This week has been characterized by running a couple of cameras through their paces … and remembering cameras tucked away in a closet. The Kiev 4a was mentioned on the Leica Users Group (LUG) and I decided to take mine with me to Odense. I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with Rebecca, in Copenhagen, on my way back home:

Thas was with a Kiev 4a, Jupiter-8m, wide-open, at 1/25.

I also got two cameras back from repairs. I had purchased a camera that I used to dream about 30 years ago, a IIIG, and my M2 was due for a new shutter. I had also gotten a 50/2.8 Elmar (LTM) from a member of the LUG a couple of years ago. It was sharp enough, but contrast was suffering from haze between the inner elements so I sent it along with the bodies to get it cleaned up.

I was more concerned with seeing how the contrast held up rather than sharpness. These two were taken outdoors with the Elmar at f8:

The next one was taken wide-open (f2.8):

Poor Ewa can never eat in peace when I’m home.

On Friday evening we went out to eat at a restaurant that is a fixture in Göteborg, Kometen (The Comet). They specialize in schnitzel. These were taken with a 35 Summicron on the M2, 1/15 @ 2.0 and the last one at 1/8 @ 2.0:

This early in the month there’s not a lot more, but there are a couple of others in the shoebox for October.

Taking the ferry over to Helsingør from the Swedish side, Helsingborg.

On the car deck:

Ewa recognizing a colleague in a magazine:

Almost smiling:

All with an M3 and a collapsible 50/2.0 Summicron. I’m about due for a modern 50.

Spent the week in Oslo. A bag-boy, I am.

There are some more in the shoebox.

I pass through Copenhagen twice a week quite often. That was part of Rebecca’s plan. She couldn’t carry everything she wanted when she went down, so my task is to take some of the second priority stuff down when I pass through:

I have to admit, I really look forward to doing it and getting a chance to chat with her.

On my way back home I had more time to spend. The first time through, I just had about 15 minutes between trains. On my way home I booked in a couple of hours. I think she was hungry (hadn’t eated a real meal since she left home):

She has her camera with her, as usual:

Time for a chat (it’s pretty expensive for you to have a child move away from home, she jokes):

Off to Oslo now, she’ll have to starve the next couple of weeks.

I guess this makes me an empty nester. Rebecca leaves for Copenhagen.

Leaves home

Packs the car

At the station

Train arrives

Gone

But now I’ve got a gallery set up for her and am working on setting up a WordPress blog for her. It will be nice to follow.

Ewa and I spent the afternoon in Varberg, a town on the west coast of Sweden, south of Göteborg. We’ve always enjoyed spending a few hours there.

We ate lunch at a Greek restaurant and I took a picture of her while we were waiting.

I had a Rolleicord IV with me and wanted to finish the roll. No masterpieces, but small snaps of Varberg. The light was falling at a sharp angle here and I’ve always liked this building:

They have placed out chunks of granite here and there. A little further south on the coast and the granite, so typical for the west coast of Sweden (northern west coast) disappears and is replaced by fine sand.

The church:

And a pedestrian street:

I had a frame left when we got home. This is just a shot from our front yard:

Be back soon … my mother in law turned 80 last week and I hope I have a nice picture of her.

Rebecca is moving to Copenhagen next week and agreed to let me test one last roll of film on her. The Rolleiflex 3.5E needed some cleaning. I took the lens apart and got rid of some internal issues that were lowering contrast and I was curious to see whether or not it made a difference.

I don’t seem to have done any damage at least.

There are more here and here in the shoebox.

Slow weeks photographically. Working up a steam again, getting back to work after vacation.

Recently, in the last couple of years, I’ve lost three cats. I miss them greatly and when I have a few frames left on a roll, I try to get a good picture of one or more of them.

There are more snaps from the week in the shoebox.

After all these years, she still likes me:

She doesn’t like her smile, but I do. This was the first take, before she smiled:

Ewa and I walked around in Chicago, just to see things. It is a city I gladly return to. I like it.

Tourists, as we were, there was time to write post cards. When I showed Rebecca my babe magnet, she responded scornfully, “you already have a babe.”

All taken with an M3 and a 50 Summicron. The Chicago streets just might have been taken with a 90 Elmar, now that I think about it.

I went to a music festival here in Göteborg last week-end. Neil Young played and I really wanted to see him.

In the meantime I meandered around with my wife and took a picture or two.

It wasn’t easy. “No professional cameras allowed” was one of the rules.

They went on to define professional cameras as:

1) Single lens reflex
2) Exchangeable lenses

I thought about a IIIf. I should be able to sneak one of them by, but I was afraid of criterium nr 2. Same thing with regard to a FED-2.

Decided to take a Rolleiflex. Hung it around my neck and just walked right past the goons (but they were very nice goons, I might add).

I got all kinds of comments and it was a real ice-breaker. A lot of people came up to me admiring the camera.

This girl was really fascinated by it. So much so she wanted to take a picture with it. So I told her not to move. Focused on her, took a shot, wound forward a frame and handed her the camera so she could take a picture of me.

Otherwise, I spent most of the time looking at others’ backs:

You could actually hear the music better from way back: