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Kodak Retina IIa
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:45 pm    Post subject: Kodak Retina IIa Reply with quote

I bought this camera equipped with a Schneider Xenon 50/2 (you all know I love Schneiders).

I finally had my first roll developed (Fomapan 400)... so scanning time!

Two of the best shots:






PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congratulations!
I like the second picture, is it Venezia or...?

Any chance to see a picture of the camera?


PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
Congratulations!
I like the second picture, is it Venezia or...?

Any chance to see a picture of the camera?


It is Bologna, a rare place where they didn't cover the canals that flow through the city.

This is a picture of the camera (not mine, but identical):



PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really had no idea that Bologna had places like this. Interesting!

The camera looks cool, really. Is it comfortable to operate?


PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
I really had no idea that Bologna had places like this. Interesting!

The camera looks cool, really. Is it comfortable to operate?


Not at all Very Happy

The rangefinder focus zone is very small and you have to be accostumed to prontor shutters way of focusing (Contaflex is identical). Still the camera is so nice and the lenses so good (Schneiders or Rodenstocks) that you can overcome these little problems.

Btw, it's small but weights a lot!


PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sometimes it pays to use an uncomfortable cam.
Often you are really proud of what you have achieved without all the help of the technological gadgets.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That second picture fascinates me - all the people living there cheek by jowl, with their balconies and dodgy plumbing. How on earth do the plumbers get on to the wall - they must abseil down it Smile


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
I really had no idea that Bologna had places like this. Interesting!


Bologna is a "hidden" city. You have canals pretty everywhere in downtown, but they were covered after WWII because of "public health reason" (venetians should be all dead then, bah...).

Then you have gardens inside about every old noble palace, some with also huge trees (you can discover it looking at an aerial map, use googlemaps and you'll be amazed at how much green there's in Bologna downtown).

And to finish there's a huge maze of subterrean ways together with a a river and a couple of ancient acqueducts (roman and rinascimental), practically like Paris in the Hugo novels Very Happy


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A G Photography wrote:
Orio wrote:
I really had no idea that Bologna had places like this. Interesting!

Bologna is a "hidden" city. You have canals pretty everywhere in downtown, but they were covered after WWII because of "public health reason" (venetians should be all dead then, bah...).
Then you have gardens inside about every old noble palace, some with also huge trees (you can discover it looking at an aerial map, use googlemaps and you'll be amazed at how much green there's in Bologna downtown).
And to finish there's a huge maze of subterrean ways together with a a river and a couple of ancient acqueducts (roman and rinascimental), practically like Paris in the Hugo novels Very Happy


Fascinating. I need to make an exploration of it.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have read in Wikipedia that Bologna is still served today by the subterranean Roman waterworks that starts from Sasso Marconi (which is a pretty unique work of architecture as Romans used to build the waterworks on the surface).

Amazing that such an old work of technology is still working today to serve a contemporary city 2000 years after having been built - and in spite of having been abandoned and forgotten in the middle ages.

These things really make my jaw fall on the ground.

How many of our 5Ds will still work in 2000 years from now? Laughing


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A G Photography wrote:
Orio wrote:
I really had no idea that Bologna had places like this. Interesting!

The camera looks cool, really. Is it comfortable to operate?


Not at all Very Happy

The rangefinder focus zone is very small and you have to be accostumed to prontor shutters way of focusing (Contaflex is identical). Still the camera is so nice and the lenses so good (Schneiders or Rodenstocks) that you can overcome these little problems.

Btw, it's small but weights a lot!


It resembles my Welta Weltini, but probably isn't quite as awkward to operate - the Weltini is left-handed, i.e., focusing with the right hand, shutter release with the left, and there is no film advance lever, only a winding knob at the bottom, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/26092923@N02/2449429885/in/pool-camerapedia.
The lens is the same Xenon 2/50, which certainly produces very nice photos.

Veijo


PostPosted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice pictures, and welcome to the club - the IIa is my favorite as it is quick to operate, easy to hold in hand, and the lens is good.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I personally believe the retina IIa was the best they made. And you photos prove a theory I've been having... digital is technically excellent, but they just can't reproduce that beautiful film look (although there are those that can achieve it with effort - before you all shoot me Laughing )

I'll be joining you with film really soon, just in the process of re-equipping the camera cupboard with 'analogue' cameras Very Happy