ILFORD XP2 SUPER 400

This is continuing off from my previous roll of Cinestill 800T. I was still in Bristol for this roll and then we travelled over to Wells. In Bristol I photographed the city a little bit and I quite like how the photos came out and I think they turned out quite well This was really a test roll to see if the camera worked. I had found the Olympus OM-20 in a charity shop not too long before this roll and I saw the price and I just had to get it. I have a few Olympus lens lying around and this would also be a great way to use them. The camera came with a 28mm f/2.8 lens along with the original box and manuals. What made me get the camera was the difference in how you change the shutter speed. On cameras that I am used to, you always change shutter speed on the top of the camera body however with the OM-20 it's a little bit different. You actually change shutter speed via a ring around the lens.

Now the function isn’t attached to the lens itself however there is a shutter speed ring where the lens sits. Looking back now, I am not a big fan of it to be quite frank with you. They say it’s meant to be quicker and easier and more intuitive however that is a big lie. It is actually quite difficult to change it quickly because the ring is so insanely small that it takes a while to get a good grip on it. the viewfinder is also very hard to see through. It is like it is completely out of focus or it’s very soft. Not ideal for manual focusing. I may have to get that checked out. This isn’t a camera review though so I will move on. I do like these images. I’m not sure if they are sharp, or if the lens is sharp and so I will have to do some more testings with different film, maybe a mix of both black and white films. I will have to use a slow speed film for these testings.

My favourite images are the ones from Wells. We wernt’t there going, maybe an hour or two. I held my family up because I went to photograph the swans. They weren’t too happy but I am glad that I did soo that because I think the images came out quite well. I tried to capture them at different angles as to not get the same shot twice. I hope I get to visit both Bristol and Wells again in the future. It will most likely be Bristol first as they have a few photography courses I would like to do. They also have some comic book shops and some camera stores I want to visit. Hopefully I get to visit Wells again because I really wasn’t there for very long and there is much more to see.

All in all, I quite like these images and am happy with how they turned out. I’m really not used to shooting with a 28mm lens as i’ve been so used to 50mm, it was kind of a newer experience for me in regards to film photography. With a focal length of 28mm you get a wider field of view compared to 50mm, making it more ideal for street photography and street and city shots altogether. I will have to test this camera with the different lenses and then also test it with different films, both Colour and B&W at various speeds. The weather isn’t the greatest this time of the year or it will be getting worse so B&W will be preferable but I will still test with Colour. I’ll try changing the aperture to see where the lens is the sharpest. I may also have to use a tripod when I use the slower speeds. I’m not sure when i’ll do this but I think it’s a good idea.