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Okay so that’s not the official name of the building but rather the park lands surrounding the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, but for the most part it’s what everyone calls it. While I have visited the the Assembly before the access I had this time around was incredible. From the speaker’s office to the Legislature, and even the Lieutenant-Governor’s suite. And say what you will about provincial politics, the building they work in is truly a gem in the city. Sony a6000 – Sony E PZ 16-50mm 1:3.5-5.6 OSSRead More →

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One of the more interesting aspects of working with old Polaroid stock is that sometimes you get duds. While this past Saturday I wanted to get some cameras shot for the next three camera review blogs so that I can have them up before heading to Europe in three weeks, I also decided to take the rest of my 1997 expired Polaroid Type 55 4×5 stock along to shoot while on the road. Despite having a lot left, the stock being nearly twenty years out of date, there were a lot of duds, not enough chemistry spread, or none at all. But when all wasRead More →

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Comrades! Welcome to Communist Camera Revival. Don’t get the (red) scare, we’re just covering Communist Cameras this month as the 1st of May marks International Communist Camera Day! So why was the 1st ICCD? Because the day was a major holiday in the Soviet Union. So let’s get our lomo on and explore the wondrous cameras that have come out of Communist countries. But where did these cameras come from, many look like top end German cameras? Well the simple fact is that they came from Germany, when the Red Army overran Germany they carried away parts, tools, and employees that worked for the majorRead More →

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I remember the first time I saw the Pentax 645; it was at Belle Art Camera in Hamilton, Ontario. It was sitting there in all its medium format beauty with the 75mm f/2.8 lens. The store employee told me all about the camera, what it did, how it worked. And I was looking to up my medium format game. The price was right, so I dropped the cash and left with a camera that would come with me on future trips, projects, and even some weddings. As a camera, the Pentax 645 is a workhorse and a working man’s camera, it has everything you wantRead More →

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Anyone who has been in photography for a long time will remember the legendary Kodak film, no, not Kodachrome, the other one…Panatomic-X. Panatomic-X was first released in 1933 and continued until 1987 this fine grain ASA-32 panchromatic black & white film produced a huge tonal range and allowed for even 35mm negatives to be printed extremely large without noticeable grain…and when there was grain is was very pleasing. These days you cannot find fresh film, or even another film on the market like it. Most of the film I’ve shot expired back in the 1970s but can still be shot at box speed (ASA-32). TheRead More →

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What is it about Soviet-made cameras that attract such a cult following? I mean they are notorious for breaking, or just being of poor quality right off the factory line. But what is the mark of quality? For the West, we look at cameras such as the Leica and Hasselblad which are precision built cameras with a great deal of research, development, and quality checks before they get into the hands of photographers. But for the Soviets, it was something that could be quickly built, easily repaired, and put into everyone’s hand. And the FED-2 has that mark of quality. But these were far criesRead More →

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There’s something strange about the Smena 8M, it wasn’t my first experience with Soviet cameras and certainly wasn’t going to be my last. But the Smena 8m made me both loved and despised the cameras from the Soviet bloc. The camera is simple to the point of being demining, a chunk of plastic that has little to offer a photographer. Other than a strange joy and annoyance in general operation. Every time I used it, I wanted to give it away, tossing more images than those I kept. Yet now looking back at the three rolls I shot through the camera the resulting photos aren’tRead More →