Mikeinlagardette's photos with the keyword: 6x6

Looking upwards to the top of Porte Saint Jean, from rue St Jacques. Much of the gatehouse we see today is from the 15thC, but the foundations date from the mid 13thC. The upper level was used as a prison in the middle ages. The buildings in rue Saint Jacques are much later - 18th/early 19th century, with Mansard roofs & stylish dormer windows. 1953 Agfa Ventura 66 Deluxe, f4.5/85mm Agfa Solinar, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 @ 400 in Diafine, 4+4 mins@21C. Scanned @120dpi on Epson V500.

This superb art-deco monument is an appropriate celebration of one of the giants of French literature. The main structure, of polished red granite, is by Franz Jourdain, and the bust of Zola is by the sculptor Phillippe Solari. In fact, Émile's body was re-interred in the Panthéon in 1908! It's still the family vault though, and shares this cemetery with many other famous names from the world of arts - Degas, Alexander Dumas, Hector Berlioz, Offenbach, Stendahl, the dancer Nijinski, Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone - to mention just a few! A fascinating, if slightly macabre, diversion in Paris !! 1940's Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar, X2 yellow filter. Shanghai GP3 100 @200 in Diafine 3.5 + 3.5mins @ 21C Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

Following on from the last pic, here's another church doorway from the 12C, this time in central France, and we can see that although it is more stylish than the one in Guiting Power, it has many similarities. Like St Michael's, the church was drastically altered, here in the 17thC, but again the doorway was incorporated in the later work. The decoration of the arch orders is very elaborate, and it's remarkable to think that it was done more than 800 years ago by men who probably lived in little more than mud and straw hovels! The style of decoration with the polylobal inner arch is quite common to this area, whereas the ball ornaments in the fourth order are more unusual. Taken with the Welmy Six a few years ago. 1952 Tasei Koki Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan 100 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

The previous two photos were taken with folders, but this was with a TLR, my ancient and battered Mamiya C2, which I still have. Although heavy and rather unwieldly, these are one of the best tlr's ever made, and the only one with interchangeable lenses, which are world class ! Guiting Power is a village in the Cotswold Hills, north of Cheltenham, and the church is a little way out of the town. Originally 12thC, it was extensively renovated and much altered during the 19thC, but the restorers kept this rather grand Norman doorway. Mamiya C2, f2.8/80mm Sekors. Shanghai GP3 @ 200, developed in Thorntons Two Bath, 4 + 4 mins @21C

Had to be a train photo in this little set! Taken with a 1952 Welmy Six, - another regrettable sale - which had a wonderful Terionar lens, a triplet of remarkable sharpness. This locomotive has now left the area for more northern parts of France, but I enjoyed several trips behind it when it was based in Limoges. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

Chateau de La Roche. The Department of Creuse is not famous for it's chateaux - you need to go to the Loire to see the most beautiful examples, - but there are a few here, and this is an impressive building, by any standards Here is a view of the front facade of the chateau, which is surrounded by a very formal, strangely five-sided moat, ornamental, rather than defensive. The original building was built for Gabriel Foucauld, between 1533 and 1588, but only a little of this remains, and we are looking at a largely late 18thC rebuild, by the architect Pierre Berthomier, and the result of further restoration during the 19thC. Taken with a 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66 some years ago, in fact the very first roll of film I exposed in the camera, which came from the late Robbe Keppens, in exchange for a very strange 35mm Agfa Flexilette! 1942 Voigtlander Bessa 66, f3.5/75mm Heliar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan 100 @200 in Diafine, 4+4 mins @21C

My reply to Robert Warren yesterday, about the Kodak Reflex and Mamiyaflex, prompted me to post this picture of them together, - about the only thing in common is that they are both TLR's ! The Mamiyaflex has interchangeable lenses and rack focussing, and can get to within a few of inches of the subject, whereas the KR2 can only focus down to about 3 feet - 1 metre, much like a Rollie or Yashica TLR. It's much smaller than the Mamiya, and is more intuitive to use, and far lighter, a mere 980g compared to the Mamiya's hefty 1.55kg with the 80mm lenses, and as time passes, it matters! That said, I used various C Series Mamiyas over a long time, they are almost indestructable, about the only film camera to survive, long term, on converted trawlers in the North Atlantic, where we both spent many happy(?) years! That's all behind me now, and I can spend my days pottering about with interesting old beasts like the Kodak Reflex II ;-) Taken with a Canon Ixus 960is @ 80 ISO equivalent.

Here's a pic of the old lady! Made from die-cast aluminium with plated brass fittings, this really was near the all time top of Kodak's medium format product range, perhaps only the Medalist, and the German made Regent, exceeded it. As well as the fresnel screen, it has automatic film spacing which works without fault, and the 80mm lenses are hard coated Anastons - not Tessar variants, but a Dialyt design of four equally spaced elements about a central diaphragm, and unusually, both the taking and viewing lenses are of identical construction. The shutter is a Flash Kodamatic with M & X options, 1/2 to 1/300th plus B&T, and the apertures are from f3.5 to f22, and are click-stopped. It is shown with a Kodak Series VI filter adapter, and a home made lens hood which does not mask the viewing lens. Just a shade lighter than a non-metered Rollieflex, it was designed to allow only the wretched 620 film size to be used, and no conversion to 120 is possible without drastic alteration, but I've recently made a simple set up to machine the diameters and end faces of 120 films in the lathe, making them externally the same as 620, and avoiding the need to re-wind the films on to 620 spools, so I might use it more now. Taken with a Canon Ixus 960is @ 80 iso equivalent.

This was the end of the last stage of this little steam excursion, up into the western slopes of the Massif Central, to the town of Commentry, and the train was hauled from Montluçon by two of these American built locomotives, one at each end. It's a steep gradient from Montluçon, and the sound of the exhaust of the two locomotives reverberating off the rock faces as they climbed was truly spectacular! Over a thousand of these locos were built in America and Canada at the end of WW2, to replace French locomotives destroyed during the war, this one was built by Alco in Schenectady, NewYork in 1945, and is one of only four still serviceable. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500

To continue this "excursion in reverse," this is where I joined the train. Taken six years ago, here is TD 141 740 arriving in Guèret station from Limoges, ready for the run up to Montluçon. Notice that there is no diesel back up locomotive, which it seems is now mandatory for steam locomotive hauled trains on public lines in France, but not when this photo was taken. I used a Welmy Six folding camera, which I have since sold, and regret doing so, - it was a delightful little camera, made in Japan - an excellent copy of a Zeiss Ikonta. 1952 Welmy Six, f4.5/75mm Terionar lens, X2 yellow filter. Fomapan Ultra 200 in Caffenol C, 10 mins @21C. Scanned @1200dpi on Epson V500