Camera Test 1

TEST PHOTOS with UNCLE IRVING'S OLD NIKKORMAT
While helping to sort through my Uncle Irving Skipper's household items, I decided to buy his old Nikkormat 35mm SLR camera to keep it in the family. Two of its special features are a Copal metal, vertical travel focal plane shuttle and a 55mm macro-focusing lens. A 2X telephoto converter lens was attached to it and I found a right-angle viewfinder attachment and a set of close-up lenses.
The camera is large and very solid. It is all manual, but has a built-in though-the-lens light coupled light meter. Since the battery was discharged, I had to estimate the exposure for this test roll. That isn't to hard when working in full sun or open shade and with color negative film which has a very wide exposure latitude. I used Kodacolor Gold 100, but thought it was 200. Still the exposures are good except for the self-portrait in the mirror. This was the second roll I shot with the Nikkormat. Based on its qualities I may continue to use it on a regular basis. (Click on the 'thumbnails'.)

Frame 1
While visiting a pawn shop with my father-in-law, I found this Kodak Signet 50 35mm camera. Uncle Irving had given me a Signet 40 for high school graduation and I used it until it was stolen while I was at the University of Arkansas. The photo print shows great detail which may not appear on a CRT.

Frame 3
I must have been thinking of Andrea Jeanne's self-portraits on one of her new pages. I decided to do a
hand-held, mirror reflection self-portrait this way. Unfortunately, I seriously underestimated the light from the eight large incandescent bulbs (beauty lights?) over the mirror at the in-law's house or perhaps I forget to set the speed and lens aperture. This was scanned from the print, not the negative and it required a lot of adjustment.

Frame 4
I took this shot of my mother-in-law's beautifully furnished formal living room to check the camera's flash sync. It is syncronized up to 1/125 second with electronic flash. It also has an 'M' sync for bulbs. Light from the flash was reflected from a mirror out of range to the left and caused a bright reflection near the drapes.

OLDER SLIDE
I took this slide many years ago. I probably used a Yashica Penta J 35mm SLR manual type camera. I'm substituting this photo for a copy of a copyrighted magazine photo. I may replace it with a 'macro' shot of a rosebud later.

Frame 8
I had found a few butterflys around this bush on the previous day and decided to check it again. There were many other insects, too, and birds were beginning to show some interest in the area. This scan is of a small area of the full negative.

Frame 10
This is what we always called a bumble bee. I think it is a carpenter hornet. I have seen them enter holes in the foundation logs of our old barn. They may also live in the ground. I have heard of men stirring them up while mowing hay.