Desert Ghosts

 Adox Golf Cassar 75mm f4.5 Ilford FP4 Plus Caffenol-C-M OK so they are not ghost, I continue to fight the battle of the bellows pins first mentioned in my post Of Pin Holes, Electrical Tape and The Big Ass Peach. I enjoy using the Adox Golf so much I refuse to retire it to a shelf as a display only camera. I want this one as a shooter. The effect in this case, if not desired, was certainly interesting, resembling spirits past roaming a desolate landscape. Time for more work with the flashlight and electrical tape.

More Desert Caffenol

Adox Golf Cassar 75mm f4.5 Ilford FP4 Plus Caffenol-C-M - Another shot from my trip to the Sonoran Desert, being a life long East Coaster, the desert landscape seems more like Mars than the United States. Unfortunately, the short nature of my business trip did not allow the time to truly explore this alien land, but getting one roll in was enough for now...

After Desert Coffee

Adox Golf 75mm f4.5 Cassar Lens Ilford FP4 Plus Cafenol-C-M - A shot from the Sonoran Desert just outside of Phoenix in Carefree AZ.. The combination of Ilford FP4 Plus and Caffenol-C-M, did an outstanding job controlling the contrast if the desert mid-day sun. Despite battling bellow pin hole issues, I love shooting with my Adox Golf, it remains my favorite pocket medium format camera.
Scanned using an Epson V500 Photo using Epsons OEM Software.

Chateau Elan exposure no. 8

Adox Golf  Cassar 75mm f4.5 Fomapan 400 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - Another shot from Chateau Elan, this time the front of the winery and its fountain. Though a modern facility, the Chateau Elan Winery has a great vintage look and Paddy's Irish Pub right next door serves a great Bloody Mary.

Chateau Elan exposure no. 2

Adox Golf  Cassar 75mm f4.5 Fomapan 400 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - Some places are perfect for an analog camera and black and white film, Chateau Elan, north of Atlanta, Georgia is one of the places. Good Food, Good Wine and Great Company. This was shot looking toward the rear of the Winery through the vineyards. Thanks to the overcast sky there were no light leaks from my Golf.

Of Pin Holes, Electrical Tape and the Big Ass Peach

Adox Golf  Cassar 75mm f4.5 Fomapan 400 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - I love my Adox Golf. The Golf is the perfect medium format snap shot camera. It is simple, compact, has a nice lens and an uncoupled rangefinder. I bought mine off eBay in great conditional, the overall appearance is mint and the original leather case is in perfect condition, exactly the day to day shooter i wanted.... or so I thought. On shooting the first roll a discovered a hidden flaw, a pin hole somewhere in the bellows. No big deal, I have dealt with these before, a half an hour in a dark room with a flash light inserted into the back of the camera and the offending leak was found and patched with electrical tape. Problem solved.... I happily headed back out on an overcast day and shot my 2nd roll and it came out fine, but the key word here is "overcast." A few months pass and I had to do some traveling so decided to pack the Golf, again its size makes to the perfect travel companion along side my Nikon P7000. Most of the trip saw overcast skies, but I did manage to shoot most of a roll of Fomapan 400, saving the last few shots for the trip home.

Those of you that have ever driven through Gaffney, South Carolina on I-85 have seen the "Big Ass Peach," apparently also called "The Peachoid," but I prefer Big Ass Peach, it is more accurate, from the right angle it looks like a Big Ass. My plan was to pull off and get a great analog shot of the peach on my way home. I reached Gaffney and merged off the interstate and headed for my target. I pulled into the parking lot of the Fatz Restaurant conveniently located at the foot of the Big Ass Peach and stepped into the glaring Mid Day Sun to take my shot. Well, as you can see above, I missed a pin hole. I got the same result on my shots of the Possum Trot School, located on the same exit. So out comes the flashlight and electrical tape for another round of pin hole finding... Note to self, Test in direct sunlight....

untitled exposure no. 8

Adox Golf  Cassar 75mm f4.5 Fomapan 400 Arista 76 1:1 - Spring Hill Cemetery Lynchburg, Virginia. I repaired the pinhole on the bellows of my Adox Golf and needed to test it in daylight. Fomapan 400 is s beautiful film for it's speed and really shines with Arista 76 Developer 1:1. The quality of the Cassar 75mm is also apparent in this shot. I am slowly mastering the uncoupled rangefinder in this camera and the Golf may become my Pocket Medium format rangefinder for choice. That is, unless I track down a Original Mamiya 6 with an "unfogged" Zuiko Lens.

Loss

Adox Golf Cassar 75mm f4.5 Adox Art CHS 100 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - Sometimes mistakes work. Another shot with the Adox Golf. One where I forgot the rangefinder was uncoupled. The bench should have been the focus point, but obviously things did not work out that way. They more a look at this image the more a like it. It seems to convey some base emotion. Maybe it is just me.

DANGER

Adox Golf 75mm f4.5 Cassar Lens Adox Art CHS 120 Adonal (Rodinal) 1:50 - From my first roll with my newly acquired Adox Golf. One of the shots I remembered the rangefinder on this folder is uncoupled. Seemed only fitting to use Adox film and Adonal for this camera's first roll. This film/developer combo seems to be a definite winner, giving a very "vintage" look.

The Adox Golf

My new folder. My eternal search for the perfect Folding Medium Format Camera continues. Meet the Adox Golf. It's uncoupled rangefinder was the bane of my existence while shooting my first roll with this camera, as the extra step of setting the lens from the rangefinder's measurement was foreign to me. The 75mm f4.5 Cassar lens is nice and sharp (when you remember to set the focus), and the range finder is crisp and accurate. The overall make and feel of the camera is solid and the size is perfect for a medium format carry camera. I discovered with my first test roll with the camera it appears to have a small pin hole in the bellows, but that is easily fix, once I find it.