Roll 17: The Ihagee Dresden EXA

This week’s roll hails from the Ihagee Dresden EXA.   The inaugural roll for me in this lovely machine was Kodak Gold 100.

This is another camera from my new loot of camera treasures.   I’m already pretty fond of it but I have to admit that I had never heard of the maker and just went solely on beauty in keeping this one.   It came to me in an absolutely perfect, leather carrying case with instructions, extra lenses and all kinds of doodads, including the original owner’s manual.   The pages are tattered but I have delicately cherished each and every detail of it.  This first roll of film is a little rough but every single photo is getting better as I learn the controls.    Trust me, you will see more film from this camera in the future.

For the EXA’s first film adventure with me, I took it fishing.    My husband wanted to go check out one of the local ponds that is stocked by the Nevada Department of Wildlife with fish on a regular basis.   And, my son is almost interested in fishing so it would be a good chance to catch an easy fish for him, too.

My son is five so I have learned that every adventure requires a little bit of running around to get the willies out in order for everyone to settle down to business.   My husband set up the fishing gear while I took my dude on a walk.   This little backpack chair assembly is his “Adventure Chair.”   Interestingly enough, we were given this by a camp host at a campground a couple of years ago after someone had thrown it away as broken.   The host knew it was perfect of us and we fixed the tiny screw that was “broken.”   The camp host was right.   There’s not too many places we don’t go without this chair.

Marilyn’s Pond at the Galena Creek Regional Park on Mount Rose in Reno, Nevada.   It’s a tiny, little pond but it’s well stocked and the perfect place for a boy to learn how to fish.

All boys, regardless of age.

This was a focus test to see what I could get with the lens and exposure.   It’s what I was trying to get from what I saw but I can’t tell you how I did it.   I’m going to have to remember to write this stuff down while I’m out taking pictures.   (Sheesh … where’s the digital fingerprint on this stuff when you need it?  haha)

Our haul for the day.   I caught one, dad and the boy caught TWO each.    Rainbow trout for dinner!

I’m pretty proud of what the EXA produced for the day, too.   As you can tell, I have a little bit to learn on exposure settings for this camera but I’m getting the hang of it.   Same goes with my fishing skills.