For my February @12monthsonfilm setup I chose the Canon AV-1 and Kodak Vision 3 50D/ Colour Negative Film 5203. The film came from my Emulsive Santa gift and is the first time I have used cinefilm. This particular roll was respooled by Nik and Trick in the UK, but there was no indication of how old it was.
About the camera
Canon began production of the AV-1, an aperture-priority 35mm SLR with a focal plane shutter and TTL metering, in 1979. It has center-weighted averaging light metering with a back-light compensation option. The AV-1 was one of the few Canon bodies that offered Aperture Priority (AV) auto exposure mode instead of the more familiar Shutter Priority (AE) mode.
The photographer selects the required aperture (f/1.8 to f/22) and the camera selects an appropriate shutter speed (2, 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 sec). The only manual exposure modes are 1/60 when using flash synchronisation, or B (bulb) for timed exposures. The other way to impact exposure (without changing aperture) is when the subject is backlit; there is a button to compensate the exposure +1.5 stops.
The camera came standard with a 50mm 1:18mm lens, which can use 52mm screw-type filters. It can be used with a wide range of film speeds, from ISO 25 to 1600.
About the film
As I’ve never shot Kodak Vision 3 film before, and didn’t know the age or condition of this roll, I shot it at box speed. Apart from when I used the flash, I avoided shooting in low light. The day of the Chinese New Year Celebrations was slightly overcast and very bright.
To start with, I was a bit short on exposures. The information on the film canister stated there were 36 exposures, but I only got 30. This camera does take up a lot of film when winding on, so this may be where it went. As a result I did not get to take my promised selfie for this roll. I also didn’t get to try out the Tamron zoom lens which I haven’t used with this camera yet.
As the film is ECN-2, which I’ve never processed myself, I used a lab for the first time in a very long time. Hillvale Photo did a great job with the development and scanning.
The outcome
My theme for this month was “A touch of red”. Chinese New Year was an obvious choice, as were the roses in my garden, but I also found inspiration in the red inside a passionfruit. With the rose and passionfruit I also expiremented with flash for the first time to remove background. The rose with the black background was taken in low light, but appears black due the small aperture of f16. I used a Sunpack Auto14 flash in the “B” mode at 1/60. I forgot to reset the camera to “A” mode when I took it out to the Chinese New Year celebrations, luckily when I did realise at the end of the roll, I checked the meter and 1/60 was about right anyway.
