Views from the Ferry

Yashica fx-3, 50mm + polarising filter, Ilford Delta 100

We took the day ferry back from Mallorca to Barcelona. It was a perfect day, sunny and the water was calm. As we rounded the island we got some beautiful views of the north west corner of the island.

Yashica fx-3, 50mm + polarising filter, Ilford Delta 100

As we sailed away and the island gradually faded into the horizon I realised once again how special Mallorca is. With mountains, pains, beaches and marshes, it has a range of terrain that is uncommon for a relatively small island. The lush green winter vegetation and mild climate make it a great place to wait out the long northern winter.

Yashica fx-3, 50mm + polarising filter, Ilford Delta 100

Yashica fx-3, 50mm + polarising filter, Ilford Delta 100

Here are some of the colour images with my new Yashica Mat (kind gift from my Uncle in law). I have a not-so-good scanner so unfortunately the quality is not as good as I would like.

Yashica Mat 124g, Kodak Portra 160 VC



Yashica Mat 124g, Kodak Portra 160 VC

We felt sad to be leaving. As we drove North from Barcelona, the car thermometer showed the outside temperature steadily dropping, degree by degree from the high teens of Mallorca down to the near zero temperatures of northern France.

Walking the Dog

Troby is a wonderful animal who adopted my parents in law. She ran away from her previous owners who apparently mistreated her. She is very well behaved and, as cat lovers, Paula and I count her as an exception to our general indifference to the canine species.

Yashica fx-3, 50mm, Ilford Delta 100

Actually Troby behaves more like a cat than a dog. She sleeps most of the day and is quiet and independent. But she loves affection and is always looking for a good rub-down.

Yashica fx-3, 50mm, Ilford Delta 100

One of the things that puts me off dogs is that they have to be walked. But Mallorca is a great place to have a dog because everything is so beautiful. I took the shot below while we were walking Troby

Yashica Mat, Kodak Portra 160 VC

Campanet: village of a thousand views

Yashica fx-3, 50mm Carl Zeiss T*, Ilford Delta 100

This is the view from Paula's parent's house over the village of Campanet in Mallorca. I was fascinated by the constantly changing conditions and took many photos. Its quite amazing how it looks different every time I looked out the window.

Yashica fx-3, 50mm Carl Zeiss T*, Ilford Delta 100

As I've mentioned before, Paula's father is a painter and so its no surprise to see that he has chosen such an inspiring place to live. I was hoping to catch one of the days where snow appears on the peak in the morning, but it didn't get cold enough. Not that I minded that! With the temperature reaching 20 degrees on one day, it was a welcome escape from London at this time of year.

Yashica Mat 124g, Kodak Portra 160 VC

The moon was at its height during our stay and the nights were bright. I took a few long exposure shots (not long enough, actually) before going to sleep of the same view:

Yashica Mat 124g, Kodak Portra 160 VC

New Camera: Yashica Mat

One of the highlights of the trip was our stop in Zaragoza, where we stayed with Paula's maternal uncle. While we were there we also spent time with her paternal uncle Vicente and his wife Ana. He very kindly gave me his old Yashica Mat 124g as a gift. I immediately put it to use. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced the film that I went through with them! I am pretty sure its in one of the many bags we took on the trip, and as soon as I find it I will post the images. All the colour images in the postings from this trip are with the Yashica Mat. Its a great camera that is very similer to the Rolleiflex it was derived from. According to the specifications, the viewing angle (80mm) is only slightly narrower than the Rollei (75mm) but for some reason the Yashica field of view seems to be significantly narrower in practice. It seems to be better suited for portraits than wide landscapes, although, like the Rollei it is very versatile. I discovered an interesting problem with the Yashica: it has an in-built meter, but the battery it was designed for is a mercury cell, which is now unavailable in most Western countries for environmental reasons. Apparently there is a Dutch fellow who specialises in overcoming this problem with an adapter. I have contacted him to ask for one of his contraptions to see if I can resuscitate the meter on mine.

I put the Yashica Mat and Rolleiflex head to head. The two images below were taken at the same place, an old cistern supplying water to one of the farms in Esporlas. You can clearly see the wider field of view in the Rollei (can 5mm difference in angle make all this difference? I'm a little surprised to see such a big difference) I may have been a few feet further back with the Rollei, but if so not very far at all.

Yashica Mat 124G, Kodak Portra 160 VC
(80mm lens)

Rolleiflex Automat 3.5 Tessar
(75mm lens)

Both cameras provide great images. I did did find that in some cases the narrower field of view in the Yashica was better suited to some shots. Although the Yashica is 5 decades newer than my Rollei, it is remarkable to see that there was practically not much difference in performance or design. The biggest visible difference in the images is due to the fact that the much newer Yashica has a coated lens which greatly reduces flaring. Having said this one of the reasons I love the Rollei is the 'antique' feel to the images because of the uncoated lens. One great feature is that Yashica made such a good copy of the Rollei that I can use the same filters and lens hood that I already own for the Rollei, saving me weeks of tolling trough e-bay and having to lug more kit around. Of course the newer Yashica has a number of plastic parts and is slightly less 'solid' feeling that the pre-war Rollei, but compared to plasticky modern digital SLRs, it still feels very much like a 'real' piece of machinery and I'm sure that in practice it will last many years. The Yashica screen is brighter and it has a built in meter, although it will take some effort to get it to work due to the mercury battery issue I mentioned previously. It is also a testament to the Rollei that it was built to last and that the basic TLR design pioneered by Rollei in the early part of the last century fundamentally lasted unchanged until the end of that century. Even today I believe that the TLR format is superior to the SLR in certain aspects, although I concede that it is less versatile and not suited to modern commercial photography.

Yashica Mat 124G, Kodak Portra 160 VC

I ended up taking most of my shots on this trip with the Yashica, as its new and novel, and its a lot of fun to use. Above is a view from the top of the mountain walk that Simon (my brother in law) took me near Esporlas, the village where he lives.

Christmas with the Family

For our holidays this year we decided to drive down to Mallorca. We figured it would be a great way to spend time together and enjoy the scenery on the way down. The primary mission of our trip was to spend the holiday season with family so stopped in Pamplona and Zaragoza on the way, where Paula has relatives. It was also great way to see the many beautiful places on the way including San Sebastian and Biarritz. Much better than easyjet!

As I am ver picky with taking pictures and we were covering a lot of distance each day, I wasn't able to get any particularly interesting shots of the trip down. Paula has posted some of the shots taken with her phone on her blog. My shots are mostly from the days we spent in Mallorca.

Paula and her father Angel
Yashica Mat, Kodak Portra 160 VC

Paula and her mother Elvira and sister Ananda
Yashica Mat, Kodak Portra 160 VC




The great artist Angel Pascual Rodrigo awaiting dinner
Yashica fx-3, 50mm, Ilford Delta 100

My lovely wife!
Yashica fx-3, 50mm, Ilford Delta 100