Roll #2 - Morris Dancers (Expired)

Fast moving Morris Dancers captured at the Bulls Head in Stoney Stanton, Leicestershire

It's doubtful I'll ever use a 70 year old Soviet camera as my primary tool for recording the truly important stuff in life, births, deaths, marriages, 'what's on my plate' pics etc. Pretty much everything else that falls within the scope of a slow-ish 50mm lens is fair game though, and I'm always carrying my phone camera for backup anyway.

I'm also using my phone for metering (and very occasionally phone calls), a much better solution I feel than the widely used, somewhat poke-and-hope 'Sunny 16' rule I used, quite successfully I think, for my very first roll of film.

Given that I may never know how accurate the shutter speeds are on this camera, I need to take as many variables out of the Aperture/Speed/Depth of Field equation as possible. I did briefly consider buying a matching Soviet-era Light Meter for the job, some of which look pretty cool and are often very cheap, but that means batteries and more importantly, questionable accuracy after all these years.

I'm carrying my phone anyway, and of course phones have light sensors, so I've decided to use the free Lightme app (right) for metering, which is as simple or complex as you want it to be (I very much like simple) and seems to do the job well enough.

The Market Buttercross in Oakham, conveniently not moving too fast and hence a decent image.

These two shots are the first fruits of proper light metering in bright sunlight, at least one of which, the impressive Sundial on St Dionysius Church in Market Harborough (left), is nicely focussed too. I think this is what this camera was designed for, static subjects, no human or animal life to spoil the vista with their unnecessary... err, movement.

The rest of the roll was exposed under the grey clouds and low light levels of midwinter, with subjects that just wouldn't stand still! There's also something else I should mention about these photos...

I'm ashamed to say that I currently have in my possession several rolls of Expired Film! Rather badly expired film as it happens. Film from the days before the rise and rise of digital photography. How old? Well think decades rather than years...

There's a lot that's been written about expired film and how to use it to best effect, but essentially it all comes down to knowing how the film was stored in the years prior to use. Needless to say I have absolutely no idea how these cartridges were stored, hence for the foreseeable future I'll be shooting not only in low light conditions, but also somewhat in the dark...

First up the traditional Mummers Play performed by Rutland Morris every year on Boxing Day. The main event occurs later outside The Vaults pub in Uppingham, but this year I fancied the early-bird dance-out at the Horse & Jockey in Manton for a bit of a change. A bigger crowd than I'd anticipated made photography difficult enough even without the hinderance of fast-moving Morris dancers, and here we find a recurring issue with focus (right), of which I suspect I know the cause.

More of that user mis-op I think. One of the key attractions of these cameras is the good quality collapsible lens which makes it just that bit slimmer in a leather case, and hence more pocketable. To set the lens to the correct focal distance involves pulling it out, twisting it round until it drops into the locking plane, then twisting it clockwise to lock the lens. I wasn't initially aware of this additional movement to lock the lens, so it’s possible that it may not have been fully extended on occasions. Only time will tell though...

Next up was the annual Plough Monday tradition of the Hinckley Bullockers, which involves pulling a decorated Plough around villages in South Leicestershire with regular stops for Beer and Molly Dancing. A gentle sedate English tradition that's just a little too fast-action for an old camera like this to capture on a grey overcast day. Many shots are out of focus again, many more a blur of low shutter speed, which sounds a bit like the workman blaming his tools so I'll say here and now that much of this was down to rushed user mis-op. Difficult conditions for sure, but they could and should have been much better. Note also the scratches on some, though not all of the negatives. I'm not entirely sure what's causing this but if it persists I may have to take the camera apart to investigate further.

So, what have we learned from this (long-expired) roll. First of all, taking the film to a more specialist developer was an interesting (ahem!) development. They were not in the least bit fazed by the expiry date and assured me it wouldn't be a problem, and sure enough it doesn't seem to have been. Most of the issues are clearly around my poor use of the camera, although I'd have to say it's becoming increasingly obvious that old slow-ish cameras like this one are better for static subjects than those with a tendency to move, and these Morris Dancers are a sight more lively than they're perhaps given credit for.

(Film was a Kodak something or other, ISO 200, developed by Classic Photo Supplies of Leicester)