Since I have been out of the country for much of May, I have not been able to scan my April film photos. I shot two rolls of film in two different cameras. OK, 2 and half but the half roll of Kodak Ectar 100 is still in my Olympus 35RC. But, the news for the month of April is that I shot the following camera.

Canonet QL-17 – A lovely rangefinder that one day I will add to my collection

Yep, I tried out yet another film camera. This one was sent to me by friend Rob. I wanted to try it out before I passed it on to another owner. I loved this camera. It was a bit different as it is essentially a shutter speed priority rangefinder and I normally shoot aperture priority. However, I must say I quickly adjusted to it and loved it. I think this just might be the perfect rangefinder. Solid. Inexpensive. Good images. Exposure. Loved it. My only gripe was that the rangefinder patch used for focusing is very, very light and it was hard to focus in some circumstance. Given I only shot one roll of film though and the fact that I got the exposures correct and most shots dead on focus, it must not be that bad.

After I scanned the one roll of film, I almost didn’t post the images because none of them are really post worthy. However, this project is about learning and relearning so I’m going to post them anyway. The one thing I experimented with this past month was using the focus scale to try to get focus. When I was shooting my son swinging I had a very difficult time. I ended up just estimating where he was at the point I wanted to shoot him and set the focus to that distance. I missed it slightly, but it still gives me an image that is sufficient. Anyway, here are the pics.

Bootsie

Minnehaha Falls Park

Minnehaha Falls

A little candy after our annual Easter egg hunt

Spring time swinging @ the park

Here a few shots taken with with the Olympus 35RC

Morning Gravel – A little rest in the shade – I love my Salsa Fargo

Morning Gravel – On the move

Morning Gravel – One for my barn & silo collection

Afternoon Gravel – One more for the barn collection

I do like the last 4 images posted. These were taken with the Oly 35RC. I have shot this camera a bit more and have gotten a better handle on proper focusing. I also like the exposure and the feel of the images. Very, very pleased with the little Oly 35RC.

Even though I don’t love the images from Canonet, I am still very happy that I tried something new and actually have images on hand. I also found a camera I really like that i think is very, very capable. If you are interested in giving film and rangefinder cameras a try, the Canonet QL-17 is a fine, fine camera. I’ve seen them ranging from $50 to a few hundred depending on condition and color (Black ones are a bit rare and bit more expensive).

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