In October 2019, I traveled to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, which is the southernmost city of Argentina. These pictures were made on the last day of my trip, during a boat tour through the Beagle channel and a walk on the Bridges Island. It was cloudy that morning and the sky didn`t seem to open up. However, it did and I was able to get on board.
The cameras I carried with me on that trip were a Leica M2 with a Summaron 35mm f/2.8 and a Hasselblad 500 EL/M with a Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8. I loaded my Leica with a bulk-loaded roll of ILFORD HP5 PLUS and my Hasselblad with Kodak T-MAX 100. The wide exposure latitude of HP5 PLUS and T-MAX 100 enabled me to capture the dynamic landscapes of Tierra del Fuego. For this article, I chose some pictures from the last roll of film I shot on that trip, which were made with the Leica.
While we were on the boat over, we were able to see the Les Éclaireurs lighthouse and gaze at the spectacular landscape with its unique wildlife. Once we arrived at the island, we disembarked on a small wooden pier, which can be seen in two of the pictures. After walking around the island and taking some pictures, we got on the boat and returned to the harbor. On our journey back to the city, I was able to finish my last roll, which I developed with the rest as soon as I got back to my home in Buenos Aires.
I think that using a 35mm Leica enabled me to capture the images I could not make with the Hasselblad, as a result of being a slow camera. Also, the fact that I was using black and white film gave the work a more documentary approach.
I developed my film in Kodak HC-110 dilution B (1+31) and scanned it with an Epson Perfection V550. After using this developer for some time, I have to say that it’s very versatile and convenient because of its long shelf life. Not only is it easy to mix, but also it performs really well when pushing film. In fact, a 120 roll of T-MAX 100 which I pushed to 800 turned out almost grainless and with very rich tonality.
If you want to see all my photos from that trip, you can check out my website or my Instagram page (links below).
~ Ignacio
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9 responses to “5 Frames… Starting at Ushuaia’s Beagle Channel on ILFORD HP5 PLUS (35mm Format / EI 400 / Leica M2 + Leica Summaron 35mm f/2.8)”
Impresionantes las dos primeras fotos, Ignacio, y las cinco que elegiste en general! Yo nunca he usado una Leica y esenivel de precision y nitidez (como se ven las montañas a lo lejos en la segunda) es increíble. Hermosos los tonos también. Escribí más!
Nice photos and a great write up. If you want to get faster with your Blad, shoot it more! I have been using one since the 70’s. It helps to have a 90 or 45 degree finder on the Blad but the waist level works well too.
Thanks for your advice! I currently have a waist level finder, but I`ve thought of getting a prism finder.
Some excellent photos there! Congratulations.
Thank you Rob!
whaouuuuuu! BRAVO!
FANTASTIC IMAGES!
TOP GEAR!
BRAVO!
I think you have made the right choice, I have own a brand new Hasselblad 503 CXi, but I have sold it soon because this is not a fast camera, this is more a studio camera. There is an excellent video from JCH about the Hasselblad which shows other opinion. But for me, this is not question of speed limited to 500e second, this is the size and operation. Since this cameras I have decided to stick to 35mm cameras, only the exception of the Rolleiflex.
Thak you Eric! I agree with you. I believe that Hasselblads are better for portraits or for situations where the photographer can take his time to focus and compose the picture. I don’t think that it’s a matter of shutter speed, but a matter of size and operation. Sometimes it’s better to sacrifice the image quality of medium format in order not to miss the picture.
Since both lenses are f/2.8, Is the Hasselblad the “slower” camera due to it’s maximum 1/500th shutter speed?
No. By “slower” I mean that it takes time to focus, as well as framing the image. I don’t think that the shutter speed affects that much when I’m taking pictures since I don’t normally need higher speeds. It’s a great camera for making portraits or landscapes, but sometimes using a big camera makes you miss the moment.