Golden Boy shoots...'s photostream

+++ Please ask me in advance if you want to use a picture of mine for publishing on the Internet etc. !! +++
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I live in London and have discovered my love for slide film. I love the brilliance and clarity of slide film, and I love to take pictures manually.

I just take pictures with manual focus.

I have got two Nikon FM and several Nikon and Tamron lenses.

UPDATE: I have now got two Nikon FM and two Nikon FE (don't know how that happened), and a nice collection of Tamron zoom lenses and Nikon MF prime lenses. There are real stars among them. For example:

- Tamron SP 35-80 MF
- Tamron SP 90mm MF
- Nikkor AIS 28mm 2.8 (not to be mistaken with the AI 28mm, which is completely different)

Furthermore, I got hooked on old Russian 35mm cameras, and now I have got a few Zorkis, FED's, Kiev's and a whole bunch of lenses. Couldn't resist. The first results are absolutely excellent. However, some cameras have got little problems, so it's a bit a gamble to find a good one (although Yuri (www.fedka.com) and Oleg (www.okvintagecamera.com) are supposed to be excellent.

UPDATE: I can only highly recommend www.fedka.com for Russian cameras and lenses! First-class service and advice.

Oh, and I bought a fantastic Zeiss Ikon Contaflex III for £ 10 over ebay (built 1957-59) - with a stunning Carl Zeiss 50mm f/2.8 Tessar! That was one of the best bargains ever. See the pictures....

I am planning to go into mid-format photography soon.

I got again over ebay a brilliant Rolleicord III in mint condition - for £ 55 incl. postage....what can you say - fabulous! It was built in 1950-53 and looks like it was never used (another great ebay bargain - lucky me!). I took the first pictures, and the first results should be here soon. Incredible fun to use the Rolleicord. The lens is a Xenar f/3.5.

Digital photography on a serious level is not for me.

When I scan my slides, I try to maintain the original colours, contrast etc. as carefully as possible...however, the quality of slides cannot be beaten and cannot be duplicated here on flickr.

My (new) scanner is a Canon 8800f - definitely recommended!! Easy handling, and comes with excellent software. If you push the scanner to the limits, you get first-class results (my old scanner was a Canon 4400f, but it turned out to be basic - the 8800f is a much better option, and only slightly more expensive). If you push the scanner to the limits, you get very sharp pictures, good enough for huge enlargements, however, you will have to clean the dust by hand via photoshop, which is a very tedious. The automatic dust removal of the canoscan 8800f doesn't really work.

I will add many more pictures here in the future...many of which I have taken in London.

If I do not mention in the photo description which camera I have used, then I have used a digital camera to take the picture. However, I never alter or edit the picture afterwards, apart from removing scratches and dust.

But I have a passion for slide film and b/w film, that's the medium I am mostly working with.

PLEASE NOTE: I always appreciate criticism! Please tell me if you do not like something about mypictures, because I am very eager to learn and improve! Constructive criticism is always very helpful. There is too much praise and not enough criticism in the comments on flickr.