Analogue (and analogue inspired) News and Tittle-Tattle – Newsletter June 2025

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of A Round-up of Analogue (and analogue inspired) News from around the Globe, a Monthly tittle tattle of everything 35mmc related.

Rest in Peace Sebastião Salgado

Sad to hear that famed Magnum Photographer Sebastião Salgado died aged 81. He was a Legend and was until recently probably the most famous photographer alive. He lived a full life and had a good innings; recording history as it happened, through his eyes and the lens of his cameras, formerly Leica R cameras, including the Leica R6 and later the Pentax 645.

Kodak TRI-X was his preferred Film and even when he later shot Canon EOS Digital he tweaked his images to look like TRI-X. 

Pentax K Mount’s 50th Anniversary

It’s the 50th Birthday of the venerable Pentax K Mount. The K mount was released in June 1975 and it’s still going today with Ricoh owned Pentax sticking to Reflex Cameras which must be applauded, as unlike their competitors, they haven’t abandoned their users. The first ever K mount camera was the Pentax K2 (correct me if I’m wrong).

So Happy 50th Happy Birthday Pentax K Mount, now we wait for their new 35mm SLR, we won’t be holding our breath though..

Rollei

Remember Rollei? Makers of the great Rolleiflex TLR. I know it’s confusing but the Rollei brand is to be found on Camera Film, chemicals, along with consumer telescopes and optical instruments, digital camera and some budget camera lenses. Maco Direct own the Film business and have jointly released a Rollei 35 AF – but it’s not really a Rollei. These companies all share the Rollei trade mark and all have it under licence. But what no Rolleiflex? After the break-up of Rollei, DHW Fototechnik was founded (by Rolf Daus, Katherina and Hans Hartje and Frank Will) in Braunschweig.

The website www.dhw-fototechnik.de is still there and you can see the exquisite Rolleiflex and Rollei 35 models there, beautiful and expensive, along with lenses, projectors and View cameras, and they were being manufactured, a shame as in 2014 they went under – a damn shame as they were about 5 years too early – as the Film renaissance really took off towards 2019 and the new generation of youngsters more inclined towards Film, growing up they’d have been obvious customers.

A smaller team, then set up www.dw-photo.eu which still exists and manufactures only the high end Rolleiflex Hy6 SLR, having abandoned the Projectors, TLR and Rollei 35. You can visit their website and if you have $10k at hand can invest in one of their Rolleflex cameras. We contacted DW Photo and await their reply as we would be interested to know their plans during this resurgence of Film and whether a real Rollei 35 would ever see the light of day again, a real Rollei made in Germany by the same craftsmanship.

Exhibitions and Fairs

The Centre for British Photography has some Touring Exhibitions lined up, so keep an eye out on their website for the latest exhibitions and locations. One in particular may interest a few regular readers (Dave Powell do you read me?) It’s of Simon Marsden Photographs from The Haunted Realm

The Centre for British Photography (registered charity number 1190955) was founded in 2020 and seeks to support photographers working in Britain through exhibitions, events, grants and mentoring. The charity provides a platform for a range of voices in order to present an expansive overview of the diversity of photography, past and present. Major supporters include the Broccoli Foundation and the Hyman Collection.

You can check out the late Simon Marsden‘s Website Here and marvel at his surreal and glorious use of grain, light, shadow and a gothic, haunted Phantasmagoria of brilliance. Marsden shot much of his work on a Nikon F using Kodak HIE IR Film and a Red 25 Filter (instead of an opaque one) printing in his own darkroom he created works of wonder. His Photography is of a style which I find inspirational (having been inspired by the same books and experiences as him though in a more romantic and religious/metaphysical way rather than in terms of phantoms and ghosts or hauntings) and a level I’d only ever dream of ever approaching, a genius who sadly left us in 2012. For those wanting to know a bit more, Shutterbug had a very interesting article on him back in 2015, it’s well worth a read. And for those wanting to watch a short piece by Simon Marsden which was aired on BBC2 quite some years ago, here is a link and another different one Here – well worth a watch/listen.

Not quite Photography, but a fascinating Art Exhibition in The Getty Center in Los Angeles California; Symbols and Signs: Decoding Medieval Manuscripts Exhibition. 

Go to www.getty.edu/exhibitions/decoding-manuscripts to find out more and become the next Dan Brown.

Photography In Berlin PIB is a good website to visit for upcoming Photography Exhibitions in Germany, there are a wealth of events listed on their website including a Second World War Photography exhibition in Braunschweig, Lower-Saxony. (shrewd readers will note that this is also the home of Rollei)

See https://www.photography-in.berlin/ for more details.

The Photo + Adventure International trade Fair for Travel, Photography and Outdoor will be taking place at  Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord from the 14th to 15th of June 2025, which has been running since 2014. It could be somewhere worth visiting for Travel and Outdoor Photography enthusiasts who can get there.

P+A Photo Adventure GmbH
Am Haus Asselt 11
47647 Kerken, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)2833 5764661www.photoadventure.eu

Books

The Roman Conceit by Don McCullin

Conceit?

1. Unduly favourable estimation of one’s own abilities or worth; overly positive self-regard.
2. (Archaic) Estimation or opinion of something, especially when favourable.
3. A witty expression or fanciful idea

If you haven’t already, go to a bookshop (or Amazon if you can’t be asked) and check out Don McCullin‘s new book. Ok, it’s not new new, as it’s been out a couple of months, but the former Photo-Journalist famous for his War Photography in Vietnam, Lebanon and Cambodia has long turned his attention to Photographing Large Format work detailing the Roman Empire, I remember I bought his book Southern Frontiers and then sold it, it’s now going for quite a tidy sum, but as a book it’s magnificent – large beautiful Black and White plates and very soulful writing. He followed that up with Journeys across Roman Asia Minor and his latest work follows the Roman Empire theme, entitled The Roman Conceit. If you’re familiar with his dark broody landscape work and still life, this will appeal to you as it’s of the same style and as with his previous books mentioned, all printed by himself in his darkroom; conceited one might say.

Cheap Film Search

Amazon are currently selling Agfa APX 100 (Agfaphoto) for £6.69 with Free Delivery! The price is the cheapest I could find for any B&W Film in 35mm anywhere in the UK, Sure you’ll find some retailers selling Film for less but they charge about the same amount again for delivery. Prices fluctuate so grab ’em while you can.

It’s a very very nice  Film, apparently produced by Harman especially for Agfaphoto and a unique Film rather than a re-spooled one. Here’s what you’ll get when developed with Diafine, lovely silvery tone.

And finally…

Camera of The Month

ZEISS IKON CONTESSA S 310 – Exquisitely engineered German masterpiece, the last camera to bear the Contessa name and one of the last Zeiss Ikon’s. Beautifully built, feels like a miniature Leica in hand, weighing in at 1 lb or around 500g for a camera which is only a fraction larger than the original Contax T and is slightly larger and costs less than a plastic Minox and beats it in almost every department, Aperture Priority with a huge clear bright VF and Meter good for Slide Film.

Built as a rival to the Rollei 35, It’s still relatively ignored by most, so prices are very low (in Germany) but in use and especially build quality it’s superior to most German or Japanese made Viewfinder Camera from around the same era.

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