Film Fun Folio #26: Franka Solida (2.0) and Rollei RPX 25

Periodically, I'll be posting scans of some complete rolls of film on here, showing both the good and the bad, and giving some basic information as well a little write up of the shoot as well as the reasons why I selected each camera and film.  Enjoy the trip! 

Feature #26:

Camera: ca. 1952 Franka Solida II with Schneider Radionar 75mm f/2.9 lens.

Film: Rollei RPX 25

Locale: Central Maryland and nearby.

Though the camera is called a Franka Solida II, I'm calling this camera a Franka Solida 2.0, as it is a replacement for my original unbadged Franka that I got in late 2014.  The original gave great results, but had a extremely fidgety shutter whose stickiness resulted in far too many lost shots.  I had a replacement on my radar for months, and finally found one with the same Schneider Radionar lens in January.  The shutter works great, though the lens shows some signs of internal fungus.  I elected to give it an initial try before seeking to remedy the issue on this camera (or trying to switch lenses) and here are the results. 

1 - Frederick, MD - f/2.9, 1/25 - Looking like some sort of photo taken on an Arctic expedition a century ago, I can't speak of what didn't quite go as expected with this image. 

Film Fun Folio #2: Balda Lisette and Rollei RPX 25

Periodically, I'll be posting scans of some complete rolls of film on here, showing both the good and the bad, and giving some basic information as well a little write up of the shoot as well as the reasons why I selected each camera and film.  Enjoy the trip! 

Feature #2:
Camera: ca. 1938 Balda Lisette 645 120 folding camera
Film: Rollei RPX 25
Locale: Washington DC and Central Maryland
May and June of 2015

I really enjoyed the results of Rollei RPX in the Franka Solida, but when a shutter hang issue precluded its use not too long ago, I had to find an alternative for shooting this really great film.  The obvious default was the Balda Lisette, largely due to it being the only other 120 in my possession with a lens as fast (f/2.9) as the Franka.  Having only run one roll of film through the Lisette, I was a bit leery about the results I might get at wider apertures, particularly given how much I liked the results from the Schneider lens on the Franka, but I had to take the chance to see how this Trioplan could perform with this stunning slow speed film!

1 - Washington DC - f/2.9 1/100 - I started with a monochrome version of the very same shot that started off my Agfa roll last week.  As much a fan of color photography as I am, I have to say that I am far more partial to this shot, which carries a more powerful composition in shades of grey.

Fun with Film: Rollei RPX 25

In a world dominated by speed, sometimes, it can be a little refreshing to slow things down. The world of cameras is no different. Today's digital equipment can shoot at ISO speeds unheard of just 20 years ago, when 3200 speed was a pure adventure in graininess.  My two digital cameras will actually shoot no slower than ISO 200, which I am not always thrilled about.  

The reason is that I sometimes would like to shoot sunny scenes at a wide open aperture to get thin depth of field and good bokeh, and the 1/4000 top shutter speed doesn't always cut it at an aperture of f/1.4.  The only alternative is to put on a ND or polarizing filter to cut off the light coming to the sensor.

So I was naturally intrigued to see an ISO 25 speed film among the options available when I got back into shooting film, and snapped up a roll to give it a try.  Only later, after getting a 120 camera with an f/2.9 lens, and finding that it actually worked pretty well, did it occur to me that I had a perfect combination of film and camera to test, and I wasted little time loading up my Franka Solida with this neat find.  

This, my friends, is Rollei RPX 25 film.