The Vitessa's last hurrah

As promised, here are a few pics taken from a roll of Adox CHS ART 100 I ran through the Voigtlander Vitessa last week. I'm pleased with the results but, as someone who wears glasses, I find the viewfinder of the camera to be a right pain in the bum.

It doesn't have suspended frame lines like a Leica but instead requires that you use the entire window as the field of view. The problem is that I can't see the edges of the frame with my specs on. So I have to focus using the rangefinder spot, take my glasses off and, being quite short-sighted, do my best to compose what looks like a very blurry image.

It's not the most convenient way of taking a photograph but it's just about manageable. At least some of the time. The pictures here were taken quite early in the morning after I'd dropped Cath off at work. The scene is the breakwater at Monifieth beach, a location I visit from time to time as an antidote to the rural shots that I normally take inland.

This was the morning after the coast was buffeted by strong winds. The sand had been blown to a smooth, uniform surface and no one had managed to take their dog for a walk to churn it all up. I fancied making a wee feature of the breakwater and fired off a few looking for the best composition.

As it turns out, the first one I took was the shot at the top of the page and that was also my favourite. I was looking for an arty look and the first shot comes closest to that. I think it's a little Gibson-esque in the use of large, sweeping areas of almost solid tone. Number four is satisfying as well. It's the type of photography I'd like to do more often: more graphic and less chocolate-boxey.

The 50mm f2 Ultron was just about perfect for this sort of thing although I could certainly have done with a faster film as one or two negatives were spoiled through camera shake (I was down to 1/25th at one point) and I'd have liked more depth of field.

CHS ART 100 developed in Spur Acurol-N is a nice combination but the film has to be rated at 50 ISO and that's just a bit on the slow side for what is basically walkabout photography with no tripod for support. This Adox film is the original and not CHS 100 II which I've used quite a lot of and posted about on the blog.

With an emulsion that was basically unchanged for decades - and therefore a good match for the early 1950s Ultron - CHS ART 100 was supposed to have the "vintage look". Are you seeing it? I think numbers one and four might have something about them but it's hard to say.

Tonally, CHS ART 100 looks very similar to CHS 100 II which supports Adox's claim that they tried to mix the emulsion for the new film to match the original as closely as possible. I'd be happy using either one although they stopped making the original a while back.

There were another couple of shots from the same roll that might be worth showing so look out for them this week. They will probably be the last from the Vitessa, though. I've tried my best to persevere with it but it just gets in the way of picture taking so it will be back to the OM2 I think.

You might also like:

Adox CHS 100 II: First Look

Adox CHS 100 II in Atomal

Voigtlander Vitessa: Temporary lodger in the Robbins camera cupboard