The last few days with my new Leica were very productive. Even today I took some pictures although my hometown really isn’t all that interesting. Like most East German towns it has quite a number of abandoned buildings though, so it was really an exercise in urban exploration this time. Three rolls of Kentmere 400 and a bunch of abandoned shops and factories can make for quite a bit of fun! The only problem was that it was really quite cold, so in the end I was happy to be back inside with a nice hot cup of tea. Difficult to keep your hands warm in this weather, especially with a metal camera. At least it wasn’t raining for once though unlike the previous days. Winter really isn’t my season, that’s for sure!
My first look at the negatives from my Leica revealed that the Zeiss lens is really incredibly sharp even wide open. I can’t wait to see the pictures in full resolution! Technically I could scan them even here, but it would be a disgrace to get my first impression of the images from a low quality scanner. I will wait!
After showing you some of the best of the leftovers from last year I’m now back to some more recent shots. These were actually taken in the summer on the night of the world cup finals, but I only developed them recently.
All pictures taken with: Olympus XA, F.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8.
Kodak Portra 400 @800 developed in Tetenal C41 Negative Processing Kit.
This is definitely my favourite of this series. So very odd.
I love subway shots! Not bad that I could take this with the XA at ISO 800. On the platform it was too slow a speed though and most shots turned out too unsharp.
Everyone looks so bored! Colour correcting shots on the subway is terrible by the way. I suppose Portra is not exactly the right film for this kind of light anyway. CineStill probably works better for these kinds of shots.
Odd train. In all my time in Berlin I’ve only ever seen two of these.
Kebab times.
I can’t help finding this extremely creepy!
The in carriage shots have a pleasant 70s colour feel to them and the mannequins holding their throats i a bit worrying the one in the middle looks as though she it about to walk……….., Again XA and atmosphere
I just totally failed at colour correcting the carriage shots. Not sure whether it can be done – I used to have similar problems with digital. Weird light in those! I wonder whether CineStill fares better with those lights being a Tungsten film and all. And the mannequins are totally creepy …!
And the XA really did an amazing job on these at ISO 800. I should have tried to use it more for subway shots!