Since I really loved the previous black and white photos I had taken using my Lubitel 166B, I thought I would try out the Ilford HP5 Plus film as it’s a very easy film to get hold of in a few of my local shops in Brighton.
The more I use the camera, the more I continue to love it. Since my last blog, I’ve now discovered how to focus the photo properly by using the attached magnifying glass in the viewfinder and looking at the central circle in the viewfinder.
I also thought I’d test out the eye level viewfinder on the camera which is a small square in the plastic at the top so you don’t actually look into the picture part of the camera. Here are two photos I took using this method of shooting:
I didn’t feel that using the little square viewfinder gave an accurate image of what I inevitably shot so I know I definitely prefer using the actual picture viewfinder and mainly shooting from the hip.
It was a cloudy, windy day in Brighton and the waves were immense. I wanted to capture this as best I could using the Lubitel and here are the results:
I wasn’t sure when taking the photos if I was going to find them boring once developed but I do really like them. Again for me, I just really like the style of photo this camera produces.
Natalie Smart Film Photography 
Great images from the Lubitel , it’s not an easy camera to use, sadly mine has succumbed to the dreaded fungus on the lens and mirror. I just finished a roll of HP5 in my old Olympus 35DC today.
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That’s a shame about your Lubitel 😔 the old Olympus film cameras are great 👍
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Thanks for sharing – what developer was used to develop the HP5?
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Hi Graham. I get my film developed at a local lab and I’m not sure what developer they use for the HP5. I’ll try and remember to check with them next time I’m in there 👍
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No problem. I’m looking at shooting a bit of film again and was curious to see what other people are using. HP5 was one of my favourite emulsions and I generally used Ilfotec HC developer as it was easy to use and was also a good option when pushing the ISO.
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