The Mercury was fun to shoot, if a bit different. Focus is by scale only. Aperture is varied on the front of the lens. There is a depth of field scale on the front of the 'parking meter' bump, and a complicated manual exposure scale on the back of the camera. (I ignored it and… Continue reading Univex Mercury – results
Tag: half-frame
Week 83 – Univex Mercury
I can't remember when I first heard about the Univex Mercury, but I immediately knew I wanted one. Introduced in 1938 by the Universal Camera Company of New York, the Mercury was intended to compete with high-end German cameras of the time. It was the first American camera to achieve a shutter speed of… Continue reading Week 83 – Univex Mercury
Nishika N8000 – week 68 results
Well, the N8000 wasn't a complete failure. By that I mean it made images, and even decent ones. As a 3D camera, I'm not impressed. The amount of time needed to make a decent animation is more than I'm willing to spend. Perhaps better software could save it. As a camera in general, the 3D… Continue reading Nishika N8000 – week 68 results
Week 68 – Nishika N8000
For this week I've trotted out a curiosity. The Nishika N8000 is a stereo camera from the early 1990's. It uses fixed focus lenses to take 4 simultaneous half-frame exposures on 35mm film. It was originally intended to use lenticular printing to create 3D images which could be seen with the naked eye. (Think of… Continue reading Week 68 – Nishika N8000
Week 32 Results – Chaika II
The Chaika II is a handy little camera. It easily fit in my pocket and took decent images. The half-frame format would be nice for a travelogue, as you can fit up to 72 images on one roll of film. In this case, I was impatient so I spooled a short roll of HP5 and… Continue reading Week 32 Results – Chaika II
Week 32 – Chaika II
Produced sometime between 1967 and 1972, this pocket sized Russian camera shoots half-frame images on standard 35mm film. It has shutter speeds up to 1/250 and a 2.8/28mm fixed lens with scale focus. Interestingly, it has a flash sync port but no accessory shoe for mounting a flash. Mine is an export version with… Continue reading Week 32 – Chaika II
Week 11 – Pen EES2 Results.
Shooting with the Pen EES2 was not as fun as I had hoped. I haven't worked with it enough to trust the selenium/automatic combination. I could trust an uncoupled selenium meter because I can compare its readings to my opinion. With this camera however, I never know exactly what it's doing. The size and… Continue reading Week 11 – Pen EES2 Results.
Week 11 – Olympus Pen EES-2
For this week's camera, we swing the pendulum from medium format to sub-miniature. The Olympus Pen EES-2 is a half-frame camera from 1968-1971. It uses regular 35mm film, but it produces a 24x18mm image instead of the usual 24x36. This makes it a great camera for traveling, as you can fit up to 72 images… Continue reading Week 11 – Olympus Pen EES-2
Notes from Mosquito Hill 