5 Frames in Barcelona with Leica M3 and Lomography Potsdam – By Steve Karsten

I went to Barcelona for the first time in September of 2019.  I was in awe of the beautiful, vibrant city as much as the beautiful, vibrant people that live there.  Walking Barcelona was quite enjoyable, and whenever I got tired there was always a nice little vermuteria nearby.  For those that are not in the know: good vermouth, a couple cubes of ice, carbonated water, an olive and an orange makes for the most beautiful day time drink you could ever wish for. (please follow appropriate age guidelines, cheers)

I love shooting on rangefinders and for a long time my preference has leaned towards the Leica M2, mainly because of my love of the 35mm Zeiss Biogon f/2.8. But, as it will happen, I started to drift towards the 50mm focal length, and even though it is nice to have the M2 and the ability to see your subject enter the frame. Long story short – this is only my preference – but I really enjoy shooting 50mm on a Leica M3. It is just soooo clean in that big, beautiful viewfinder. 

So that was the combo I found myself shooting with whilst walking the Catalonian streets: A 1960 Leica M3 and the Summicron dual range (I kept the goggles in the bag).

While walking throughout the winding streets of the Gothic quarter and into El Raval I stumbled upon a Lomo store.  The store manager was very friendly and we chatted in spanglish about shooting film and whatnot.

After that pleasant interaction, I walked out with my first ever roll of Lomography Potsdam Kino (a rebirth of sorts for a classic german cine film stock). I wanted to spend more money on some of the gorgeous refurbished polaroids, but one roll of film would have to do.

Overall I’m quite pleased with the tones. I love the contrast, of which there is more than I thought there would be based on the reviews I had read.  It did pretty well with the shadows. The most interesting characteristic for me is the combination of low grain that has a softness rather than a sharpness to it.  Keep in mind these are low end scans done at home, on a canon scan 9000f.  Not sure how this holds up in the dark room or when professionally scanned, but for my intents and purposes I like it.  

My love for Lomography film has been growing after early skepticism kept me at bay. I wouldn’t say I am going to stop bulk loading Ilford HP5 anytime soon, but I definitely won’t hesitate to run some more Lomography rolls, especially b&w, through my camera in the future.

Stay safe everyone!
insta: @stevekars

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