Conspicuous by my Absense

Did you miss me?

It's been an age since I posted, but hey.. I have a life to be getting on with, and things to be photographing. That being said, I guess it's time for a catch up. So where did I leave you? Ah yes... The Chinon Bellami. Well there's no real gentle way to say this to you, so I'll just say it. It's dead. Destroyed. FUBAR. Kaput.

I suppose I should say that it was my fault entirely. I loaded it up with some slide film, and headed out to a quiet little place in Derbyshire called Burbage Brook for a day in the sun. So excited was I upon arrival that I was leaping from giant rock to giant rock (as you do), when I slipped, fell, threw the poor little Bellami out in to the distance where it smashed on a rock, slid (in slow motion) across the rock face, then disappeared over the edge in to the abyss. About a second later I heard a gentle 'plop' as it disappeared beneath the surface of the water and sank to it's demise.

Let's just say I was pissed off, and leave it at that.

Anyway, what else did I leave you with? Oh yes, the Yashica T2. Well I've had a couple of rolls through that and it was OK. Not amazing, not terrible, but OK. The lens is nice and sharp when it actually manages to find focus, but I seem to have half the roll out of focus, when normally I wouldn't. I've also found that it was a bit flimsy. The plastic seems a bit brittle and has already cracked around the battery compartment. So, as I said, it's OK. Here's a couple pictures from the T2.


I remember in my post about the T2 that I mentioned my little Olympus Mju I, and how great I thought it was. I'm happy to report that I still feel the same way. I have a few little Olympus cameras now of various vintages and I love them all. They seem to be well built, well spec'd, cleverly designed, and all give brilliant results. Here's a few recent pictures from the Mju. If you have chance to buy one, then just do it. You won't regret it.


I've been giving the old Olympus Trip a bit of a hammering over the last few months too. This is another Olympus that I love, but it's been giving me a bit of grief. I've had a temperamental red flag, and it was letting me take pictures when it really shouldn't have been. Anyone familiar with the Trip will know about the red flag that pops up when there isn't enough light for a good image. Well mine was having a hissy fit but a quiet afternoon getting intimate with the inner workings and it's good as new (I think...). Fingers crossed! Here's a few pictures I've taken with it since my last post.

The picture of the viaduct running over the river was taken in Knaresborough. I took that picture because I have an identical picture that my dad took back in the early 80's from the exact same spot. I always find it amusing to copy his pictures if possible. I guess it's my way of paying tribute to where it all began. The lomography shop in the picture above that was an interesting experience. I found myself pissed off at how expensive the kinder egg cameras were. There was some idiot hipster girl in there asking the chap behind the counter what all the knobs did on her new and overpriced Holga. What a swizz. Don't get me started...

Finally on the subject of Olympus cameras, let me introduce the very latest member of my gang. Hot off the press sometime between 1973 and 1983, and flying through my letterbox this very morning, my brand new (to me) Olympus Pen EE3.

I have used one of these little half frame cameras before, and I was genuinely impressed with the results. The genius of this thing is that it takes twice as many pictures on a 35mm roll as a normal camera. 72 shots on a roll? Yes sir. Thank you sir. This one is in mint condition and came in it's original box, with the original instruction manual and lens cap. Quite the bargain, considering what I paid for it!

I can't wait to get out and use it. I'm heading to Prague in a couple of weeks, then London, then Portugal a little bit after that, so I think this may just be with me the whole way.

So I'll leave you with the news that I'm going to try and sort a couple of proper shoots out soon, with some real life models, so hopefully there'll be some nice new pictures for you soon. In the meantime, keep checking the website as I'm always sticking pictures up there, including loads more from my period of absence.

See you soon!