Re-cycling the 35mm Film Canon F1 2.8 100mm lens and SpeedFinder. Don't do this in the District of North Vancouver!

Long before Digital cameras came along (twenty-two years ago), film cameras were the in-thing to photograph with.  These photos were taken, late afternoon, at the North Vancouver District Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge.

The "two" riders, closet to the camera, are the same person, the one at top of the image made it across, and NOT by swinging his leg off of the bike at the end of his run.  There's a method to their madness it seems, if I tell you how they do it I would be charged by Christy Clark's law enforcement officers for aiding and abetting 24 year old "juveniles".

It was the cyclist at the top of the image that gave me the idea of capturing the second cyclist.... both cyclists, in my humble opinion, were totally out of their minds.

The second cyclist pushed past me, on the east side of the bridge, I snapped the first picture, then 3.5 seconds later (or as quickly as I could advance the film and compose the field of vision) I snapped the second photo.

I had the two images merged in a photo lab, took a day to have it done, plus one day shipping it out, another day to return.  THREE DAYS!

Today I used two "pieces" of modern technology, one an Epson Perfection 4490 Photo Flatbed Scanner to convert the colour negatives to positive images, to then using another software bundled with Nikon's PictureProject I merged the two photos via ArcSoft Panorama Maker.   Done in under five minutes for the two processes and then up to the BBC for more editing.


There's only been one pedestrian who has survived a fall from this bridge, and she was totally intoxicated, too drunk to know what she was doing, where she was doing it, with her two friends, at three o'clock in the morning.  I suppose that if you don't know the hazard that could befall you, you  can sort of relax.  Totally, and she did....... and she had the additional luck of the afternoon's being HOT, melted the mountain snow which then created high water in the canyon far, below.


Cyclists who do this sort of activity during any hour, and call it "fun", are out of their minds.

Digital Cameras are in, now, but back then it was this that caught the action!   A Canon F1, with a 2.8 100mm lens.  The F1, made of brass, had all the capabilities that no one could afford except for this:  The Speed Finder.

The conventional prism viewfinder on the F1 was designed to be REMOVED, then replaced with the SpeedFinder.  The benefit of this feature allows the cameraman to take the camera right down to the ground, and then looking straight down through the "top" viewfinder, as though it were a Hasselblad, the most unique photographs can be taken.  Optionally, the camera could be hoisted overhead of a crowd, then aimed down, to see the 'target' beyond the ring of rioters.

Changing from straight down to conventional is just a push of a button, then a twist either clock-wise or counter clock-wise.

Most photographs are done from eye-level, the Speed Finder allows for a different level of a photograph to be attained with a minimum of fuss.

Hopefully, what with all the speed bumps in North Vancouver to calm the traffic, the same holds true for the North Vancouver Suspension Bridge to STOP cyclists from speeding, when they should be walking, across the bridge.