Thank you for this interesting and informative video. Having just picked up one of these beautiful cameras, I was happy that you explained that the camera only works with film installed as I was worried my camera was broken. By the way, adapters are available to permit the use of more readily available batteries in these cameras. When you went out shooting, I was kind of hoping Patrick McGoohan was going to come strolling by, or that you suddenly discovered you could not escape from your own neighborhood.
It occurs to me that Martin Parr's approach to photography from the 1980s (The Last Resort and The Cost of Living), using a ring flash and saturated colours, would be interesting to try to recreate. You would need to put yourself into serious social commentary mode to pull it off properly.
By far this was one of the most interesting videos I have seen on YT in a long time. Great commentary, and I frequently ended up pausing and rechecking the material and specs. I congratulate your attention to detail...and patience. The financial means to get this equipment together must have been significant. One question remains however. Given your experience with this precise gear, do you think that in Rear Window this setup could have been used the way it was shown - ie to spy on neighbors? Given the distance of the buildings, the lighting, etc. Was it possible to see what Hitchcock showed in the movie? I always thought that he over emphasized for dramatic effect what could be reasonably seen in a pentaprism/ground glass setup of the 1950's. Thank you for the great video; looking forward to your other productions.
Such a nice video. Ive never heard of this gentleman before but i love those photos he too for sure and his camera and how he modified and used various older parts to make something truly different from what was used at his time. Although im brand new to photography i think i want to do a similar setup with one of those cheap soviet Fed 2 cameras to see how it might go. Also as others said id love a part two, maybe with various other types of film like color or some shifting films like what lomography makes would be fun.
Very excited to hear you're planning on makin a full video on the Stereo Realist! It's a truly underrated camera, with an incredibly long rangefinder base and a set of 35mm lenses I find it to be an incredibly quirky if not pleasant camera use. If you plan on mounting slides track down RBT plastic stereo mounts (and a Realist "red button" viewer). There's a ebay dealer in the states, George Themelis (DrT3d), who sells them-- and is honestly indispensable in the Stereo world. There's really nothing quite like a backlit stereo slide shot on slide film. The variability of the light coming through the slide almost adds an organic since of stillness, It's such an uncanny but sublime experience. I'd also recommend the program StereoPhoto Maker if you choose to make stereocards/anaglyphs, or GIFs... It's nothing fancy but a shockingly complete and useful piece of software. Looking forward to your forays in Stereoscopy
The Kilfitt lens looks v nice - looking forward to a video on that. It would be good to see your process for cleaning lenses. Some good stuff there. The beach pics looked nice - appeared slightly unusual because of the proportions.
Love the battery hack on the Olympus. Yes online purchasing can be a bit of a lottery. I’ve had a go after acquiring the the tools, to clean up some vintage glass. Left a trail of casualties, but had some successes too. Some lenses are relatively easy to work with others are diabolical even within brands. Admire your positivity and confidence about the outcomes. Optimism frequently resides amongst the young. The energy helps too.
Back in the day those cameras were made, they weren't as tack sharp as we've come to expect. Many of the great photos just weren't sharp at all. Some of Henry Cartier Bressan's photos aren't even in focus. Nobody cared. It was what it was and it was excellent. Great video.
Wow that's dedication to purpose. Amazed by the attention to detail in replicating the kit. Was expecting to have that gear put to use for similar pictures as the ones in the movie, slightly disappointed at that
Did you discover the maker of the flash gun that L. B. Jefferies uses to keep Lars Thorwald at bay in the final scene of the film? BTW, in the film 'Kind Hearts and Coronets' there is a scene in which Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini (played by Dennis Price) meets amateur photographer Henry D'Ascoyne (played by Alec Guinness) and they discuss the latter's Thornton Pickard camera.
I recently watched the 1929 Movie "Man with a Movie Camera" by Dziga Vertov and immediately thought of you, since the Camera plays such an important role in the film. I know that it's probably not possible to recreate this camera (too old/too rare?), but I would love to see a video on it, even if it is just on a hypothetical level. The only part of the camera I did find was the lens (as it was prominently featured multiple times during the movie). It goes for around 2500€. Love your videos, please continue doing what you're doing!
Very nice video. I have my grandfather’s Contax and Zeiss 50mm. I have run a few rolls of film through the camera, but the shutter is limited to 1/250 due to mechanical issues. I looked for an adapter to my Canon cameras for the lens, but that looks to not be possible. So I purchased a 50mm Zeiss 1.4 and use my 5DM3s. I have enjoyed the experience of the manual focus and have captured some excellent photos in Prague and Lucerne.
I discovered your channel from your "Rear Window " video and I also loved this video. You're an excellent photographer Bayliss, and captured from wonderful moments during this outing! Great work!
Definitely try to replicate Ernst Haas' Leica setup with the gun-butt attachment. Google "Ted Streshinsky Ernst Haas" and its the first picture that populates. Love this series
These are magnificant photographs and I truly enjoyed the whole video. Yet how do you manage to change the aperture of the lens for it's so deeply into the hood?
Really nice video, and beautiful shots. One thing I'd note, it looks like the cheap (Chinese made) Screw mount to M mount adapter that you used has threads that are not in proper orientation to the M side of the mount, hence I your infinity stop is in the wrong place, and your focus movement ends up going up into the area of the viewfinder window. A genuine Leica or Voigtlander adapter will not have that problem.
Great work, but the stop screw part does not seem to be exactly what Ravilious did. If you look carefully you can see he kept the original stop and the bracket has a big enough hole so it fits over it. Why this matters? He could remove the hood without unscrewing the pin screw. At least that’s how I see it, but maybe I am the one who is wrong.
Re the nameplate issue, the F2 had the nameplate on the finders rather than on the body; I don’t know why they made the change. It is possible to use unmetered F2 finders on the F if the nameplate is removed from one of them. I have a F2 action finder which somebody has removed the nameplate from in the past which I can use on my F. Maybe somebody has removed the nameplates from your cameras to enable them to use a F2 finder on them. Unfortunately, it is not possible to use F2 metered F2 finders on the F as they take power from a battery in the camera body.
