Minolta MD 3.5/35-70 / Fuji Neopan 400

[Nesster]

I found this lens at a great price, and immediately started to daydream about a second Minolta body (XE-7 is on its way)... Minolta SRT-201, MD 35-70mm f3.5, Neopan 400 in D-76 1:1, Epson 4490 - I tried scanning the negatives as positives which seems to be a good approach.

More to come as I convert & post them...

1.

From Pine toward Lombard, 2nd st by Nesster, on Flickr

2.

STOP by Nesster, on Flickr

3.

the origin of mirrors in the bicameral mind by Nesster, on Flickr

4.

magnolia blooming by Nesster, on Flickr
This one in the limited macro mode, it sort of hitches the lens forward and gets to 1:4.

[poilu]

nice series

[Schnauzer]

Very nice. I especially like #1

[Nesster]

Thanks - yes, I really liked the way #1 came out, and think this is looking to be a very good lens indeed. Not that it makes much difference, but I think this is one that Leica also sold (for many more bucks)...

I'll have to take it out with some slide film.

[nemesis101]

It is the same as the Leica in terms of optics, yes.. I have one to and oddly, just acquired another Minolta, a seemingly unused SRT102, in a box with a 'grab bag' of Minolta lenses... Now I am awaiting a battery for the (previously mercury-powered) exposure meter..

Doug

[Nesster]

Insulators by Nesster, on Flickr

[mmelvis]

Nice results on the insulators.

[Nesster]

I'm getting a sense of this lens - I think I'll do a comparison between this and the Tamron 01a 35-80 CF, which I ought to know thoroughly, having used it for 25+ years. It will be interesting to see if my 'knowledge' matches actual results


dil by Nesster, on Flickr

[gaeger]

I love that mirror photo. Very interested in your method of scanning.

[Nesster]

Here's what I'm playing with right now:

Epson Scan, 4490. Scan the film as color positive, 2400 dpi. This gives a blue-ish negative, one I like. The auto exposure tends to squash the highlights, scanning as positive makes the auto scan easier.

If you do an invert, this gives a pale brown image. So I tend to remove the color, then invert. Usually I like to dup the layer and blend it in with multiply, sometimes soft light, at whatever opacity % looks good. Then I do levels.

I do levels and soft light rather than curves as I use Elements which doesn't do curves very well.

[fish4570]

well, whatever you're doing with your 4490, your "prints" look fine.
i really like that second shot in the first series. the bottom shot of the pilings is a buster, too.

[Katastrofo]

Really like the tight grain in these, wonderful set. Well, I just had to try a
version of your scanning method:

original


Jussian method

Kodak Signet 35, Fomapan 100>200, CCM, 15 mins, 20C

I didn't zero out the saturation after scanning as a positive, rather like the
tint since it WAS coffee I used for development. Need to work at it, will see
how it goes. Seems to be a nifty way to bring out shadow detail with
under-exposed pix.

And one with the XA2 using expired 3/96 TriX:

original


Jussian method

This time I did zero out saturation. Thanks for sharing your workflow, Jussi.

[marty]

Nice & bold compositions, Jussi. Thanks for sharing the scan details. I also found out that scanning in gray-scale mode loses some information. Doing the job in color mode let us more room to play, seems.

Cheers, M.

[Nesster]

LOL, thanks... yes, the auto exposure in the scanner tends to squash highlights and leave some space beneath the shadows in negative mode, while in positive mode there's room in either direction. This makes it more flexible in post processing.


Space Available / Open by Nesster, on Flickr