Analog Therapy Two-fer Part 1: Konica Hexar RF – 7Artisans 75mm f/1.25 – Cinestill BWXX. Aka Impatience+Insecurity=Imperfection.

Preamble.

Great for sure adapting to digital Sony.

Based on past narrow base length rangefinder experience it seems a bit hit or miss with M mount film. Here is a hit with the Leica CL.

Leica CL - 7Artisans 75mm f/1.25 - Rollei RPX 400

But I did not find this combination to be consistent. Thought it might be because of the relatively small Leica CL effective base length I hear speak of. Thought it might be down to trying to focus a fast, short tele lens with a rangefinder in general. For this reason, I was timid when briefly testing this lens with the Hexar initially. There were more hits than misses.

But did not repeat the near no miss success I found at 50mm and f/1.1…

…and 28mm and f/5.6.

TTArtisan M 28mm F5.6 — TTArtisans 28mm f/5.6.

I cannot be sure whether it is the actual pairing…

…or my internal reservations based on past experience but I was not entirely sold on this combination.

Have not written it off yet because I am not entirely sure if it has to do more with equipment or past experience bias driven user error. Not really bothered either way because even though this is an M mount lens I would be perfectly happy using it adapted to Sony (below) or other mirrorless cameras.

But it would be nice to use it as originally intended as well.

Sidebar: Just to add to the fun I am also pushing the limits of df96 and CS41 reuse. Normally I would replace the chemistry for both sooner, but after re-reading the instructions I decided to push things further than I am usually comfortable with. Both are now weeks old. These rolls reached 9 with df96 and 12 with CS41. May replace them before developing my next rolls.

Topic at hand.

Wanted to run a quick roll or two through a camera as a stress reliever. May have done the opposite by using this lens and camera. To make sure I stuck with the plan I only brought the one lens and camera. I may have missed my own memo about this being a stress relieving exercise by setting up so many potential obstacles. Had Cinesetill BWXX in it already so that was an easy choice. Brought a second roll of film as well, Fujifilm Superia X-Tra 400. Initially had not planned to shoot two rolls but that is exactly what happened.

Started with Cinestill BWXX.

My usual B&W go to films are Ilford HP5 and Rollei RPX 400, but I decided to mix it up a bit this day. As usual, developed at home with Cinestill df96.

Burned the roll in nearby Durham. I will admit that there were quite a few misses. Will not be sharing those. I cannot blame the camera or lens. For reasons not entirely clear I had a hard time slowing down. A necessity for me when using rangefinders usually. Especially needed when sporting a 75mm f/1.25 lens. I also admit that I was haunted by the ghosts of exposures lost in the past which caused me to second guess myself. Rushing and second guessing? A terrible combination. Just to pile on I also chose to shoot at dusk which made contrast elusive at times. So I cannot blame the gear. User error is now the issue. At first, I was very hard on myself when the scans started coming through. But then I realized something. Who cares?

Already had the film. Was developing and scanning the film myself so that did not cost me anything. As a result…
Taking, developing, and scanning the film was as therapeutic as if all of them had come out, minus my unnecessary hand wringing.
I did get out of the house and did some walking.
As an added bonus after donating to a gentleman with a good back story at the ready, he serenaded me with a song of his own imaging. What it lacked in polish was made up for with intensity. I thanked him, bid him good evening, and went on with my task.
There was no “job”, customer, or even project involved. If none came out that would be fine.

Had momentarily considered trashing the lot and not sharing any, but I got over myself. Viewed through the lens of perspective above I found appreciation for the images. Below I will share those that came out pretty much as expected and those happy surprises that film is so capable of providing. Could have shared more and may do so in the future. But these are the ones I settled upon for now.