By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 5 Comments

When it comes to game-changing Nikon SLRs, the FA certainly is one of them, and one of a long line of game-changing cameras out of the company. For the FA the change came in the metering system. This was the first camera that featured full matrix metering out of AI and AI-S lenses and full program shooting. The camera accomplishes this by having a small built-in computer storage system that has a selection of scenes and compares the scene in front of the camera and picks the exposure based on one of the scenes in the memory. A smart trick, while not perfect, was theRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 1 Comment

Back to the boxes! There is something oddly satifying about shooting with box cameras. Take away all the fancy settings, lens choices, aperture, shutter speed and you’re left with, at least in Nikon’s words, Pure Photography. Point, Guess, Shoot, Enjoy. And that’s exactly what you get with the Agfa Box 50. One of many cameras in the “Box” line. This particular camera was one that belonged to my Opa Oosthoek, that is my mom’s father and has been passed down through my family. In fact we have several photos at home that were taken on this camera. Special thanks to my mom for loaning meRead More →

By:
On:
In: Reviews
With: 0 Comments

These days the two big camera names that see fanboys (and girls) in both camps is Cannon vs. Nikon. But that wasn’t always the case. In the 1950s Nikon and Canon were still fairly unknown in the pro-market, both were producing rangefinder cameras stamped with “Made in occupied Japan” the real competitors of the 1950s was Contax and Leica. Since I have both a Leica IIIc and a Contax IIIa I figured I should do a side by side comparison and have these two heavy-weights of the mid-century fight it out. Before you continue, I suggest reading by reviews of each camera, first the ContaxRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 1 Comment

There are certain brand names in cameras and even models of cameras that carry a certain quality that goes along with it, and often the idea that the simple matter of owning one will improve the quality of your photographs by extension. One of those names is Leica. The Leica has been attached to many greats within the world of photography. The Barnack Leicas are among those cameras and have created great images in the hands of famous photographers. So I went into this and found a good camera at a fair price, but I soon found that maybe Leica wasn’t for me, having goneRead More →

By:
On:
In: Classic Camera Revival
With: 0 Comments

Part 2 of Special Guest Interview – David Nardi – David Nardi is the man behind the return of E-6 processing to the city of Toronto, John took some time (read several hours) to sit down and discuss processing and photography as a whole! If you want to learn more about his services and use them yourself you have head over to: www.e6it.ca Co-Host Mike has used E6it in the past, I highly recommend using David Nardi. His work is absolutely brilliant!  He treats every single roll of film as his own.  He uses fresh chemistry each time and loves film! And don’t forget, ourRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

This year it was a real shame that Polaroid Week just snuck up on me. It serves me right for not watching social media a little more closely. But I still managed to get out on the last day to get some Instant film shooting in. This year I was sort of limited. My wonderful Automatic Land Camera Model 250 has a dead battery and I didn’t have time to fix it up with the AAA battery fix. Also I didn’t get in any order from Impossible to run my Spectra (the only Integral Polaroid I have working), and didn’t get a couple packs ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: Classic Camera Revival
With: 1 Comment

So what happens when a whole group of photographers sit down and share a single camera? Well we get a nice little picture of what each of us enjoys about cameras in general! So today the whole group sits down to talk on the Nikon FA and John sits down with David Nardi from E6it! Camera Featured on Today’s Show… Nikon FA – This was the first Nikon camera to feature a full lineup of auto-exposure modes, from full Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority and of course Full Manual. The power behind this is a set of stored exposures a computer will pattern match fromRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

When it comes to rangefinders, if you know me, I’m not a fan; they just don’t fit, I struggle to use them, and generally, I am more likely to reach for an SLR. But then there’s my Contax IIIa; for some reason, this is the rangefinder I just won’t let go of; it’s far from perfect, needs a bit of work, and often is a bit frustrating to use. It suffers from frame spacing issues, and I’m sure it will give up the ghost one day. Yet, since I picked it up off John Meadows the first time, I am often drawn back to itRead More →

By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

There is something special about an Easter Sunday drive. Also when that drive follows a wonderful Sunday morning Worship with the amazing people at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Asheville, North Carolina. From there I began what would be the long drive home with the first stop being Elkmont in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee. The area saw it’s first residents come around the 1840s, while these early settlers sought gold the rich lumber soon brought more and more people. Initially settling around Jake’s Creek these early logging communities were usually no more than shanty towns often having the company offices, a hotelRead More →

By:
On:
In: Classic Camera Revival
With: 0 Comments

Toronto resident Mike Robinson is a master of the Daguerreotype process, producing images of unparalleled beauty and technical excellence. In this bonus episode, John talks with Mike about the challenges and rewards of this venerable photographic process A video of Mike at work Mike has been kind enough to supply us with some images of his recent work. All images are copyright Mike Robinson, all rights reserved.  Read More →