A few days ago I posted a series of color photos. In that post I promised a deep dive into the camera I used.

I’m pleased to have acquired a Canon P, a rangefinder introduced in 1959. It’s differnt from most of my other rangefinders in that it’s not a fixed lens camera and that it’s compatible with the Leica M39 lens mount. This, in turn, makes it compatible with a wide range of other lenses to include Canon and a host of Leica copies. Many of these Leica copies are Russian lenses. By all accounts, they can be just as sharp as Leica lenses but can be had for tons less dough. Other cameras compatible with with the Leica M39 lens mount include the Fed and Zorki series of cameras (also Russian) and others.

It won’t surprise you that I’ve already obtained a Zorki 4 but haven’t yet had the opportunity to shoot with it. I have a Fed 5 enroute from Ukraine. My Fed 5 will come equipped with a Jupiter 8 50mm f2 lens, which came standard on most Feds. I also have an Industar 50mm / f3.5 on its way from distant lands. AND, I also picked up a second Jupiter 8 from a local seller from Facebook Marketplace last weekend. We met up in the DIllons parking lot in Andover where our transaction went off without a hitch.

I immediatley put that Jupiter 8 on my Canon P, and I must say they’re cosemetically a match made in heaven. My pal, Ron, gave me a couple of leather camera straps he made. I put one of these on my Canon P to complete its sexy look (and functionality).

My first roll of film through the Canon P / Jupiter 8 combo was that splash of color I previously posted. As nice as the color shots were, I was eager to run a roll of slow B&W flim through this body/lens combo. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 100 and shot just a few pictures while to and from work early in the week. Eager to get the whole roll shot, I invited my son and grandson to go on a Sunday afternoon photowalk with me.

We ended up at a downtown Wichita skatepark. It didn’t take me long to finish up the 36 exposure roll. As luck would have it, my son had his skateboard in his trunk which offered a chance for me to get some action shots. If I’d realized I’d be shooting action, I’d have loaded a faster film.

At one point, I asked my grandson Roman to pose for a photo while holding his dad’s skateboard. He was smiling and giving me a thumbs up. I wanted a more angsty looking sk8er boi vibe and said, “Roman! Look mean!” He kept smiling and said, “I can’t Papa Ken!”

I had the film in a Patterson development tank less than an hour of getting home with it. On the recommendation of the Massive Development Chart, I developed it in Rodinal at a dilution of 1:50 for 15 minutes at  68°. I’ve been experimenting with doing a full minute of agitation during the first minute of development followed by ten seconds every thirty seconds after that. This seems to boost contrast, which I like. The 15 minutes seemed like a long time, but the negatives looked really nice upon an initial inspection when I hung them to dry.

“Roman! Look mean!” He kept smiling and said, “I can’t, Papa Ken!”

I was so pleased with this roll that I had a hard time narrowing down which of the 36 I wanted to post here. I’ve posted six other shots from this roll over on my ictfilmguy Instagram account.