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The main reason behind this epic road trip was to fill in a bunch of gaps in my War of 1812 project. I was on the tail end of the project and wanted to fill in a bunch of gaps before I got married in 2017. And there were two areas that I had not yet explored and wanted to because they offered up parts of the conflict that are often forgotten or not even presented here in Ontario. While the majority of the war took place here in Ontario, there were also a series of battles along the East Coast. So I plotted theRead More →

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While everyone always associates the term “normal lens” with the 50mm focal length, here at CCR, we’re going with more of a range between 28mm and 60mm. In reality, normal human vision ranges from 31mm to 43mm, which can be difficult to replicate with readily available lenses. So on today’s episode, we’re featuring the Pentax-M 40mm, AF Nikkor 35mm, Leica Summicron 50mm, AI-S Nikkor 28mm, Zuiko 35mm, Biotar 58mm, Yashinon 50mm, Takumar 55mm, Pentax-FA 31mm, Pentax-FA 43mm, and Voigtländer 58mm. Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix check out Burlington Camera (Burlington, ON), Downtown Camera (Toronto, ON), Belle Arte CameraRead More →

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Once the Royal Connaught Hotel was among the jewels of the Hamilton Urban Exploration scene, this stunning early 20th Century Hotel had a glamourous past. It ended its life as a slum hotel with only a shade of its former glory. A good urban exploration event often includes a trip to the Royal Connaught. The rooftop offered stunning views of the city’s skyline, especially the industrial zones by the lake. However, when it comes to locations, the hotel was dull from a photographic standpoint. Still, it offered up a rich history that traced back to the city’s glory days to the slump and is nowRead More →

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What do you mean 25mm? I mean, sure, Miranda produced a 28mm lens, but that’s boring. I have a tonne of 28mm lenses. I wanted something wider, but Miranda was always different, and instead of producing a 24mm lens, they went with 25mm. According to Joan from Burlington Camera, it was something to do with Germany and Voigtländer, and the decision to produce a 25mm as the ultra-wide offering before going wider. This particular lens was my second experience with Miranda optics, and it certainly did not disappoint after seeing the amazing results out of the 50mm f/1.8. Lens Specifications Make: Miranda Camera K.K. Model:Read More →

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It’s always fun to revisit trips on anniversaries. Last year, I posted about the ten-year anniversary of my epic three-week trip to Europe to participate in the 200th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo. And I was recently thinking about the last time I did a big trip, and after someone favourited an old image from my NOPEX trip back in 2011, I realised that this year marked the 15th anniversary of that trip. So, for a bit of context, NOPEX, or “Northern Ontario Products Exposition,” was a week-long car-camping trip through Northern Ontario with my good friend James. The groundwork had been laidRead More →

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We’re finally doing it, a full set of four episodes, a “tetralogy” all about lenses. In this first part, we’re covering ultra-wide lenses. To help keep things ultra-wide, we’re using the same criteria as Matt (from Matt Loves Cameras) and going with lenses that are 25mm or wider. Each host picked three ultra-wide lenses from their own kit. And we ended up with a fantastic set of optics, including the AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm, AI-s Nikkor 20mm, AI-s Nikkor 15mm, AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8D, Maxxum AF 20mm, Auto-Miranda 25mm, Rokkor 24mm, Olympus Zuiko Auto-W 21mm, Leitz Super-Angulon 21mm, Voigtländer 12mm, Tamron 17mm and Carl Zeiss 21mm.Read More →

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When it comes to camera systems, I have only switched systems once. There was a brief attempt to go with Sony E-Mount, but it never got very far. That one switch has always been from Minolta SR-Mount to Nikon F-Mount. Now I have since added systems like the Minolta A-Mount and Canon EF-Mount, but these have always been secondary. As I mentioned in a previous entry, the Nikon F80 is the camera that got me into the autofocus world of the Nikon F-Mount and eventually into the manual focus world of the F-Mount as well. Last month, I wrote about my entry into the digitalRead More →

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So here’s the thing: faster films are better known for their latitude, but mid-speed films are often overlooked for it. And I’ll have to say I’ve done some wild things with FP4+ in the past, and it responds well to over- and underexposure when developed right. But can FP4+ stand up to its faster brother, HP5+, in terms of quality and performance? Well, the answer is yes! While it can’t go as far as faster films, it can still do a lot more than people give it credit. Film Specs Manufacturer: Ilford Photo Name: Ilford FP4+ Type: Panchromatic B&W Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-125Read More →

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One of my long time favourite events to attend is Doors Open Hamilton. If you’ve been following my writing for a while you’ll know that the Hamilton Doors Open event was my first taste of these architectural tours. Where buildings open their doors to the public, even those places that are often closed off. Of course, the group that introduced me to the event was the Urban Exploration community. Which shouldn’t surprise you, a group dedicated to taking a look behind closed doors, suddenly had open access without too much chance of getting in trouble. That being said, there were several events where explorers tookRead More →

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In today’s episode, Alex sits down with Kevin Ealaín, the founder of Darkroast Arts, a name he chose after discovering the joys of working with Caffenol. Since then, he’s expanded into photographing local events and protests, and into promoting the art of working in the traditional darkroom. The conversation goes from camera gear, darkroom practices, coffee, some politics, and a little bit of subject matter!  Web: https://www.darkroastarts.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkroastarts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@darkroastarts Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix check out Burlington Camera (Burlington, ON), Downtown Camera (Toronto, ON), Belle Arte Camera (Hamilton, ON), Pond’s FotoSource (Guleph, ON), and All ThingsRead More →