Yep, no black and white yet!
I’ve been developing and scanning like mad to get my films ready for a post but the black and white stuff will still take some time.
So for the moment here are my color impressions of Berlin. It’s just the last 24 exposures of the film that was already in my XA2 and I don’t want to waste anything, ever.
Mind you, it’s just my impressions of Berlin. In no way I want to deliver any statement about this city I have only visited for 2 days.
And anyways I’m not one for the usual tourist traps…. no Berlin Wall, no… OK you got me, I snapped the ‘Fernsehturm’. Found guilty!
What did I see this first evening in Berlin? Well, unlike Luxembourg, it’s a big city, a real city! Luxembourg city would not even fill a small district of Berlin.
Then again, it’s not as ancient as Luxembourg. Most of Berlin has been rebuilt since the end of the war and this building frenzy shows with buildings both dilapidated and spanking new.
You have to house those millions of people and this is the ugly result:
And of course some more dubious architectural deviances like this…
The people are a multicultural mix that’s very interesting.
But Berlin is not only the hustle and bustle of the main roads and the big Plazas. It has it’s more quite corners.
And of course, there’s the Berliner’s love for the bicycle! Driving in Berlin is not only a desperate search for your destination but a constant eye on the bicycles.
Here there’s just a handful, but more of those soon in the black and white post!
Just two more bikes for you, deeply in love!
One last thing that struck me is the number of people foraging in the trashcans… Never saw that in any other city (but then again I am not the greatest traveller).
And in the end just some more words about the camera I used, the humble Olympus XA2. I don’t know how Yoshihisa Maitani, the genius who developed this camera for Olympus (and other marvels like the Olympus PEN, Trip 35 or OM1 models) did the trick but this camera can’t be bothered by the most impossible lighting conditions.
Straight into the sun, some light flare but exposure is spot on and the result very pleasing. Only thing that can go wrong is my focusing!
All photos are straight out of the scanner, with Silverfast and the Fujifilm Superia 200 preset!
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.
And see you soon for the darker part of Berlin!
Frank Lehnen Photography 
Great shots Frank!
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Thank you!
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Some great shots Frank, as ever. Especially impressed with the little XA2’s handling of the lighting as you highlighted. I hope my XA3 lives up to the legendary performance too. It appears identical but with dx recognition. I have a roll of cheap agfa vista currently in it, looking forward to the results.
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Have fun with it!
My only problem is that sometimes the shutter locks because I very very slightly move the ‘door’ to the closed position.
Perhaps just my copy of the camera. Apart from that… who needs a Leica 😉
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Not just your copy of the camera Frank. I did a similar thing with my XA!
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Also looking forward to your results in monochrome. What Film stock were you using?
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I used Lomography Lady Grey… not my best move, I admit. Gotta work on the negs a bit…. 😬
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Not re-branded t-max 400 then?
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Think not. Guess that was fake news but not my fault.
In the US it seems to be T-max but over here in Europe they take something else, apparently Foma film… in Asia the Lady Grey is said to be some Chinese stuff.
So absolutely no certainty here and no easily reproductible results.
I’ll post something here to clarify the situation.
In fact the results are very grainy…. not bad but not the fine grain and contrast I expected.
Well, it’s film, always surprises!
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I am really wondering what darker parts of Berlin did you encounter.
I stepped out of the Leopoldplatz station by accident. First there was a biomarkt. Few steps forward a group of slavic speaking middle age men drinking vodka from the bottle. Few steps more another group of younger looking men doing the same. No photos though, I was kind of in the hurry and did not want any trouble.
But there exist also brighter spots in Berlin that are less colourful but at the same time refreshing to encounter.
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Darker… as in black and white. Not that Berlin is a dark city. Though, as you say, it has some peculiar aspects
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That is unfortunate. 🙂 But I kind of expected that you meant b&w.
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As usual amazing photos! Despite some anachronistic features they look like shot in the 90s or even 80s which is one of the tricks film plays with me)) I wish I had a film camera with me that one time I was in Berlin…
And the camera, man! I put it on my wishlist for sure.
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Thank you! The XA2 has it’s quirks but it’s an amazing thing!
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Great images Frank.
”Lomography Lady Grey” I’d never heard of this film, there seems to be so many coming out on the market. So I looked it up on the web and think you maybe surprised with the results. Seems to be a pretty reasonable emulsion from the images I’ve viewed on the internet. There is some reference by other bloggers that this film maybe out of Kodak Alaris stable, but like all these obscure products you’ll just never know.
Hell does it matter, my view is the finished image is the important part, not how it was taken or what equipment!
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Frank, excellent post! Got me nostalgic for color film! By the way, you’re more patient than I am as I’m losing my patience for scanning 🙂
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Just checked out your blog and black and white photos seem to be your thing! I did a photoshoot in Berlin comparing Berlin during the time of the wall vs now which might be interesting to you!-
https://philippascholz.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/berlin-then-and-now/
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Nice impression from Berlin. I will post some photos from my Berlin photo trip in March.
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Thanks Pavel
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