I like odd stuff, so when this Zodel 2MTL came up on eBay, I simply had to have it! Purely for the name!

As it turns out it is a re-named Cosina Hi-Lite DL for British retailer Wallace Heaton from 1970, there is also an Edixa 2MTL, but Zodel sounds better to me!

It is a heavy fully manual mechanical M42 mount SLR with match needle metering and speed range of 1s-1/1000th of a second. This particular example has seen better days, but that adds to it’s character. It is a bit annoying that the white lettering looks to have been removed though.

As is common with this era of full mechanical camera, it worked fine, the lens is a bit dodgy though, the focus could be smoother, and something feels a bit loose.

Loaded with Ilford HP5 it accompanied me for a few weeks on local walks in perfect HP5 conditions. Conditions where the light does not change and you don’t even need to meter as 1/250 at f8 seem right for the ISO400 film. That is what I like about generally staying with one black & white film stock, you know what it does and how it will look in your head before taking the shot.

These two shots are literally a five minute walk from my front door, so is a regular route on the morning walk. You do tend to get blind to compositions when you a over familiar to a scene, but it’s good to actually stop and look now and again.

This barn can produce fantastic compositions from different angles and in different light. I could see the line of hay bales from my window, and thought it would make a good leading line to the barn. Days later the farmer had moved them, so it was timed right.

A little bit further from home is my favourite local woodland, where the trees range from young coppiced areas to mature sections, to dark perfectly aligned evergreens. Whether you are looking for dabbled summer sunlight, or moody misty winter shots, or beautiful autumn colours, this place gives it all.

Looking out of the woods to the Gatehouse to the Estate provides a contrast from the wild to the manicured land.

Another shot I have taken many times, but it only works in the winter. In summer the ground is covered in foliage and stinging nettles making it too cluttered and painful wearing shorts! The meter did get it a bit wrong here, as I would have liked it to be a stop or two darker to truly replicate what the eye could see. It is quite dark in there and needs a tripod really, but I didn’t have one - hence the shallow depth of field shot at f2.8.

All in all an enjoyable camera to shoot, albeit a bit heavy around the neck! Not as refined as other brands, but it works, so that’s all that matters.

The missing white lettering has always bugged me, so when I found one at a camera fair in pretty good condition I was tempted. With a price tag of £35 it was a bit high as I already have one so I passed on it. As luck would have it, this one was found on eBay for a very bargain price justifying why I didn’t buy the camera fair one. In much better condition than the mine, so a happy ending.

Zodel 2MTL

New Project…

Fujica 35 Automagic + expired film…