Atelier Winsonli

Around 2 months ago I decided to send the Lamy 2000 to Michael Masuyama for a cursive italic regrind. The factory EF nib writes too broad for my likings. The Lamy 2000 saw little use since I purchased it almost 2 years ago. I sent an email to Michael to inquire about the possibility of putting on a cursive italic regrind on the EF nib to add line variation. His reply was very informative, making sure that my writing style would suit a EF cursive italic nib, which is inherently less smooth due to its nib shape. As the nib is already fine, putting on a cursive italic regrind would make it very fine, which might dig into paper if one writes with high pressure on low quality paper.

When Michael received the pen, he sent an acknowledgement email, saying that he’ll get back to me when he works on the pen. After 7 weeks in his task queue, the regrind was done. The factory EF nib is now a 0.3mm cursive italic regrind. Michael was kind enough to try the pen on the paper I printed the order form with, to ensure that I would be satisfied with the line variation the nib offers.

One day when I got home, there’s this package waiting for me on my desk. I couldn’t wait to open it. There, it is the Lamy 2000 with a 0.3mm cursive italic nib. I loaded it with the Montblanc Midnight Blue ink I specially bought for it, and laid down a stroke with beautiful line variation.

Written on Rhodia paper, 5mm grid.

The nib is a joy to write with. I would not say it is butter smooth, but then it could be mooth when held at the correct angle. The regrinded pen took just a few minutes to get used to. The line variation is prominent as you could see in the scan above. MB Midnight Blue (which is the same as MB Blue Black), is also a very beautiful beautiful shade of blue. The appearance of this ink depends a lot on the flow and nib size. This combination of nib and ink is producing excellent results. I am very satisfied with the regrind.

I haven’t been blogging for ages. A few months ago I got my first film camera, the Yashica Mat 124G. Information on film cameras, especially of these types, are rare on the Internet. I’ve spent countless hours googling for phrases like TLRs, Yashica Mat vs Rolleicord and 120 film. Most results are forum posts which are not well organized. So I thought it would be nice if I could blog about what I’ve researched over the past months. We’re going to talk about medium format films in this post.

What do 120, 645, 6×6 mean?

I was confused by these names when I first researched about medium format. The most common type of medium format film is 120, which is a spool film. The number of exposures you can get from a roll depends on the picture format you are shooting. Unlike 135 film, where most often the frame size is 36*24 (although other formats like xpan and half frame exist), you can expose a 6*4.5, 6*6, 6*9, 6*12 or 6*17 frame onto the length of the film. These formats are called 645, 66 (most often 6×6 or square format), 69, 612 and 617. The smaller the format, the more frames could be exposed on the film.

Types of Film

There are three types of film:

• Color negative - which give an image of inverted color
• Color slide - which give an image of positive color
• Black and white - most commonly negatives

All three types of films require different solutions to develop the film. Color negatives are developed in C-41 chemicals and should be the cheapest and likely to be available at developing stores. Slides require E-6 chemicals, which is a highly standardized process (i.e. the slides should look the same regardless of the store used to develop the film). Black and white are more special, as there is a wide range of developers to choose from, each gives a different feel to the final result. Therefore most people would develop black and white at home. The E-6 process for slide has precise time and temperature requirements and usually could not be done at home. The C-41 could be done at home, but not easily.

Note that C-41 black and white film do exist. These films can be processed like ordinary color negative films. These films, however, lack the character of traditional black and white emulsions. If you’re planning on developing black and white film at a store, you could consider shooting C-41 black and white such as the Kodak T400CN, Fuji Neopan 400CN and Ilford XP2.

Color Negatives

I haven’t had much experience with color negatives. Color negatives have low contrast and high exposure latitude (the ability to over or underexpose without blowing the highlights or shadows, in other words are more tolerable to metering inaccuracies). One personal observation is that, negatives tend to give a more 3D feel to the picture.

I have only tried Kodak color negatives:

• Ektar 100 - a relatively new emulsion. High contrast and vibrant colors.
• Portra 160NC, 400NC - NC for neutral. ISO400 film has more grain. Note that whether you like grain is a personal taste. The presence of grain is not necessarily a bad thing.
• Portra 160VC, 400VC - VC for vibrany colors.

I used to search for pictures taken with various films on flickr. However, I observed that the overall feel of a picture is determined by the lens, film and exposure. The same film could have very different looks when exposed differently. It is best to experiment with different films and exposures to determine the mix that fits you the best. You could try overexposing or underexposing the film by a little, as it would give different results.

Color Slides

Color slides are my favorite type of film they have a high contrast and vibrant colors. I would describe the pictures as having a “crystal clear” feel to it.

• Fuji Astia 100F - The least vibrant and contrasty slide film of all. I haven’t tried this one.
• Fuji Provia 100F - My standard slide film. It is good for shooting almost everything.
• Fuji Provia 400X - A high speed slide film, has similar characteristics to the Provia 100F. This one could be pushed to ISO 1600, where this film really shines.
• Velvia 50 - Extremely saturated colors and high contrast. Perfect for shooting landscapes.
• Kodak E100G - A medium contrast, medium vibrancy slide film.
• Kodak E100VS - Very saturated slide film. Could be described as the Kodak version of Velvia.

Pilot called me today to say the Iroshizuku inks arrived. They imported only one for each of the 14 colors, so I had to go as soon as possible to secure my bottle. I got the tsuki-yo which is a blue black ink with greenish hues.

I believe the bottle is hand blown. The surface is not perfectly smooth, and there are bubbles inside the glass. I like the bubbles. The label is also textured, as you can see in the picture below.

I am a fan of Japanese products. People from the country put a lot of attention in their products and package design. Even for engineering of precision instruments like wristwatches, I would trust Japanese craftsmanship as much as I do with Germany or Swiss ones, with the exception of Japanese cars.

I have yet to try the ink. Would post some samples later.

Included in the version 0.3 update:

• Iroshizuku in 14 colors
• Waterman in 8 colors

Icons could be downloaded here. Enjoy!

The Sailor Blue Ink. Got it for the reddish glow it gives when used in a wet pen. Apart from that special effect, it is a very business like blue. This one is more conservative than Visconti Blue.

See the reddish glow? The effect is subtle in real life, but I exaggerated it by taking the photo at an angle and using strong lighting. Some papers show the effect more prominent. This one is the Moleskine Cahier.

Figured out a way to deal with thick glass walls. So here it is, the Iroshizuki bottle icon:

I think I can make icons for Caran D’ache with similar techniques. Iroshizuku and Caran D’ache icons would be included in the next update.

Uploaded the Bottled Ink Icons version 0.1 for download. This version includes 26 icons, including Visconti, Sailor and Montblanc bottles.

Made the Montblanc bottles today, regular editions:

Left to right: black, blue, blue black, violet, green, sepia, bordeaux.

Also these Season’s Greetings scented inks:

Left to right: 2005 chocolate brown with cookies and spices scent, 2006 chocolate brown scented with cinnamon, 2007 red with vanilla scent, 2008 white forest green in pine scent.

I haven’t made the Love Letter Red yet as I can’t find good pictures of the bottle. More icons to come.

Finished the Visconti and Sailor icons today:

Would upload a zip file containing all the icons after I have completed them.

Created these bottled ink icons today:

From left to right: Visconti Blue, Montblanc Season’s Greetings 2007, Sailor Blue. I also attempted the regular Montblanc bottles but it doesn’t look nice.

I’ll make icons of the other colors and bottles later. I’m stuck trying to make a Caran d’Ache one, because from the front all you see is the sticker and thick glass.