The Scene

Ottawa, Odàwàg in modern Algonquin, is situated on the south-side of the Rideau River, on the borders of Ontario and Québec, and is the capital of Canada. The city itself was founded in 1826 but the Ottawa Valley area has been habitable for over 10,000 years. Roughly 6,000 years before present there were robust trading networks present and 3,500 year-old evidence of continuously existing settlements were found in this area.

It is roughly a 4-hour drive from Toronto to Ottawa in good weather. The train doesn’t take much longer, if it doesn’t get held up by freight trains, on-track protests, or simply breaks down (some cars have been in use since the 40s and 50s…). There are -finally- new train sets available but really, this would be an ideal location for a high-speed corridor from (beyond) Toronto via Ottawa straight up to Montréal and Québec city, connecting 3 of the 4 most populous cities in Canada. Even more if the track would continue west via Mississauga to, I don’t know, the border and connect to Detroit and/or New York or something?

Our Ottawa trips usually consist of lots of family-time, some nature hikes here and there, some restauranting or museuming, and -of course- tons of food. This time was not much different. Over the past decade-and-a-bit I’ve seen the food scene diversify steadily, but the museums have always been very good. Nature walks aren’t bad either but one should cross over into Gatineau on the other side of the river for the good stuff. There you’ll find the lakes, hills and mountains of South Québec start to literally lift up the scenery. This time however, I took a walk along one of the major streets here: Bank Street.

The Camera

After last trips’ disappointment I decided to rely on a trusty old friend: a Minolta Maxxum 7000 (first generation with the original XX), coupled with a basic 50mm f/1.7 lens (also an early version). I know this camera will not fail me, not in the usual sense anyway. It is not build like a tank but I like it. A lot.

I first got my hands on one of these puppies a few years ago (it was a birthday present!) and have not looked back since. I simply love the design, the way the camera as a machine fits fair and square in its own era, but is still very much useable 40 years later. Which is kind of a feat because 1980s electronics were not always that…reliable, let’s say. I also have a Program Back, though I’ve never gotten around to install that as -in hindsight- I’m not sure it would be very useful to me.

The easy-to-read display, easy-to-remember button locations, interchangeable battery grip, decent selection of original lenses (I have a 24mm, 50mm and 35-70mm), and solid feel in hand make it one of my favourite old cameras. It does go through batteries quick, which has surprised me in the field once or twice, but then again it takes simple AA batteries, so there’s really no issue there. If you remember to bring spares along.

Sure, autofocus is slow. I use manual focus mostly anyway. Batteries can corrode easily, so take them out. The battery grip tends to crackle. Mine have that too, but I really don’t mind. The LCD screen is prone to leaks, but I’ve been lucky to have 2 of these cameras without leaky screens. The camera can still take pictures and that’s all I care about.

The Film

Never playing it safe, this time I grabbed some 14-year expired Neopan 400 rolls out of storage, thinking ‘it’s black and white, 400ISO, how bad could it be?’

There’s not much I can say about the film other than that’s another one in a long line of discontinued stock from the Fuji company. I still have a few of these lying around, as well as their Japanese domestic market labelled ‘Presto’ versions. As Fuji black and white films go, I do not dislike it one bit. Introduced in 1978 and discontinued in 2013…what you can get is what you can get. I’d say: try and get some.

The Photographs

The Verdict

All of these photographs were taken along Bank Street in Ottawa, except for the one with the parked cars. Bank is sort of an interesting street. From run-down buildings to wayward statues and government offices, and everything in between can be found there. I’m sure I could spend hours more walking here but the weather was kinda cold so two hours was all that I could muster. It was also mostly overcast, hence I had some trouble getting my exposures right. Or maybe that was the camera. It’s a mystery.

But with the right exposure, this film turns out some nicely contrasty results. It’s grainier than I expected, which is fine, and tonality is nice and warm. No terribly underexposed pictures on this roll. The Minolta worked just fine though I have some questions about the focusing ring on the lens, as ‘infinite’ appears to not be quite that. Another mystery.

Would I go back to Bank Street? Not if I don’t have to. Ottawa in general isn’t the greatest of places to be in winter (sorry Ottawans, but it be cold here), unless you’re there for the museums or a Senators game – and as it turns out, we mostly only end up here in the cold season. So consider my opinion coloured.

Would I use this film for more serious projects? Probably not either, but it sure is a nice film to play around with. And the Easter egg? Finding an independent neighbourhood movie theatre on a main street. Next time I’m here I’ll probably just catch a movie at the Mayfair.

The Scene

Sawlog Bay lies in Tiny Township, Simcoe County, Ontario. Funny name, “Tiny”, especially when you learn it’s named after a pet dog. “Sawlog” is not as funny as its name derives from the logging industry historically prevalent in this area. The area itself has been occupied by humans for at least 11,000 years, with archaeological sites found to contain evidence from the Paleo-Indian period.

At this northern outskirt of Simcoe County between Nottawasaga Bay and Georgian Bay, Awenda Provincial Park is a must-go destination. We went there a few years ago as part of a larger road trip, but that was in summer. It was seriously enjoyable even though there were quite some tourists and campers – especially near the waterfall/waterslide. This time it’s February, and the world in this region looks (and feels) quite different now.

Penetanguishene and Midland are worth to mention as these close-by, picturesque little towns have plenty historical sights to see (aside from the obvious gazillion marinas) but for me, Midland wins with its plethora of awesome murals and: a good brewhouse. Those were also the only sights possible to visit as tourist season is quite some time away while everything here is covered in many feet of snow.

Our wonderful cottage was almost perfectly located with Awenda Park at the back and Georgian Bay in the front, so getting onto the frozen lake was as easy as walking out the door and down the street. It must be nice here in summer, but the winter gives it a serene feel – which I probably prefer. It’s a good 160km North-North West from Toronto which at this time of year means prepare well because you may be in your car for quite some time – the highway only gets you so far.

The Camera(s)

The chosen gear for this long weekend is an old Nikon FE – one which I’ve had for many years. This is such an easy camera to handle and operate; it’s become my blueprint for what an analog SLR should be. It’s smack in the middle of the mid-level or ‘prosumer’ range of late 1970s single lens reflex cameras though even when launched and during its production (1978-1983) it was quite a bit more expensive than equivalent rivals.

It works well for my hands, as it’s not too small, not too big, the controls are well-located and seem to work intuitively for me – and I have large hands. Other brands and models work great too, but these Nikons I can operate with my eyes closed. Maybe I should practise more on other cameras…? There’s much said and written about the FE but to me it’s simply a well-designed machine with just enough of the controls I need and that does what it should.

To top things off, it takes just about every lens Nikon ever made, bar some specialty ones. This makes shopping for ‘glass’ an affordable [snicker] breeze. I have a modest few and chose a fairly bog-standard F1.8 (the E-version) for this trip. Even decades later without any servicing that I’m aware of, it’s buttery smooth.

Loading film is as easy as it should be, reading the dials and other settings is quite doable even for someone requiring reading glasses (like me), metering is pretty accurate and interpreting the indicator through the viewfinder is as simple as reading a traffic light. This camera made me view all (my) other SLR’s as ‘fun things to try’ and has been my go-to camera for decades now.

* Disclaimer: this section is called “Camera(s)”, as I did also bring a medium format TLR on this trip, but I’ll cover that one in a future Revolver post. I’ve used the same (120 equiv.) Washi ‘F’ film in this camera. Any square photographs in this post do not refer to the Nikon FE; they’re purely here for illustration purposes.

The Film

For this trip I brought some Washi ‘F’ film along, just because I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but the one roll I did shoot had some seriously interesting results. Washi ‘F’ is a ‘Medical Fluorographic X-ray film’ which lacks an anti-halation layer (often called ‘RemJet’) and this results in a hazy diffusion of light especially around bright light sources. And this film is grrrraaaiiiiny, which is awesome because I happen to like plenty grain.

Sourced through various stock shops I’ve accumulated a small stash of this film (and some of its brethren) and am grateful someone thought it be a good idea to hack and offer traditionally neglected products like X-ray-, surveillance-, motion picture sound- or leader film for artistic and fun photography purposes, as they were never intended or even manufactured for this use. Merci beaucoup, monsieur Perrotin.

The Photographs

The Verdict

First of all the trip: it was wonderful. It’s a pretty place in winter, and with a perfect spot to unwind next to a roaring fireplace I can’t think of a better place to rest. So…what to make of this Nikon-Washi combo?

Well…it’s a bit of a shame to lose about 6 frames right from the get-go. As recommended on the box, the first few shots could suffer greatly from fogging – which they did. Thus the useable count of pictures drops from 24 to 18…just about medium format territory. These Washi F’s are expensive rolls to have developed and scanned.

The pictures then? Well, as photographs go they’re quite rubbish, and the ones posted here are basically the only ones even reasonably ‘visible’. I’m not sure what went wrong, not with the same film in 2 different cameras. Most pictures are -randomly- horribly under- or over-exposed, there’s some very pronounced light leaks so in general I’m disappointed by how they came out. It wasn’t for lack of available light in most situations or camera metering of said present light – as both machines work well. If I were a more skilled & creative photographer I’m sure there’s some use to be found for this film but for now, I’ll leave the rest in its box.

Toutes mes excuses, monsieur Perrotin.