Working From One End To The Other (And All Points In Between)

Well folks, the festives are upon us again - so he's blocked up the chimley, nailed don't-land-here-bird-pokey-spike-things to every available landing surface and yer Sheephouse has been finally relaxing and imbibing plenty of Woods Old Navy rum and typing - and rather like an avalanche waiting to happen and thinking what the hell will he round things off with, he thought:
'Yes, dammit, heck . . . well, why not? A summary of the year . . . yesh, thash a good idea' (hic).

In much the same way, Basil Rathbone exclaims "My dear Watson, you astound me . . ." in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939) . . . (none of this modern BBC stuff here, oh no, I like my Sherlock in tweed and pipe) so I wonder why I haven't done it before.

Ed's note: Look, I've had to read and re-read this a number of times . . . there's a lot of pictures, and it does come across like one of those yearly round-robbin (as in Look-at-all-the-wonderful-things-we-special-people-got-up-to-this-year) Christmas cards you used to get from folk at your Mum and Dad's church . . . but I don't think he means it like that. It's more of a kick up the pants to himself . . .
The Light waits for no man, and soon, very soon, the last glimpse you get of the world is that coffin lid closing and the flare of gas jets, so let it be more of a salutory, Dickensian-style, "Get Thy Finger Oot Whilst You Still Have Time."

Sub-Ed's note: Look this is supposed to be the Festive Season . . . it's not that bad, so grab a bagel and a cup of Java and let's get on with it!

I suppose the supposition is that the life of a blogger and especially one that writes about oooooo, photography, is an exciting round of gear, gottle-of-gear, adoring followers, Tweets from the WHITE HEAT of Photogblogging, Farcebook posts, more gear and people thinking you are the second coming of Ansel.
Well, I'm sure Bruce at the Online Darkroom would agree with me that it is nothing like that!
Us poor bunch ("poor bunch" being distinct from the whatsisnames and whatsisnames, you know who I mean . . whatsisname) tend to write about The Process rather than Yer Actual Gear.
Who gives a shit about how people actually use tools these days -  it's ALL ABOUT THE TOOL isn't it . . isn't it? Certainly seems that way from where I am standing.

But gear does come into it (to a greater or lesser extent) and I can completely confirm that acquiring new (old) stuff is an addictive and expensive buzz but also enormous fun and an integral part of what we do.
I think I've come to realise that I rather like having a ton of daft old cameras around - it aids the creative process, by giving things a new edge, and with the exception of my almost total neglect of 5x4 this year (and with around 250-300 sheets to use) I think I have explored the fringes of my wee collection quite well.

However, at the end of the day if you've nothing to show for it . . .

Anyway, maybe my idea of a summary isn't so good - yes I've bought a number of photographic aids this year, but if the truth be told I have done precious little photography and almost no printing - a lot of the stuff here is scanned from contacts (gasp!!) - to be honest I have not had the time to have a good darkroom session since around May.
That's appalling, but it has been my reality this year.
Never mind - what you'll get in what follows is periods of stasis and general other stuff, interspersed with intensive bits of creativity.
In fact so polarised is it, that I think my end of year report could read

" . . . Sheephouse . . . shows willing, could do better."

Anyway, here goes, hold onto your hats and watch a semi-creative year unfurl before your very eyes!

JANUARY

I started with optimism. Spent all my Christmas money, and more on an Arca B-1 ballhead, which was a total revelation to use along with the Hasselblad. Yes it was a few years old, and yes it came from the same family of the infamous Arca lockup (google it - plenty of info) however mine is a later model in which the problem has been sorted out (the PMF B-1) - it was boxed and in 'as new' condition from those lovely chaps at Ffordes and it grips heavy loads like a bulldog on your nadgers making using the Hasselblad a total cinch on top of ye anciente Gitzo Reporter.

Having just about survived Storm Gertrude (a neighbour's roof had a whole 3.5 foot by 1.5 foot Victorian chimney pot embed itself into it from about 60 feet up) I marshalled myself at the end of the month with an expired 2010 roll of Neopan 400, and went out on a dreich and overcast afternoon to produce this.

Film 66/18 - Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in 1+50 Rodinal. Hasselblad Panoramic Adapter

FEBRUARY

Took the M2 and Canon 28mm f3.5 to Edinburgh and took some snaps, but didn't develop the film for quite a while.

MARCH

(Almost) not a sausage done.

APRIL

Developed photos from February and a handful from March - to quote my diaries:

 "Total shite - worst photos I have ever taken"

See what you think (these are probably the best!):

Film 35/40 - TMX400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 35/40 - TMX400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Seriously thought about binning 35mm altogether.

Took the Hasselblad out and in a brief moment of Dad free-time I had a total blast with the Hasselblad handheld!

Film 66/19 - More Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in Rodinal 1+50

Film 66/19 - More Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in Rodinal 1+50

Had a rethink about 35mm and bought a super-cheap (sub £55) 28mm f3.5 Nikkor and an ancient CCS Gladstone bag (it was really cheap [30-odd quid] and in brilliant condition. It holds all my MF stuff comfortably and was a bargain compared to a new bag (CCS no longer exist, but their bags are stil laround - not made in the Far East, but here in the UK).
So it was that fully loaded and me and the missus off for a short long-weekend to my favourite place. It held the Hasselblad, Leitz Table Top Tripod, Rollei T AND the Nikon F3 with the 28mm Nikkor and a 50mm Nikkor as backup + notebooks, books, film, reading material etc etc - it's like the tardis of bags.

Action Man - of course, I could reveal my location, but then I'd have to kill you.

Film 66/21 -TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD - eventually developed in May

Film 66/21 -TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD - eventually developed in May

You can't get an idea of the sheer sharpness (and atmosphere) from these scans, even at 3200 dpi off of the contact sheet - take it from me they're SHARP AND ATMOSPHERIC!

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal
It never struck me at the time, but these are like two Ents.

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal

You know, for all the pixel-peepers say "Oh you've got to get the 28mm f2.8 Nikkor as it is soooo much sharper . . oooh, look at those pixels" the f3.5 is what the likes of Don McCullin and his 60's/70's compadres used and you know what - it is no slouch, especially on film.
A very cheap, solid, but decent performing lens!

There was a very good Scottish Photographers meeting at Alan and Sheila's in Perth at the end of the month - as usual, it was great to be able to talk and talk nothing but photography for an afternoon.

MAY

Bought a Pyrocat-HD kit off of eBay.

Had a fabulous time with the Hasselblad at St Andrews Botanical gardens, photographing their incredible collection of condensation, dried-on plant food marks (seriously!) and weird reflections in the hot-houses. If you're ever in St Andrews just go - one of the nicest Botanical gardens in Britain.
Vic the Hasselblad was handheld again - seriously - a total revelation about how to use a large, non-TLR, MF camera - I can imagine with the standard 80mm it would be even more of a joy to use.

Film 66/22 - TMX 400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 66/22 - TMX 400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Tested the newly arrived Pyrocat-HD kit on some sheet film . . hopeless results - operator error:

"What the feck is going on? . . Oh yeah, that's ANOTHER couple of quid down the drain . . . "
TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100 - way too thin at that speed . . people used to say that about me!

Yeah I know I look like a Granny in the above - the lens was the 90mm Super-Angulon

Processed my MF films from April.

JUNE

Had been thinking about a Leicaflex as I so wanted to get a Summicron and it was the cheapest way, but after a few salutory emails from Ffordes about de-silvering prisms and an email from Bruce about perceived lens quality, I went mad, looked at as many old Leica photographs as I could find and finally bought myself a 35mm Summaron for the M2.
What a lovely lens - detailed in "Stepping Up To The Mark".

I tested the lens with a film I'd started using in the Nikon F back in mid-May, so I counted the exposed frames, rewound it and got back to the same point on the film in the M2.
Film was developed in P-HD. First two pics from Nikon end of roll, third a weird double 28mm Nikkor/35mm Summaron double exposure and fourth all M2/Summaron baby.

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Holidays - hurrah!

I love UK-based holidays, because I can settle in to using where we are staying (usually caravans) as a base to explore the surrounding countryside and use my cameras to the point of exhaustion!

I took the Hasselblad and the M2 with the 35mm Summaron and loads of film. I've taken the 5x4 before, but (as detailed last year) using a changing bag is a total PITA, so this time thought, well why not use the Hasselblad for my 'serious' shots, and it worked a dream.

The Summaron shots were detailed in the post "Stepping Up To The Mark" from July and some of the Hasselblad ones are in "4K Burning Moggie" from September.

Here's some I didn't post:

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

You really do have to lose some speed with P-HD - EI 50 seems to suit FP4 well - my times and agitation were:
Constant and Gentle for 30secs
2 inversions per minute
Keep that going till 17mins, then let it stand to 20 mins.
Temperature was 20 degrees

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100
This was taken at twilight, wide open.

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

I'll nail my trousers to the mast here and say that the 35mm f3.5 Summaron has that vintage look in spades - it's sharp, it's creamy, it's got GREAT (but subtle) contrast and above all it's damn pictorial - there's a pleasing quality that I haven't found with any other lens.
Just wonderful.

JULY

Despite showing the pics from June last month, the holiday ones were processed in July . . carefully!

Went for a 12 mile hillwalk, carrying no camera gear but the Leica M2 and Summaron and Leitz table top tripod - it was a revelation and I rather like the cut of the jib of a Summaron as a landscape lens - a joyous tool to carry and use and as I've said before, want a reliable companion tripod but can't be bothered with a big 'un? get a Leitz table top - brilliant wee things.

Loch Esk
Film 35/46 - TMX 100 (EI 50) - Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100

The Sedge At Loch Esk
Film 35/46 - TMX 100 (EI 50) - Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100

 

Leica M2, Leitz 35mm f3.5 Summaron, Leitz Table Top Tripod

The Mythical Wild Man Of The North (caught in reflective mood)
Film 35/46 - TMX 100(EI 50) - Pyrocat - HD 1+1+100

Film 35/46 - TMX 100 -PHD 1+1+100, EI 50

And this is what Storm Gertrude did to a bridge in a glen back in January - the bridge was solid as a rock, but nature had other ideas!

The flat concrete bit is bolted to a boulder that must weigh a couple of tons, the bridge was bolted to the concrete with concrete piers too. All gone - I kind of wish I'd been there to see it.

Ed and Sub-Ed's note: Non-photographic, essential stuff coming up.

Discovered my chimney was in a state of disrepair . . . basically the flue for the old boiler that was present when we moved into the house, was a steel pipe, dropped down an (unknown to me) chimney. The flaunching (a word I'd never heard till this year) had perished and basically the top of the chimney was wide open to the elements! OK, so it's an old (1888) chimney and has been dealt with in an awful way by intervening generations . . so, me being me, and bouyed-up by last years use of hairy lime putty to bed in my front windows, I started investigating and reading and eventually got some NHL (Non-hydraulic Lime) 5.
This is lime, the stuff they used to use before cement ruled everything - it's a time-consuming but benevolent mortar mix. It is also hydroscopic, so unlike cement (which is utterly waterproof from both sides) lime mortar allows moisture to pass from its interior to its exterior! This was just what I needed considering the fabric of the chimney stack had become damp.

Eek! Slate covers old chimney and flue is below.

So, work was required, and that meant me!

AUGUST

After a quiet statement to myself of "Holy Bungos" I got started and rebuilt the exposed part of the stack with the NHL - I used a premixed version from Conservation lime - it was very nice stuff and really does improve your muscle tone trying to mix it!
The hardest part was stopping it drying out too quickly in the really hot weather we were getting so I was hopping up the ladder three times a day with my plant sprayer and spraying it down and then covering it over.
With lime they recommend you use hessian sacking to cover it with because it stays moist, however I didn't have any so had to make do with painters exterior masking tape (the orange stuff) and those giant blue Ikea bags which are really rather good.
Anyway after 8 days of this regime, I was ready to expose my work. And it seemed to have dried fine, it is however no wonder modern builders rarely use it - it's so time-consuming, and these days no one has the time do they?

Anyway, at the same time of doing this I thought I'd use a roof coating to go over the felt. We have about 18sq metres of flat stuff - and economy was the name of the game; so after HOURS of debate and study I settled on a product by Scotch/3M called Scotchkote. It is a range of coatings, all designed for industrial purposes - they're breathable and come in a range of systems ranking from 5 year before first maintenance right up to 25 year! I was impressed by this and also by some feedback from industrial roofers, so I put my money where my brain was.
I went with the 5 year (Polytech LS 657), because it was the most economical.
But this ties into next month . . so . . and still no photography done . . .

Flue still there, but now upper section is rebuilt with lime.

Oh and I liberated some pensioners of their pocket money, went mad and bought myself a guitar.

SEPTEMBER

Well, what a beautiful month! The weather was something else at the start.

I chickened out at the thought of taking film through an airport, sold the Canon EOS and used the funds to buy a Sony A6000 and a Metabones Nikkor adapter, seeing as I have tons of Nikkors lying around like leaves off a tree . . . 

And guess what . . another holiday!
This time we scraped together all our spare change, robbed a few more pensioners and flew to Amsterdam and then by train to Brussels.

The shots were detailed in "Ogden's Not Gone Flake" published in September, but here's a few more.

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

They're two outstanding European cities with different (yet similar) cultures but they are friendly and beautiful places and so very different from the a-typical views people have of them:

Drugs and sex - Amsterdam
Boring - Brussels.

I took a lot of photographs with the non-PC Sony A6000 and a 35mm Nikkor-O.
OK - it's not film-based, but you know what, I was happy to use it and think the results are really excellent, though I've not printed a single one.
The Sony and ancient (1971) Nikkor give a colour quality that pleases the hell out of me - very 1970's but very crisp too.

During our holiday I replaced my blood with Belgian beer and felt better for it. I've been a beer enthusiast since well before the word "craft" came into the language and it pleases me to see so many guys brewing their own and starting micro-breweries. I did my own proper, non-kit home brewing back in the 1990's, but discovered I couldn't even touch the likes of Westmalle and Samuel Smiths, so gave up . . 

Came home and cleaned out the loft - an epic job.

OCTOBER

We got back, and the weather changed to 'orrible and rainy, so I steeled myself, waited for some decent weather (not so easy when all you have is weekends) and then started in earnest on coating the roof.
If you can imagine painting an unwilling, very hairy cat onto a flat surface, then that is what it was like, but it's all about technique and I got there.
It's pretty damn marvellous stuff too - you can apply it in falling rain and down to 0 degrees, though this isn't to be recommended from the applicator point of view -  we did have our first frost in October and kneeling in ice and applying stuff like this is not to be recommended - doesn't half make your joints ache!

It was a heck of a job, two coats and an embedment mesh in places too - got there though - phew!

The bit on the left in grey and white is my work - this was taken from the window of a flat for sale next door.

Near the end of the month an excellent package from Omar Ozenir arrived containing both copies of his self-published photo-journal Gözaltı.
It's great stuff and highly recommended - you can find it here - tell him Sheephouse sent you.

Re-discovered that I really love playing the guitar - it has been a 20 year break, as in nothing done, for 20 years, which, if you know me is highly unusual.
Basically looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, I think I stopped because there was nowhere else to go.

NOVEMBER

No real photography done, just a wee tickle out at dusk around the graveyard with the Sony

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 50mm f1.8 "K" Series Nikkor

DECEMBER

And the same again.
There's a roll of FP4 in the M2, there's film in the fridge and I just need time.
I am on holiday for Christmas so hopefully there should be some full-on camera usage going on!


And tha-tha-tha-that's all ffolks - I hope you found that interesting and not too dull -despite the lack of vast amounts of stuff, at least I have been trying to do stuff, with only commitments and lack of time getting in my way. Next year I am planning on doing more.

So can I, on behalf of yer Missus Sheephouse and Alex Turnips too, take this opportunity to wish you and yours all a fantastic Christmas and an even better 2017 and for the world, a little peace perhaps, that can't be too hard can it, not if you really want it to happen.

I'll leave my final thought to Bruce Cockburn from 1971's "Sunwheel Dance" and the track "Going Down Slow":

God, damn the hands of glory

That hold the bloody firebrand high

Close the book and end the story

Of how so many men have died

Let the world retain in memory

That mighty tongues tell mighty lies

And if mankind must have an enemy

Let it be his warlike pride

Let it be his warlike pride

Take care, be good and remember to keep eating your peas.

Season's Greetings (But Why Is It That ALMOST Everything Chinese Made Breaks?)

Greetings playmates - we've made it through another year and onwards to the next one - I wish you all the best for the Seasons and also all the best for a rooty-toot New Year!

Now, a thorny problem - well I don't know if you've noticed but it is a global world we live in - yer large corporations (and yes camera companies, that means you too) are now far more concerned with shifting large units of something which is effectively the same thing as you have in your kitchen - in retail terms "white goods".
You know, the numbers game - X-number of boxes containing X-number of Consumer Products. All manufactured in lovely clean factories (mostly) in China.
The relentless march of new model X versus new model Y; cameras out of date whilst still languishing on retailer's shelves.
You know the sort of thing.
It's called modern commerce.

It pisses me off actually.
I mean, I look at my Leica M2 or my Rollei T or the Nikon Fs, or the Hasselblad or Wista or Sinar and think, Mein Gott - they REALLY don't make them like that anymore - these were mostly assembled by hand by a highly skilled craft force the likes of which you'll never see again.
I'm not denying that China (et al) doesn't have a highly skilled craft force - of course it does, but the problem comes from the oft-vanishing bottom line.
It isn't all cheap Far East though - you do get cameras manufactured in Europe (and America and Japan) - please stand up all you lovely tiny (and that includes Leica) camera manufacturers - now, no looking around the room, but lets say you could probably hold your Christmas party in a cupboard whilst outside on the street there's a multi-float parade going on from the Big Four. But that's the way the cookie has crumbled.
I do wonder how long the smaller manufacturers (and even the big ones) can keep going against the relentless onslaught of the phone though - yes certainly there's a small army of concerned photographers who will want a new Alpa (and I count myself amongst them) but really - could you honestly afford one?
Nope.
So how on earth do they continue to stay in business, when they can only be selling a tiny amount of new cameras every year?
There's a problem you see - the world is awash with old cameras and people continue to buy them. And if, like me, you love using old cameras, you must surely realise that what you are using was actually a pinnacle of mechanical engineering wrought tiny.
(Well, I'll add a caveat to that, they're MOSTLY that - obviously there were a lot of cheap cameras and they haven't really survived that well, but then again, even the humble, very very 'umble, Olympus Trip, is a damn fine ingenious and reliable piece of equipment. It goes wrong some times, but if you're handy with a screwdriver and feel a bit brave then it is fixable. So try doing that with your Panasonic Lumix or Samsung or Sony whatever, or Canon or Nikon - are these modern cameras fixable? - possibly, but tbh unless you like the idea of being a brain surgeon and rocket scientist at the same time I would say chuck it in the bin and buy another!)

But would you consider doing that with your M3, or your Standard Rolleiflex from the 30's? Would you feck - you'd get the little beauty repaired because not only is it a damn fine piece of engineering, it has a soul.
Like that bag of old soft toys you've still got tucked away a real soul. (I confess I have my 55 year old teddy bear (called Tedson) at home and whilst I don't cuddle him every night, I know where he is and sometimes go and say hello, because he has a soul, albeit imagined by me).
Call it Zen, call it Craftsmanship, whatever, but a lot of old cameras have souls - they're imbued with the hopes and dreams of great images by their previous owners.
My Rollei and Minolta Autocord are very elderly gentlemen who have had hard lives but still like a wander down to the shops with their flies open.
My Nikons are also reasonably elderly chaps who took up running years back and are still doing it.
My M2 is a retired watchmaker who has looked after himself and knows how to stay healthy.
The Wista and Sinar the same.
The Hasselblad is a newly retired surgeon, enjoying a more relaxed life.
You see - SOUL!

The Canon EOS 50D - whilst it's a VERY GOOD digital camera (same with the wee Lumix) has nothing there at all - they're effective machines produced in immense quantities, but they have little to make you feel affection for them.

OK, so you're wondering what the hell I am on - machines with soul?
Can it be possible?
Well only if you're seriously deranged like me, but for the rest of you, they probably just come down to reliable and unreliable.
And I can understand that POV, but you see folks because of globalisation we have a massive worldwide problem - profit versus build.
Y'see in a bid to maximise profits from all you young dogs hungry for the next gadget, albeit phone, camera, whatever, build quality seems to have gone to shit.
Though (truth be told) I haven't been on the end of an unreliable 'modern' camera, a number of 'consumer' items I have bought recently have been defective.
Samsung laptop? Screen gone to shit in 2 years!
GE flourescent tubes - supposed lifespan 15 years? 2 years and they failed.
The worst though is my ongoing tale of woe trying to find that most basic of artefacts - the electric kettle. There's not a single one for sale in the UK that isn't made in China - big names and small names - the whole lot, from Dualit, Kitchenaid and Smeg, down to the lowly Tesco Value - everything in between - fine upstanding names of post-War manufacturing -  Bosch, AEG, Philips, DeLonghi, Breville - you name them and they ALL outsource to Chinese manufacture, and the crazy thing is, the massive price differences for, what is essentially the same thing and no doubt the same innards (roughly) made in the same factories. After my 3 year old Chinese Breville kettle started delivering chunks of metal from its supposed "stainless steel" interior (in reality - stainless coated steel) into my morning tea, I started hunting.
It involved the world's most boring man activity of heading to my local retailers and lifting every kettle and looking at the labelling:
Made In China
Made In PRC
All essentially the same thing.
I wanted something European, but no luck.
So I gave in and bought a Bosch - 15 boils in and the thing still tasted overwhelmingly of plastic . . . 16 boils in and the lid failed. It went back for a refund.
Next up Lakeland. I've had a few Lakeland things over the years and they have all been decent. This was Made In PRC and ROHS Compliant - all very impressive. The kettle took about 5 boils to stop tasting of 'stuff' - fine, thanks goodness I thought, and came down on the Monday morning to a worktop covered in water from a leaking kettle.
Schiiite!
So that went back.
We then thought feck it, I did more kettle lifting and read more pages on kettle consumer reviews than anyone would want to do in a lifetime and ended up with a DeLonghi. It too is Made In China, but I am hoping that the massively inflated price for 'design' equates to higher QC.
You see QC (Quality Control) is, I think the one differentiating thing in Chinese goods - that and materials.
My brother has this fantastic joke:

"Did you hear about that fabulous new metal alloy the Chinese are using these days? Shit-ite!"

It's a cracker isn't it, but oh so true.

Several years ago I needed a crowbar - so I went to B&Q and surveyed the goods they had for sale - the once proud name of JCB had a range, I thought they sounded tough so I checked them out . . .
Not a single one was the same.
They all had a flex too them that was not appropriate for something required to be strong - in other words they were shite.
I looked at the labelling - Made in China - there was no QC, just a cheap piece of junk metal for bargain-hunting DIYers.
So I went elsewhere and bought a European made Gorilla bar - it was tough and did the job required, and it's still one of the most solid things I have ever used.

It's true though - in the hunger for ever-cheaper goods, that we, the money-wielding West are driving, quality of materials heads right out the window and in comes the shit.
And a huge amount is just that - SHIT.
And more fool you for buying it - and that includes me.
But you see it has taken a while to dawn, but I am now trying to take a stand - albeit a seemingly lone voice in a wilderness of consumerism.
If I can, I try to buy European or Japanese or American or even Vietnamese made.
If I can't I will seriously rethink about whether I actually need it - it's that bad.
Sadly it is unavoidable that you simply have to buy Chinese, but if you can, please try and look at where things are made.

You would think from this that I was against everything Chinese, but thankfully thanks to an Orient-loving Aunt that is far from the case.
I love my early 18th Century Chinese sword, and some of the marvellous export porcelain I got when my Aunt died.
I love my local Chinese supermarket because it is fun and weird and the food is superb.
I love the history of China, the resourcefullness and hardship and the transcendence of the human spirit, the uncanny ability to forge things.
The West owes China more than it can ever imagine from metalwork to paper to fireworks to tea, but sadly that is often forgotten.
China wants to be loved again, but what I hate is that we in the West are capitalising on that innate Chinese willingness to please, for any price.
We're guilty as hell in demanding of them a quick fix for our product-hungry society.
Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

It's our fault a lot of shoddy goods come out of China, and yet and yet, isn't that pinnacle of craft and skill, Japanese sword and knife-making, based entirely upon innovation from Chinese techniques and knowledge?
Thankfully there are some superbly made Chinese goods - truly fantastic quality using decent materials - but sadly they do seem to be few and far between.

So as you can see, it isn't all anti-Chinese workmanship around my way, I appreciate their abilities as a nation, but when you hear the cry from my kitchen "This Fecking toaster CANNOT TOAST!" you'll know that another Western profit-before-quality white good has hit the fan!

Anyway, that's enough away from photography.
Here's something made on American film (Kodak), processed with British chemicals (Ilford and Fotospeed) printed on British paper (Grade 2 Ilford Galerie), also processed with British and French chemicals (Ilford, Fotospeed and Kodak) taken with  a German lens (1966-ish Schneider 90mm non-Angulon) on a Japanese camera (Wista DX) with a Japanese film holder (Toyo).
Oh, and the light was all Scottish (Dundee, under the lead-in part for the Tay Rail Bridge).

Just as a little adjunct to this - I know I have railed against Photoshop all my photographic life, but the adjustments to the final presentation of this print were done using that free version of CS2 that is out there, and you know what I was delighted with the ability to fine-tune the truly terrible auto-scan exposure I get from the cheap Epson scanner into something that looks more akin to what I have hanging on my wall.
It was surprisingly easy to get it looking right.

Anyway folks - that's it for the noo.
The Season is upon us, so before you force yourself to eat Mince Pie # 675 I will bid you a fond farewell.
thank you for reading this year and I'll set-to in the New Year with a more determined outlook - honest - refurbing those windows lost me a vast amount of light!
Be good, take care and until the next time, watch out for the normal people.

The Greatest Camera Ever Made

Ha! knew that would get you reading!!

The sound of false-teeth smashing against phones and tablets and monitors is really incredibly loud . . . you've just spilled coffee all over your nice new slacks . . . there's toast crumbs splattered all over the front of the Guardian . . .

Why Sheephouse?

Why are you doing this to us? We're all comfortable and stuff! We don't have to think about anything any more!!

Why? you ask.

Well, because I have declared something which, though contentious (and obviously one man's meat is another man's septic boil, so YUMV as they say in modern parlance) I believe to be true.
Maybe I should call this, The Greatest 35mm Ever Made instead, because of my fondness for the Rolleiflex T (and coincidentally my good chum Bruce's fondness for the Rolleiflex in general [he's got 3] - no collusion, honest missus - he was supposed to synchonise this post with mine [a double-whammy as it were] so if the link doesn't take you to his page about Rolleis, blame him) . . . however that title doesn't nearly grab you by the doo-dads as much, so . . . Camera it is!

***

Regular F'ers will know that I am in the midst of a love affair with the Leica M2 - and why not - he's a lovely old man who has had a hard working life and is enjoying his retirement with some excellent day trips and TLC, cup-cakes, tea, and a nice comfy armchair in the evening. He's even sent you a postcard or two y'know, unless the pooch has eaten them again! 

There's nothing at all like the handling of the M2 - it is quick, intuitive and simple; no high-fangled gizmos or unecessary dangly bits; no meter, just a film advance and shutter speed dial, frame preview and self-timer. Marry up a lens and you have focus and f-stop too, and that's it. 

It's as easy as anything to take photographs with, and as near to as close to being an extension of your brain, eye and fingers (and thumb) as you could wish.
Like I said he's a lovely old man and still very nimble for his age.

However, recently, feeling guilty (because I hadn't used them for a while) I hauled out my wee collection of Nikons: the Nikon F, the Nikon F2 and the Nikon F3 (I also have an original Nikomat FTn, but he's excluded from this . . though he's still working very well) and had a wee marvel at them.
I am very lucky to own these - the F and F2 (and the Nikomat, though that was from an Uncle) were gifts to me from my friend Canadian Bob, and had belonged to his Parents-In-Law, Len & Joyce Holmes, who had bought them new and had used them extensively in wildlife and plant photography right up till they went digital - so that tallied approximately 35 years of good service. 

They gifted them to me in the knowledge that I would continue to use them, and in my hands I have - a lot, and only put them aside after buying the Leica, because as great as the Nikons are, they are a trifle heavy to lug around all day whilst on holiday . . .

(The F3 I bought myself from Ffordes because I intended running colour film through it and I felt the meter would be more accurate (which it is) . . it was cheap, and serviced and is also a superb camera.)

But anyway, back to the Canadian connection - in the same box as the F's, was an extensive collection of pre-Ai Nikkors too! here comes the list:
35mm f2
50mm f1.4
105mm f2.5
300mm f4.5
500mm f8
80-200mm zoom
You have no idea of the weight of that box, but it was really heavy and vastly exciting to open - the ghosts of the olde photogs who haunt Chateau Sheephouse were gathered thickly around the table as I cleared away all the polystyrene and air-bags . . .

The Canadian Box Of Joy.
Left To Right: F2 With 50mm f1.4, 500mm f8, 105mm f2.5, 80-200mm Zoom, 300mm f4.5, F with 35mm f2.
Can You Imagine Getting A Box With This Lot in?

The lenses were all in lovely condition with no problems with the glass, and in the case of the 500mm, I would say almost unused.
Over the years I have tried all of them out, and for my purposes, the ones I am most warmly attached to are the 50mm f1.4 S.C and the 35mm f2 'O'.

People talk about Leitz bokeh and detail, and then others will chime in with certain Pentax lenses and the odd Zuiko, but let me say here and now, the olde pre-Ai Nikkors really have something, and although the prices are starting to creep up (gone are the days a few years back when you could pick a pre-Ai up for as cheap as £30) they are still, for such high quality lenses, almost as cheap as chimps these days (not that chimps are cheap . . you try dealing with their food requirements, entertainment and potty training . . )
In short, these redoubtable, bomb-proof, pieces of Brass, Aluminium, Black Lacquer and solidity are really wonderful lenses.

Marry the 50mm f1.4 up with the nice and bright viewfinder of the original F and you have a standard lens dream-team. The 1.4 is lovely and soft where it needs to be and hellish sharp in the central region - in other words it does what it needs to do - concentrates the eye on the subject matter and gives things a thoroughly natural look, and that's as technical as a Sheephouse lens test is going to get! To put it bluntly, it makes photographs - ones you can be proud of.

Here's a few (not great, but I like them) pics I made with it

Gordon

Suzi

Alec Turnips

Joanna

See what I mean about the lovely out of focus bits? I think the lens gives things a wonderfully naturalistic look.

(And yes, I know I've (mostly) chopped the top of their heads off, so stop moaning about it . . it was a deliberate bit of artistic artifice OK? In the spirit of the greatest drinking toast ever "Take The Lid Off Your Id!" I thought I would signify that whilst you might be posing for a photograph, it is always better to let your ego and super-ego go elsewhere, allowing the id to have its day in the sun, OK? 

Everyone (do they really Sheephouse?) knose that  the ego and super-ego are what let you down when they get involved in photographs . . that half-shut eye, the gawky mouth, the snotty nose, the dribbles . . the egos, whilst trying to make sure that you look conformed for your pose, will often result in conflict, so you end up with a shit picture of yourself . . oh the pressures of conformity

My tip for a good portrait, if you are a victim and you haven't had a drink (everyone knose that a drink frees the inner you) - briefly close your eyes, centre your person comfortably in your head, feel the world under your feet, relax, open your eyes and look straight at the camera (or failing that, just PShop the fecker).

These portraits are (I think) lovely and natural . . the real nature of my victims is on display, they are free of controlling nature, hence my chopping of their heads . . 

Of course, this could all be total bollocks - it is up to you to decide.)

But back to the lenses - here's a couple more now - these were made with the venerable 35mm f2 'O' - it's a lens that has a cult following and actually it isn't hard to see why - I've had an enormous amount of pleasure using this lens - and it too has a very natural look to it.

Circus Poster In A Window

June 23rd

See what I mean - it's a great lens and not only that, can focus to just under 1 foot (0.3 meters).
But anyway, I am deviating again - it's easy to see that the pre-Ai's are fantastic and after all, a camera system is really ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS LENSES, so where does that leave us?
Ah yes, The F! 
It's a weighty camera if you aren't used to such things, solid like a brick or a tool should be, but its weight belies its finesse, because, unsurprisingly it's a picture-making machine that's as easy and as natural to use as the Leica M.
OK, well, that one over there, go on, pick him up - he won't mind - now, whilst you've got this heavy old beast up to your eye, ponder a minute. 

Yes that is 100% of what will appear on the film that you're looking at. 

Let me repeat that:

100%

Not 94%, or 97% but a full-on 100%.

I have no idea why so few SLR manufacturers ever managed to produce a 100% viewfinder, but Nikon got it right from the start - OK, strike One, the F wins.

Now turn that wonderfully awkward shutter dial back to 1 second and gently squeeze the shutter release. That lovely, deep, throaty whirr, is a sound to quicken the pulse isn't it.

I don't think Len ever had this (his original F) serviced, but at 1 second it is still accurate after 40 years of use.

The mirror moves up with a solid, but non-jarring thwok, and comes down again with the same movement. There is little vibration, unlike some SLRs I've used that go clackety-clack-THWAK!

OK, I will admit it isn't quite like using a Leica, whose buttery-smooth film advance is un-matched; on the F it is a bit 'harsher', but not harsh. There is obviously more movement from it because it has a mirror, so it requires concentration when you get down to lower speeds, though lock the mirror up (the worst operational aspect of the F) and the actual shutter is equally as quiet as the M2.

The shutter release has a deeper action to it than the M2, in that it requires a bit more effort to depress it, but glue it to your eye (or get a Nikon soft release) and get in the thick of the action and I am damn sure you'd never even notice.

The weight of the camera, isn't anyway near as sylph-like as a Leica M - if you were a swordsman, it would be like comparing a sabre to an épée, in that whilst they are both heavy duty, workmanlike items, the épée is more easily wielded. 

I know all this sounds like total shite, but I have fenced, and it is just my weighing of things.

***

Another Sheephouse aside:

My sister had a long-term relationship (and two daughters) with the rock photographer David Warner Ellis (just Google Image him . . you'll find a lot of stuff coming up under Redferns and Getty Images . . that's him). You've maybe never heard of him,  but, if you like music (especially from the 1970's) you will have seen a lot of his photographs, that is a certainty.

David was a fine photographer and owned one camera for his professional work . . . through his heyday of the 1970's and onwards to his death in the early 2000's - an F Photomic FTN.

Photography was his life and his livelihood, and the camera served beyond the call of duty. And the thing is it still works, and though it could do with a bit of TLC and some new mirror foam, other than that it was fine last time I met it. I don't think it was ever serviced either, just used, hard, and relied on as a professional tool

I find that remarkable - how many cameras can you say that about?

***

Well that was the question I asked myself, and, thinking about it a lot, what with David's use and Len's use and the countless professionals and amateurs who used them and still use them, and you know what? the more I thought about it, the more I inspected my own FTN.
I weighed it in my hands, felt its chunky solidity; I disassembled it and put it back together again; I loaded it with TMX 400 and shot real, live photographs with it;  I hefted it, carried it, balanced it, and felt that what I had in my hands (like a Leica M) transcended just mere mechanics - it had that zen feel you get from remarkable tools.
I thought about it and researched it and read about it (looking at Vietnam veterans tales of it being dropped from helicopters, shot at, blown up, soaked and burned, whilst becoming the stuff of legend).
I looked at old newsreel footage where every press photographer seems to be using an F.
I realised that sometimes things become invisible, simply because they are commonplace and with the F that was the case . . . and for a reason.

Battlescars.
Don McCullin's F.
Build Quality Entirely Evident.

Was there anyone back in the day that hadn't  used one?
Was there anything this camera hadn't photographed?

I looked at the accessories.
I looked at the most complete lens system ever devised for a camera system (from the start of manufacturing!) and I discovered that the lenses had the reputation of having some of the best coatings ever coated; that the machining on them was superlative, that they used (the then new) synthetic lubricants and adhesives, and that compared to Leitz lenses of the same period, were more likely to be in fine nick (and a good deal more reasonable to buy). 

And from all this I came to a conclusion:

(Roll the drums, bring on the parade) 

The Nikon F is the greatest camera ever made. 

I know.

It does sound like I am being disloyal to my Leica, but I am not really.

What can you say about a Leica that hasn't been said? It's an icon, and I still feel there is nothing like one . . . 

However, in terms of sheer bombproofness and ultimate reliability, I genuinely feel that the Nikon F has the edge.

This is my F

 ***

But what about the F2 Sheepy? I hear you ask.
Well, there is a place for that too, and many regard that as the ultimate SLR, however, owning both (and initially only using the F2 because of the crutch that it had of a working and reliable meter [more of the meter on the F in a minute]) and after replacing the few seals I had to replace on both and taking both out for dawdles and wanders, I came to the conclusion that the F is the better balanced and better handling camera (strangely Len agreed with me on this too).

Obviously this will vary with user, but to my hands, I like the blockier body of the F.

I like the fact that it isn't so easy to lock the mirror up (best not to even go there) and you have to turn a collar to get the thing to rewind.
I like the lower centre of gravity you get from the FTN head compared to the AS head I have on the F2 - it's almost intangible, but it does affect the way the camera handles.

I like the completely removable camera back and the (supposed) awkwardness of loading (till you get used to it).
I love that I get 100%
And I love the feel of its rugged mechanics.

In short I love its character. 

And unusually for an SLR, it has that in spades.
It's weird isn't it - most SLR's are fairly characterless don't you think?

I once owned a Pentax MX and it was lovely, yet totally anonymous - my OM 10 was a bit like that too, though I loved it.

On the other hand, the F is an aging Japanese gentleman, who is wirey, opinionated and a bit curmudgeonly, but despite his gnarly appearance is still fit and nimble. 

Compare that to the bloated grandchildren from numerous manufacturers that clog ebay selling for a mere handful of money compared to their once over-priced selves.

What you get with the F is build build build

To me, it is an iconoclastic camera - a genuine, hands-down, brilliant piece of engineering.

Even with the achilles heel of its meter (which, with a lot of them no longer operating, is still easy to deal with if you use the likes of a Northern European Sunny 11, and yes I know you can still get the plain prisms, but I see no reason to pay the massively over-priced prices that are being demanded for them - this being said I'd love to try one, but are they really worth the £200+ premium?) I still think a non-working meter FTN would be the way to go and let's put it this way, it's exactly the same as using a non-metered Leica . . simple - let the films latitude deal with things. 

Do a Gibson!
Sunny weather, Tri-X at EI 320, 1/125th at f16 in Northern Europe - piece of cake. 

Of course you can do this with any camera, and especially a Leica, however, the cost of a nice F is nowhere near the cost of a Leica and it may well be a lot more non-reliant on regular servicing. 

I also feel that you would be likely to feel less precious about it, given that what you are holding will still probably be around when all that is left is ashes and dust, scorpions and radiation.

Ivor Mantale did an excellent article on the F years back, and in it, he said he had asked a dealer whether the F was a collectable camera, or just an old camera . . . well it is both, AND it is also a reliable tool for the modern photographer. Get one serviced by the likes of Sover Wong and you have something that will outlast your eyes.

And so my rant and rave comes to an end friends - I know you're aghast and are saying "What about?", but have pity on an old man - sometimes you just have to speak out.
There is so much shite spouted about cameras on the net, most of it by people who like the idea of photography and immerse themselves fanboy-like in it, buying the most expensive things they can, without actually making any photographs.

With so few film cameras still being made younger photographers wishing to sample the delights with which we older photographers were brought up (and came to take for granted) couldn't really do any better than investing in a nice clean old F, even with a non-working meter . . .
Really - trust me.
Feel the heft. 

Feel the quality. 

Feel the legend (and it is one).

Feel the all-round essence of something that is as close to mechanical perfection as you can get, and then go out and make photographs. 

Lots and lots and lots of them.

TTFN. This month is pink pill month - just remember to tell your carer that.