A single frame: Lockdown memory

Voigtlander Bessa R, 35mm Skopar F/2.5. December 2020
Voigtlander Bessa R, 35mm Skopar F/2.5. December 2020

A photowalk during the Covid lockdown in december 2020. I took some pictures in my neighbourhood with the Voigtlander Bessa R. I have many camera’s, mostly SLR and I have to get used to a rangefinder. I like this image. People and businesses had to find ways to get around during the lockdown and here you can see what they came up with.

Rotterdam Grid Project. Photographing Rotterdam in squares!

Rotterdam Grid Project
Rotterdam Grid Project

Why I start this project
I’ve got it from reading “The Street Photographer’s Manual”


The idea or inspiration: “In October 1995 photographer Christopher Rauschenberg took a pair of scissors to a standard map of Portland and cut it into 98 pieces. He then invited a group of 12 Portland photographers, using a variety of cameras, films, formats, and digital processes, to all photograph the randomly selected square each month. Continue reading “Rotterdam Grid Project. Photographing Rotterdam in squares!”

A photowalk with the Pentax MV and the pancake 40mm lens

The Erasmus bridge, Rotterdam. Pentax MV, Pentax-M 40mm F/2.8
The Erasmus bridge, Rotterdam. Pentax MV, Pentax-M 40mm F/2.8. 2021
I loved the Pentax MV series from the moment that I got one in my hands back in 1979! And when I got the chance a few years back to buy one I hesitated not one second. And it didn’t end there, every time I saw one and the price was right, I bought it. So I own several now. The MV and the MV1. I like the simplicity and the design, small and ‘pro’ black 🙂

Recently I took one of them for a few photowalks paired with the Pentax 40mm pancake lens. Here a few samples of the roll.

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Week 1, 52 rolls: Maastricht and Rotterdam with the Praktica CX-1 point and shoot camera

Week 1, 52 rolls: a fall sky over a plant. Rotterdam. 2019
Week 1, 52 rolls: a fall sky over a plant. Rotterdam. 2019

The camera, a Praktica CX-1, performed very well and surprised me with the color rendering and sharpness! I didn’t know this camera but when scrolling through the lists on a online market website I bought it. I liked the size of it and I like the brand Praktica! My first “real” camera, a SLR, was a Praktica B200 and I’m still very happy with that one!

On arriving I checked the camera, new batteries and a fresh Kodak film. Everything seems to work fine. So week 1 of this project52 was a learning week. I tried to free myself from the pressure to perform, make the best picture etc. I just took the Praktica CX-1 with me, on a walk, to work etc. and just look and click with a open mind. And I think it worked out.

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A roll of film in a Nikon F50 starting in 2018, ending in 2019

Hole in one, tree nill. Pompenburg park, Rotterdam. Nikon F50, AF Nikkor 35-80mm F/1.4-5.6D
Hole in one, tree nill. Pompenburg park, Rotterdam. Nikon F50, AF Nikkor 35-80mm F/1.4-5.6D

I bought this camera in 2008 while camping. During a visit to a pittoresk town I always scan for camerashops. Most camerashops nowadays sell only digital but this one had a few old film cameras among which this Nikon F50. A quick buy for about 15 Euro with a battery in good working order.

I photographed during this holiday with the F50 and was very happy with it. But years passed by and it was only in 2018(!) that I picked up the F50 again. These are a few examples of the film I did shoot during 2018 – 2019…

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First roll with my Leica M4-2

The moustache lady. Bergweg Rotterdam. Leica M4-2 with 35mm Voigtlander Skopar.
The moustache lady. Bergweg Rotterdam. Leica M4-2 with 35mm Voigtlander Skopar.

After many books, websites, blogs and museum visits I wanted to be a credited and famous photographer. And a Leica is the camera for the ‘real’ photographer so I bought a very nice Leica M4-2. This is the first and testroll I shot with the M4-2. Guessing the light conditions is not so hard and using my Voigtlander 35mm thread lens with a adapter on the Leica worked great!

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On my way with the half frame Olympus Pen EE-2

Rotterdam Centraal station. Panorama made with several half frames of this Olympus EE-2

Bought me a old Olympus Pen EE-2 and took it with me at walks and some military events. It performs as new. It handles all kind of light easy and I like the grainy images…

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