Angels and Demons
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Bessa III Review Part 2
In Part 1 we looked at the film compartment of the Bessa III. I forgot to mention that there’s a 120 or 220 film selector on the backdoor which will show how long a roll of medium format film you’re using. There’s also a slot on the back for putting in the film stub to remind you what film type you’ve loaded into the camera. Don’t forget to do this if you change film types often. In Part 2 we will now look at the top plate of the Bessa III.
Personally I find this area of the camera to be the most well designed. I like it mainly for its simplicity and spacious layout. The shutter dial on the left is nicely integrated with the exposure compensation and the film ISO setting. By default the dial is locked to the red “A” which stands for aperture priority. To set the shutter speed you push the silver button while turning the dial to the desired value. To set the exposure compensation you do the same thing except this time you line up the red “A” marker (instead of the white marker) with the -2 to +2 scale. As for the ISO, you lift up the dial to move the internal wheel and release the dial when you are on the desired ISO. Very elegant and speedy operation.
In the middle of the top panel is the flash hot shoe. There’s also a standard PC flash outlet on the left which is covered by a rubber plug. I’ve used this once in a studio setting to trigger radio remote flashes and it worked quite nicely. A Bessa III with a flash/remote mounted is surprisingly easy to handle and well balanced.
Over on the right is the mechanical film counter, film advance dial and shutter button. The film counter is well spaced and easy to read. It will either advance to 10 or 12 depending on whether the 6×7 or 6×6 frame is chosen. If you are using 220 film it will advance to higher numbers respectively. The biggest area of debate is the shutter button and film advance dial. Some folks find this part a little too plastic-y and toy like. I don’t mind it all that much and the fact that it’s plastic means it weighs less and is easier to turn. I’ve only had one minor slip up which resulted in two frames overlapping slightly. The shutter button releases a leaf shutter which will be the quietest and most inconspicuous thing you have ever heard.
And finally, the viewfinder is just absolutely gorgeous to look through. It’s the largest and brightest of all rangefinders I’ve used. The frame lines are minimal and clear and they will shift as you turn the focus dial to correct for parallax. For the amount that the lens protrudes it’s surprising that it doesn’t really block the viewfinder at all. The lettering and font is also quite elegant and minimal with just the white “667″ on the front. In summary the controls are simple and intuitive letting you focus on what’s most important – your subject matter.
“Paris” by William Eggleston
“Paris” is a handsome book published by Steidl on the occasion of Eggleston’s exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in 2009. Eggleston – father of color photography – was commissioned by the Fondation Cartier to photograph Paris over the course of a 3 year period.
But don’t expect your typical tourist shots of the Eiffel Tower and the Musee Rodin. ”Paris” is the places and spaces in between: graffiti on glass, posters on walls, trash in see-through garbage bags. It’s all the things that you looked at without seeing while you are in Paris. There is a particular focus on planar surfaces and patterns and this is reinforced by Eggleston’s abstract drawings which are interspersed in between his photos.
The drawings are almost like maps or lines one would draw with their eyes while looking at photographs. Or maybe even a type of visual sheet music juxtaposing all the visual elements and motifs which Eggleston has honed throughout the years in his photographic practice. It’s wonderful how photographers like WE and HCB also choose drawing as a creative outlet. The camera is after all nature’s pencil.
As is expected from Steidl the book is beautifully crafted with sensuous black satin covers. It is organized into Books One and Two with Book Two containing several more drawings than Book One. Most spreads contain one photo/drawing with some containing two. This has the effect of forcing you to search for similarities or reasons for the pairings. Most of the pairings are drawings with photos although there’s always some pairings that break the rule. It’s quite an effective way to create more opportunities for the viewer to linger over the materials.
We built this city 2
Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Review Part 2 – Your First Prints
So now that you have installed the printer according to the instructions provided you are ready for your first color print. The steps are relatively straightforward as outlined in the below process for color prints and black and white prints.
Color Prints
Firstly select “Print” from the “File” menu and the window below should be displayed:
Let’s first concentrate on the right side of the screen “Color Management”
You will see here that the “Document” radio button is selected showing the current color profile of the file which in this case is ProPhoto RGB. Remember to use this file format and if you are a Lightroom user it is the default format. It is generally acknowledged that ProPhoto will give better renditions on Epson printers and K3 ink set. ”Color Handling” should be set to “Photoshop Manages Colors”. Note the warning about disabling the printer’s color management. ”Printer Profile” should be set to SPR3000 Epson Premium Glossy or whatever media you will be printing on.
Personally I like to print out a 4R Premium Glossy print first as a work print to check for color or any other major problems. As for “Rendering Intent” there are couple schools of thought. If you’ve read the “New Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing” by Rob Sheppard then you’ll know that he advocates sticking to either Relative Colorimetric or Perceptual so that you can master and start “seeing” in that intent. Others will tell you to see whichever intent looks more right to you on a case by case basis. For me, I will go with Relative Colorimetric as a default first and then if necessary switch to Perceptual to check if it is any better or worse.
Lastly, you want to select “Black Point Compensation” which will move the black point in your photo depending on the output gamut of the printer. For more details on BPC please check here. So up to this point the printing config on the R3000 is pretty much straightforward color prints. However, for B&W prints there’s a little catch that will stump you if you are not careful so read on.
B&W Prints
Up to this point the process for color and black and white prints is the same. To take advantage of Epson’s “Advanced Blank and White” (ABW) mode there are a couple things to note. Firstly in the “Color Management” screen the “Color Handling” setting needs to be set to “Printer Manages Color”:
IF YOU MISS THIS STEP THE ABW MODE WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE IN THE “PRINT SETTINGS” DIALOGUE BOX. To do the ABW fine tuning you then press the “Print Settings” button on the left side of the screen:
This will bring up the following dialogue box:
Where it says “Layout” in the above screen you want to choose “Print Settings” which will activate the following dialogue box:
Check to make sure that the “Advanced B&W Photo” option is available as a “Color” setting. Then select the “Advanced Color Settings” as pictured above. Which will take you to the following screen:
The only setting you want to adjust here is the “Tone”. This will adjust how dark or light the photo is printing. All other settings should be done in Photoshop proper and not through this panel. Now you can go back to the previous screen to make sure that the correct “Media Type” is selected and the “Photo Quality” is set to 1440 dpi or above (1440 should be sufficient). Also make sure that the “High Speed” setting is off for maximum print quality. Finally hit “Save” and away you go! Whew!
As you can see there’s a couple of steps that can be made redundant with some smarter algorithm and predictive programming. But that’s probably a future driver update.
Epson Complete Ink Cartridge Set for Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Printer
Sample print from Epson Stylus Photo R3000
Here’s a print using Epson A3 Semigloss Photo Paper. The subtle texture of the photo paper really matches well with the stone work inside the photo.
Before printing out the full size A3 above I printed out two smaller work prints using the Epson 4R Premium Glossy Paper. You can see that the second photo below has a more greenish tint whereas the first one is more natural which is the one I ended up enlarging.
Photo was taken with the Bessa III using Fuji Pro 400H film.
Epson Complete Ink Cartridge Set for Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Printer
“Postcards from America” by Jim Goldberg, Susan Meiselas, Paolo Pellegrin, Alec Soth, Mikhael Subotzky, Ginger Strand
From the Postcards from America website:
“Postcards From America Box Set
In May 2011, five Magnum photographers –Paolo Pellegrin, Jim Goldberg, Susan Meiselas, Alec Soth, Mikhael Subotzky – and a writer, Ginger Strand, set out from Austin, Texas, in an RV. Two weeks and 1750 miles later, they arrived in Oakland, California.
The resulting limited edition book is a collection of objects – a book, five bumper stickers, a newspaper, two fold-outs, three cards, a poster and five zines, all in a signed and numbered box – that collectively document the experience. Edition of 500, signed by all five photographers and the writer.”
I received my copy this past week and it has exceeded all my expectations of what a photobook can be. It’s like receiving a care package from your college friends who just went on a road trip – but this one is filled with photographic goodies. Aside from the typography the box is unassuming and it could have said Fedex or DHL instead. This sets the overall tone of what’s to follow as you open the box and discover its contents.
Even the sticker where the photographers and writer have signed their names is stuck on in a very non-ornamental way. The “cover page” as shown in the photo above is comprised of high contrast images of the objects and “postcards”. It gives a sense of cohesiveness to the disparate jumble of materials. This is definitely not Robert Frank’s “The Americans” as there is no singular view imposed but instead multiple disparate narratives. Whereas “The Americans” focuses on what can be seen “Postcards” is more about what is absent and searching without finding.
I think what the authors are getting at is that only in America can such contrast exists side by side. That America is a whole bunch of parallel universes both perceived and actual all wound up into one big hodge podge. This reading of the work is strongly alluded to in Ginger Strand’s writing in the various zines. And also in the “I went right, Jim went left; I went left, Mikhael went right” wherein we meet a conflicted character that is both a caregiver and abuser?
One of my favorite photos is the abandoned pool that is filled with turf and grass. It’s about making do and turning contradictions into something that seems almost natural. You don’t see that it’s a pool until you realize where the diving board goes. It’s photos like these that provide the anchors to the entire collection. I’m sure I’ll find some more gems as I digest the work over the next few weeks. Here’s a link to the official site.
Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Review Part 1
So I finally picked up a new printer after my HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One gave up the ghost. The HP served me well for many years as an all-purpose printer but I knew that my next printer would have to better meet my photographic needs. First and foremost it has to print out exhibition quality black and white prints. Space saving and affordability were also high up on the criteria list.
As for the brand I was impartial since I had owned both HP and Epson printers before and had good experiences with both. However, having read Rob Sheppard’s “New Epson Complete Guide to Digital Printing” a few of years back did sway me in favor of the aforementioned brand. I’ve always known Epson products to be highly durable as I have relied on my V700 to scan my films without fail for many years now.
So after doing some research into the latest and greatest I decided on the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 (SPR3000). And after about a week with the printer and outputting some decent work prints I can safely recommend it to the general enthusiast looking to get good quality prints without much fiddling around. So without further ado let’s look at what comes in the box shall we?
Unpacking the SPR3000
The SPR3000 is the size of a small side table when folded up. With the front and rear trays extended it takes up significantly more room. I leave it folded up when not in use to save space. Like most printers nowadays it is WiFi enabled so you can put it in your closet if you really wanted to. The rear tray is the auto sheet feeder for loading paper up to A3 in size. There’s an edge guide that can slide all the way to the right for loading smaller 4R photo paper. The front manual feed tray is the light gray piece in the front for loading things like fine art media, poster board and CDs / DVDs.
There’s a special carrier pictured in the bottom left corner that comes with the SPR3000 for guiding the CDs / DVDs into place. Beside it are the power cord and USB cable which is not needed after the initial WiFi setup. In the white box are the user manuals, CD ROM and two roll paper holders that can be installed on the back of the printer. The little orange thingy must be removed from the printer before use. Not pictured above are the 9 color and black ink cartridges that come with the printer.
The dealer where I got my SPR3000 from also gave me a whole stack of 4R Premium Glossy Photo paper samples which have come in handy for printing small work prints before larger ones. As part of the package there was also a 30 minutes introductory training course to start producing decent prints after setup. It helped going into the training to know a little bit about color management and profiles.
To be continued in Part 2…
“East: For the Record” published by Steidl
“East” is a photographic record of the historic events that occurred between August 1989 and January 1990 that brought down the Berlin Wall and reunited East and West Germany. However instead of using cliched newsroom photos of people standing on top of the Wall, it is the everyday lives of regular people during that time that is featured in the foreground and the “historical events” that serve as the backdrop.
The book is mainly written in German for a German audience however it does contain an English translation of the Forward, essays and photo captions to be found at the very end of the book. The main body of the book is the Photography section which is divided into the months August, September, Oktober, November and Dezember. Each spread is spaciously laid out with photographs, the Day. Month., name of the contributing photographer and a short caption. The overall effect is one of non sentimentality letting the photos individually stand on their own but all the while contributing to the overall tone and momentum. 90 % of the photos are in black and white with color serving as accents here and there.
It is a powerful testament to how history is written by regular people just by living the way they choose to and changing the course of history in the mean while. Would be great to see more photobooks like “East” that gives a clearer view of the everyday context that accumulate and add up to momentous events that affect all our lives.
If you like this review enough to buy the book, please purchase from the Amazon link here:
“EAST: FOR THE RECORD”
Sample image comparison from Leica M9 and Canon 5D Mark II
Leica M9 - 1/125 at f / 2.0, ISO 160
Canon 5D Mark II - 1/125 at f / 1.8, ISO 100
Leica M9 - 1/125 at f / 2.0, ISO 320
Canon 5D Mark II – 1/125 at f / 1.6, ISO 250
Leica M9 with the Summilux M 35 pre-asph gives that special Leica glow especially around the highlights and high contrast borders. Downside is the horrible coma effect around the point light sources which are absent from the Canon lens. Amazing what difference 20 + years of lens development makes. Your preference?
February 7th 2012 Update: 100% Crops
Here are some 100% crops of the above images:
Leica M9 - 1/125 at f / 2.0, ISO 320
Canon 5D Mark II - 1/125 at f / 1.6, ISO 250
