Lo-fi goodness

received the first batch of film shot through our new (old) camera - a 60's era Yashica A TLR. As a collector's item, this model isn't particularly valuable, as it was the cheapest in the Yashica line - simple three lens design, manual film advance, no light meter, and very simple mechanicals. It's simplicity has some advantages though - it's very easy to get multiple exposures, and it doesn't have that many parts to break.

I really like this camera. It's doesn't have the sharpest medium format optics out there, but it's sharp enough, and it's very easy to use. I think I'll have fun with this new toy. :)

Got Scans?

The cheapo all-in-one HP 1210 scanner/printer/copier/coffee table that i have beside the desktop produces really crappy film scans. I used to have an old Mustek flatbed that produced better scans than this.

I used the Mustek scanner at 4000 dpi to scan my grandmother's very old, worn and cracked B&W class photograph and extracted her portrait. After quite a bit of cleaning up and sharpening in Photoshop, I had it printed at 8X10 and it was quite decent, considering that the original scan area from the print was less than a square inch. And this was pre-USB days, working on a computer with an AMD K-62 processor at 350MHZ, 64MB RAM. Older version of Photoshop, version 5 I think.

I like this scan. Even if it looks like it was taken through a burlap sack. Probably because it's Aggie's photo. :)