At the fence: Lelystad Airport

Now, Lelystad Airport is not mentioned here often. But ten days ago they were host to a rather special guest: The Lithuanian Air Force.

Canon EOS 5DsR, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

A special guest

The Lithuanian Air Force (Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos) brought one of their L-410 Turbolets to Lelystad. It was on its way to the air show at Lann-Bihoué and Lelystad was the place they decided to stop for the night.

The Lithuanian Air Force operates the L-410UVP model which is an updated version that incorporated lessons learned by the Soviet State airline Aeroflot. Built in Czechoslovakia by Let Kunovice in fact most of the Turbolets ended up in Soviet Union. They were used as multi-engine trainer aircraft for the military and passenger aircraft for Aeroflot where the type replaced the An-2. 

As Lithuania is a former Soviet Republic you would expect this L-410 to be one of those aircraft supplied to the Soviet Union. However, this is not the case. This L-410 with construction number 820739 was delivered to the East German Air Force on the 21st of January, 1982. They allocated serial number 324 to the aircraft. After the reunification of Germany  in 1990 it became property of the Luftwaffe who re-serialled it to 53+03. They flew it for three years before donating the aircraft to Lithuania. It was transferred on the 23rd of March, 1993 and received serial number 02 blue in Lithuanian service.

An old 'new' camera

This rather unique visit provided me with the perfect opportunity to test my Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. I've acquired this camera recently and, other than to check if still works, I hadn't taken any photos with it. I also brought a 70-200 f/2.8L USM telephoto lens. I must say that I really liked working with the Mark IV. I replaced my last Canon EOS-1D series camera (the 1Ds Mark II) with the Canon EOS 5DsR ten years ago so it had been a while. However, it was like there was no ten-year hiatus when shooting with the Mark IV. As I've explained in my Canon EOS-1 review the EOS-1 buttons work slightly different than the buttons on other EOS cameras but that didn't bother me at all. It all felt very natural. So here are some shots of 02 blue taken with the Canon EOS-1D mark IV.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Achtung Panzer - Remembrance

Today is the 4th of May. Remembrance Day in the Netherlands. So it is perhaps fitting that on this day we talk about a tank that represents the war in Ukraine, a conflict that has been raging for over four years now. No longer headline news but still being fought. Lest we forget.

The T-72 in Groenlo. Fuji GFX 100S II, 45-100mm f/4, Acros film simulation. 

The T-72

The topic of today's Achtung Panzer is the Soviet/Russian T-72 Main Battle Tank (MTB). Introduced in 1973, it was a further development of the T-64 MTB. Around 25,000 units were produced. Our version is a T-72B which entered production in 1985. I understand that this tank was knocked out during the battle for Kyiv in March, 2022. It ran on a French-supplied mine and was disabled.

The tank, together with an Ukrainian ambulance, is a travelling exhibit now in the care of the Vrijheidsmuseum (freedom museum) in Groesbeek. Its first appearance outside of Ukraine was in Berlin, parked in front of the Russian Embassy as a protest against the war. It has since been seen in Amsterdam, Groesbeek and now Groenlo where I caught sight of it.

Fuji GFX 100S II, 45-100mm f/4

Russian markings

The turret is marked MRVSP KN-TN-7455

According to Oryx, the Russians lost 365 T-72B's during the war until May 2026. Confirmed losses, that is.

The turret and fuselage are marked MRVSP KN-TN-7455 in Cyrillic. Anyone for its meaning? Let me know in the comments.

Camera review: The Canon EOS-1

This camera review is about the Canon EOS-1: the original influencer.

My Canon EOS-1 shot with my Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, monochrome setting

Time for something new

With the advent of autofocus in the 1980s Canon developed an autofocus system that introduced a brand new lens mount: the EF mount. But that was not the only thing they changed. Their autofocus cameras also gained a new look. All black with a polycarbonate outer finish over a diecast aluminium frame. Whilst the first EOS models were still a bit square this all changed  with the introduction of the EOS-1 in 1989. Canon's first professional autofocus camera was designed by Luigi Colani, a German industrial, automotive and aviation designer. Colani also designed the Canon T90, the last manual focus pro-camera Canon built, three years earlier.

Gone was the box-like structure of earlier cameras. In fact, the EOS-1 design was the basis for Canon's flagship camera designs for decades. Starting with the EOS-1 the design was also used for the EOS-1N and EOS-1V film cameras and the entire EOS-1D series digital cameras, ending with the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III that was introduced in 2020. Talk about being an influencer in camera design!

EOS-1, front (with EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM fitted)

So when you pick up an EOS-1 it just feels, well, contemporary. This is a 37 year old camera that will never look old, even in a world where digital has replaced film. As long as you don't see the back of the EOS-1 it looks like a modern-day DSLR. And the fun thing is that you can use any EF mount lens on it, also those that were built years after this camera was introduced.

EOS-1, back

The Canon EOS-1 was built from 1989 until 1994 when it was replaced by the EOS-1N as Canon's flagship camera.

Specifications

Camera:                Canon EOS-1

Built:                    1989-1994

Mount:                  Canon EF

Shutter speeds:     30 seconds - 1/8.000th of a second, B

Self timer:            yes

Size:                     161 mm wide, 107 mm high and 72 mm deep

Weight:                890 gram with battery

Light metering:     yes, TTL 

Hot shoe:              yes

Battery:                2CR5

Frame rate:          2.5 seconds per frame without the booster grip, 5.5 seconds with the grip

Camera manual:   click here (PDF)

Shooting

I obtained my EOS-1 at the photography fair in Hilversum a few weeks ago. My example looks pristine and came without the power drive booster E1. I find it a joy to use.

Me shooting with my EOS-1. Photo: Joeri van Veen.

Something to keep in mind is that  the EOS-1 series has a few design features that are exclusive to this series. I cut my digital teeth on the EOS-1D Mark II so I've become quite used to it, but this might be something to get used to if you've never shot with an EOS-1 series camera before. There is no dial to select the shooting mode, change ISO, activate the self timer etc., these are all done by pressing a combination of buttons on the upper left side of the camera. 

There are also eight custom functions if you'd like to change the way the camera operates. I've activated F-2, film leader out for instance. This leaves the film leader outside the case after rewinding. Quite useful when you're developing your film at home. You can switch the focusing screen if you want, seven interchangeable focusing screens are available. I've never attempted to change a focusing screen but screen B - new split would be very handy when shooting manual focus lenses.

The one thing that really shows the age of the EOS-1 is the sole focus point in the centre of the frame. Whilst groundbreaking at the time it was introduced it is a far cry from the 45-point autofocus of the EOS-1V and the digital EOS-1D series that followed it. I don't mind but I can imagine it could feel somewhat limiting when you're used to a more advanced autofocus system.

In the field

Cougar! Read more about her here.

Sherman bunker, IJssellinie (IJssel defence line)

Flowers

Naarden-Vesting

All shots shown here were taken with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens fitted to my EOS-1 on Agfaphoto APX 400/36 film. 

Conclusion

All in all I am quite happy with my Canon EOS-1. It still is a very usable film camera that is compatible with all the EF mount lenses out there and - with the exception of the single focus point perhaps - still feels remarkable modern. Recommended!

Click on the photos to enlarge