Film in Morocco

Before departure I had decided I would take my film camera as there were a few shots that I thought would be better captured in Medium Format.  Specifically, I was thinking the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland and then the narrow streets of Marrakech. While I did get some shots of the Cliffs, I was not happy with the results.  Marrakech and Essaouira turned out much better.  

I had planned on taking the Rolleiflex, as it is lighter, a bit more compact and it’s Scheider-Kreuznack lens seems a bit sharper.  However, the winding mechanism seized up a week before I left, so I ended up bringing the Bronica.  I’m glad the problem arose before departure so I wasn’t left holding the bag.   

I took  4 rolls of Rollei Retro 400s and 3 of Ilford FP4+.  The Rollei film is very high contrast and thus a little more difficult to get right.  But when I did get it right the results were quite satisfying.  The film is quite sharp and fine grained. 

In the past I’ve found the Ilford film a bit bland, so while I was reluctant to use it, it was all that was available off-the-shelf at my local camera store.  However this time I developed it using Rollei SUPERGRAIN, and to my eye this puts a bit more punch into the results.

I found the Ilford film easier to use, and coupled with the SUPERGRAIN, this could become my new standard.  But I will try the Rollei Retro 400s a couple more times to see if I can get good results regularly, or put another way, get a better handle on the scenarios where this is the right film to use.

In the environment of the streets of Marrakech and Essaouira it was difficult to use a tripod and meter according to the zone system, which is normally how I use the camera.  The streets are too busy to setup a tripod and the activity too quick-paced to go through the timelier zone system procedures.   This means that all my shots were metered with an incident meter and shot hand held. Happily, none showed any signs of shake.  

I shot the Ilford film at it’s recommend speed (ISO 125) and developed according to the recommended recipe for 1:12 dilution.

I shot the Rollie film at ISO 200, even though the film is rated ISO 400, and developed n-1. While some shots came through quite well, several were still too dark.  I will try exposing at ISO 100 next time.  

In the end, I have 8 shots which I’m happy with.  The first one–the Mosque–was posted yesterday.  Below, I’ve posted the Cat in Riad Dombaraka.  Others will be posted over the coming days.

As usual, the negatives are scanned and then processed in Lightroom.  

While in Marrakech we stayed in the Riad Dombaraka.  The proprietress, Dominque, is from Paris. This had been her home for a few years, but in the last 2 she has opened it up as an Inn.  Like all riads, this one has a central courtyard.  In one little alcove on the court yard was a little bench, and this time when I passed was a cat enjoying a quiet nap.