Photography as a hobby
I have been an on-and-off amateur photographer since I was about
13 years old, and have thousands of black and white negatives
stored away from my past. Most are in 35 mm format, but the earlier
ones are in 3 1/4 by 2 1/4 format or 2 1/2 by 2 1/2. I no longer
have prints for the majority of them. I also have many colour
negatives, and most of the corresponding prints are in albums.
I used to process monochrome film and make enlargements, but
was without equipment from about 1990 to 1999. I have now
re-equipped myself with a modest darkroom and Durst enlarger,
but rarely seem to find the time to use them.
Cameras
I have a rather motley collection.
- First, I have a Kodak Retina 2c,
which is the model with the interchangeable front lens element,
but without the lightmeter. I don't have any of the additional
lenses.
- I have a Pentax Spotmatic, with three lenses, that has been very
reliable over many years, but which I find too heavy to carry on a
casual basis.
- My favourite is an Olympus xxx, which is easy to
carry, but which sometimes jams for no good reason. It actually managed
to do this during my stepson's wedding ceremony, which annoyed me no end.
- I have a KGear Jamcam, which is described
in a bit more detail.
- Finally, I bought a Canon A70 Powershot digital camera in August
2003, and augmented it with a 128 MB memory card, and two sets of LiMH
batteries. More details here.
Scanners
I don't have one yet! I can use one at work for the odd picture, but I
am looking for a model that will handle both 35 mm and larger negatives,
as well as prints. It must be compatible with the "gphoto2" software that
has been released as an open source product, and should work with a
USB connection. There are a few on the market that fit this
specification, but I haven't chosen one yet.
Last updated : 2003-11-15