5 Lessons from the Bronica SQ-Ai
This is a short story of taking this 30+ year old bad boy of a camera out and about in my home town for some night photos. It is a story of ambition, clumsiness, failure, and lessons learned.
The set up:
Fujifilm XT-4 XF16mm F/1.4
Bronica SQ-Ai PS80mm F/2.8
Cinestill 800T
Tripod
I had initially planned to create a video accompanying this little article but it turned out quite bad.
For this photo walk session I originally planned to take photos in six locations, with about 5 kilometers of travelling and two photographs per location (12 shots on 6x6). However, as I went to my backyard to grab my bike I discovered a flat tire and decided to walk the distance. With my backpack on and sandals strapped tight, I was ready for anything.
As I got to my first location and about 7 minutes of walking, I decided to cut out two of the furthest locations (4 & 6). I liked this location because of how the neon cross lined up with the street and conveniently with the taxi. Luckily, the taxi driver didn’t seem to care that I was using his car as a subject and stayed put. This allowed me to move around the cab trying to get different angles, albeit a little clumsily, which leads me to my first lesson…
Lesson One: Avoid Unnecessary Attachments
This camera is big, heavy, and clunky and despite it being mounted to a tripod, I foolishly decided to attach a neck strap and hand grip to it vastly decreasing its mobility and infinitely increasing my clumsiness. In between dangling the XT-4 and managing lapel microphone cables attached to my voice recorder, my situation was less than ideal.
The issue was not that I couldn’t move the camera or use it, but that it made me want to keep movement to a minimum. If each movement I made meant that I’d have to readjust everything and I simply was not interested.
The camera is big enough, you don’t need more sh*t on it. If you are attaching more things to you and the camera, it better be of absolute necessity. I am sure a reason why I didn’t seem to quite get the angle I wanted for the three shots of the taxi was due to the set up being too clumsy (at least in part).
I had arrived at the sports field sweaty, tired, and running out of time. I had unknowingly spent a bit too much time trying to take pictures of the taxi and now had only 30 minutes before the sports field closed and the neon signs switched off.
Lesson Two: Take your time
On paper, 30 minutes was plenty of time but in my mind, 30 minutes was too little time.
The pressure I had mounted on myself was immense and I felt like I had to rush to get all of my gear set up. The location I had picked was an elevated walkway that gave me a good look at the field. However, a railing blocked my view of getting a good angle, so I increased the height of the tripod and bumped into an issue. I literally could not see what I was shooting.
As such, I was pretty much blind as I couldn’t frame my shot properly. The lesson here is to take your time. Why?
After a while I came up with the ingenious solution of hoisting my XT4 and taking advantage of the swiveling screen to peer into the WAIST-LEVEL VIEWFINDER. Sounds easy enough, but it’s actually quite difficult as your brain tries to compensate for the mirrored image of the WFVF and the orientation of the swivel screen. Had I properly taken my time to compose the shot or better yet, found a better position in the sport field I wouldn’t have ended up with a shot I didn’t like.
So take your time, 30 minutes is A LOT of time. — In retrospect I actually could’ve just tilted the camera at a 90 degree angle…
The next location was a neon sign at a restaurant nearby. It was a brisk 3 minute walk, and I had planned out 3 shots for the location. THREE, three shots were planned in my head, but only one turned out. Of the three images I planned in my head, why was it the one I liked the least turned out fine?
Lesson Three: Pay attention to the camera
So what went wrong?
After the shoot I remarked to my girlfriend through the phone, “man, this camera requires so much attention, it’s like having another girlfriend.” — You will need to pay a lot of attention to this camera.
The reason those two images above ended up like that is because of a safety mechanism that comes with the camera called the ‘dark slide’ (unrelated to the slide into the abyss drugs and money laundering). It’s a multipurpose sheet of metal that is inserted in to a slot on the camera’s film back. When inserted, it blocks light from travelling to the film sheet, and has a latch system ensures that the camera won’t fire off when it is locked in place.
The dark slide is a great safety feature but if you don't pay attention to how it’s slotted into the film back it could result in your camera shooting blanks, like I did. Because of the self-induced rush and panic I created for myself, I accidentally slotted the dark slide the wrong way up when I made my way from the area of the first shot of the restaurant to the subsequent two locations. Thus, the camera didn’t register the latch and the fact that the dark slide was slotted in, allowing for the camera shutter to fire off.
I only realized after shooting the third shot, thinking I needed to put the dark slide back into the camera, only to find out it was slotted in the wrong way round the entire time.
My process of taking photos with the Bronica now includes this checklist;
- Get the image in focus
- Unlock the shutter button
- Pull the dark slide out
- Take the image
- Put the dark slide back in
- Lock the shutter button
After realizing I had botched the last two shots of the restaurant, I took off with low morale. I only had 5 shots left and I knew I had to spend them wisely. Instagram has taught me that people love gas stations and I just knew the one near my village would be perfect. But just before I got there, I stopped to take a picture of a security post outside of the village carpark. I don’t know what drew me to take this photo, but I’m not really happy with it. I had a limited amount of images and I wasted a shot on something I never intended to take a photo of… leading to my next lesson.
Lesson Four: Mind the framing, Mind the subject
Something about the image above isn’t right. It isn’t anything particularly visually pleasing or interesting and I’m not sure why I took the photo or why I didn’t bother spending a bit more time on framing the image nicer.
You really need to mind your framing and subject matter when it comes to using the Bronica, or for that matter with any camera. Each shot comes to a cost of about HKD$12/USD$1.5 per shot, not a small price to pay, with the cost of one roll you could buy 6 Big Macs. Make your shots count, mind your framing and mind the subject you’re shooting, or you’ll end up with a meaningless image.
Finally, I made it to the gas station. Tired, and full of knowledge from the previous lessons, I finally took a set of photos I actually liked and learned my final lesson…
Lesson Five: Avoid Overambition
I can’t believe I set off this trip thinking I could’ve went to all 6 locations and spend an average of 2 shots per location. In my mind, I thought two chances were enough to nail perfect shots. I was wrong. Looking back, I think I would’ve benefitted much more from a smaller itinerary; less walking, a more refined kit set, and more time at each location to really nail the framing of each shot.
Like Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, ambition got the best of me. Avoid over ambition and learn from my 5 lessons. They could save you some money, time, and maybe even help you take better photos. In the age of digital photography, where an image can so easily be created and deleted, a slow down in the process imaging process could maybe teach you a thing or two.
