5 Frames of Kodak Ektar 100 rendered thru a Minolta MC 58mm f/1.4 – By Robert Kapp

Before I show you my 5 frames let me introduce myself. I’m Rob, 33 years old and my family and I are living in southern Germany. This is my first time trying my hand at writing and I hope i don’t screw it up. My film photography journey began 7 Years ago with an East German camera named Altissa Altix 5 and six rolls of Kodak Ultramaxx 400 which i saved from my neighbour’s trash can. Yes. In 2015, film was thrown away. What a waste. Maybe it was Kodak Gold I’m not completely sure. Not that it’s okay to throw Gold away!

However, my own inability to operate the camera correctly resulted in mostly overexposed results. So the Altix ended up in the drawer and, unfortunately, so did my hobby of photography as well, until the summer of ’21.

My first SLR camera

I saw this documentary on youtube. It was mainly about how film works, but also that there is kind of a renaissance of film. They also showed how film is developed and scanned and I found it all super interesting and exciting. So, I jumped on the hypetrain and bought my first SLR. A Minolta x-300 with a MD 50mm f1/.7 lens. Both in pretty neat condition.

Wow I was completely over the moon. It has a lightmeter and I can see what’s ACTUALLY IN FOCUS!! Nothing my Alitx Altissa 5 could provide. It was soo cool.
Several Cameras followed. But the x-300 is the most beloved one (at least for now. I have an SrT 303b in repair and maintenance).

The lens

The lens I used for the photos is the Minolta MC 58mm f/1.4. This lens was available in 4 different versions. In contrast to the first 3 variants of the lens, the last version “MC-II” from 1968/69 can convince with its performance. You can recognize it by the focusing ring. Earlier versions have a focus ring with a flat surface. The latest version’s focusing ring is not flat but “wavy” or as we call it in german “mountains and valleys” (Berg und Tal).

The soft colors and the magical bokeh of this lens are a joy to look at, AND adapted to my Fujifilm X-T1 with APS-C sensor (I use it mainly for Scanning of negatives), I can use it as a portrait lens, since the smaller sensor results in an effective focal length of 87mm (58 x 1.5).

First try with Kodak Ektar

So here are my 5 Frames of Kodak Ektar 100. The first and so far only time that I have used this film. We went on a little Sunday trip and i had time to take some photos.

Yes, I like flares. And in this case, they even fit into the composition quite well. For this photo I chose a fast shutter speed to “freeze” the drops flying off the wheel.

The rich red of this climbing frame is spot on. I love the high saturation. No post edit needed! Like always on this lens, the bokeh is…mmmh.

The focus isn’t spot on, but my daughter was in fast motion and the lens opened wide. I love those beautiful, beautiful colors.

This might be not necessarily a good photo but I love the bokeh. It looks like a watercolor painting.

Addition: The following wasn’t done with the 58mm, but with the MC 35mm f/2.8. I adore those vibrant colors.

So finally, yes, I will definitely have to put some more rolls of ektar in the fridge.

Thanks for reading guys! If you want to see more of my pictures, please visit my instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/finding_the_view/

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