Jim Simon photography


Film Photography and some other stuff, you'll see


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Yashica Mat



Medium format - there are SLR's and Rolleiflexes and Mamifujicontathisandthats, but I had a Yashica Mat and I was fine with that. I ddidn't use it a lot, probably because I found it almost impossible to get 120 film onto my film spool before I developed it, but once it was in the tank all was well. My current process is darkroom-free (shame on me...) so I only scan and whilst I have a very good 35mm scanner, my 120 stuff goes through my Epson V800 flatbed. It's ok. I'd print from the scan no worries, and it's certainly fine for putting into my Blurb books and so on.

I thought I'd never sell the Yashica Mat - it was my father's and reminded me of him, of his funky arty lifestyle in swinging London of the 60's, and, of course, it did make for great negs. However, the process of taking pictures was somewhat clunky, and I came to realise that the square format didn't, for me, make the most of medium format as I was always cropping to landscape or portrait orientations. So I have sold it - after I sent it off for a service and to check the winding mechanism was going to be reliable. After the cost of the work I didn't make anything much on the sale, but the new owner was happy and that's a good thing.

In it's place I bought a Fuji GW690II which gives me even larger negs and the 3:2 format wastes nothing as I don't really find myself cropping at all.




Smallcombe Sheep



Yashica Mat | FP4 | ID11

A photograph from a long long long time ago... Devon, my wife's family farm near Buckfastleigh.



Moto Guzzi Mille GT



Your Subitle Here



Oh look! My good old Guzz... This was soon after I got it, before I put a screen and more comfy bars on it. Moto Guzzi! That's a bike. Can't remember the nerdy stuff - probably FP4 again. Or was it Tri-X?



Spray



What it is.



Loch Slapin - Torrin School



Looking over the loch to Blaven. The perspective from the Yashica's 80mm lens gives a statuesque image. Naturally, here on the web site, there's little indication of the endless fine detail, and the impact of a large print is something else.



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