Berlin in Film

Slow shutter speeds emphasise the movement of the crowds beneath the Brandenburg Gate. 1/2s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 8m.

Sometimes in life you are left questioning why you made things so unnecessarily complicated. This is one of those moments. My intention was always to bring a film camera on my trip to Berlin, but the original plan was to only bring my Nikon F100 and five rolls of Portra 400. No digital cameras and certainly nothing from the early twentieth century. However, I eventually changed my mind and decided instead to take my Nikon Z6 and the Z 50mm 1.8 (the results of which you see in the previous two blogs here and here). I like a challenge though, and despite battling issues with light leaks, I really wanted a film to capture the old city buildings, hence why I chose the No.1 Pocket Kodak Camera. It’s small, compact and works well with the Benro Rhino travel tripod I could sneak into my hand luggage. I’d bring five rolls of Ilford Pan F+, its slow speed and high levels of detail suiting the camera well, and that would also restrict me to a total of forty photos that wouldn’t take up all my time whilst out and about. That was until I ran out my film quicker than I expected and bought my first five roll box of Kodak Gold 200. But more on that later.

My first film photo of the trip. Though I struggled to fit it all into frame, the Oberbaum Bridge struck me as soon as I saw it. 1/2s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 8m.

The East Side Gallery is a mecca for graffiti art lovers. 1/2s (B) 111mm F32 Focus set at 3m.

If you’ve seen my previous blogs with this camera, you’ll know that is does have a special vintage look to its images, based on its very primitive lens and equally primitive shutter. With the lens needing to be heavily stopped down from it’s native F7.9 aperture you are often shooting at slow shutter speeds that have little chance of capturing any kind of sharp motion. However that can be used to work in your favour, creating atmospheric shots of buildings and areas with the blurred motion of crowds. This again gives a very retro and old school feel.

What struck me continuously in both Germany & Poland is how tall many churches have been built in comparison to those in the UK. St Thomas Church was no exception. 1s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 8m.

Checkpoint Charlie - one of Berlin’s most famous locations. 1/2s (B) 111mm F32 Focus set at 5m.

All the monochrome images were taken in my first few days in Berlin before I spent the weekend in Poland. A total of three and a bit rolls, leaving the other two or so for my time out further east. Whilst the slow and painstaking setup do force you to think carefully about each image you take, there were just too many great subjects to put in front of my camera and I realised it was just going to be easier to photograph them there and then, rather than worrying too much if I’d see something better the next day. It wasn’t always easy, especially on days where I was between hostel stays and had to carry everything else around with me. Setting up the tripod, umming and ahing over the composition with the unreliable viewfinder and making sure I hadn’t knocked the aperture ring which would have ruined my exposure. It can become a bit stressful.

Loved and loathed in equal measure. The Trabant (or Trabi) has long been a symbol of East Germany and East Berlin. 1/8s (B) 111mm F22 Focus set at 5m.

A contrast of history and modernity with this view of Berlin Cathedral. 1s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 5m.

Some images I was really happy with, others were bitter disappointments. When it comes to composition I hadn’t used this camera extensively for some time and it meant I had forgotten how exactly I needed to look through the viewfinder in order to get my desired image. Though a process of inexperience and second guessing myself I got some widely off, like my photo of the Reichstag, clipping off parts of buildings and ruining the shot. With all the effort you put in, it can be extremely disheartening. Thankfully this is balanced out by seeing the best shots on the roll.

My failed photo of the Reichstag that can’t be saved even when cropping. If I had composed it up properly I would have fit everything within the frame. Using the viewfinder on the pocket camera can be difficult at times. 1s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 30m.

This photo is a good example of the lack of coatings on old lenses. The ghosting and flaring is very high and washes out much of the image’s contrast. Modern lenses have resolved this issue. 1/4s (B) 111mm F32 Focus set at 30m.

My best image of the entire trip by far was taken inside Berlin’s well known Holocaust memorial. The design is a piece of architectural genius and one that feels very different whether you visit it alone or with others. Exploring the cold dark pillars as you sink further into it, people flash past in and then quickly out of view as though they were never there. In a group you will quickly lose each other and be left wondering where they are, even though they are just a few feet away. A symbolism for the sudden and dramatic loss of life is memorialises. Searching for images online, you see the same kind of photos almost every time - from the outside looking in and above the mass of undulating stones. I wanted to capture something different, something unique, something that really captured the very essence of this powerful and moving place. After pondering for several moments, I decided on a low down composition, as low as the tripod would allow me, in order to capture the pillars towering over the top of me. I then had to make a decision on exposure. There was such a wide dynamic range, from the dark deep grey immediately in front of me to the burning highlights outside in the bright sunshine. Using that to my advantage I metered based on the pillars halfway between myself and the outside to create a transition from black to grey to white that leads the viewer through the image. I call it ‘Towards the Light’ and I think it’s one of the best photos I have ever taken.

A typical view of the Holocaust Memorial if you search online. 1/2s (B) 111mm F32 Focus set at 3m.

Towards the Light. My own perspective on the Holocaust Memorial and my best photo from the trip. 10s (T) 111mm F45 Focus set at 3m.

As I mentioned before I hadn’t intended to shoot my entire allotment of film in Berlin in the first few days, so I decided to visit the dedicated film camera shop near to where I was staying (Fotoimpex) and try shooting (in-date) colour film for the first time with the pocket camera. Most of that I shot at Sanssouci which I will talk about next week but I did capture a few very long exposures during another evening at the Berlin Festival of Lights. This was all highly experimental, and I honestly had no idea how these would come out until returning home and having the rolls developed. The results are certainly eye-catching and the one of the moving floats outside of Berlin Cathedral looks like someone needs to hurriedly call the Ghostbusters. That’s what I just love about film. The fun experimentation that yields results you sometimes can’t predict.

I was unsure how the long exposure would cope with the shifting displays on the Brandenburg gate during the Festival of Lights. Though everything has merged into a single blueish colour, some details of writing and patterns can be made out. 90s (T) 111mm F22 Focus set at 8m.

The static display on the Humboldt University Faculty of Law building made for an easier subject to photograph. Though I should have set my focus a little closer. 250s (T) 111mm F22 Focus set at 30m.

Who ya gonna call? Leaving my shutter open for ten minutes whilst the illuminated floats moved up, down and around created this strange ghostly effect. 600s (T) 111mm F22 Focus set at 30m.

One last thing I will add is my experience taking the film through airport security. You hear lots of horror stories of people’s film going through X-ray machines and being completely ruined. More recently I had been re-assured by someone that the newest machines had more shielding than before which prevented this and, to be fair, it’s been long maintained that for films ISO 400 and under there wouldn’t be any issues. I took my ISO 50 Pan F+ through the X-ray machine twice and the Kodak Gold 200 once on the way back to the UK. I haven’t noticed any adverse changes, so it looks like it is completely safe for lower ISO rolls of film. I can’t speak to those who want to bring their box of Kodak T-Max P3200 with them (and you definitely shouldn’t put your film in your hold luggage), but it seems the fears of many are largely unfounded.

The attractive glass roof of the DomAquarée building. Sadly this area was severely damaged several months later due to the explosion of the AquaDom in the Radisson Blue hotel. I am now kicking myself that I didn’t know about it at the time to walk into the lobby and see it. Now I’ll never get a chance to do so. 10s (T) 111mm F45 Focus set at 8m.

This shot taken inside the DDR Motorbike Museum really shows off the high levels of details this lens can capture when stopped down to F22. That is definitely it’s sweet spot but most of the time a smaller aperture is needed for more depth of field, even if the potential detail decreases. Luckily as I was in there at the end of the day there was no one else inside to disturb my long exposures. 420s (T) 111mm F22 Focus set at 2.5m.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog and that my pictures and words continue to inspire you to entertain your own journey into film photography. As much as I like my digital images, these physical, tactile products of my hard work will always have a greater significance and meaning.

The Berlin Wall Memorial which includes a viewing platform that looks over a mock-up of a section of the wall as it would have stood. 1/4s (B) 111mm F32 Focus set at 8m.

This section gives visitors a feel of what the wall would have looked like. Although there would have been additional threatening security measures. 1s (B) 111mm F45 Focus set at 5m.

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