Punch & Judy

Photographs

Insane violence.

Doubtless Punch & Judy are long retired in out woke society, but the shows were incredible fun. They usually ended up with the two puppets beating the hell out of one another, much to the delight of the children watching. A single puppeteer did all the work.

These snaps are from August 1973 in Kensington Gardens, London. Note how well dressed the children are in what was an upper demographic area:










Leica M3, 280mm Telyt, Visoflex II, Ilford FP4 developed in 1:50 Rodinal, rated at 250ASA. Negatives scanned on a Nikon D800, 60mm Micro Nikkor.

The Nikon D800 outfit

Nikon bodies, Nikon lenses

At bargain basement prices.

Having returned to FF DSLRs with the Nikon D800 one year ago, I thought it might be of interest to show my outfit now.

When Nikon discontinued its DSLR range in favor of newer mirrorless bodies, with lenses to match, two things happened. The price of the latest gear shot up and that of the discontinued hardware crashed. As a result, if your psyche can tolerate a flapping mirror, just as most have these past 75 years, then look to keep your check book bruised but not battered as you acquire some of the finest photography hardware ever made.


The kit today.

  • D800 body, $475 with just 16,000 shutter actuations. Yes the later D850 comes with 45mp (you do not need that many) and costs three times as much. Your call. Need wi-fi and a fold out LCD screen? Try the D750 at the same price with a more than adequate 24mp.
  • 50mm f/1.4 AF-S G Nikkor, just overhauled by Nikon – $113. Front left. All prices include original Nikon hood and both caps.
  • 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S G VR Nikkor, $415. Rear left.
  • 16-35mm f/4 AF-S G VR Nikkor, $315. Rear right.
  • 85mm f/1.8 AF-S G Nikkor, $238. Front right.
  • 60mm f/2.8 AF-S G Micro Nikkor, on the camera with film copying attachment – $267 + $60
  • MB-D12 vertical camera grip – $37. Front.
  • New Nikon battery, in the D800 – $60

There is nothing I can tell you about these lenses that is not already known – outstanding definition at any aperture, dead accurate and fast AF and robust but not heavy for what you get. Resale value? 100 cents on the dollar.

The Micro Nikkor will be sold when my film ‘scanning’ project is completed, making for a net kit cost of just $1,653. A Nikon Z8 mirrorless body runs some $3,800 and lenses are extra. Can you spell ‘Bargain’?

For all my Nikon lens articles click here.

Highgate Cemetery

Photographs

Atmospheric.

Along with Père Lachaise in Paris (Chopin, Jim Morrison, Proust), Highgate Cemetery in London is as atmospheric as these places get. Its most famous resident is Karl Marx and let’s hope he stays six feet under.

These were snapped in July, 1973 and for once I appear to have abandoned my favorite Kodak emulsion in favor of Ilford’s HP3 processed in Agfa’s high acutance developer Rodinal, diluted 1:50. Disclosure: TriX was better.







All on the Leica M3 with 35mm and 90mm Elmar lenses, the negatives ‘scanned’ with the Nikon D800.

50mm f/1.5 Summarit

Photographs

Fast flare.


The 50mm f/1.5 Leitz Summarit.

1972/3 saw me as a member of Leica Postal Portfolios which was a photo interchange/critique club where you circulated a large box of 12″ x 15″ prints by mail, adding yours and critiquing those of other members. It seems that it exists to this day. There were some 12 members in my group, a friendly bunch of Leica fanatics. You learned a lot and made some great friends. We all did our own processing and printing.

One of those friends loaned me his Leica 50mm f/1.5 Summarit lens which was as fast as they got back then. Two stops faster than my pedestrian f/2.8 Elmar, it was based on a 1930s Zeiss Xenon design (Leitz paid Zeiss royalties) and, while coated, still flared pretty mightily at full aperture. And full aperture it was when I headed out on the street to the nearest telephone booth:


Call girl. The Summarit at f/1.5. TriX.

I actually rather like the way the flare works here, enhancing the feeling of night. I just “rescanned” this with the D800 and it’s come up better than ever.

The Pushmi-Pullyu

Photographs

Two ended.

The Pushmi-Pullyu is a two headed unicorn-gazelle cross, one head at either end. It features in Hugh Lofting’s ‘Doctor Dolittle’ children’s books from the 1920s. In the Rex Harrison movie of 1967 it becomes a llama, but the design is much the same.

I was reminded of this when snapping these giraffes in London Zoo in November, 1972


Leica M3, Visoflex II, 280mm Telyt. TriX.

That hardware was a real pig to use but it worked fine with giraffes!


The Leica M3 with the Visoflex II and a 200mm Telyt. TriX.

The long Telyt lenses had manual pre-set diaphragms, weighing a ton, and the mirror attachment (adding further tonnage) required that the mirror be re-cocked/lowered manually after each exposure. A Nikon F would have been a better idea.