My Beirette, pictured at the end of this gallery, is a fairly low end 35mm amateur camera made in East Germany in the 1960s. It "sports" a lever wind, a hotshoe, front shutter release, three speed shutter (30, 60, 125), and E.Ludwig Meritar f:2.9 / 45mm lens in a close-focusing front-cell focusing mount with a distance scale running from 2 feet (not metric!) to infinity.
On Memorial Day, Monday May 29, I thought I would conduct a morning "excercise," forcing myself to rely on this camera during a walking tour of the St.Louis Zoo. The little Beirette went into a tote bag along with a small Gossen meter and a few rolls of ASA 200 print film.
The weather was hot and mostly sunny.
The little camera felt cheap and chintzy in my bare hands, and I had little faith in any decent results, especially when I got a feel for the crummy shutter release action of this little beast and the dim viewfinder.
However, the results for me were pleasantly surprising!
The orangutan family was out interacting, showing off their baby (now a bit over a year old, but still so tiny). Mom saw people wearing hats, so she she broke off a large leaf from a plant, and made herself a hat to show us she got the idea.
All images are ©2006 E.J.Kowalski