This year I’m on secondment to MediaCity at Salford Quays and I’ve been enjoying the photographic opportunities the area affords. Having put both my iPhone and my Nikon D750 to work photographing the quays, I decided to have a go at taking some pictures with a different perspective. My old Zenit TTL had been gathering dust for a while so I paired it with a cheap Jupiter 135mm lens I’d hardly ever used and went for a walk in my lunch break.

Materials used were Firstcall 400S film, actually 3 months out of date, processed in Paranol S developer and scanned on my Epson V550.

I really like the moody grain and texture of the photographs, it kind of reflects the dull, oppressive and humid weather on the day. Taking the shots, I was worried about the sharpness of the lens as the focussing screen on the camera never quite resolved to being totally sharp – it doesn’t really seem to have been a problem looking at the scans, perhaps a lower grain film would have revealed more flaws. Maybe I’ll try it with some 100 ISO colour film and take some portraits to test it further.

It was certainly enjoyable getting the old Soviet beast out of the cupboard again, and I’d definitely give the Firstcall film another bash.