Revisiting Golconda: Minolta Maxxum 9000

Couple of weeks ago, I made a quick trip to Golconda fort with my Minolta Maxxum 9000 loaded with Fujifilm 200 film. I managed to take some good pics while looking like a for-hire photographer. Hell, a couple actually approached me for a shot! 

There is ample evidence of light leak and overexposure and my crappy scanning system isn't really helping.

Some pics below:

Only one self portrait on the roll!

Small is Big: Olympus XA1

And so my film journey continues.

I got myself an Olympus XA1 today. Maybe I was destined to always end up with underdog gadgets,this particular model is actually in the lower rung of the XA series. But what more can I expect to find in a pile of garbage at the flea market? I didn't get it cheap though...the guy knew his stuff well.

While the other bigger siblings sport fast 2.8 35 mil lenses, this one has a humble f4. It still has rave reviews on the internet. The best part is it doesn't use a battery. A selenium meter takes care of the metering, with an interesting red-flag in the viewfinder to show underexposure. The shutter gets automatically locked...pretty neat. Wonder how that works.

Here are some pics of the camera (Taken with Lumia 800). I loaded it with a Kodak gold 100 to see how it fares. I'll update this post once the pictures are developed.

35mm f4 Zuiko lens surrounded by the Selenium meter

Kodak 100 ready to roll! Pun totally intended

Very light and no batteries to weigh it down.

I have small hands. The camera is smaller.

Alongside the mighty Yashica Electro GSN

I also noticed there is no good video of this awesome little camera on the internet. So I made one myself. I sound like beep and my hands aren't the best but the cam looks great!

Here it is:

Film Photography: Hotshot Sizzler

Let's start off the new year with a photography post. Cheap toy cameras have a cult following these days with the likes of Holga and Diana being the sought after brands. Unfortunately these are not so easy to come by in India and importing one can be expensive. I managed to get my hands on one 'Hotshot Sizzler'. Cheesy name, plastic lens and no focus whatsoever.

I loaded it with a Kodak 100 and carried it through the recent Delhi incident protests, and the streets of Charminar. I got the roll developed at a local studio and scanned it with my camera.

I goofed up on the focus distance and ended up with the monitor pixels appearing on all the pics. Was too lazy to do a retake so processed the same images.

Below are some good ones.

ONE of my resolutions for the new year!