Stikkord: Fuji C200

Out walking with Fuji C200

A little while back, I bought some rolls of Fujifilm C200 colour negative film. A consumer film I remember very well to have used as a photo-interested teenager. Back then I had a Nikon F60, a camera that sadly has stopped working and that is too expensive to have repaired. I upgraded it with a Nikon F80 after it died. When I tried C200 again, I was excited to see how well this film actually performs, even today in 2021. On my first tryout I shot it at 160 just to be sure that I biased towards over-exposure and not under-exposure. I realized that I lost some shadows at 200, and I decided to go out once again the other day, but this time, I shot it at ISO 100. One stop over-exposure. I was a bit nervous about this tactic as I don’t know the films characteristics that well. I was afraid I would get the very «washed out» colours you get when you over-expose Fuji-films too much, but I needn’t worry.

My chosen camera for this outing, was the Canon T70. A camera that I find to have a very good light-meter and aperture-priority setting. Since I was out walking and scouting for possible locations, I shot it using aperture-priority. The camera is manual focus and you can set your aperture, so this program gives med decent control over my exposures even if I am not controlling the shutter-speeds myself.

An iPhone snap of the Canon T70. When this image was taken it was on frame 24.

Over-exposing colour negative film is normally not an issue. The dynamic range is made to deal well with over-exposure and you get more details in the shadows. Exactly what I wanted for this outing. My location this time is Steinsodden, a little islet that is accessible by foot in spring-time when the water in the lake is low. Once the snow-melt in the mountains pick up and reach the big lakes, this islet is inaccessible without either using a boat or getting wet. The name of the Islet is «Steinsholmen» or «Steinsborga» as the locals say. It is home to the ruins of a medieval castle that you can read more about if you google «Mjøskastellet». The ruins are protected, and when I was there id didn’t see any reasons to photograph it, as some moron has figured out that putting up barrier-tape around was a marvelous idea. It is just ugly and dis-respectful to the historic site and I guess the medieval king who got it built will haunt this moron forever! (At least I hope)

Reklamer

But.. No-one reads this blog for my thoughts about barrier-tape in nature, you want to see my images:

The path – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8. f8 – Fujifilm C200@100 Tetenal C41

The first image I am going to show here, is this lovely image of the path leading towards the islet. I just love all the leading lines giving this image the depth it has, and I also love seeing that I have retained so much shadow-detail with my process of over-exposing. I was a bit concerned as the day was very sunny, but not even the sky in the background is completely «blown out». Also, with my Epson v600 scanner, this film is very easy to scan. I am having trouble getting good scans of 35mm Ektar, but the C200 really is a star.

Some nice rocks – Canon T70 w 50mm Canon f1,8 – Fujifilm C200@100 – Tetenal C41

I really love the way this image turned out. I cannot remember whether this image was taken at f4 or f5,6, but it gives a very nice focus area, and a very smooth and sift background. It is so nice that the snow is melting and that I once again can take these nature-detail images that I love looking for. I have not corrected this image for sharpness or haze, but I have tinted the colours slightly, as they were a tad too green for my liking.

Reklamer

The last one that I will show in this post, is a shot at your famous f11. The main setting of the landscape photographer. It is an early afternoon view over the lake and the weather was indeed very sunny and harsh. Even so, I see that the film coped very well with the over-exposure and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

The view – Canon T70 w50mm Canon f1,8. -Fujifilm C200@100 – Tetenal C41

I am actually surprised how well this film works and considering its price, it is quite good value for money. I might very well be shooting it again soon.

Church photography and Fujifilm C200

One of my preferred subjects for winter photography is churches. I find them to be inspiring and they always spark some kind of interest in my photographic work. I will elaborate this somewhat in this entry.

On a recent outing, I visited two very beautiful and different churches along with my new acquisition, the Canon T70 and a roll of Fujifilm C200. This film is a consumer level colour film that I tended to prefer using back in the day, around 2004 when I was given my first SLR camera, an Nikon F60. This combination, the F60 and the Fujifilm C200 (or its equivalent at the time) was what sparked my interest in photography. Sadly, out of pure vanity and neglectance, I haven’t used this for a very long time, but when I saw a three-pack of C200 at a discontinuation sale at a “everything shop”, I bought it and suddenly remembered why I loved using this film. It really has some “zing” to it that I really like. 

The most spectacular of the churches I visited on this outing, was Skute kirke, near Hov in Søndre Land. Finished  in 1915, it sought to be a “modern” take on the Norwegian Stave churches, and the architect Ole Stein was clearly both inspired by Art Nouveau and Stave churches when drawing this church. It was named after one of the neighbouring farmers, Peder Skute, who gave land for the construction under two conditions. All locals should be given the right to a free burial, and the graves should never be removed. This promise has been kept alive until this day. 

Side door at Skute church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160

To me, Skute is one of the locations I always return to for church photography. It is such a beautiful and special building that I find to inspire my photography because of its beautiful lobster red colour and its colourful details in doors and ornaments. This is the first time I have been here in winter time, and if possible, the snow made it even more striking.

Their prominence and “standing out” of the environment is one of the reasons I like shooting churches. They are built to be proper landmarks and people tend to be very proud of their church and something they talk proudly of when asked. Often, when I am working around churches with my cameras, I get to speak to locals and employees and am often granted access to the inside as well. Sadly, I didn’t meet anyone at this trip to Skute, and was not able to photograph the incredible Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau inspired interior, but I met a local lighting a candle on a grave, who welcomed me and was very happy to see someone photographing the church he was so proud of. 

Reklamer

Another reason why I tend to shoot churches in winter time is accessibility. In the Norwegian winter, the amount of snow makes your options for locations limited to where it is in some way prepared for people to move about. The area around a church is always plowed and there are always some paths around the graveyards to walk on while taking your photos. Churches also provide some contrast and colour in an otherwise quite uninspiring and monochromatic winter landscape. Making them ideal for photography.

Scenes from Skute church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160

Earlier on the day I visited the much older and more traditional Fluberg Kirke. About 25 minutes away from Skute, this is another church that I tend to revisit. Working around Fluberg is great for detail shots and the lovely aerial view over the lake Randsfjorden with its closest settlements Fluberg and Odnes. This is also just a few minutes walk from Meierilandet, where I did my Expired roll of Mitsubishi MX-III 400, and to get to Skute, you cross the bridge you see in that entry, 

Reklamer

Fluberg Kirke was built consecrated in 1703, but its wind flag says 1699 indicating the year it the land was consecrated. At its time, Fluberg was built to be the main church of its are, and hence in the most exquisite way imaginably at the time including three galleries seating in total 450 people for a sermon. 

Main gate from Fluberg church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160

On this outing, I looked at shooting details around the church rather than aerial shots of a white church in white snow, and I must say that I am becoming very fond of the Canon T70 camera. This is definitely a camera I will be using more in the future. I will probably extend my collection of lenses suiting it to contain a wide-angle and a short tele-foto lens in addition to the 50mm. 

Also, using the C200 again was a fun experience. This time I chose to set the camera light meter to ISO160, on third of a stop over exposure, to make sure the camera would bias that way if hesitating. I find that this works very well for what I wanted to achieve with this shoot. Even though there are better, sharper, finer grained and in general more flexible, but for its price, C200 is a very good choice and alternative.