Canon Dial 35-2 - Half Frame Strangeness
My latest ebay purchase has arrived.
A delightfully odd Canon Dial 35-2, now to get it cleaned up and see if it's working...
Quote from Gideon Liddiard Photography on June 5, 2023, 7:25 pmMy latest ebay purchase has arrived.
A delightfully odd Canon Dial 35-2, now to get it cleaned up and see if it's working...
I had one of these, or a similar model, briefly. I ordered some lenses from a camera store that was closing shop, and they threw in a bunch of random stuff labeled "free gift" and it was one of them. I never tried it out before just selling it because I figured I'd never get around to it. It looks really cool though. A very different design.
Love half frame! The Dial's unusual body shape and winding mechanism always intrigued me. Does it work?
Quote from Justin Tung on June 12, 2023, 1:53 amLove half frame! The Dial's unusual body shape and winding mechanism always intrigued me. Does it work?
It doesn't seem to be fully working, the wind -on doesn't engage fully each time the shutter releases and needs a quick tension of the winder to advance, but the shutter and meter look to be fine.
Working through a film at the moment, so the results from that will be interesting.
Finally got to the bottom of the winding issue, thanks to youtube.
The grease in the clockworks degrades over time and after 60 years wasn't doing its job, fortunately, it's a fairly easy fix. The winder handle removes quite easily and gives direct access to the gears, a 5-minute clean with some lighter fluid, and then some graphite powder to re-lubricate and it's fully operational.
It did result in the loss of the film that was in it, but I wasn't convinced it was advancing correctly anyway and I needed a sacrificial film to test it.
The new film is loaded and it's in business.
The repair video I followed in case anyone ever needs it.
Here we go, the results (negs) are back in and it works perfectly, I will post images up as I scan and edit them. Film was Lomo Lady Grey 400.
Quote from Gideon Liddiard Photography on August 11, 2023, 9:14 pmHere we go, the results (negs) are back in and it works perfectly, I will post images up as I scan and edit them. Film was Lomo Lady Grey 400.
Awesome results! I always like the winder mechanism!
I own two half frame cameras, the Zenit MT-1 which I've yet to run a roll through, and an Olympus Pen D2. The results seem very sharp
Quote from SpruceBruce on August 12, 2023, 7:40 pmQuote from Gideon Liddiard Photography on August 11, 2023, 9:14 pmHere we go, the results (negs) are back in and it works perfectly, I will post images up as I scan and edit them. Film was Lomo Lady Grey 400.
Awesome results! I always like the winder mechanism!
I own two half frame cameras, the Zenit MT-1 which I've yet to run a roll through, and an Olympus Pen D2. The results seem very sharp
Many thanks, an MT-1, that one is an odd little thing if I recall correctly.
Quote from Cory Maben on August 13, 2023, 6:44 amQuote from Gideon Liddiard Photography on August 11, 2023, 9:14 pmHere we go, the results (negs) are back in and it works perfectly, I will post images up as I scan and edit them. Film was Lomo Lady Grey 400.
I really like the crunchy grain on these shots. I particularly like "Mabel and the Dinosaur". It feels period and thematically correct, like something my grandma would have shown me of one of my aunts. I feels very candid and I like it.
Is half-shot? Just like what it sounds? Just half of a full frame exposure, so you get double the number of shots?
Many thanks, the film paired well to give that look and feel to quite a few of the shots, and yes you're spot on, it uses half the frame of a standard 35mm negative, so you get twice as many shots. Getting 72 out of a 36-exposure roll of film is great.
Here are a few more.
Next Batch
Man, that lens and film combo really is such a vibe! I agree about some of these pictures looking like they were taken decades ago, which is really cool! In some ways, they are almost timeless. Not that there aren't hints of what time period, and obviously there's certain times you can eliminate, but because it's so hard to tell at first it really puts you in a different place when viewing them.
I like getting those types of pictures of my family too. Most images of my kids (by quantity) are from a smartphone. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it's good to have some documentation in different mediums. I think they will appreciate seeing pictures of themselves that are more raw, more real, less processed by modern image algorithms on smartphones. It's like getting an image of yourself from a different time period.
