When I found this great old Ciro-Flex camera at my favorite junk store for about $30, I was super excited. I’d wanted an old dinosaur like this for a long time. I immediately contacted a restoration specialist and shipped it to him so he could bring it up to proper working order. It was a three month wait to get it back, and when he returned it, it looked brand new. He included a note stating that from what he can tell, and with his knowledge of cameras, this camera appears to be pre World War II. Cool, ha? I FINALLY got to use it last week, and I got the prints back today!
Last week, I did the super secret commercial shoot for a new company that is launching soon. I had Lindsey and Jake on site, and I did Lindsey’s hair and makeup, so I took some photos with my Ciro-Flex while waiting for set changes. I’m pretty impressed with myself! This is the first time I’ve ever used a camera that didn’t have a through-the-lens light meter. My trusty side-kick McKenzie used a light metering app on her iPhone to help me meter the light. It was very interesting trying to see through the view-finder. The image is reversed, and it was a little tough to see what I was looking at because I wasn’t used to seeing things that way. Manually focusing took a LOT of concentration.
My favorite thing about these photos is how “old-timey” they look. Of course, I had a PERFECT setting for this – a vintage, staged outdoor set and a model who I styled like an old Hollywood siren. Hot hot hot!!!
I love how this film shows off the soft details in the ripples of Lindsey’s gown and the waves of her hair, as well as the general softness of the photo. It has a completely different feel and personality than any other black and white film I’ve ever shot, and of course that had everything to do with the camera. I used a very common medium format film – Illford XP2 400ISO. I can NOT WAIT to pull this sucker out at my next wedding!
Below are the images I like best. The first shot has a light leak – I think because I was supposed to close the little window in the back of the camera where it shows the frame number. Oops. Even though it’s got a big streak of light through the frame, it still looks cool, because it looks like a very old photo.
Enjoy!!!
