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Travel, videos and music written, filmed and photographed by Ben Howe.

 

 

Cubadupa Street & Music Festival, Wellington, NZ

Cubadupa is a festival that happens in Wellington, New Zealand, every March. It takes place on Cuba street, the creative hub of the central city. Good record stores, bookshops, cafes, restaurants and second-hand shops are all found in this area. It is the best part of the inner city.

The Cubadupa Festival

Similar to the Newtown Festival, which happens a few weeks earlier (and I wrote about here), Cubadupa has a carnivalesque vibe to it. There are gypsy caravans, steam-punks, brass bands and all manner of theatrical performances and happenings. Where the Newtown Festival tends to have a lot of bands - especially indie and alternative acts - Cubadupa is a little more ethnically and culturally diverse in musical styles. That said, it does have a fair share of good bands as well.

Cubadupa happens over a two day weekend. On Saturday it goes late into the evening. Unfortunately this year it was a bit wet rainy - although the party seemed to continue regardless. I spent the afternoon on Saturday taking photos until the wet drove me home.

Cubadupa. Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Kodak Ektar 100

Film Camera, Nikon FE2 + New Nikkor Lens

I took along my Nikon FE2 35mm film camera. With me I had two new (to me, but purchased second hand) lens’ I was keen to try out. The first was the very nice Nikkor 85mm f1.4 manual lens, and the second was a Nikkor 24mm f2 lens. On the first try, both were nice to use. When the 85mm arrived in the post, it was a bit larger than I expected, so it was a little and unlikely to be a good travel lens. The 24mm had had the f-stop ring de-clicked for silent use with film cameras. I found this a little bit disconcerting, to begin with - and it would drift a little - but I got used to it. This was the first time I’d used both of these lenses’. No doubt I’ll be taking more photos with them.

I was also trying out some Fuji Velvia 100 slide/positive film for the first time. It was a bit challenging to get the exposure right as it requires real precision, but has an excellent quality to it. That said, it has expired a couple of months ago so that may have been one issue. I will try it again sometime soon. The rest of the photos I shot with Kodak Ektar 100.  

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Kodak Ektar 100

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 24mm f2, Kodak Ektar 100

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Fuji Velvia 100 35mm film

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Fuji Velvia 100

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Kodak Ektar 100

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f.14, Fuji Velvia 100

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Kodak Ektar 100 35mm film

Nikon FE2, Nikkor 85mm f1.4, Fuji Velvia 100