Following on from my previous post, a couple of weeks after acquiring an old Pentax ES II Film camera the perfect opportunity arose to give it a test outing. I enjoy street photography, especially with a group I belong to on Meetup.com, and I stumbled upon another group that looked interesting.

Their next meetup was in Soho, an area I love to wander around with a camera in hand, so I popped along for a natter, a couple of pints and a short walkabout to take a few test shots.

As I wasn’t sure the camera’s light meter was working correctly (I might have had the wrong type of battery, I’ve heard old film cameras can be finicky about voltage) I also took a handheld light meter to check exposure settings and my Fujifilm X-T3 with the XF 35mm f/1.4 lens to make sure I came away with at least one or two successful shots!

The top image above was the only one I really liked, but this outing was more about checking the camera than achieving great shots (and meeting some new people for a few pints!), so I was more than happy that I managed to get some decently exposed images. I finished the roll off in Richmond Park, here are a few other samples along with the final scan of the top image…

I won’t be ditching the Fuji anytime soon and I won’t be shooting masses of film (too damned expensive) but I do intend to shoot some night street photography using Cinestill 800T. It looks like it can deliver some amazing colours with neon lighting, especially the reds.

I’m sure there’ll be a part 3 soon (maybe even more) so stay tuned!