Nov 07, 2018
fixed and WOW
by matt
Finally. The Makina is back from repair. Actually, I got it back a couple of weeks ago but I only receive the scans of some film shot with it since it was repaired, two days ago. The new bellows look perfect. Fixed by a true master of his craft. I am absolutely over the moon. I even tried my luck at shooting some colour reversal (aka ‘slide’) film with it in the Lake District. I was not disappointed at the results. Leaving the jaw-dropping colour of Fuji Provia 100F aside for a minute, I am so happy that the Makina is fixed. There are zero artefacts on the scans, no mysterious light leaks and no more trying to temporarily plug holes in the bellows with marine grade silicon sealant! I can enjoy this glorious medium format rangefinder camera in all its glory.
From purchase to disappointment and investigation to attempts at (temporary) fixes and more fixes and more tests to now – it has been a bit a journey – but it’s done, and I am the very proud owner of one of the most wonderful rangefinder medium format film cameras ever made.
And as for the results from Fuji Provia 100F, I’m pretty blown away. I wasn’t sure quite what to expect if I’m honest. Slide film is much less tolerant of over and under exposure compared to colour negative film, and the range of light that it can capture in high dynamic scenes is less. You have to be much more careful and more exact with your metering. A trip to the Lake District and a prior walk around the block for a couple of test shots proved to me that it’s not too difficult to use in the right conditions and I will be using it again. The tones from this film are (I believe) slightly cooler than that of Velvia 50. I would like to try Velvia, and I will some day, but for now, I’m taking small steps with film and enjoying every bit of the journey. Provia 100F is definitively up there on my list of favourite films used to-date. Looking at this picture, you would be forgiven for thinking that it has had it’s colours messed with in post (processing) but I can assure you. This is as it came from AG Photolab with zero doctoring and image manipulation and looking at the negative itself, it is identical. I’m amazed and feel rather privileged to have been able to get rather nice results from my first attempt at using slide film. More please :-)