It has been some time since I wrote a verse post, so it’s time I tried this again. But rather than pitting cameras against each other, I will be pitting developers against each other. The idea behind this came from my good friend James Lee, who loves to show off the power of the Fuji Acros 100 when it is slightly overexposed and developed in Ilford Perceptol. I’ve worked with this combination, and it is impressive. Recently, James has also been working with 510-Pyro. I asked myself which is better, namely when put head-to-head, Perceptol and 510-Pyro? The setup is a simple one, I haveRead More →

That’s right, we’re doing it again with another episode about zoom lenses. While many of us are prime lens sort of people, a zoom lens can offer up a lot of versatility when we either don’t want to or cannot, due to space constraints, bring a selection of prime lenses. So with this episode, each of our team members brings up a trio of zoom lenses with the following criteria, one that surprised them with how good it worked, one that they will always reach for, and finally, one that sucked so hard they wanted to toss it in the Hudson River. Please note weRead More →

35mmc – Nikon F4 Review – A Design Revolution If there is an iconic camera from the 1980s, the Nikon F4 certainly rates among them. This space age design is a radical departure for Nikon and shows the power of industrial design combined with a tonne of advancements made through the earlier decade. And while the F4 has long departed from my tool kit I can appreciate the design as does Robert Gulley who penned this excellent review of the F4! You can read the whole thing over at 35mmc.com! Photo Thinking – Voigtländer Superb – Just Superb I enjoy TLRs, and you’ll pry myRead More →

It was called the Hamilton Secret Locations Meet; in late 2006, a group of explorers headed out to Hamilton. These days, the city was a hotbed for exploration; there was plenty to see both downtown and in the industrial sectors. While the old Stelco plant had been demolished, the local group discovered a new location in the industrial sector. The name was initially kept secret to help keep it out of the public eye. The first place we went to was not the main Firestone plant but rather the boiler house that supported the plant. I can now see why because the boiler house wasRead More →

Writing reviews on cameras is easy; I’ve been working on those since 2015, and while the style and depth of those reviews have changed since I first started, I have also begun to include other pieces of camera kit into the cycle. One of the two newest reviews I have written is on lenses. These days, many lens reviews are out there, with most focusing on modern digital glass. Some vintage glass is starting to be reviewed online thanks to the ability to adapt these lenses to modern mirrorless cameras used in the cinematography industry. These are also the hardest reviews to write for twoRead More →

Established in 2013 by MainStreetHost and taken on by Alex Luyckx Photography in 2015, #photochat is a community of photography professionals and enthusiasts who congregate to talk shop and discuss anything and everything photography. After a brief pause through 2023 Photochat is back with a monthly chat model. To participate in our monthly chat (every Second Thursday at 1:00 pm), search the #photochat hashtag on Twitter, Mastodon, and BlueSky Social to see the conversation, or find me at @AlexLuyckxPhoto on Twitter, Mastodon & BlueSky. Include the hashtag in your tweets to answer the questions and talk with the other participants. If there’s a topic you’dRead More →

From Plus-X to Panatomic-X and Fujifilm colour stocks, join Alex, Bill and James as they discuss their favourite discontinued film stocks and what they try and do to recreate the magic. While far from perfect, there is a lot you can do with modern emulsions to recreate those looks you enjoyed in the past. Plus, a discussion around how Alex can get that Panatomic look without paying for TMax 100 and retain a classic grain structure. Plus, there was a bit of discussion around what film we’d want to bring back, the new Ferrania P33, and some developer discussion. It’s a classic CCR roundtable episode.Read More →

Everyone needs a space where they can escape to, get out of the grind that is work. For me that spot is close to where I work, and some parts are technically still on the Sheridan Campus. I’m talking of the McCraney Valley. This little trail takes the name of one of the early families that settled in the Trafalgar Township in the area that would become part of the modern town of Oakville, Ontario. While mostly I only frequent a small part of the trail, today I’m going to go along the entire length of the trail from where it starts at Upper MiddleRead More →

While my tastes in developers do lean towards the more exotic, something is refreshing about a standard baseline developer. In my books, that developer has always been Kodak D-76; these days, you can get the stuff in many different forms from different manufacturers. The first developer review that I wrote was on D-76 and I have since done Ilford’s version, ID-11, and Flic Film’s Classic MQ. It’s no secret that D-76 is one of the team’s favourites at the Film Photograph Project. The idea that you can get results from almost any film stock by using D-76 Stock for six minutes has been promoted byRead More →