region was in late October 1986 – the weather was perfect and the visibility was awesome!

My camera was the Canon F-1 (1978 version) with three lenses to use: FD 24mm f/2.8, FD 80-200mm f/4 zoom and the normal FD 55mm f/1.4. Since sunlight would be in abundance, Kodak’s Kodachrome 25 fit perfectly with the days shooting plan (no interiors in the plans).

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Vista view to the north… FD 24mm while hanging the camera over the side of the railing (wobbly pieces of metal) loosely attached to 600 year old stone.

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The Duomo with its instantly identifiable tiled dome. FD 80-200mm at about 150mm

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FD 200mm braced on the railing.

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Back to earth… Canon FD 24mm wide angle lens at f/22

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More FD 24mm… my go to lens in the tight quarters of a city. It’s not easy to get all three in the same image.

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The Canon’s light meter (spot) handled this tricky exposure well. Yep, FD 24mm lens.

Of course what would a visit to any city be without the required “People and Pigeon” shot.

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Happy people and happy pigeons.

This of course is only a very small sample of what’s available in and around Florence and the Tuscany Region. I had only one short afternoon to visit so I was lucky to see as much as I did. The old “someday” I hope to travel back and do it right.

Thanks for your visit!

Chris

 

 

Pentamatic S – 1961 to 1962

Chris and Carol 10 Comments

The Pentamatic S… the last true Pentamatic in the short lived series of SLRs from Yashica. The Pentamatic II is the hardest to find from a collector’s standpoint as they were only available for sale in Japan with the S close behind.

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The Pentamatic S. The last camera in the short lived Pentamatic series.

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Pentamatic cameras tend to have very well designed film paths and film chambers. We rarely find corrosion and the chambers are large and easy to keep clean. The Nicca inspired cloth focal-plane shutter in this example is super clean and shows no white mold spots.

The Pentamatic S pictured above, the serial number is NO. 140572. Our other S is NO. 140294. These numbers decode to… 1=1961, 4=April, and the last four digits equal the sequential production numbers. The S models were not produced in great numbers so it is possible that both of these cameras were made during the same month as they are within 300 units of one another. Another serial number in our database is… NO. 141796 which suggests that it was the 1,796 th unit made in April of 1961. Interestingly the serial number of the model S in Yashica’s instruction booklet is NO. 140893. It is odd that the camera in the booklet has a higher production number than two cameras we own.

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The only difference between the S and the original Pentamatic ’35’ is the notch in the shutter speed dial on the S. It is used to couple the clip-on exposure meter to the dial.

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The biggest changes in the S from the original… the shutter release button is no longer at a 45 degree angle but its position on the body is the same. The S adds a self-timer and the light meter (exposure meter) lug on the face just below the shutter speed dial.

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The lug for the neck strap has been relocated to the front from its previous position (on the side). It’s interesting to note that this lug is super corroded while the lug on the other side is not.

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As we mentioned in the previous post on our blog, the Pentamatic series of cameras are prone to mirror lock-up. This S is currently in the locked-up position and has resisted my attempts at freeing it. It had been working at the higher shutter speeds (1/125 and higher) but now it sticks at all speeds. Ugh!

In summary… the Pentamatic S is a very worthy camera and is built like a tank. The S went back to using the Auto Yashinon f/1.8 5.5cm lens which was the standard lens on the original Pentamatic ’35’. The Tomioka Optical built lens is sharp and smooth. The S allows for the attachment of a separate exposure meter on the front lug (where the “S” is) and can couple with the shutter speed dial. Still a long way from TTL metering but at least headed that way.

Thanks for your visit!

Chris and Carol

Please visit our online store at https://www.ccstudio2380.com for a nice selection of classic film cameras and vintage photo accessories.