Japanese found film - a photo on Flickriver

            A few months ago, my doctorate co-supervisor came over to Malaysia for a short trip. He wanted to see how I was doing and how much progress I've made (not much). Aside from the usual talk & discussions about my PhD matters, he was also on a mission: he wanted to give me his late grandfather's old TLR camera, a Minoltaflex Mark I. 

Needless to say, I was very honored. Thank you Dr. Kohei!

When Dr Kohei pulled the camera out of his bag, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was still in good shape. Sure, both lenses were dirty & needs cleaning, but that's par for the course. The leather case was falling apart, but it still could be restitched if I was so inclined. Other than that, there was nothing really wrong with the camera. The lens opened up & stopped down correctly..even the Chiyoda Crown shutter still worked flawlessly & sounded spot on.

Upon opening the camera back, I was again surprised to see a roll of film still inside! All I could see was the paper backing, and in the split second or so before I closed the back again I surmised that there's still a few frames of the film left. I quickly exposed the remaining few frames to light in the next several days. While doing so, I had to make gross assumptions on exposure, as I had no idea what film it was, it's sensitivity and also how long it's been there. In the end, I decided to give it more exposure & development time in order to have the best chances of coming up with usable photos. Remember that at this point, I had no idea what photos were already shot on the film, and if my assumptions were correct. But was I excited? Hell yes. Part of the fun with found film.

After finishing the entire roll (I only got to shoot about 2-3 frames), I pulled the film out of the camera. Turns out it was Fujifilm Neopan SS 100. Never having used the film before, I again had to hazard a guess on what development time to use. After some thought, I decided 9 minutes in Rodinal 1:49 would do.

I was rewarded with this. A photo of Dr. Kohei's aunt, taken at Hakone, Japan. Apparently his grandfather shot this around 1965 or so. For some reason, from then on until his death in 2002, Dr Kohei's late grandfather forgot all about this Minoltaflex of his. He never even took out the film to get it processed. I'm not sure why. So, this was the first time anyone has seen this photo, including Dr Kohei & his family. Needless to say, they were all very excited.

I was excited as well. It's amazing how well the film has held up all these years. It's still relatively flat and not that curly. The paper backing protecting the film is still intact. Those blotches & blemishes are to be expected, though, nothing can be done about that. I doubt a digital sensor can retain a latent image as long as this roll of film has. A CD or flash drive can only retain it's data for a decade or so.

Oh, and that shutter. Even after 50 years of neglect & disuse, the mechanism & timings are still spot on. Will the shutter mechanism of today's cameras last as long?

Before you leave me, think about this: a 50 year old image, hidden away inside a forgotten film inside a neglected camera and only now made visible again to the persons involved after almost a lifetime. 

Again, the magic of found film. Pulling memories out of time.

Taken on: October 18, 2011

Tags:

Minoltaflex

Promar 75 3.5

found

120

medium format

analog

monochrome

b&w

6x6

square

Rodinal

Japan

1965

tlr

twin lens reflex

Fuji Neopan SS

black and white

noir et blanc

blanco y negro « less

Sets appears in: • Minoltaflex Mark I • Black & White Film more » • Medium Format « less

Groups appears in: • I Shoot Film • Medium Format (120/220 film only) more » • Analog Photography • Black and White Film • 120 • 6x6 magic • Film is not Dead!! • Cheapo TLR • Random Shot - Malaysia • Future is Analogue « less

Camera: Canon 8800F (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon 8800F
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Show full info

Stats: 3,612 views / 25 comments

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: