Our town put on a Medieval weekend, something I had not seen before, it seemed a good excuse to make some images on film. I visited over two days to be able to see different enactments, fortunately it wasn’t too busy allowing me to get some pleasant photos. Well I like them anyway, which is surely the point of the exercise: enjoyment. I saw a number of other photographers over the weekend, one in particular had spotted the old Leica round my neck and an old Billingham on my shoulder. He had what I see a lot of in these digital days, two cameras with huge lenses, one around the neck, the other attached somewhere else on his body, also a large camera bag. I admit when working professionally I too carried a huge bag full of Hasselblad equipment and didn’t think twice about it, but these days an M3 with a 50mm lens is heavy enough. We had an excellent discussion about photography, film cameras and darkrooms. Another had spotted the Billingham, a chat ensued, his digital gear was more modest and a lot less bulky, very sensible, in my view. I remember some years ago a Chinese group in Manchester spotting my M2, commenting: ‘Leica, nice camera’ as they passed me by. A chap in some Manchester gardens came and sat on a bench with me and we compared Leica Ms and lenses for some time. I have found that old Leicas and now it appears old Billinghams do draw people for a chat.
For those who like to know, all the photos were shot with the M3 and a 50mm Summicron-M lens. The films used are Leica Monopan 50 at box speed and the other Ilford XP2 Super at 300iso. Exposure metered with a Sekonic Twinmate. Lab processed, high resolution scans, then basic editing, no more than I would do in a darkroom. (The feature image was shot on Leica Monopan50)
Thanks for reading
Phil Harrison
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Geoff Chaplin on A Pleasant Session of Photography at a Medieval Weekend
Comment posted: 30/08/2026