Ladies and Gentlemen, The Ansco B2 Speedex Junior

I purchased this beautiful vintage Ansco camera for $0.99us on e-bay. It’s fast becoming one of my favorite 120 cameras. Not a great deal of information on the web but I was able to find the following:

- Made in (or around) 1945 in the US
- Uses 120 film
- 1/30th sec shutter
- f-stops 11 through32
- Has "time" mode for long exposures
- Camera boasts a "deep" area to load the film - meaning that a 35mm canister fits perfectly should you want to shoot 35mm "sprocket" photography

Strangely enough, I shot the image above of the Ansco B2 Speedex Junior with 31 year old Kodak Ektachrome film using my Canon FP camera and 50mm FL lens. I purchased the film on e-bay. Seller claimed frozen since 1978! I've mentioned it many times and I'll say it again...storage is the KEY in film. I've purchased expired film from 2006 and have had miserable results. Storage is the key.

Here are a few images I took in the last few weeks using the Ansco B2 Speedex Junior


Stream off of Hamburg Turnpike, Butler, NJ USA 4/21/2010 - Kodak Ektachrome E100sw (film expired 7/2004)


One of the many buildings in the Butler Center industrial complex. Home of my studio and The Film Photography Podcast 4/21/2010 - Kodak Ektachrome E100sw (film expired 7/2004)


The Ansco B2 Speedex Jr loaded with 35mm Kodachrome 64. Oops, I forgot to tape the red window on the back of the camera (when using 35mm film)

By using 35mm film in the Asco 120 film camera, you will be able to shoot your image on the entire piece of film. This is also known as “Sprocket Photography” or “Sprocket Revolution.” Fun stuff.


Flip Side Records in Pompton Lakes, NJ USA
A real joy to have an indie vinyl shop near by. Flip Side has been around since the 1980s. One peek inside and you’d think it was still 1984!




William Hellfire and Erin Russ record shopping at Flip Side Records. Open shutter and hand-held flash created the “trippy” effect.


Spontaneous laughter from Erin Russ when I took out the Ansco B2 Speedex Junior folding camera and snapped a quick picture.


I used the “T” time fuction to keep the shutter open about 30 seconds. Shot of me sitting in my studio.

What can I say…I love The Ansco B2 Speedex Junior!

Ansco links
http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Ansco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansco

http://www.jollinger.com/photo/cam-coll/histories/history-ansco.html

Sprocket Hole Photography!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprocket_hole_photography

The Film Photography Internet Radio Show
http://www.filmphotographypodcast.com/

My Film Photography Flickr Page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelraso/

Images © 2010 Michael Raso

Color Balance - Scanning Kodachrome

Although I discuss, write, blog, shout, jump up-and-down “Ad Nauseam” about shooting on film as a medium, I am thankful for the amazing amounts of digital tools available to all photographers and filmmakers (regardless of what medium is being shot). I rely so heavily on the Epson v700 scanner and Adobe Photoshop that they’re the equivalent of running water and the automobile – things that you have and use every day that you take for granted.

I produce and host a monthly internet radio show called The Film Photography Podcast ( iTunes or http://filmphotographypodcast.com/ ) A listener named Rob sent me an e-mail expressing his frustrations of “color balance” from his Kodachrome slide scans. He wrote:


“I listen to your podcast every month and just looked at your blog and noticed the Kodachrome picture you recently posted.

By the equipment, I noticed you used what I assume is a flatbed scanner. I have a decent model scanner (Umax Powerlook 1100) and it takes me forever in Photoshop to get the original color of the slide.

How did you do your scans and what settings do you use? Do you have any specifications for scanning?”

I e-mailed him the following letter that I’d like to share here.

Hi Rob,

I’m using an Epson V700 scanner - scanning slides (including Kodachrome) using the Epson software that came with the scanner. I scan at 2400 or 3400 dpi, not making any adjustments (or corrections) in the Epson software.



I then open the image in Adobe Photoshop (I'm using Photoshop version 7).

I (almost always) have to make a color adjustment (Kodachrome images that I have shot and scanned always leane toward Magenta on the Epson v700)


Erin Russ Kodachrome image in Photoshop 7.0 (scanned using the Epson v700). Upon scanning, expired Kodochrome film tends to lean to Magenta in the Epson v700

I select Image > Adjustment > Color Balance from the drop down pallet. Photoshop 7, gives me sliders that allow to adjust colors (Cyan to Blue) - (Magenta to Green) - (Yellow to Blue).

Photoshop 7 also allows you to select a drop down called Hue/Saturation. I've found the Hue adjustment in this drop down to be fairly ineffective in adjusting color. I have, however, found that the saturation slider quite useful of you want more color "punch" in your image.

Lastly, minor adjustment in the white/black levels (drop down Image > Adjustments > Levels)



Final images after making minor adjustments in Photoshop 7



If you are not using Adobe Photoshop, snoop around in the software you are using to see if there is a similar function. If not, you might be able to download a trial version of Adobe Photoshop to try it out.

Note that many scanners come bundled with Photoshop Elements

Hope this was helpful

Michael Raso

Images © 2010 Michael Raso

Film Photography Blog
http://michaelraso.blogspot.com/

The Film Photography Internet Radio Show
http://filmphotographypodcast.com/

Film Photography Podcast Flickr Group
www.flickr.com/groups/filmphotographypodcast/

Thanks to the super Erin Russ.

Death meets Kodachrome

Last fall Erin Russ asked me to shoot photos of her for the Spring 2010 issues of “Girls and Corpses” magazine.





After my ear-to-ear grin subsided, I said a hearty “yes.” I love a photo challenge and I looked forward to picking and packing my favorite vintage camera gear for this sinister assignment. Another Grinch-like smirk appeared on my face, knowing that I’d shoot this project on the defunct Kodak Kodachrome film stock.





Invented in 1935 and discontinued in 2009, Kodachrome film is unlike any other film on the planet. The image shot on this amazing stock creates an image with “ridges.” Color is systematically added in the processing - producing an amazing color (known for its brilliantly warm skin tones).



The film is also amazingly archival. Surviving Kodachrome slides from the 1930s remain as vividly brilliant as the day they were shot. Simply amazing.



Kodachrome is gone but I have a special stash hidden away for special projects this year. On December 31, 2010 the last processing batch will occur.



Eight more months of Kodachrome joy.

Images © 2010 Michael Raso

Gear used:
Canon AE-1 Program
Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 S.S.C. Lens
Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 Lens
Kodachrome 64 film
Epson V700 scanner

Thanks to Erin Russ and William Hellfire for thinking of me for this fun project.

Girls and Corpses Magazine - Issue 10, Spring 2010 (featuring Erin Russ)
http://www.girlsandcorpses.com

Film Photography Internet Radio
Hosted by "Yours Truly" and Duane Polcou
http://filmphotographypodcast.com/

How to Make a Monster (on Ektachrome)

My day-to-day job for the last 15 years has been spent producing and marketing low-budget movies to the US home video market. The daily grind is rewarded anytime I can get away from my desk and into the studio for hands-on filmmaking or photography.

This was the case in early December when I had the opportunity to collaborate on the poster art for our upcoming DVD release of Chris LaMartina’s movie “Book of Lore.”





Paige Davis and myself designed the poster concept. She handled the make-up and I shot the images. The soon-to-be-horrifying model was Erin Russ. Gordon Roberts handled final layout in Photoshop CS.





Because of the time to apply make-up to Erin, I absolutely made sure that I had enough coverage by shooting with three cameras. Overkill perhaps, but you know the old expression, “better safe than sorry.”





I loaded my Shanghai Seagull 4A and Yashica-A cameras with Ektachrome 64T 120 tungsten balanced film. Since each camera only holds 12 exposures per roll, I used two cameras to speed up the shooting process (by not having to stop and re-load film). The third camera was my Canon AE-1 35mm loaded with Kodachrome 40 tungsten balanced film. Shooting with the AE-1 really didn’t take much more time and served as the “back-up” should anything go wrong with the 120 film in processing.

The shoot went smooth and was a lot of fun. Ultimately the final image chosen for the poster was shot with the Shanghai camera on Ektachrome film.



Chris LaMartina's BOOK OF LORE/GRAVE MISTAKES Horror Double Feature will be released on DVD May 12th, 2010

All images shot by Michael Raso
Poster art © Camp Motion Pictures, L.L.C.
Film processing: Dwayne’s Photo
Scans: Epson v700