Park Life with a Ihagee Exa 1A

At a brisk walk, the local park is about 4 minutes from the front door of the house. That helps with the need to escape. A job once enjoyable, has become so entangled in a growing web of mind numbing legislation. Now work feels like a sentence for some past crime I can’t recall committing. Actually I am lucky really. The Isle Of Man is a beautiful place to call home. A short walk to beaches and a short drive to dramatic hills. But the job… the job so rarely allows enough time to go out for a whole day with a camera. So when brief opportunities present themselves, I’ll slip out to the park. Sometimes starting there early before the chaos of the day begins. Sometimes even strolling around the park with the camera after nightfall.

A Recreational Space

The town of Ramsey was at its zenith during the late 19th century. Guest houses were packed every summer with visitors from the UK and the town needed a recreational space. Mooragh Park was created in the Victorian era from a coastal swamp. Eventually the park boasted a 12 acre boating lake as well as gardens, wooded areas and pathways. To this day it remains a focal point and the start and or finish for many sporting events. It has a well kept look in places, yet some grass areas are left uncut to encourage wildflowers and insects.

Pockets of Tranquility

This is no huge London or New York city park, yet it provides pockets of tranquility. The main areas of Mooragh park support diverse bird life and provide plenty of photo opportunities. To the west the park is flanked by a small area of steep banks planted with trees. Again this part supports a healthy bird population and the trees can help create some lovely lighting conditions. This is where I am drawn most, amongst the trees, along the paths that criss cross the steep sides.

Take the Ihagee

Stepping out for the front door, minded to go somewhere else, my route somehow usually ends up taking in the park. I’ll try and assess the weather then choose appropriate camera gear. Strong sunlight, maybe birds in the trees, so a 100-400 zoom. Overcast… maybe the macro lens and flash, as the park is great for invertebrates. Of course a film camera or several will just have to go in the bag too. Feeling somehow emboldened recently, there have been occasions when there is no digital in the bag and some how I cope. On a walk in February, the Ihagee Exa 1A and a roll of Fomapan 200 Creative became the tools of choice. This lovely Dresden made machine with a waist level finder, came with a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm. This is ‘Zebra’ version of this lens and they can be prone to very tight focus rings.  This one still suffers with this and after a clean, it seemed better until I reassembled it putting a little metal key back in it’s rightful place in the provided slot to guide the movement.  It all looked clean, it fits well, yet without this in place the focus is very light, put it back in and the focusing needs quite a lot of pressure to turn.  I decided Zeiss knew more about what they were doing than I, so it all went back together and I’d have to live with it for now.

Taking in the Trees

The Ihagee isn’t exactly a sports action camera. At my age, with SLR (Slowly Lagging Reflexes) setting in and that focus ring as it is, best not go for moving targets. Happily there was some lovely directional winter light, making the tree covered banks look special. Up and down the various paths, just admiring the textures as strong light fell on stout tree trunks. A digital would have worked for this too, but the pace wouldn’t suit the atmosphere. Just taking in the trees leaning on them, touching them. Wandering around and shooting with a camera like the Exa 1A and half an hour can fly by, in what seems like just a couple of minutes. Losing the aluminium screw from the bottom of the leather case somewhere along the way was frustrating, but never mind. Returning home in a better frame of mind has to be a good outcome. Maybe this is how photography should be.

Cutting the negatives

The camera was such a joy to use, it wouldn’t matter if results were awful. Then a pleasant surprise as the negatives were being cut. Some, in fact most, were roughly in focus. Generally they had a sort of a warm feel that I liked. The previously untested camera, in combination with this lens and film had produced some images that pleased me anyway. A film new to me, an old camera from a job lot at an auction and results that were personally satisfying. This will do nicely.

The camera and park combination can yield more yet I feel sure. Feeling good about the Exa, I located a set of Ihagee bellows and a better Jena 50mm. These lenses will focus very close anyway, but the bellows make a huge difference. As summer comes along and if work doesn’t get in the way all the time; maybe some invertebrate photography with the Ihagee rather than reaching for the digital every time.

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