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Happy Birthday Ueberlicht.com

happy birthday, Ueberlicht, first anniversary, ginger bread cake

Happy birthday Ueberlicht.com! – © Überlicht (MB)

Time flies and our photography blog Ueberlicht.com has its first anniversary today! Thanks a million, dear readers, for sharing our passion, following our posts, supporting us with likes and pluses throughout the social networks and for your feedback and comments, of course.

Our first year in English was short of time but full of analogue pleasures and we promise to provide you with more cameras, film material and technical stuff from ancient times as well as nowadays during the year to come.


Today is Pinhole Day – Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2013

Once in a while, it is time to bethink the beginning. Just like we celebrate our birthdays, we can pay tribute to the cradle of photography, the camera obscura. As photography is not a spring chicken anymore, the party starts off slow: in the form of the Pinhole Day which is taking place for the 13th time today. Everybody who is interested in pinholes and long exposures is cordially invited to join the celebration. The only condition for the participation is a pinhole camera, no matter whether it is analogue, digital, self-built or bought.

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2013, Camera Obscura, Harman Titan 4x5, large format

Alpine flume photographed with Harman TiTAN Pinhole Camera 4×5 (2012) – © Überlicht

Photographs taken with a camera obscura today can be uploaded to the website of the “Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day” until May 31st. The upload conditions are: one picture per user, jpeg-format with a maximum edge length of 700 pixels and 180 KB file size at most; bigger files will be downsized. As a result, until approximately one month after the Pinhole Day a worldwide picture gallery emerges like a birthday photo album for pinhole photography.

Summary:

Date: April 28th 2013
Location: worldwide
Occasion: appreciation of pinhole photography

Pinhole Day, worldwide photography celebration 2013

Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2013 poster – © John Neel, source: pinholeday.org


HARMAN TiTAN 8×10 Pinhole Camera is available

We have been looking forward to hearing this news for a while: The HARMAN TiTAN 8×10 Pinhole Camera is available now! It (or should I rather write „He“ as the press release headlines „Big Brother is watching you“?) is the HARMAN TiTAN 4×5 Pinhole Camera’s large counterpart. One year ago, we were mightily impressed by the little brother already, now regarding 8×10″ the film format is four times as large.

HARMAN TiTAN 8x10 Pinhole Camera with 150 mm cone

HARMAN TiTAN 8×10 Pinhole Camera now available in the UK and soon in the rest of Europe and North America, too – © ILFORD PHOTO

The included pinhole’s diameter is 0,52 mm / 0.0205″, which makes for an aperture of f288 in combination with the accompanying cone that has 150 mm / 5.9″ focal length (equivalent to 20 mm in 35 mm format), and promises a very good image quality. The 8×10″ camera prototype shown at the Photokina 2012 appeared to us like a real giant, but this circumstance is simply due to the size of the film material. Its final weight of 800 g / 28 oz. does not give cause for any complaints. Like the 4×5“ pinhole camera the 8×10“ version is produced by Walker Cameras in the UK. We are especially happy that our wish for an accessory shoe is fulfilled since the prototype was lacking one. Thus you can for example attach a view finder which facilitates positioning the camera right.

As of now the HARMAN TiTAN 8×10 Pinhole Camera can be ordered from the UK for about £ 300 (momentarily circa 350 Euro) and will be available in the rest of Europe in mid April and in North America in mid May.

Filmwasters shared a first video review by Leon Taylor on their Vimeo channel which shows the HARMAN TiTAN 8×10 in action. We hope that we will be able to report from our own experience soon – by then we are well provided with pleasant anticipation and a bit of reverence.


Agfa Click II – More than perfect

How many megapixels do you need to take great pictures? And which camera features are required to facilitate your work?

Agfa Click II camera for medium format roll film 6x6, analogue photography

Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II

More than three years ago an Agfa Click II became my constant companion. This circumstance was neither achieved by a high-resolution image sensor nor by any other special features, but is owed to the absence of modern settings. Apart from all the things the Click is lacking, it holds some attributes that make photography such a pleasure. The 50 year old leather case, that closes with a press button on its back and still is in near mint condition, as well as the sturdy plastic body are just the beginning.

Agfa Click II leather case, medium format camera 1950-1970 nostalgia

Agfa Click II leather case – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II roll film camera, slide film, cows in Bavaria

Cows in the Bavarian Alps, Germany (2007), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II, mountain torrent in the German Alps, analogue medium format camera

Mountain torrent in the Bavarian Alps, Germany (2007), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II roll film type 120 camera, alpine foothills, analogue photograph

Alpine foothills, Germany (2007), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Technical details

The Agfa Click II was produced in Germany from the end of the 1950s until 1970 – how many cameras can claim that nowadays? It has approximately 75 mm focal length, which is almost a normal lens for 6×6 cm medium format. The settings of the fixed-focus lens that focuses on 4 m to infinity, are limited to one lever, which can be set to “sun” (ca. f 16) or “clouds” (f 8.8). Apart from changing the aperture, the same selector can be used to swivel in a built-in close-up portrait lens (f 8.8), that focuses on 2.5 to 4 m. The exposure time always amounts to 1/30 sec, which is why sometimes photographs become blurred by camera shake – but this simply belongs to the Click’s characteristics. Once there was the clip-on flash Clibo enabling the Click to take pictures regardless of sunshine, but it was only produced in a much smaller number of pieces. Furthermore, fitting batteries and flash bulbs are extremely rare today.

Agfa Click II, old roll film camera 6x6, pond in Bavaria, Germany, analogue photography

Pond in Southern Bavaria, Germany (2008), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II roll film camera, analog, pond with canoe, Bavaria

Boat on a pond in Southern Bavaria, Germany (2008), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II, slide film 6x6, lake Chiemsee with Bavarian Alps, Germany, camera review

Lake Chiemsee, Germany (2008), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

When I bought my pre-owned Click II, I found an old film inside that had not been manufactured since 1974 – which also explains the camera’s sound condition. Since then I have almost exclusively equipped the camera with (in part expired) slide film. By choosing the film material the last “setting option” is gathered.

Agfa Click II, old camera, 50s 60s 70s, analogue photography, Ammersee

Lake Ammersee, Germany (2008), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II, roll film camera, review, cow paddock, Germany, Bavaria

Cow paddock in Southern Bavaria, Germany (2008), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

En route with the Click

In all fairness, the technical details concerning the Click are of marginal importance. Much more essential are subjects that stand to benefit from a restrained unsharpness and vignetting as well as a colour shift which results from expired film emulsion. Therefore it is definitely worth taking the Click outside. Weighing only 460 g (including leather case and roll film) it is far from being a burden. For my liking the Click is primarily a fair weather camera, although it can be used in all weathers, independent of power supply and anywhere around the world. All that is necessary is a 120 roll film, which is manually wound forward by means of the winding knob after every single exposure. Due to the few settings (one exposure time and two apertures) photographing with an Agfa Click is so easy – far from the compulsion to take perfect pictures. When getting the film developed you will never know in advance what you will receive exactly. (However you can be sure to get a well exposed film as the Click is much more reliable than a Holga without doubt.)

Agfa Click II, snowy winter landscapein Bavaria, Germany, analogue photograph

Winter landscape, Germany (2009), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click II, alpine winter landscape in Germany on slide film 6x6

Alpine winter landscape, Germany (2009), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

The Agfa Click II provides all images with its own characteristic visual impression, even those that would look rather unexceptional and boring when captured with perfect sharpness, perfect colour reproduction and perfect exposure. That is what makes the Click so special and in my opinion more than perfect. When it is treated well, it will probably render a service for the next 50 years or more – as long as roll film and film laboratories exist.

Agfa Click 2 camera medium format, lifeguard at Danish beach, analogue

Lifeguard, Denmark (2009), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

Agfa Click 2, camera review, beach in Denmark, analogue photography

Denmark (2009), Agfa Click II – © Überlicht (MB)

If you wish for more megapixels the developed slides or negatives can be scanned with high resolution – but don’t expect them to become any sharper.

The original German post has been published on Überlicht.de November 15th 2010.


Adobe releases Photoshop CS2 for free download

Adobe Creative Suite 2 Photoshop CS2 free download

Adobe offers its Creative Suite 2 for free download – © Adobe.com

Adobe is making a „Happy New Year“ present to everyone by giving away its Creative Suite 2 (and some other programs) for free. Of course this software has already gathered some dust since its release in 2005. Yet it offers great tools for photo and video editing as well as other tasks (layout, vector, etc.). Certainly Photoshop CS2 does not support the latest RAW files and lacks some fancy features, but it still beats most of the freeware tools available today. The following software is available for free download at Adobe’s website:

  • Creative Suite 2 (the whole package)
  • Acrobat Standard 7.0
  • Acrobat Pro 8.0
  • Acrobat 3D 1.0 for Windows
  • Audition 3.0
  • GoLive CS2
  • Illustrator CS2
  • InCopy CS2
  • InDesign CS2
  • Photoshop CS2
  • Photoshop Elements 4.0/5.0
  • Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0

To gain access to the download site, you only have to claim a free Adobe ID. If you are an Adobe customer, you should already have one. The Windows version of CS2 works fine even with the latest version of the operating system. Apple users are only able to install it on machines running Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard or lower. If you run Mac OS X 10.7 or higher on your computer, it requires a newer, still pretty expensive version of the Creative Suite.