First dirty photos from my Yashica Mat 124

After the develop machine broke down at my local photo shop I had to wait some more days for the first results. The first strips of negatives are now in my hands (three more to come from the lab) and I put them on a Epson Perfection V750 for a first dirty scan and some retouching.


After fiddling around with the interface of the Epson software I got some nice results to show here on my blog. I did not spent too much time with post processing and other stuff. I will dive deeper into this later.





My favorite photo is the woman that is going up the stairs. Due to the less sensitive Ektar film I had a longer exposure time and the subject has some fine motion blur at the fast moving feet. The overall details and colors of the image are awesome. I love the square format on this scene.
The first image was a long exposure. I metered the light inside the new Elbphilharmonie building in Hamburg and put the camera down behind a window inside the ticket shop. You see the main floor with the lights and someone moving through the image. I love how the film renders this scene. On glossy things on the bottom are flyers and brochures reflecting the light from above.
The last image is a good example how much headroom a good color film has. I've metered the scene for more for the incoming light at the subject. After scanning the negative I was astound to see clouds and some well exposed buildings in the background. The Ektar 100 was able to retain the information in the sky in this harsh contrast situation!

That quick and dirty scan of my first negatives are promising and I have not used a film holder (because it's gone...just ordered a new one today), so the quality will raise with the next scans.

What I've learned from shooting with my Yashica

  1. I need a lens hood to avoid flare
  2. think more about the composition and don't waste film
  3. film has it's own visual fingerprint (I wrote about that here) and exposure latitude
  4. waiting for results is like waiting for your birthday in your childhood
  5. shooting film is like having a nice vacation, a break from the nervous and fast digital age

I am waiting now for the next three rolls of film (400TX, Ektar 100 and Portra 160) and will spend some time with the scanner to get the best results. What are your experience with scanning film at home? Any suggestions how to get the best results?

Cheers,

Nils

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